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D.L.
11-25-2003 20:41:32
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Re: Truck to haul a tractor with. in reply to d-roadrunner, 11-25-2003 14:16:33
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Hey D, My wife & I have a 37' 5th wheel travel trailer, a huge old steel 4 horse gooseneck, a 20' bumper pull flatbed trailer, and a big gooseneck flatbed trailer. Have pulled all sorts of loads & have NEVER had a problem pulling with our Ford F-550 4x4. We've even had the camping trailer (weighs in @ 14,000#) at the summit of a couple mountain passes in the Rockies and Cascades! Couldn't have done it in the 1 ton dually we traded in. I'm not sure why, but most people don't even look at the heavier trucks Ford builds. We have a utility box on ours (looks EXACTLY like the stock dually box Ford puts on the F-350's...made by an outfit in California) and with the overall size and configuration, looks like any other crew cab dually running around town. These trucks are available in ANY trim level (ours is a Lariat with AC/CD/leather etc) and cost only slightly more than a one-ton 4x4. We bought ours @ 6 months old with 11,000 miles on it and saved a ton of money. It's equipped with the Powerstroke diesel and Allison transmission... gets about the same mileage as any of my buddies running 3/4 and 1 tonners. I took it out to Ohio over the summer and got my best mileage since I've had the truck... 15.5 mpg. Not too bad from a truck that weighs 9,600#, can carry 8,000#, and can tow just about anything you can hitch it to. I've towed trailers with a variety of trucks over the years, and have done some things that weren't too smart. Like the time I had a load (truck, trailer and cargo) of 24,000# on my old Ford 1 ton dually. The trip was about 450 miles in the winter... everything was going pretty well until an antelope stepped out in front of me. I went to hit the brakes and realized there was nothing I could do... the brakes would probably have jacknifed me. Fortunately, the big buck just kept on walking... I missed him by inches. BUT, I learned a lot on that trip. I can get a load in motion with almost anything... even a Volkswagen. The trick is to keep the load safely under control. The problem with a truck too light for the load is that you get into a tail- wagging-the-dog situation. Doesn't matter if you're driving across the country, or across town... if your rig is unsafe and something goes wrong, you'll have an accident. On the bigger trucks, the engine & transmission, the steering & suspension, the frame, and the BRAKES are all designed to carry the heavier loads. Our 550 has 4 wheel anti-lock discs, a rear end that looks as if it could have come from a Kenworth, and heavy-duty everything. And it drives like a dream... looks pretty nice too! Anyways, if you're looking around, you might want to consider a 450 or 550... I see them on E-Bay all the time for reasonable prices. If you're considering a gooseneck trailer, I would recommend some sort of dually... tongue weights can get heavier than you realize, add that to the weight of the rear-end of the truck and you'll quickly exceed the weight rating on the TIRES on a single rear wheel model... the rear axle of our truck is rated to carry 14,000#... a 1 ton dually would come in somewhere around 10,000#, a 1 ton single rear wheel would come in somewhere around 5,000#... since the back-half of the truck will weigh close to 3,000#, doesn't leave much tire capacity for a load. Plus, your trailers will pull much better since all that rubber virtually eliminates sway. Whatever rig you eventually buy... ensure you get trailer brakes. It's the BEST money you'll ever spend!!!
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