Towing heavy with my C30

[Bextreme04]

^ that assumption could cost lives but I guess assumptions have to be made. I won't pull anything I can't stop WITHOUT trailer brakes since more don't work than do.

There are plenty of clutch-butts out there that have no clue about trailers and pulling stuff...borrowed truck and trailer to move, etc. And my experience says that while many will neglect vehicle maintenance, there are many times that number that do zero maintenance on their trailer, just air up the tires when it's hooked up.

Case in point... my truck broke down while out elk hunting. I had pulled my travel trailer out there and my in-laws where in town with their travel trailer as well. I borrowed a buddies super nice flat bed car trailer and my father-in-law pulled the car trailer out to the hunting spot in his nice new Ram 2500 with the 6.7 Cummins. I drove our normal family camping rig which is a 2011 Suburban to tow the travel trailer back. My Suburban is rated for 10k lbs and has smaller everything than my 1980 K25 that is rated for 6k lb towing(brakes, engine, trans, etc...). When we hooked up the car trailer to his Ram, his truck immediately let him know that there was a fault in the trailer brakes and they were inop. We figured screw it, it will probably be fine, this Ram is rated for about 25k lbs of towing.... so it shouldn't really matter. Sure enough, we got a 1500lb trailer with a 6k lb truck on it hooked up and he left my Suburban towing a 4500lb travel trailer with working electric brakes in the dust. He just let the Cummins engine brake on the downhill and he said the trailer didnt feel any different pulling it with the truck on it then it did empty.

 

[Salty Crusty]

Knocking Diesel, I have the same problem.
I go to check out the latest "bargain" or "rare find". Just like a lost pup, the damned things continue to follow me home.
If not me, then who?

 

[bucket]

^ that assumption could cost lives but I guess assumptions have to be made. I won't pull anything I can't stop WITHOUT trailer brakes since more don't work than do.

There are plenty of clutch-butts out there that have no clue about trailers and pulling stuff...borrowed truck and trailer to move, etc. And my experience says that while many will neglect vehicle maintenance, there are many times that number that do zero maintenance on their trailer, just air up the tires when it's hooked up.

That assumption isn't what can cost lives. It's people that willingly pull heavy loads with no trailer brakes that can cost lives.

Just like you shouldn't drive a truck without properly working brakes, you shouldn't pull a heavy trailer without properly operational brakes.

 

[KnockingDiesel]

Knocking Diesel, I have the same problem.
I go to check out the latest "bargain" or "rare find". Just like a lost pup, the damned things continue to follow me home.
If not me, then who?

Yeah these damn things keep showin up. I tried to use my over-powered under-braked truck so it makes me think twice about buying them but it just keeps pulling them home.

 

[KnockingDiesel]

I was taught when I was a kid don’t go cheap on brakes and tires.

My dad bought wrecked rvs all over the US usually through copart and we’d almost always have trailer with worn out brakes. People didn’t know how to set the brake adjustment on the controllers, over using them. Flat spots on tires locking them up. It’s important to know how to use the equipment too.

My GMC stopped the load just fine, I’m confident that truck can stop the load it pulled.

For bigger loads my diesel does just fine

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Brakes and bearings are checked every 6 months. I use that gooseneck to tow my JD 310D (13.5k). I’ve moved it around the yard with the GMC but I wouldn’t put it on road.

I don’t think a well maintained C30 would have an issue controlling a 10k load.

 

[Salty Crusty]

It's not an assumption but a cold hard fact that the world filled with ********* with zero common sense. Many will try anything and as long as it kinda works, they'll call it a success.
Farmtruck and AZN are lucky enough to have folks around to keep safety in mind, plus they're filmed on most of the stuff they do. That's their saving grace.
Cut those two loose with no adult supervision and it would be a deadly shitshow.

Then you run into those with a capable vehicle and trailer who have no idea about tying something down. There was a classic Ford pickup being hauled to a restoration shop that unloaded itself unexpectedly. No straps, no chains, just had it in Park with the E-brake set. Driveshaft was out and e-brake had a stuck cable. Made it over 100 miles before it hit the fan. Took out the classic and ruined the trailer.

My biggest fear when hauling is looking in the rear view and seeing an empty trailer that should have a vehicle on it. I chain my **** DOWN but it still worries me.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here, just kinda stating the obvious.

KD, that looks like a very capable rig, there are times when I sure wish I had one like it.

 

[RecklessWOT]

^ that assumption could cost lives but I guess assumptions have to be made. I won't pull anything I can't stop WITHOUT trailer brakes since more don't work than do.

There are plenty of clutch-butts out there that have no clue about trailers and pulling stuff...borrowed truck and trailer to move, etc. And my experience says that while many will neglect vehicle maintenance, there are many times that number that do zero maintenance on their trailer, just air up the tires when it's hooked up.

Can't blame the vehicle manufacturer for the customer's lack of maintenance on their trailer. The thing that costs lives are the owners who neglect their trailers to the point where the point where the brakes stop working. The trailer obviously isn't designed to help you get going, that's the truck's job and it is rated as such. That is why trailers also have their own load capacities, if someone somehow found a way to jam 10 tons of lead onto a little 4x6 trailer with 10" tires and no trailer brakes then something goes wrong, that is not GM's responsibility for an individual person being an idiot lol

 

[wanderinthru]

That assumption isn't what can cost lives. It's people that willingly pull heavy loads with no trailer brakes that can cost lives.

Just like you shouldn't drive a truck without properly working brakes, you shouldn't pull a heavy trailer without properly operational brakes.

Oh boy. You guys would tar and feather me if ya'll know what I've drug/ drag around with out trailer brakes....... don't think I've ever pulled a trailer with brakes.

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

Oh boy. You guys would tar and feather me if ya'll know what I've drug/ drag around with out trailer brakes....... don't think I've ever pulled a trailer with brakes.

Same

 

[RecklessWOT]

Oh boy. You guys would tar and feather me if ya'll know what I've drug/ drag around with out trailer brakes....... don't think I've ever pulled a trailer with brakes.

Oh don't get me wrong, I've towed my fair share of sketchy loads, overloaded trucks on bad tires with sketchy brakes, etc. I once towed a car all the way to NH from western PA in my k10 'burb that only had front brakes, and the trailer brakes weren't working. But I was cautious and I left a lot of room around the other vehicles. While I obviously would never advise someone to do the stupid stuff I've done, I do stupid stuff all the time. Though I do know what the "correct" way to handle it is and I would never preach to someone one way or the other.

I wasn't trying to tell people they need to be more careful, my comment was just in response to someone saying "oh assuming the driver has good trailer brakes when you sell a brand new truck could cost lives..." reminded me of when people try to blame gun manufacturers when someone gets shot. I just had to point out that it is in fact not the fault of GM and their weight ratings if someone crashes because of crappy trailer brakes. That's all I was getting at, don't worry I wasn't coming at people like you (or me for that matter lol).

 

[bucket]

Oh boy. You guys would tar and feather me if ya'll know what I've drug/ drag around with out trailer brakes....... don't think I've ever pulled a trailer with brakes.

It's common in the farming world. It's not as bad when it's in the country and a mishap will only hurt yourself because there's nobody else around. But there's a lot of people that drive on busy highways with a heavy trailer and no brakes.

 

[68post]

I'm cautious but others around are not !
'Bout had a heart attack when driving on a slick 3 lane interstate (wintertime) and passing a stopped line of traffic and someone pulled out into my lane front of me. I was driving my 3500HD that had a 12' flatbed and pulling a car trailer loaded with about 5 commercial overhead doors with operators, may have even had a scissor lift too.
That truck with an empty bed was 10,500 lbs by its self !! They sped-up in time but all I could mutter was "I'll knock you in to the next _ _ _ _ _ _ zip code" !!

I did setup my trailer to have 11" brakes on all 4 wheels, but they're electric, probably should've tried to save the hyd surge brake setup!? (nothing helps on slick roads tho'!)

 

[Matt69olds]

If your going to do something wrong, do it the right way!!

As much as it bothers me to admit, I have done some pretty stupid things with trailers in my younger days. Things like trailers/loads that far exceed the capabilities of the truck, no trailer brakes, overloaded trailer, things like that. The same things many others do on a daily basis. However, in those circumstances, I was well aware of the problems, and drove accordingly. I didn’t drive any faster than I could control the truck, I left plenty of room around me, and if someone crowded my safety zone, I adjusted my driving accordingly. Just like anyone with a clue would do in similar circumstances.

I have a friend who is constantly buying and selling cars and trucks, many that don’t run. I bet his trailer has more miles on it than most cars. He never maintains it, he never had a brake controller until he bought a truck that came standard with one. Of course, the controller is useless because the wiring is a mess on the trailer. I borrowed his trailer once, years ago, and it was a white knuckle situation the entire time.

 

[SirRobyn0]

It's common in the farming world. It's not as bad when it's in the country and a mishap will only hurt yourself because there's nobody else around. But there's a lot of people that drive on busy highways with a heavy trailer and no brakes.

I completely agree with the farming comment.

I used to use U-haul quite a bit, IDK maybe 1/2 dozen times a year. It's really great from the respect that you can pick your size and have an open trailer one weekend and an enclosed one the next weekend, but it's crap shoot if the brakes work and if they do how well. This was a motivating factor to get my 18' open trailer. It's mine I can use it anytime, but most importantly the brakes work properly every time.