If I want to comfortably tow 18000 lbs what do I need?
 

Good day men,

I am a contractor with a 2003 HO 2500 QC with 48RE and 3:73 gears. I have a superlift 6" with bilsteins as well as toyo 37" 13.5 " M/Ts as well as my Juice on 1 and my Predator on Performance. I have the AEM brute force and MBRP cool duals.

Basically I want to be able to comfortably haul my 2 S250 skidsteers (8K each) on my trailtek industrial trailer (5.5k) without too much trouble. That's not a gooseneck either.

Upgrading to a 2008 Ford F450 is not an option guys. What do I need to be safe? (this is in hot sunny Barbados btw)

Thanks,
Gerren

Safe for the truck or safe for you?

Both preferrably [duhhh]

A medium duty truck. There is no way a pickup truck towing 8k + 8k + 5.5k = 21.5 K can be towed safely with a pintle hitch![nonono]

Well a dually would be a must with a goosneck/ 5th wheel Is where I would start. From there a jake brake, air bags, exhaust, blah blah blah I could name all kinds of mods that would help.

To be safe haul 1 at a time. Especially without a goose. I pulled a s250 and a catepillar skidsteer that was bigger than the 250 on a goose, mines a duallie, but lets say I won't do it again not without a bigger truck.

Gerren, In Barbados eh!...you need a diesel truck consultant to take a look at the situation....luckily I'm available....I'll pm where to send the plane ticket.[coffee]

The truck will tow it fine....I assume it is a little beavertail flatdeck with good brakes...A set of air bags will keep the truck axle from bottoming out. Does it use a pindle hitch....What are the speed limits you operate with. With those tires it would be great if you had a 4x4 so that you had 4 LO. If you don't use 4wd you could disconnect the front shaft so that you could run in 4 LO. I've towed much more than that farther and faster but the roads are probably narrower and more congested. Ideally, you need a 4.56 gear ratio at least. Is your truck 4x4...you have tons of power but mechanically you are lacking and your factory hitch or even a class 5 is useless for that much weight....A gooseneck would make this easy. ks

I second the med. duty truck idea. Or go buy a used Class 8 rig - single rear axle - and slap a hitch on the back of it if you're going pintle.

Well I pull right around 20k, but I have a dually with bags and tires and gross at 10k a piece along with a ton of engine mods and dd clutch. I have absolutly no problem at all with this weight.

But he has to stop it too, and having a 2500 single wheel with 37" tires and lift on a bumper hitch???????? not safe for him or the people around it. He better have insurance for the load.

That's what the trailer brakes are for...

Ok [duhhh] Trailer brakes are to help, no stop everything.

Your going to need a bigger truck.

373 gears pushing 37 inch tires, gonna need a friend with a tranny shop too..... 410's would help a bit getting it going but man o man stopping the rig, yikes. where you are located makes a big difference as well, are ya in an area flat as a pancake, or billygoatsville?

8K+8K+5.5K+ truck, you're getting close to 30K. I think you need a larger truck. Sure you can move it, but how about stopping. I have a C10 Chevy for a service truck that at times I have to pull start loaded gasoline tanker, 80K+ at times. Being able to move extreem weight dosen't mean you can control it.