maximum legal weight with a 3/4 ton

Clubbs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Location
Blounts Creek
So I have my eye on a trailer that combined with my truck and stuff on the trailer I could probably gross over 26k pounds. In fact I think the combined gvwr of the truck and trailer is over the 26k limit. Not that I ever plan to haul that much, but if the trailer is registered for say 28k gvwr. Can I legally tow it with my 05 2500 cummins as long as I actually stay under the 26k weight limit? For example:

my truck weighs 8600 pounds, trailer weight 4k pounds, trucks on the trailer weigh 10k pounds. So total actual weight is 22600. And the trailer is registered at 28k pounds. I have a weighted tag for 26k pounds. Is this legal? if not why not?

Can I ever legally tow over 26000 pounds with my 2500 even if I have a class A license? I guess my biggest question is if the trailer is registered for more than 26k pounds can I legally tow it as long as I don't actaully gross over 26k pounds when loaded. Essentially I don't want to buy a trailer that I can't legal haul around.

Sorry if this is a repost I searched through 10 pages of the tow rig section looking for an answer. thanks for the help.

Dave
 
Two things: 1. you can only legally tow what the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) shows on your vehicle. Very doubtful it is 26k, probably down near 20k. 2. You only get a 500# "grace" on your weighted tag, so if you are 500#, or more, over your tag you will get a ticket.
 
Solution is get a 5th wheel camper with a drop back door/ramp that you can drive your bubby/truggy/jeep up into.


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You can't legally tow more than the GCWR, but I seriously doubt if you will get pulled over, but if you do (in my case) they just checked that my license was sufficient for the rating on the truck and trailer combined and sent me on my way without weighing it which I know I was way over. I know several people that have bought a real stout trailer like the 28k gvwr your talking about and they just take the tag for the trailer and have it stamped at a lower gvwr to meet regulations so as long as you don't get weighed when the officer checks your license and registration and everything there is ok he will probably just send you on your way. I pulled a gooseneck trailer hauling chickens with our ton dodges and total weight loaded on the scale at the feedmill was 32,500 and the tags where only for 26k but like I said I never got weighed and my tags and license lined up so the 2 times I got pulled he said your good, have a nice day. but just my .02
 
Everybody says "you can't tow more than the GCVWR"... but... go see if you can find a combined gross weight limit on your door sticker anywhere. It's not there.

They changed the rules on C license limitations several years ago. You can tow anything up to 26k gross combined on a regular license, regardless of trailer weight.

However, I've heard several different descriptions of how they determine the combined gross number. Some sources say they add the truck gross and the trailer gross. So your 2500 with a 9k gross limit could only tow a 17k gross trailer. Other sources say it goes by curb weight and vehicle tag limits. Back when I drove trucks, we'd take a 30k or 32k straight truck and tag it at 26k so that anybody could drive it.

I don't think you want to get into having an A license and commercial tags on your pickup. That's going to be a pain.

One other option you might look into.... is say.... buying some scrap steel that's vaguely in the shape of a trailer, using it to build your own home-built trailer, and titling your new trailer at whatever max that you'll need. No worries if it's got dually tandems under it... it'll just be a little overbuilt.
 
good insight so far. I called the raleigh DMV today, and they said all I needed to do was have a tag that covered the weight I was pulling, but when I asked about combined gvwr she sounded pretty confused. Maybe I'll pay a visit to the local hwy trooper office and ask there???

Any idea if there is a limit to the number of axles I can have on my trailer? In case I find a deal on a triple axle trailer.

Is all this stuff in writing somewhere?

Dave
 
so, on the back of a class C liscense it says: "Any noncommercial single vehicle with a GVWR of less than 26001 lbs. A vehicle towing a vehicle which has a combined GVWR of less than 26001 lbs."
 
this gets asked seems like once a week now..

two separate issues in play.

1) what you paid for on your weighted tag. This is your total rolling weight, truck and trailer.
2) what vehicle class your in, weights, GCWR, ABC, XYZ etc..
As Shawn said they remove the 10k trailer class restriction few years back.

Regardless of what your actually doing make sure you cover it with the weighted tag.
Otherwise stay under 26k total and you should be fine, assuming you don't look sketch rolling down the road. Also with what your describing I'd also carry a copy of the DMV/DOT document if you go out of state.
 
yager said:
this gets asked seems like once a week now..
two separate issues in play.
Regardless of what your actually doing make sure you cover it with the weighted tag.
Otherwise stay under 26k total and you should be fine, assuming you don't look sketch rolling down the road. Also with what your describing I'd also carry a copy of the DMV/DOT document if you go out of state.
Click to expand...

^^ This


I've researched this to death, and the best people to call is not the DMV, but your DOT troopers, I've spoken with both in NC/SC and received the same information. He told me that the sticker in your door is essentially a mattress tag. He told me that he won't even look at it (there was a single axle weight limit, but it wasn't even a weight that you would ever see in a consumer grade vehicle). He stated that as long as I was tagged for the weight and under 26,000lbs I would be obeying the letter of the law.
If you're still interested, I have all 15 pages of the statutes, the troopers name in both states, along with their mobile numbers, and a recorded conversation on my cell phone. If I was going to get a ticket, I was going to have proof of my case.


Blasted Type A personality....
 
26k tag for my truck is 403$ a year.
Horse is dead now.
And decayed.
 
hadfield4wd said:
This thread makes me glad I live in VA. Much less to worry about. No special tags.
Click to expand...

VA has pretty much the same setup as NC. They just don't enforce it. If the DMV figures out how much 'revenue' they're missing out on because of trucks riding around on passenger car tags, that will change.

That's basically what happened here.
 
If there's money to be made, I know NC is on top of it. :shaking: I have over twice my GCWR for a '72 F250 on my tags. And feel comfortable hauling it? It had that amount on the tags before I bought it and it's sat for 12 years. I'm all new to this and only relaying what I know. And with age...:lol: It's best to not ask questions. :beer:
 
I spoke with the motor carrier dept of the hwy patrol today. Very freindly and very informative. I explained what I wanted to do and went through some scenarios here's how it went:

Since my truck has a gvwr of 9000 I can legally tow a trailer with a gvwr of 17,000 pounds with my class C license.

I cannot have a trailer with a gvwr of greater than 17000 as stated by the original manufacturer of the trailer even if I register it for less than 17000.

the tag on my truck must be "weighted" for the gross amount I am actually carrying.

The GCWR of my truck is a mystery number and is not used for any purpose.

If I am weighed each axle must be under its intended gawr.

If I wanted to pull over 26001 pounds I would need a Class A license and since I won't have air brakes I won't need any endorsement and could take the driving test with my own truck and trailer.

So pretty much the smaller the truck the bigger the trailer you can pull... sounds backwards but its all dealing with the class C weight limit on the driver's license not on the equipment your using. He admitted this was backwards and they are looking at changing it so the drivers license and the equipment determines the weight... not sure if or when that will happen.

Now back to trailer shopping....

Keep the post coming and I'll update as I find new info. I'll search for a weight ticket thread and if there isn't one I'll start one so we can all pitch in and describe first hand experiences with weight tickets to help each other avoid mistakes and be safe, legal, and so on.

Dave
 
SUVs are subject to the same trailer weight limits as anything else. RVs might be, that's less clear. But if you can afford the RV that can tow a 17k gooseneck, I suspect you're not particularly sensitive to the cost difference in license plates vs. a truck.
 
Shawn said:
SUVs are subject to the same trailer weight limits as anything else. RVs might be, that's less clear. But if you can afford the RV that can tow a 17k gooseneck, I suspect you're not particularly sensitive to the cost difference in license plates vs. a truck.
Click to expand...
I just meant not having to deal with the weighted tags.
 
So I bought my trailer:

IMG-20111119-00066.jpg
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The VIN plate says the GVWR is 13142 but the GAWR is 10,000 pounds each. So I asked the previous owner about it and he said he did that so he didn't have to get a CDL. I'm going to try and sort that out so that the vin tag says its a 20,000 gvwr trailer and get a CDL A license. But while researching my options I've been reading NC chapter 20 and it says is section 118.1 that any vehicle with a gvwr or gcvwr over 10,000 pounds must enter weigh stations, only exception is horse trailers. Do any of you enter weigh stations while hauling your rigs???

Dave
 
That's all about apportioned plates and rules for commercial carriers. You're not hauling commercially. Keep your gross combined weight under 26k.
 
If you have a DOT # on the side of your rig, you have to pull into the weigh station. Otherwise you are good to go assuming you are just pulling non-commercially
 
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