how much weight is too much

[towcat]

Wiley, let's put this in perspective. This is something I moved earlier this week. It's weight is 13,400#



Towed with this. It's weight is 12,500#



The weight you are looking at towing is around 18,000# including trailer. Your total weight with your truck will be more than my 2 ton truck and the mobile home put together.

There's just nothing you can do to your pickup truck to make it handle that kind of weight safely and legally.

Even with the above truck I was only within 100 pounds or less of being legal / illegal. (I removed everything I didn't need on the truck before the move or else I'm sure I would have been over).

mr roboto-
I know in OH and MI there's some pretty funny fomrulas on how DOT determines a legal load. There's trucks that operate in those two states that you don't see elsewhere in the US.
In Kali and TX, that would have been an overlength load. You were within the weights but exceeded the length. That combo would have put you into class "A" specs.

 

[Diesel JD]

Well folks I'm thoroughly confused on what's legal/illegal in terms of towing and hauling after all this. It sounds like a lot of the loads I see around town are at least iffy then. I see a lot of guys pulling bobcats, small 4wd Kubota tractors, mini excavators, even small backhoes here and there, but I think in FL there is a lot of illegal boat hauling setups out there. I've seen people tow 24' boats with dual outboard setups with a Toyota 4Runner, and stuff like 36' Contenders and Yellowfins with F250 and 350 trucks. I don't know if I'm always 100% within the law but since there are so many worse offenders maybe I won't be noticed. I never haul more than my 20' boat, maybe 3500-5000lbs with the boat trailer and everything or on a different occaison, a full cord of oak/hickory and 3 or 4 chainsaws.

 

[towcat]

Well folks I'm thoroughly confused on what's legal/illegal in terms of towing and hauling after all this. It sounds like a lot of the loads I see around town are at least iffy then. I see a lot of guys pulling bobcats, small 4wd Kubota tractors, mini excavators, even small backhoes here and there, but I think in FL there is a lot of illegal boat hauling setups out there. I've seen people tow 24' boats with dual outboard setups with a Toyota 4Runner, and stuff like 36' Contenders and Yellowfins with F250 and 350 trucks. I don't know if I'm always 100% within the law but since there are so many worse offenders maybe I won't be noticed. I never haul more than my 20' boat, maybe 3500-5000lbs with the boat trailer and everything or on a different occaison, a full cord of oak/hickory and 3 or 4 chainsaws.

Don't feel bad. The avg LEO has no honest clue either. Even the DOT cops are scratching their heads on most pickup trucks. Where it really becomes an issue is when a wreck occurs. The accident investigator is the one to be scared of. That guy/girl has to know all the facts since they are the one in court testifying.

 

[rubberfish]

I've seen people tow 24' boats with dual outboard setups with a Toyota 4Runner

So long as that boat and trailer combo is
under 5K (which some are) it's a legal load.
Just looks "too heavy" on the back of
the medium sized suv's.

 

[92F350CC]

At the gas station once, i noticed a 30'ish foot 5er hooked up to a Toyota Tundra(not the new 07 either). That thing looked sick. Their was hardly an inch of clearance in the rear wheel wells, and the front end had a good bit. That poor truck looked like it was about to give out. People can be stupid.

 

[SD70Ace]

Those little meduem duty 16ft flatbed bumper pulls that are a dime a dozen, loaded with whats in my sig, are alot of fun,too! Pulled one from Ingleside Tx to Burleson Tx, could only run 55mph due to fishtailling and pulled the other from Hamilton Tx, that trip was worse, 45mph was top speed till about Morgan Tx. I'd wouldnt tackle anything over 10k with single rear wheels.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

mr roboto-
I know in OH and MI there's some pretty funny fomrulas on how DOT determines a legal load. There's trucks that operate in those two states that you don't see elsewhere in the US.
In Kali and TX, that would have been an overlength load. You were within the weights but exceeded the length. That combo would have put you into class "A" specs.

Indeed in most states any trailer over 10K requires a Class A CDL (which I have).

That load in particular was both overwidth and overlength and requires special permitting. And of course over weight for a standard drivers' license.

Even with my truck I only moved the trailer up the street. No way would I run the highway with that combination, simply because there is so much bed overhang behind the axle which takes away from FA weight.

Just trying to show the original poster what that kind of weight looks like, when not in such a dense form. Sometimes small size (volume) can fool people.