Towing

Alec DiAstra · August 16, 2019

44 minutes ago, dukedkt442 said:

Ha! If all else fails, resort to “it’s the law!” And “you’re a maniac!” comments as the only basis for sticking within specs factory specs. Suddenly towing a few thousand more pounds than spec turns into grossly overweighted, but still one of the lighter tow rigs on the road. We drove buses and heavy vehicles for years with no commercial license before DHS finally decided they wanted us to have CDLs a few years ago.

Better idea, no matter what is being towed, is to stay in the right lane, drive defensively, and stay under the speed limit (which I’m sure you break on a daily basis). That’s the law, too. A truck is a tool, and if you need to push it to get the job done, so be it. Not worth being frightened about being pulled over; cops have better things to do with their time than weigh your boat. Fear of LEOs is perhaps the least valid reason for staying under spec.

Congratulations, any credibility you may have had has been shot. You are actively advising users to break laws and guidelines that are there for the collective safety of drivers on the road.

Reasons not to tow over capacity other than the law.
The brakes begin to fade, the added weight contributes to tire failure, and the extra work required of your engine causes it to overheat, which, in turn, overloads the drivetrain and shortens the life of your transmission.

The extra weight pulling on the back of your vehicle significantly hampers your braking ability and steering control. When the back of your truck is loaded down, the front tires come up, causing them to lose some traction with the road. Without those front tires firmly on the ground, you'll definitely see a negative impact on your stability and handling. Your truck's brakes, which were designed to stop a limited amount of weight, will either take much longer to slow the vehicle down in an emergency or they simply won't work at all.

16LT4 · August 16, 2019

You don't have any actual experience towing, do you?

Yondu · August 16, 2019

For the OP, my truck is similar with 33s but with 3.42 gears and I towed an open trailer weighing 5500-6000lbs with no issue. The brakes on it were basically non functional as you could fully apply them and barely feel it slow down. The brakes worked just fine but you could definitely feel it slowing down. I wouldn't want to tow much more without working trailer brakes though.

With your 3.08 gears and 33" tires it's not going to be great for towing, but 4500lbs will be just fine.

Jondp2013 · August 16, 2019

dukedkt442,

I do just not long distances. Why do you ask?

16LT4 · August 17, 2019

16 hours ago, Jondp2013 said:

dukedkt442,

I do just not long distances. Why do you ask?

Sorry man I wasn't questioning you, that was meant for Capt. Caution above who "needs" to convert to E85 in order to tow. Sorry for getting off topic on your thread about towing... but long story short, you'll be fine towing with your truck whatever you need to tow. Don't sweat it. Legal issues pertaining to weight only apply to CMVs anyway; last I checked, Joe Blow with a boat trailer doesn't have to pull into a weigh station... With a trailer, I prefer to be one of the slowest vehicle on the road... with the added benefit of being able to use cruise control even if there's traffic, because the right lane is wide open.

Years ago, I hauled an old Lincoln on a transport trailer (just shy of 7k lbs IIRC) from Long Island up through the Green Mountains of Vermont with my '99 Sierra DC Z71, 275 hp 5.3, 3.08 rear and 32" tires. This was one of the first GM trucks with 4 wheel disc, horribly undersized and problematic such that GM went back to rear drums. The trailer surge brakes were non-existent, so I had that truck dropped down to "1" to get whatever engine braking I could downhill. Got where I needed to go, but my pads were heat-glazed, so I replaced all pads/rotors in a parking lot; that was due to the trailer brake failure, not the truck not handling it. I'd say the truck handled it great, considering what it needed to do. For anything above 4k, I prefer trailer brakes, a must above 6k. But if that truck, with a towing engine worse than the Vortec 5.7 it replaced, and marginal factory brakes could do the job, a K2 wouldn't bat an eye in the same situation. I also pulled a 9k lb. 28 ft. Bayliner all over LI that summer with that truck; slow and steady wins the race, no issues.

Edited August 17, 2019 by dukedkt442

Jacoby · August 17, 2019

I agree with duked, Alec is a tool lol!!!

greatmizzou · August 18, 2019

Ditto with low gears and big tires being a big towing problem, but 4,400lbs will be nothing. Lifting trucks/levelling/increasing tire size all affect factory tow specs negatively. Its possible your max tow limit went from 6400 to 5000 or even worse

On the highway I like to just tow in 3rd gear with my 4l60e. Too much gear hunting in Drive, even with tow haul mode on. Also be prepared to fuel up often!

very very helpful are weight distribution hitches with sway control like equalizer. They are tremendously helpful spreading that weight on all the axles and keeping you from having trailer swing on those big box trailers.

j-ten-ner · August 18, 2019

On 8/15/2019 at 6:38 PM, dukedkt442 said:

... The driver is often the weight limiter, not the truck....

Funny that you come here and telling everyone that exceeding the manufacturers specifications for towing is no problem, as the driver is the weight limiter and not the truck.

How well do you know the towing skills of the OP?

On 8/15/2019 at 6:14 AM, dukedkt442 said:

Manufacturer tow/payload limits are FAR below what the truck can safely handle; for liability reasons, there is a HUGE margin between what the truck can "handle" and what it can HANDLE.

...

What are the numbers and where can I find them?

so long

j-ten-ner

KARNUT · August 18, 2019

In the 70-2000s I legally haul my equipment with 3/4 and one ton trucks mostly diesels. They far exceeded the manufacturer suggested limits. How? That’s easy. My gooseneck trailer was built to handle up to 25k. It had its own capable brakes. This is not an uncommon. I wouldn’t pull anything that couldn’t stop itself. Pulling heavy depends on load spacing and trailer brakes. I know nothing about bumper pulling. The heaviest I’ve pulled with a bumper was a uhaul. I didn’t like it.

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16LT4 · August 18, 2019

“Legal” weights apply to commercial vehicles. They’re the ones who have to stop at weigh stations. You know, the 26,001 GVWR and 10,001 towed axle weight ones. Joe blow with a boat doesn’t apply. Manufacturer limits mention nothing about power, stopping, or axle weights and are set by marketers to sell product, period. If you’re the type of person that gets scared of a little trailer sway in a cross wind then by all means stay low. But if you know how to tow tens of thousands of pounds, you obviously won’t be scared of pulling 8k if the truck says 7k. Cops frankly don’t give a flying you know what because it actually doesn’t concern them. There is currently no across the board SAE towing standard that non-commercial trucks need adhere to, though one has been proposed. Think about it...if the tow spec is 7k lbs and the towed vehicle is actually 7500lbs, the entire truck explodes? I don’t think so. But what do I know... I only move 95 tons on a daily basis.

16LT4 · August 18, 2019

10 hours ago, j-ten-ner said:

Funny that you come here and telling everyone that exceeding the manufacturers specifications for towing is no problem, as the driver is the weight limiter and not the truck.

How well do you know the towing skills of the OP?

What are the numbers and where can I find them?

so long

j-ten-ner

You can’t find them because they don’t exist, at least not published. To do so would open the manufacturer to damages should so idiot pull that load and wreck. There is an extreme safety margin built in. Same as some people can do 80 mph in a 6” snowy highway for hours (Canada?) yet others set their cars in fire with a half inch or less of snow (GA?).

Yondu · August 19, 2019

So when they say the k2xx can tow 12500 properly equipped it can really do 15 or 16000? Is that really your stance?

Mine is rated for like 9700 I think. I sure won't go over that.

16LT4 · August 19, 2019

2 hours ago, Yondu said:

So when they say the k2xx can tow 12500 properly equipped it can really do 15 or 16000? Is that really your stance?

Mine is rated for like 9700 I think. I sure won't go over that.

It’s not a slide rule situation. A K2 is a K2 is a K2. 16k is pushing it for sure, but 10-12k sure isn’t. Done that with trucks not rated near what a K2 is rated for. Guess what? No problems going, no problems stopping. But if you’re not comfortable doing so, that’s great; that shows you’re staying within YOUR limits. But realize that just because YOU can’t do something with a machine, that’s no reason that the machine itself isn’t capable of doing it. The OP is staying well within even mild limits of these trucks, hell he’s within the limits of my 35 yr old truck with a third the power and half the frame.

Jesus I feel like a damn lawyer defending these trucks’ capabilities. Marketing has won out. I guess no one remembers when pulling boats and travel trailers with CARS! Holy Jesus no!!!!

Edited August 19, 2019 by dukedkt442

16LT4 · August 19, 2019

Yondu · August 19, 2019

So they can all tow 12500. Got it.

The firmer suspension, more aggressive gearing and additional coolers do nothing.

Got it.

The trucks are rated for what they can handle on the interstate in any type of (non dangerous) weather. It's not that complicated. Running a cooler day, lower elevation and a flat bed type trailer, obviously will be better than a blazing hot, high elevation enclosed trailer. Saying they can tow "more than their limit" depends on what, where and when you're towing.

Edited August 19, 2019 by Yondu