SWA911

Hello guys, I've been a lurker on here since I got my 2007 2500 Quad Cab. I use it mostly as a daily driver and occasionaly haul my race car on an open 18 ft. trailer with no problem. It has the 5.9 CTD with a manual 6-speed and 3.73 rear axle.

My buddy and I are considering going in on a 44ft. Gooseneck enclosed car hauler. I will be installing a turnover ball hitch and possibly getting a Smarty Jr. Also, airbags if I get too much sag in the rear end.

Empty weight of the trailer is 8500
GVW is 18500

Our cars and equipment will weigh approx 7000.

Anyone see this as a problem?

Here is a current picture of my rig.

jkitterman

Just from the weight of the empty trailer, cars and equipment, you have a problem. Towed weight 15500 with 20-25% for pin weight gives you 3100-3875 lbs. This is dually territory. You should plan for a fully loaded trailer weight of 18500 lbs and use 20-25% for the pin weight. I don't think you will have much in the way you distribute the weight in the trailer to play with the pin weight.

PaulDaisy

That is a huge trailer! I think it is way too big for a 3/4 ton.

rich

i agree my flat bed weighs 8k and it squats 3/4 tons

Bonshawman

I have a 44' enclosed car hauler w/generator, RV section, garage w/electric winch. 3 axles - weighs in close to 10K empty. I have hauled it with my 3500 DRW quad cab (CTD, 6spd, 3:73's, 4x4), and it is "OK" - but I have a Pac Brake. I am much more comfortable hauling it with my Freightliner.

It is not so much the length, and maybe you have a lighter trailer. But even so, I think you need to consider a 1 ton DRW at a minimum.

SWA911

Understand.

Unfortunately getting another truck is out of the question.

If I revised my plan and went with a bare bones 40ft gooseneck, i.e. no generator, compressor or cabinets and just loaded the two cars do you think that would be OK? dodge says I can pull 13300. Our cars weigh 2400 lbs each and then throw in an extra 600-800 lbs for extra tires, tools, chairs and ice chest. I only need 30ft of floor space to get the cars tied down so 40 footer should be good enough.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Busboy

If the trailer is not built yet talk to some manufacturers, they can position the axles to give you your desired hitch weight (within reason). Also look for a manufacturer that uses rectangular tubing rather than an "I" beam and "C" channel for the X members. The trailer will be lighter and stronger.

bnold

You should be fine loaded the way you talk... Just be careful, all that extra room can be filled up with junk in a hurry and you can be way heavy and not know it... Hit the scales to see where you are at...

Pirate

Personal experience, towed 37' flat bed GN with my '99 2500 CTD. Trailer weighs around 7200 and load weighed 14,100. I installed Ride-Rite air bags to handle the load. The trailer empty even made the truck squat more than I thought it would. Once the air bags were installed, no problem. I also added a PacBrake for safety and loved it. When it came time to replace the '99 I bought a 3500 DRW but the 2500 did the job I needed it to do.

Add the mods you mentioned and it will do the job. Just remember a 44' trailer is looong and GN is very different than bumper pull. A ton better but still very different to manuver.

Good luck and happy racing! Not sure where you are but do you ever race at VIR?

txfiremedic

Hi and Welcome to DTR! Bags help out a bunch, and Im not condoning hauling over your weight limit. I haul some heavy loads with my 2500 SRW. Example, Heres my 14000 lb 38.5 ft travel trailer that I haul with no trouble:

pappyman

I pull a 44ft enclosed Pace its loaded with inventory and has a livin area in the front with a built in generator I have scaled the load and its 17760 gvw trailer with every thing
I have a dually and its heavy on my hitch I move this trailer twice aweek my dually handles it fine because I have beefed up my rear springs with 9000 lbs timbrens.....triple axles on this size trailer is a must have and trailer brakes become important when stopping
I don't think I would pull a trailer this size with a 3/4 ton unless you did some rear spring mods and if you have a auto tranny it will need to be beefed up too the cummins will pull the trailer just fine and your truck will handle it if you set up the truck to pull this much weight.....try to center the most weight over the trailer axles so the trailer carrys most of the load over the axles

$oC@l CTD

Here's a suggestion...if the cars are that light and that small and all you will be hauling is those two cars think like this: By the looks of that Porsche on that 18' trailer that you have, it would fit on a 14' trailer and I'm assuming that your buddy's car isn't much bigger if any...so TIGHT squeeze, they would fit in a 28' trailer...and when I say tight I mean TIGHT...so why not just go say 35'? That will give you 7' of space to play around with for tools, etc etc AND make your load MUCH lighter AND will make you be more selective of the excessive, un-needed junk that you throw in there possibly overloading you...AND since it will be lighter, your mileage will be better and so on and so forth...I think that a 35' enclosed would be ALL that you need and more and would be a safe load for your truck. You will still want air bags, but as long as you have good brakes on both your axles and a good brake controller, you will be fine.

SWA911

The cars are 14.5ft long each so bare minimum on floor space is 30 ft. The cars have very low clearance so we need some room to get the tie downs attached. I've seen two 911's in a 38ft gooseneck and they fit but it is very tight. I just wanted the extra 2 ft that a 40ft GN would give me for some wiggle room.

From the info here and talking to a guy at the local Hitches Etc. I should be fine with a Gross loaded Trailer weight of just under 15000. The advantage i have with these cars being rear engined is that I can load the first car facing forward and the second car facing rearward placing the heaviest parts of the cars over the axles. That should keep my pin weight down and give me a well balanced load.

Thanks again for the help.
Jeff

Busboy

As the axles are more toward the rear on these trailers I would try loading both cars on facing forward. The extra stuff you add up front will balance out the weight of the rear car's engine being aft of the axles resulting in less pin weight.

gomulego

I haul a 40 footer that's a few K heavier loaded than what you might be looking at. While I know that your motor and tranny are up to the task, I'd still feel uncomfortable pulling that load with a SRW. Not only will that be a lot of stress to your suspension, but cornering is going to really make you squirm unless you have some major league tires. Come down a hill into a corner with that trailer pushing you sideways and your rears will cry uncle. As Bonshawman said, it sounds like a job for a dually.