WDH or Bigger Truck?

Hey guys, I am planning on hauling a lot of fruit around this fall for my winery in my 2014 Platinum. I have a 14k tandem axle 8.5' x 16' deck over flat bed trailer (~3,400 lbs). I will need to pull 4,500 - 5,500 lbs worth of fruit/bins which ride pretty low compared to travel trailers and such. I am sitting here trying to decide which brand and rating of weight distribution hitch I should get to do this safely and I'm just thinking, am I planning on pulling too much? I sure would hate to give up on my Toyota, they've always treated me well. What do you wise and beautiful people think?

 

I've got no idea but you had me at "winery" If you need a taste tester
I'm sure somebody will competently answer your question.

 

Is that 4500-5500 lbs of fruit plus the 3400 lbs of the trailer (i.e 7900-8900 lbs total)? If so, that's pushing heavy duty truck territory in my opinion.

 

Yep that's correct. Hence why I am asking you guys, I know its certainly getting close.

 

I would pull it, but that’s me. Have pulled more without issue. But, if you can put a WD hitch on it, do it. It will help a great deal. I also run airbags for towing stability - with or without a WD hitch.

I’m sure I’m at odds with the weight police, but when Toyota rates the truck to pull 10k lbs, I believe that is an accurate tow rating and see little reason to knock off the rule of thumb 25% or 40% or 90% or whatever folks say you should derate a factory tow rating by. Sure, you need to have the vehicle and trailer properly equipped and have some experience towing, but the weights you list are well within the Tundras capabilities. I say that not only because a piece of paper says it’s ok but from having towed max and heavy with my truck. Tire pressure and loading the weight properly in the trailer is also key to a stable tow. .

I’ve pulled broken down vehicles on a flatbed for friends and family at about the same weight without a WD hitch, no problem. I’ve also retrieved travel trailers that weigh in that same range. Usually the WD was setup for their vehicle and was hardly functional when installed on my truck but had zero issues with sway, bounce, etc. Airbags were one of the best additions to my vehicle, but it is pretty much never empty and often hitched up. Oh, and I don’t live in the flat lands either.

One of the aforementioned travel trailers that I pulled for someone was giving them fits with swaying and bucking and bouncing all over the place, even with a WD hitch cranked up. I had them move a few things around inside the trailer (not more than 200 lbs of gear) and when we all piled in the tundra they were blown away how rock solid the truck and trailer felt. Part was moving the load around, part was the how I had my truck set up. The WD hitch was barely engaged. I also aired up their trailer tires since they were a little low and the trailer was maxed out on weight with two weeks worth of stuff for 5 people.

 

How often will you be towing that weight? Meaning daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or something in between?

 

Two words… Pay. Load.

 

Check your payload sticker inside the door. What is your truck’s payload?


8,000-9,000 lb trailer is edge of spec for what it can tow.

But, 1,000 lbs of tongue weight, plus you, passengers, whatever other contents of the truck, will almost certainly exceed your payload / GVWR.

It’s more than “possible” yet not at all advisable.

I tow roughly 7,500 lbs with our two half tons (Silverado and Tundra) but for heavy loads we have a couple of Chevy 6.0 gasser 3500 HD trucks to do any real work. Reliable enough engine compared to pretty much any other big three offering and pulls just fine. Good luck.

 

Pretty sure payload is one word. Just sayin…

 

This is really good info my friend, I appreciate it. I've actually pulled this kind of weight a few times from one end of town to the other, without a WDH, and it was fine but not how I want to roll long distance.

I've been pulling fruit for a solid decade with my truck and bigger ones but want to do it right as I will be doing it more often now. Probably looking at ten or so 400 mile trips annually.

This will be 95% highway action out in the middle of eastern Washington state.

 

no kidding?

 

Bingo. Gotta be under GVWR / GCWR to be legal (and likely safe if asking).

 

Hmm yeah my business is small (just me on the production side, no logo on truck) and none of these guys out here pulling fruit have ever talked about the DOT limits with me before. I will certainly have to do some digging on this, thanks for the heads up!

 

First, as a private vehicle the GVWR of the trailer has zero to do with legality on the road unless you live in CA. It's the laden weight that is important, not what you could potentially haul on it. You can hitch a trailer with a 60,000 lb weight rating up to your vehicle and legally pull it around. If you wanted to stay "legal" you just make sure that the trailer weight plus the junk on it doesn't way more than your vehicles towing capacity. But even that is a misnomer as they police don't care to know what your private vehicle's tow rating is; it's the gross combined vehicle weight that they care about (total weight of the tow vehicle and trailer combined). But even that depends on your vehicle tag status: private vs commercial. Private - they couldn't care less.

How much weight you can put on that trailer is a matter of a commercial licensed vehicle vs private vehicle (again, unless you live in a select few states like CA; for example, your pickup is a commercial vehicle in most of CA unless you put a topper or hard tonneau on it. Then you can register it as a private vehicle). As a private hauler, you can pull as much as you want, legally; the police cannot pull you over and ask to scale the vehicle unless they perceive the vehicle and trailer to be unsafe. But even this is subjective and difficult to "prosecute" as they have to be able to prove that the vehicle is unsafe to operate on the road without demanding you be subjected to tests which, as a private hauler, you are not require to participate int. They can request but you are not required to acquiesce. And pulling above what your vehicle is rated for is not a legitimate reason for an officer to ticket you for being unsafe as that, again, is subjective. If there aren't any other associated problems, how can they define "unsafe"? Even if the vehicle is driven by you for your business, if it is not licensed as a commercial vehicle you are not subject to commercial regulations. The state police I've spoken to about it in several states (asked them about some state statutes and such; easy to chat up them up at the local burger shop) say that unless the vehicle suspension is completely bottomed out, throwing sparks, and can't keep stay on the road, they can't pull anybody over for being "overweight". They usually try to find something else to pull you over for if they are concerned - usually bouncing off the lane markers.

I'm sure that somebody will pipe up and say that I am completely wrong and something bad COULD happen and your insurance COULD deny your claim IF you were in an accident yada yada yada. I've never once seen a first hand account relayed of this happening to a private hauler. Commercial hauler - yes. Private, no.

I know several trailer manufactures that rate trailers according to what the trailer registration tax scheme is in the area. They build the same trailer as a 10k hauler in one state, but a 9,999 lb hauler in another. Or a 14k hauler in one state is only a 7k hauler in another. When I say "another state" I really mean CA. But there are a few others.

But this is all digression as the OP is asking about hauling a trailer weight that is well within the spec's and ratings of the Tundra. But I guess I just felt like smashing a few keys before heading back to work. And we know that EVERY trailer towing thread ends in the same thing: YOU CAN'T TOW THAT! YOU'RE GONNA KILL SOMEBODY! BUY A 3/4 TON! OR A 1 TON! OR A MEDIUM DUTY TRUCK! OR A SEMI! CUZ THOSE JET SKI'S WEIGH WAAAAAYYYY MORE THAN YOU THINK ONCE YOU LOAD YOUR SEVENTY THREE CHILDREN AND DOGS AND PETS AND HORSES AND SHEEPS IN THE TRUCK!

 

Ah, censorship. Love it.

 

CA has some amazing views.

So is it possible that depending on how OP loads the trailer, is it possible to keep weight distributed correctly AND not exceed payload?

 

True. Maybe bigger truck or multiple trips are in the future.

 

Have you weighed the trailer? With a WDH you don't just set it and forget it unless the weight on each axle and tongue remain close to the same.
If it was just you in the truck and your trailer weight came in at 9k and your tongue weight carried 10% of that you are really pushing it.

Mine is 9.2K max and I could do it but don't think I would want to on any regular basis, any long distance or over steep hills.

 

Just food for thought BUT why not just upgrade too a "write off" vehicle instead of over working your Tundra...


These can be had for 1/3-1/2 the price of a 3/4 or 1 ton pick-up and will serve your needs forever... No CDL needed as it is under 26,000 GVW and can be written off however you and your "tax player" need it...

Now I did chose the Hino because it is the Tundra's much BIGGER brother but any flatbed would serve you well and keep $$$$ in your pocket.... Tundra and trailer could be kept for "other duties"..

Just my 2 cents