19Fury69

After reading about 5 threads this morning, I'm a little leary about pulling my new trailer and loading it up like I planned on doing.
The trailer is a brand new cargo mate 20 foot goose neck, triple 8k axels 8" O.C. steel construction 6x6 steel frame. I plan on loading up to 20 000lbs in it.
I'm wondering what all I can do reasonably to my truck to make it handle the weight better. I will be adding airbags for sure, the trailer has brakes on all 6 wheels and I will be upgrading my controller to something digital. Anything else?? I also plan on adding a train horn for a little sense of security as I got cut off 3 times last trip down south, if I would have had that weight behind me there would be a few very flat cars out there now.
Thanks for any help, Fred.

jmd025

I don't know if the train horn will help you or hurt you. I bet its hard for people to make smart driving decisions with #2 all in their pants!

Sounds like the trailer is up to the task, just need to see what the tounge weight is gonna be.

You would obviously be above the factory ratings. Way above. Its been done before.

rich

are you saying 20k plus trailer weight or 20k including trailer weight. either way i would say thats quite some weight for a 2500.

morkable

Make sure you have a good set of airbags. The controller dosent have to be a digital, a prodigy will work just fine for you. After that, you will be fine, just watch your EGT's (you have guages right?) and drive with respect for the weight, the truck will haul it fine no problems,, braking will be your issue thats all, just drive it with respect, pump up the gain on your brake controller and go forth,,

Kevin

19Fury69

The trailer alone weighs around 7k empty, and fully loaded they said I can put about 20k in it putting it up to 27k plus the truck. It has brakes on all wheels so I'm not thinking stopping will be too bad but I also plan on doing no more then 65mph anyways. As for tongue weight, they say about 20% so that puts it just under 6k, this is the part that makes me nervous. I had a load of bricks the other day just over 4000 and it leveled the truck, it dropped the back end about 4 inches. I am going to buy a set of tires strictly for towing, any suggestions as to which ones would be best for the extreme weight? I was planning on firestone airbags with the in cab controller and pressure gauge.
Also I didnt mention before but I will be hauling this to texas and back, making it that much more critical that the truck be up to the task.
As its set up right now the truck will just touch 1100 degrees on a wide open run to 110 mph on 5x5 so heat shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Thanks again guys for the help, I'm probably worrying too much but its the first trailer Ive hauled and will be hauling it about 35 hours each way.

RickG

You'd better be real scared if you have an accident and the other party's attorney produces this chart . http://dodgeram.info/2001/towing-charts.html . It would be very easy to convince a jury you were criminally negligent .

morkable

Legally you are good to 15500 on that truck (trailer and cargo) But I have never been pulled over at a weigh scale with a pickup before. I have a friend that pulls (everyday) a 25k load on his gooseneck trailer with a 7.3l ford, it has a chip in it. Never a problem, never been bothered. Just make sure about the airbags, you will be fine

Kevin

CTD NUT

One thing to consider is that a properly loaded 27k gooseneck will have in the neighborhood of 25% of the gross trailer weight on the ball. In this case, that is 6,750 lbs. Make no mistake, that is way over what a SRW can deal with. You will be way over on your rear axle weight when loaded. Something to look into, anyway.

annabelle

I've seen pin weight measure in 15-25 % of gross trailer weight. As I do not know, where is the best place to obtain that information? That is quite a bit of variance at the higher trailer weights.

CTD NUT

There is no best place to obtain that info. Most here would probably agree that 15% is a touch on the light side for a gooseneck or 5ver. Usually, 20-25% is most common.

Even at 20% pin weight, a trailer grossing 27,000 lbs will still have a pin weight of 5400 lbs - still too much for what an SRW truck can safely handle, IMO. GAWR in the rear will be exceeded and OEM E-rated tires will be well past there weight rating.

annabelle

Ok, thanks. I'm a novice at this.

Busboy

The way I see it is the 2500 diesel rear axle capacity is EXACTLY the same as the 3500 (7500lb) the limiting factor would be the tires. Strangely enough the tow weight is 50lb more on the 2500 4X4 long quad cab then the same 3500.
So when it comes to diesel trucks the 2500 and 3500 2001 year are basically the same except the dually gives skinnier tires, 6 of them and better stability.

$oC@l CTD

I was just getting ready to say this same thing...

Get some good heavy rated radials for towing only, set her up with air bags and call it a day. it won't be quite as stable as a dually would, but you'll be fine.

Oh yeah, and 65mph with a load that heavy with your truck just MIGHT be pushing it. Take your time and you'll get there in one piece...something that everybody can appreciate!

annabelle

I have Ride Rites and I have E rated tires. I guess I need to look into some heavier tires.

MR. GADGET

You will have over 10k on the rear of that truck, there is no way I can see that being safe..