Posted by Keith in Washington [108.162.245.67] on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 10:54:44 :
In Reply to: Trailer GVW posted by Brian [108.162.245.31] on Monday, March 20, 2017 at 21:13:23 :
I agree with several comments below. Get a trailer with 8 lug wheels not the light weight 5 lug. I would get a 12K trailer at a minimum and would look at 14K. Remember the 12K and 14K trailers will have bigger brakes which is critical. Also make sure that a tag along trailer is built with the hitch attached to a frame doubler that extends back to the wheels, not directly to the frame rails. This makes for a much stronger trailer. 5th wheel style trailers do better with weight distribution as they put the trailer tongue weight directly over the trucks rear axle. A good tag along trailer will also work well if properly set up.
People "get away" with 10K trailers but they are pushing it in my opinion. A ffPW weighs around 6K plus or minus depending on accessories. A well built trailer is about 3,500 pounds. That puts you at 10K on the trailer which is max. Yes there is a safety factor built in the trailer rating, but I do not like to go there. If you put much more than a PW on a 10K trailer your over weight. If you have an accident and your over weight someone is going to come after you and empty your pockets for life.
When you get a new trailer pull the wheels and drums or disks off and check the wheel bearings. A good friend of mine bought a new 5th trailer and on his first long trip he lost one of his wheels. All that was left was a bent and badly burned spindle. He started checking things out and found very little grease in the wheel bearings and all spindles showed blue from excessive heat. He ended up side tracked for 3 weeks waiting for the new axles he ordered to arrive. At that time he ordered heavier complete axles with springs as the originals were close to max load. The dealer nor the manufacturer did anything to help. The axle supplier saved a few pennies on grease so my friend could spend a truck load of pennies fixing the results of their cheapness.
What ever trailer you get use a 1 ton truck to tow it. Nothing less.