Towing a heavy goosneck

mmmikkke · December 13, 2005

My neighbor's got this old F450 stake truck with gooseneck hitch. He tows a 24ft gooseneck tandem axle trailer with 6-ft sides. He takes his truck and trailer north 200 miles every couple weekends, loads the trailer with firewood, and then it all back home for his firewood business.

Well apparently this weekend, he started the trip home, got about 30 miles, and his F450 diesel motor puked. He's the type that does his own work, so he's already had the truck towed home, and he's going to rebuild it. But his trailer is in some guy's driveway 170 miles north of here.

So he comes over today and tells me he's in a real bind, and he has a huge favor to ask me. He wants to pay me to take him back up to his trailer with my 2500HD and pull his trailer home for him. I'm the only guy he knows with a fairly heavy duty truck who's got a gooseneck hitch, so I'm his only option.

Well, he's a good neighbor, and he's really helped me out a few times, and I would like to do him the favor. I've seen his trailer, it's a lot bigger than my gooseneck, but I've seen trucks like mine pulling trailers like that, so I told him it sounds doable. But then he gives me the details...

Normally he bulk loads about 10 face cords (about 13,000 pounds) of wood in his trailer, and he says my truck would have no problem with that, but as fate would have it, this weekend he dropped his trailer off at the wood yard and when he came back a few hours later, the guys at the wood yard had stack-loaded it right to the top front to back, somewhere around 15 face cords of oak, which he figures weighs 20,000 pounds or maybe a little more. He says it's really got a load on it and would be a pretty hard pull--but he thinks my truck could do it.

With that trailer, the gooseneck hitch would have about 25% of the weight, or about 5,000 pounds, on it, so that's the load my truck would get. That would be like haulin 2 yards of dirt, which I've done before, so we both think my truck will handle that (just barely). My hitch is rated for 5900 pounds, so that's ok. And his trailer's got electric brakes, and my truck's hitch is wired the same way his is, so we got that handled. So at that point I told him lets give it a shot.

He says the toughest part of the trip will be the 8 or 10 grades we'll have to pull, and I'll have it to the wood quite a bit during the trip.

That's why the post here... Any of you guys ever pulled long grades with a heavy trailer, and had it right to the wood for the whole grade? If so, any ill effects? Any advice? Weather permitting, we're going next Sunday, real early.

I have the 6.0L motor with the 4L80E.

hyper1685 · December 13, 2005

not sure what year yours is, but my 01 2500HD 6.0 4x4 has a trailer rating of 10,200lbs. there is no way i would pull a load that big. that is almost double my tow rating. the entire drive train would be at risk. rear end, trans, or engine could go just like your buddy's. jsut my 2 cents.

Chris

3500in nc · December 13, 2005

ok after doing some math i gotta think that will be a huge strain on everything

it could be done but idk if you really want to put ur truck through that

if i were u or him i would goto lowes or homedepot and check out there rental truck to see if it has a hitch then use that

there normally ford f350s with the powerstroke so there should be enoff to pull

and hey its a rental lol

just my 2cents

6.slow · December 13, 2005

Too bad GM ain't doing the 24-hour test drives any more, I'd grab a dually duramax. My 2500HD 4.10's 6.0 CC SB 4x4 is rated to pull 16,000lbs. with 25% gooseneck trailer weight up to 3,000lbs. 20,000 is quite a bit over, personally, I have to turn him down. Just remember what you paid/are paying for that truck....I like the idea of renting from Home Depot or the like.

The only trucks (according to my owner's manual) that could safely tow that load would be a Duramax or big block. The manual just doesn't list a 6.0 pulling anything over 16,000lbs. JMHO, but I wouldn't.

I know the 6.0's can pull a house, but them duramax's can pull the whole d**n town! Wish I could be of more help, but I've never pulled more than 10,000 with a 6.0.

1911HD · December 13, 2005

Too bad GM ain't doing the 24-hour test drives any more, I'd grab a dually duramax. My 2500HD 4.10's 6.0 CC SB 4x4 is rated to pull 16,000lbs. with 25% gooseneck trailer weight up to 3,000lbs. 20,000 is quite a bit over, personally, I have to turn him down. Just remember what you paid/are paying for that truck....I like the idea of renting from Home Depot or the like.

The only trucks (according to my owner's manual) that could safely tow that load would be a Duramax or big block. The manual just doesn't list a 6.0 pulling anything over 16,000lbs. JMHO, but I wouldn't.

I know the 6.0's can pull a house, but them duramax's can pull the whole d**n town! Wish I could be of more help, but I've never pulled more than 10,000 with a 6.0.

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Hey Jesse our 6.0's are rated to pull no more than 9,800 LBS. maximum trailer weight. The GCWR is 16,000 LBS. Says so in the owners manual.

Mike I hate to disagree but that is DOUBLE the maximum weight rating for our trucks. I dont think it would necessarily be a big deal if you were gonna pull it a few blocks away but you are talking 340 miles round trip. just my 2 cents

SilveradoWV · December 13, 2005

I think my 02 2500HD 8.1L is only rated at 16,000. Like said above, I'd do it for a short distance but that far I'd have to say no.

6.slow · December 13, 2005

1911HD, I stand corrected.

Never was much on fancy-book-learnin'...

mmmikkke · December 13, 2005

Too bad GM ain't doing the 24-hour test drives any more, I'd grab a dually duramax. My 2500HD 4.10's 6.0 CC SB 4x4 is rated to pull 16,000lbs. with 25% gooseneck trailer weight up to 3,000lbs. 20,000 is quite a bit over, personally, I have to turn him down. Just remember what you paid/are paying for that truck....I like the idea of renting from Home Depot or the like.

The only trucks (according to my owner's manual) that could safely tow that load would be a Duramax or big block. The manual just doesn't list a 6.0 pulling anything over 16,000lbs. JMHO, but I wouldn't.

I know the 6.0's can pull a house, but them duramax's can pull the whole d**n town! Wish I could be of more help, but I've never pulled more than 10,000 with a 6.0.

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Hey Jesse our 6.0's are rated to pull no more than 9,800 LBS. maximum trailer weight. The GCWR is 16,000 LBS. Says so in the owners manual.

Mike I hate to disagree but that is DOUBLE the maximum weight rating for our trucks. I dont think it would necessarily be a big deal if you were gonna pull it a few blocks away but you are talking 340 miles round trip. just my 2 cents

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I know it's over 16,000 but I've pulled some heavy trailers in the past with other pickup trucks I've had, mostly big blocks, and never had a problem. Just wondering if anybody's pulled a load like that with a 6.0L.

He said he checked into renting and it'd cost at him least $350 for a stake truck (daily rate plus miles), and even if the rental agreement permitted towing which he doubts, that $350 doesn't include borrowring/buying/installing the gooseneck hitch and trailer brake controller...so that's why he asked me. My truck's already set up for it.

asilverblazer · December 13, 2005

I'd give it a go, but I sure wouldn't get in any big hurry 'bout it. Most of my concern would be on the tranny.

Buggle_96 · December 13, 2005

Gotta be able to stop too!

mmmikkke · December 13, 2005

Gotta be able to stop too!

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The trailer's pretty much brand new, apparently it'll lock-em-up if you need to. So brakes are not a problem.

I agree about the trans, and I'm going to watch the trans temp, but I don't think it'll be a problem. It's cold outside here in Michigan, so we aren't going to have the heat problem that we would have if we tried this in the middle of the summer.

Buggle_96 · December 13, 2005

As long as the 6.0 HD's have the same braking capability as the duramax's I will have to go back on what I said.

My old man just pulled a load last saturday with his duramax. He had 8 two post lifts on a trailer. The trailer weight around 3500 lbs and each lift weighed in right under a ton. So he was right under 20000 lbs, he laughed when I asked how it pulled.

I think you would be fine and just watch the trans, 6.0 may struggle a bit but it will pull it.

silverado3500 · December 13, 2005

Buggle hit the nail on the head. Its not about the pulling, its about stopping, and what the springs/suspension will handle safely. You are definately pushing your limits. And if you get stopped by DOT you're screwed. The fines for being overweight are heavy (no pun intended), and charged by the pound.

As far as the 4L80E goes, its a very stout gearbox. I'd just keep it out of OD. Overdrive creates a massive amount of heat. Stay in 3rd gear, and the tranny will be fine.

How hard would it be to unload some of the cargo off of the trailer into the bed of the truck and make an extra trip that way?

on edit: To put a perspective on it, the GCWR of my previous F-350 was 22,500 LBS. subtract the weight of the truck (approx 7,500lbs) and that leaves me with 15,000 towing capacity. That 20,000 lb trailer would have me 5,000 lbs overweight (legally speaking) and thats on a 1 ton diesel dually. Look at your GCWR, and then subtract your curb weight, to see what you can tow. (legally) I susupect you might be near 10,000lbs overweight with that trailer.

dewfpo · December 13, 2005

How hard would it be to unload some of the cargo off of the trailer into the bed of the truck and make an extra trip that way?
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To me, this is the best idea yet. Off load some of the weight and make 2 trips. A little more time and a little more fuel but if you break your truck, you'll regret it.

DEWFPO