Whats The Heaviest Loads You Pull?

ss502gmc · March 26, 2010

Just seeing how much weight you guys are pulling with your 2500HD's and 3500 srw. Im buying a 2/3 car hauler with a GTW of 16,000 lbs. I have pulled more weight with this truck before and it barely broke a sweat but this will be a full time job for this truck for awhile and just wondering how much others are pulling on a regular basis.

davzog · March 27, 2010

We have a 5th wheel that weighs about 12K pounds loaded....struggles a little on hills, but stable otherwise.

We have a wood pellet stove and I buy a pallet of 40 pound bags of wood pellets at a time....weighs a ton and I have them load the pallet in the truck bed with a fork lift and have no issues.....it does cause longer stopping distances, but I drive it carefully and never had a problem.

LAst time I bought some, there was a guy that bought TWO one ton pallets....loaded both in his HD2500 long bed (had Firestone air bags) and just drove away...I bought some Firestone air bags!!! He also had the 6.0 gas engine....

robertbick · March 27, 2010

My 5th wheel is only about 9000lbs and I also pick up pellets one ton at a time. My towing capacity is less because I do not have the 4.10 rear.

Big black truck · March 27, 2010

I pull a backhoe 18000lb + trailer 4000lb = 22000lb no problem. I also pull my skidsteer with equipment which is about 13000 most of the time.

Mr. Jon · March 28, 2010

I pull machines occasionally. Bobcat 8,000 lbs. + trailer 3,000 lbs. = 11,000 lbs. up a 6% grade at 65 mph. Allison trans downshifted from 6th to 5th. Also pull excavator 12,000 lbs. + trailer 3,000 lbs = 15,000 lbs. haven't tried it on the 6% grade yet, but pulls no problem. '07 GMC 3500HD NBS Dmax stock, Timbrens front & rear, Titan class V hitch rated 18,000 lbs. with pintle hook, trailer has good brakes.

TroyDairy · March 28, 2010

Pull cattle trailer with cattle at about 15-16k. EXSB 6.0 a/t Blackbear tune. Really well goign over the cancades with apx 3%-6% grades. Leave it in 2nd for the long runs (60 mph) and keep foot outta it for short ones and leave it in 3rd. Blackbeaar made ALL the difference. Gained 2 mpg towing this much wt. From 5.5 to 7.5-8 mpg avg for 500 mile trip.

pm26 · March 28, 2010

I pull a backhoe 18000lb + trailer 4000lb = 22000lb no problem. I also pull my skidsteer with equipment which is about 13000 most of the time.

Hm, that's a bit much for that truck. Not for the engine, but for the vehicle itself. I would pull this load with my deuce and a half, but then it weighs close to 16,000 lbs empty by itself. It's not just pulling the load, but controlling it when you need to stop quickly.

Besides, if you cause an accident with a 22,000 lb load being pulled by a pickup, you may get cited for unsafe vehicle operation.

Big black truck · March 28, 2010

I pull a backhoe 18000lb + trailer 4000lb = 22000lb no problem. I also pull my skidsteer with equipment which is about 13000 most of the time.

Hm, that's a bit much for that truck. Not for the engine, but for the vehicle itself. I would pull this load with my deuce and a half, but then it weighs close to 16,000 lbs empty by itself. It's not just pulling the load, but controlling it when you need to stop quickly.

Besides, if you cause an accident with a 22,000 lb load being pulled by a pickup, you may get cited for unsafe vehicle operation.

I appreciate the concern. For mine and others safety. I have been doing this for the past 16 years and have never had a problem as I do take extreme caution.

This topic is about how much we pull, not a nanny thread.

Dooner · March 29, 2010

I yank this thing around...25 toyhauler, 3 quads inside, 100gal freshwater, 22 gal fuel station for genny, 3-4 coolers for food/beverage/ice of course, 14gal LP gas, 30-35gal fuel in bed, 1/2 cord firewood usually, assorted gear, yadda yadda yadda.

I'm pretty sure I'm overweight.

ss502gmc · March 29, 2010

I pull a backhoe 18000lb + trailer 4000lb = 22000lb no problem. I also pull my skidsteer with equipment which is about 13000 most of the time.

What are you getting for mileage pulling that load? Im not overly concerned with mileage but just curious.

I usually get around 9.5mpg while towing 10,000lbs. Also do you gotta keep it in 3rd gear when pulling that much weight? I know when i pulled 18,000lb before my tranny kept on going back n fourth between 4th and 5th so i just kept it in 3rd on the hilly terrain. But we gotta love those 8.1's!! I pulled a bobcat with my buddies 6.0 and then with my truck with the 8.1 and man was it a night and day difference!! I just wasnt sure if was gonna push my truck too much hauling 18,000lbs all the time for the next year until i get a Kodiak 4500 especially seeing the owners manual says my truck is rated to pull 15,500lbs!

Big black truck · March 29, 2010

I pull a backhoe 18000lb + trailer 4000lb = 22000lb no problem. I also pull my skidsteer with equipment which is about 13000 most of the time.

What are you getting for mileage pulling that load? Im not overly concerned with mileage but just curious.

I usually get around 9.5mpg while towing 10,000lbs. Also do you gotta keep it in 3rd gear when pulling that much weight? I know when i pulled 18,000lb before my tranny kept on going back n fourth between 4th and 5th so i just kept it in 3rd on the hilly terrain. But we gotta love those 8.1's!! I pulled a bobcat with my buddies 6.0 and then with my truck with the 8.1 and man was it a night and day difference!! I just wasnt sure if was gonna push my truck too much hauling 18,000lbs all the time for the next year until i get a Kodiak 4500 especially seeing the owners manual says my truck is rated to pull 15,500lbs!

I put it in t/h and pretty much let it do it's thing. It is very rare that I will select a particular gear. On steep inclines, I always put it in 4x4 and sometimes low range. This 8.1 is great and is just a bit softer than all the cummins I've had, but for some strange reason she feels stronger than both powerstrokes that I had. Someone mentioned stopping, well with my trailer brakes it will stop in a hearbeat. Fortunately, where I am located it's pretty much flat. Mileage is about 8.5-9 towing. The same load with my 6.7 cummins I got around 7.3 mpg.

ss502gmc · March 29, 2010

I pull a backhoe 18000lb + trailer 4000lb = 22000lb no problem. I also pull my skidsteer with equipment which is about 13000 most of the time.

What are you getting for mileage pulling that load? Im not overly concerned with mileage but just curious.

I usually get around 9.5mpg while towing 10,000lbs. Also do you gotta keep it in 3rd gear when pulling that much weight? I know when i pulled 18,000lb before my tranny kept on going back n fourth between 4th and 5th so i just kept it in 3rd on the hilly terrain. But we gotta love those 8.1's!! I pulled a bobcat with my buddies 6.0 and then with my truck with the 8.1 and man was it a night and day difference!! I just wasnt sure if was gonna push my truck too much hauling 18,000lbs all the time for the next year until i get a Kodiak 4500 especially seeing the owners manual says my truck is rated to pull 15,500lbs!

I put it in t/h and pretty much let it do it's thing. It is very rare that I will select a particular gear. On steep inclines, I always put it in 4x4 and sometimes low range. This 8.1 is great and is just a bit softer than all the cummins I've had, but for some strange reason she feels stronger than both powerstrokes that I had. Someone mentioned stopping, well with my trailer brakes it will stop in a hearbeat. Fortunately, where I am located it's pretty much flat.Well thats good to here. There isnt much noticable difference between my truck and my cousins 6.0 power stroke until he tuned it then there was a difference but not so much being stock. How much difference did the diablew tune make from being stock? I have a hypertech max energy and asides changing the rev limiter and speed limiter it kinda sucks!! Theres not much difference in power from stock maybe a little. Its nice to see someone with my year truck with the same power train!! Its a rare find in my area lol

ss502gmc · March 29, 2010

Oops! Sorry i think i screwed up that post. Well thats good to here. There isnt much noticable difference between my truck and my cousins 6.0 power stroke until he tuned it then there was a difference but not so much being stock. How much difference did the diablew tune make from being stock? I have a hypertech max energy and asides changing the rev limiter and speed limiter it kinda sucks!! Theres not much difference in power from stock maybe a little. Its nice to see someone with my year truck with the same power train!! Its a rare find in my area lol

Big black truck · March 29, 2010

Oops! Sorry i think i screwed up that post. Well thats good to here. There isnt much noticable difference between my truck and my cousins 6.0 power stroke until he tuned it then there was a difference but not so much being stock. How much difference did the diablew tune make from being stock? I have a hypertech max energy and asides changing the rev limiter and speed limiter it kinda sucks!! Theres not much difference in power from stock maybe a little. Its nice to see someone with my year truck with the same power train!! Its a rare find in my area lol

The diablew has really woken this 8.1 up. I had a 93 canned tune before which also felt good, but the diablew made a vast difference. As mentioned before, I have chipped and tuned all my diesels and am really impressed that I could get what I have with the diablew. I have had my equipment on a jobsite for a while and will be finishing up in about 2 weeks. I'll let you know how it pulls since the tune.

steiny93 · March 30, 2010

we tow heavy quite a bit

privately with my gaser i pull a 5er plus double tow a 21ft ranger boat

5er is about 14k loaded and the boat is about 5k so 21k of load. It's a pooch on the interstate but I'm more worried about stopping and with brakes all the way around it stops the same with the 5er only or the 5er and the boat. (probably do about 2000 miles per year like this) Otherwise lots with sub 6k loads (~8k miles per year) the gaser is more then enough, stopping typically the issue

at shop in town we have dmax's in gmc 5500's

all day everyday they have 10k in the box and 12k on a trailer behind, they handle the load within legal limits and without issue, they are through the scales everyday

on the farm we move LOTS of large bales (> 30k bales a year)

we've gone the dodge route (sad but true, the cummins hold together better, we've had both Ford's and DMax's, they just don't hold up)

with extreme loads >80k gross its unbelieveable, the cummins is a monster [80k is a naughtly load, we've only done that a few times, typical load is in the 45k gross range] These are done with purpose built 3/4 tons (full intake / exhaust / chips / suspension / ect)

last summer we did four trips hauling 28k lbs gross from WY to MN, did it all within legal limits privately (not commerical) with a 3/4 pickup [for those on this forums that call BS on being legal go tell it to the actual weight police, we "visited" with them from each state and were sent on our happy way everytime] those trips where with the purpose built dodge's; worked very well, butt got sore sitting all day tho