u.s towing regulations?

[CKNSLS]

Put it like this - if the trailer weighs enough to have it's own braking system and over 17 feet in length, he needs WD/anti sway IMHO.

 

If your concerned about your families saftey that is. Why gamble?

[uchi]

thanks for the help guys. the truck has whatever tint gm put on it, so driver and pass front windows have nothing, towing mirrors, brakes controller as well, im trying to get my hands on a wd hitch and have been the last few days, hoping to find someone local who has one that i can borrow for a few days. we're leaving from southern ontario and driving to north carolina, point a to b will be about 13 hours or so, leaving after work thursday so around 6 pm and hopefully getting in to the u.s without much of a hassle so hopefully most of the trip down will be night driving. 4 of us going down on a bike trip. trailer is a 24 foot haulmark car trailer thats enclosed. weighs 36xx pounds, bringing 4 bikes with us so the trailer is a bit overkill but the only other option we have is to rent one or use my 6x8 foot open trailer with 2-3 bikes in it and the rest in the back of the truck but then we run in to the issue of keeping our gear dry and secure. the guy im getting it from tows this behind his slightly older yukon denali and said its fairly smooth, hasnt really had any issuers with it being thrown around and he tows it all over the place to go drag racing. so i talked to him yesterday and im gonna swing by tonight and take the trailer for a tour of our highways with his race car in it just to see how my truck handles it, fuel consumption, and see how it does around other larger vehicles and decide from there if we're paying to rent a trailer. i was hoping to have found a smaller enclosed like a 10 or 14 foot but youd be surprised how few people have those things around here and that are willing to lend or even rent them out. im hoping to get the wd before we leave in 2.5 weeks, im sure someone out there that i know has a setup i can borrow, just a matter of finding that someone

[Diesail]

WD and anti-sway are not one and the same, while many WD have anti-sway build in. The OP has not mentioned what he will be towing, so saying that he will need it is speculation. Without knowning what exactly he is towing and what the size / shape, weight and tongue are it is hard to say if he would benefit from either anti-sway or WD.

[uchi]

Found two people willing to let me borrow their wd setup with sway control. We're pullibg a 24 foot enclosed trailer holding four street bikes plus our gear. Trailer is 36xx pounds bikes are about 1400 total and gear really isn't that heavy. Truck is an 09 sierra crew cab short box z71 with a 5.3 6 speed and tow package

[Diesail]

IMO you will be fine without the WD setup as long as you are not going over the hitches rated capacity for weight carry. A 24 foot enclosed trailer is a lot differnt than a travel trailer. Travel trailers tend to have heavy tongues and they also have a larger sail area creating more sway. Given the load you describe you will want your tongue to be in the neighborhood of 700 pounds. So check the label on the hitch for the rating to be sure you are within the limites of the hitch and then make sure when loading that you give yourself the desired tongue weight. An easy way to figure this out is have 3 or 4 guys that add up to about 700 pounds stand at the end of the bed (not on the tailgate its not rated to hold that much). Make note of how much the drop sags from the weight. Now hitch up and load the trailer to gain about the same amount of sag and this will get you pretty close.

[uchi]

thanks for the tips, so good news, i hooked up and took her for a spin tonight. set cruise at 60 mph and let her go, trip computer was at a steady 11 mpg on the highway, she climbed a real steep incline that slows down the rigs without an issue, it barely squatted the truck, in fact it made it look like it was leveled, all of this while towing his race car inthe trailer. its got a really short tongue and the trailer has its own suspension as well. the only time i noticed it was going over a road that looked like it had mortars dropped on it, other than that once moving she was great. had a few big rigs pass me and didnt even feel them. trailer is 36xx pounds, figure his regal drag car is about 3000, so combined 7600+ pounds. you guys were right, the tow mode with the 6 speed is fantastic. gm did a great job with it be it for decel, or hill climbs or anything. quite impressed with it. the motor was fine too, its a 5.3 with a trifecta tune for the motor and trans and it didnt have any issues moving the big load and maintained speed on hills with no issues.

 

here it is hooked up to my truck. not a great pic and dont mind the wheels ive been in construction sites this week so theyre good and dirty.

 

[uchi]

also with something this big seeing as im not commercial, do i need to do any sort of weigh ins like the trucks do? i know in canada i dont have to but just to make sure i dont get chased down by the usdot people

[music]

also with something this big seeing as im not commercial, do i need to do any sort of weigh ins like the trucks do? i know in canada i dont have to but just to make sure i dont get chased down by the usdot people

 

 

Nope...

[Diesail]

also with something this big seeing as im not commercial, do i need to do any sort of weigh ins like the trucks do? i know in canada i dont have to but just to make sure i dont get chased down by the usdot people

 

 

Nope, you are non-com. Just drive right on by.

[uchi]

gotcha thanks, i think 60 is about as fast as we plan on going. is there a weight limit before needing a weight distributing hitch for a half ton truck?

 

 

 

60 MPH? Please stay off the interstates or you will get killed. With our posted speed limits of 80 MPH & a few 85 MPH roads now, you will be ran over and killed at 60 MPH, if you don't get shot first. Flow of traffic is 90-100 MPH on most Texas rural interstates, just a little over posted speed limit.

 

i envy your speed limits, but im not going to texas, trust me i have no problem speeding

[kstruckcountry]

Most interstates in the US are a 70 limit though I think... The highest in KS is 75. You see a lot of vehicles doing 60 on them, some trucking companies don't like them going any faster.

Maybe the 80 MPH limits are the reason TX traffic can be so dangerous. Fastest I've been in there is 85, and that was only briefly in the fast lane. Honestly, much more than 80 seems dangerous to me with any traffic.

[uchi]

especially when your combined weight is 12000 pounds. lol. ill just follow whatever the speed limit says im in now rush, an extra half hour to me doesnt bother me.

[kstruckcountry]

An extra half hour, and an extra $50 of fuel left in the tank. And that's $50 US.

[uchi]

haha i watched the gas gauge move on my 40 minute trip yesterday, this is gonna be the thirstiest 13 hour drive ever i think. but the other guys in the truck dont seem to mind that itll cost double to get there. i havent bought canadian gas for this thing since december. right now im running 93 from new york state at about 3.95 a gallon, give or take its always different, i can get ethanol free 91 for about 4.09 or so. for me to buy 91 here is about 5.50 a gallon, 93 is even more, so ill go fill up the pig and bring back about 20 gallons in gas cans and it saves me depending on how much the truck takes 50-60 bucks to fill up over there. thats the joy of living 10 minutes from the border.

[Diesail]

gotcha thanks, i think 60 is about as fast as we plan on going. is there a weight limit before needing a weight distributing hitch for a half ton truck?

 

 

 

60 MPH? Please stay off the interstates or you will get killed. With our posted speed limits of 80 MPH & a few 85 MPH roads now, you will be ran over and killed at 60 MPH, if you don't get shot first. Flow of traffic is 90-100 MPH on most Texas rural interstates, just a little over posted speed limit.

 

 

Sounds like you are they one trying to get people killed suggesting that the OP pull a trailer with ST tires that are only rated to 60 MPH at speeds of 100 MPH.

 

haha i watched the gas gauge move on my 40 minute trip yesterday, this is gonna be the thirstiest 13 hour drive ever i think. but the other guys in the truck dont seem to mind that itll cost double to get there. i havent bought canadian gas for this thing since december. right now im running 93 from new york state at about 3.95 a gallon, give or take its always different, i can get ethanol free 91 for about 4.09 or so. for me to buy 91 here is about 5.50 a gallon, 93 is even more, so ill go fill up the pig and bring back about 20 gallons in gas cans and it saves me depending on how much the truck takes 50-60 bucks to fill up over there. thats the joy of living 10 minutes from the border.

 

 

Why are you throwing your money away on high octane fuel? GM only calls for 87 octane in that motor.