5500 lbs on 7K trailer?

Been wanting a trailer for a long time. Both of my utility tractors weight around 5500 lbs with weights and tires loaded. I know that is a bit more than 2 3500 lb axles are rated for. Can I get away with it? There are so many decent used 7K trailers around, and hardly anything bigger.


Tim
 
I would bet your trailer is about a ton or more, so you are already overweight, move up to 10,000.
 
I would not be too concerned if not traveling long distances. The wheel bearings on a 3500 lb axle is the weak link. They burn themselves out at interstate speeds when heavily loaded. Contrary to a lot of peoples thoughts, tires are also the big limiting factor. I have 4 trailers. My 25ft gooseneck has 2 7000# axles. It is hard to find 4 tires when running single that will be rated to carry 14,000 Lbs. That said. I haul 10,000 to 12,000 lbs. on it quite often.
 
A lot would depend on the truck you are pulling it with. If you're truck can carry a good bit of tongue weight, that reduce the strain on trailer axles. Light truck with, say, 90% of weight on trailer, trailer wil be maxed out plus some
 
Weighted utility tractors sounds like a commercial operation. You may regret going too light with an overloaded 7K trailer. That may also explain why so many 7ks are available. Good trailers bring 75 plus percent of new cost, are you sure a new 10K trailer is really a lot more expensive than a used 7K? You may want to add implements or a front end loader to the load in the future.
 
That depends a little. A trailer with 3500lb axles has a capacity of 7500-8000lbs gross weight depending on coupler and tow vehicle. If it is an angle iron frame utility trailer it could weigh in at 1500lbs. That would leave 6,000-6500lb of actual payload. Again that depends on the trailer, so weigh the trailer. If you do get one, make sure the bearings are greased correctly and the brakes work right and get load range E LT radial tires on it. Also make sure the suspension is not worn out, that frequently is a problem on older trailers that gets overlooked and is the most common cause for bent axles as it allows the axle to hit the frame. Also make sure you are hooked correctly so that the trailer pulled level when loaded.
 

How do you get a gross weight of 8000lb out of a trailer running two 3500lb cap axles?
Is that the newest math?

The way some of the tandem 3500lb axle trailers are built, I would not want to haul 4 or 5k on them.

Cheap made sells for cheap for a reason, new or used.
 
to get the actual capacity of a
trailer you add the axle capacity and
the hitch capacity then subtract the
empty trailer weight. So all couplers
on a 7k trailer will hold 500lbs, some
will hold 1,000lbs. So you get 7k from
the axle plus 500-1,000 lbs from the
coupler, more from some equalizer
hitches. I don't make judgements on if
he should or should not haul, I just
give the real, accurate info and let
them make the decision.
 
Thanks for the input. I am pulling with a Toyota Tundra, so tongue weight would be an issue. I'll go back to my original idea to find a 10K trailer.

Tim
 
(quoted from post at 09:35:24 07/29/18) Thanks for the input. I am pulling with a Toyota Tundra, so tongue weight would be an issue. I'll go back to my original idea to find a 10K trailer.

Tim

Toyota Tundra? You might want to rethink that also.
 
(quoted from post at 07:36:03 07/30/18)
(quoted from post at 09:35:24 07/29/18) Thanks for the input. I am pulling with a Toyota Tundra, so tongue weight would be an issue. I'll go back to my original idea to find a 10K trailer.

Tim

Toyota Tundra? You might want to rethink that also.

Not to be argumentative, but I am not sure about your qualms for a Toyota Tundra in this application. Additionally, when you step up to a 14k trailer, now you have extra trailer weight and in many states, a much different truck/trailer registration requirement. It costs me a lot more per year to tow my 14k than it did my 10k.

To the OP, for a 5500# tractor, a 10k trailer is a better purchase. Thats why so many 7k are available but the 10k get scooped up quickly. My Nissan Titan with a 10k trailer hauled my 5500# John Deere A perfectly fine. Anything smaller than 10k and you'll be pushing your limits. I think that approach would be a nice fit and gives you room for other items. For repeated use, I always try to stay within 10-15% of my ratings (as an engineer, I developed personal design standards).
 
From what I have read the Tundra is a 3/4 ton and is rated 10,300 towing cap. and a Ford the same size can tow a little over 3,000 lbs more
than a Tundra.
 
If I read his question right he has 2 - 5,500 lb. tractors which is 11,000 lbs. total and that's without the weight of the trailer, chains,
binders, spare tire and what ever else that maybe added to trailer. If he's hauling one at a time he is ok both if he wants to haul both at
same time he will need a trailer bigger than a 10,000lb.
 

Tim, you need to be a little more specific about what you mean by "get away with it" It can be interpreted as "you can drive by a DOT inspector and he won't chase you" or "The jury will say: He didn't really want to run over that kid when he couldn't stop."
 
One 5500 pound tractor on a 7K trailer only leaves 1500 pounds for the trailer (doubtful) plus the hold downs and anything else carried on the trailer.
 
it leaves 2000-2500lbs for trailer and incidentals. You forgot to add the coupler capacity. With his tundra that is likely closer to the 500lb mark, so he has 2,000lbs for trailer. Still very close tho.
 
Looking up the gvwr on the tundra, ram 2500, Chevy 2500 and ford F250: tundra not 3/4 ton. Dodge Durango rated very close to tundra in gvwr.
 
The factories only say 7,000# on a 2 axle 3,500# axle trailer, no more and mine as a new trailer in 15 that figures to 5,500# and that is twice what it is safe to haul. The older one I had that got wrecked from a stop sign runner, that older trailer was heavier built and carried a max load of 5,250# and %,000# was a full load on it. They are supposed to balance out at a hundred pounds on hitch so if it has a thousand pound rated hitch it does not increase the allowed load as load weight is only based on the axles.
 

I've got a 7000 GN utility trailer that I've hauled a couple of smaller 4500-6000lb tractors on, I didn't buy the trailer for that purpose and wouldn't want to use it for that purpose full time.
The lighter capacity 15" tires that normally come on these trailers don't hold up well, the suspension bottoms out easily and the smaller brakes are far less than desirable.
For a few dollars more you can get a 8-9000 trailer with better tires and brakes plus the suspension and frame will carry a load better making for a more comfortable trip.
 
They were already on scene as a first responder .. 😂😂😂 see showcrops comment above 😂🤣😃
 
First off, a Tundra is no "3/4 ton" truck. It's competitive with the F150 and GM/RAM 1500 models. However, it is a capable truck, and with the heavy towing options, can handle an 8000lb trailer well enough. You wouldn't do it with the little V6 and 3.08 axle ratio, but the big V8 and 4.30 (IIRC) axle ratio that comes in the towing package will have plenty of power. Brakes are all about how you maintain them. Tundras have excellent brakes from the factory, but you wouldn't want to be towing an 8000lb load very far without functioning trailer brakes as well.

Trailers are rated based on their combined axle ratings, because tongue weight is variable. I'm sure there's some Federal law governing this, but you can't honestly claim a trailer with two 3500lb axles has a 9000lb GVWR, because very few hitch receivers are capable of handling a 2000lb tongue weight.

Conversely, you CAN use the truck to carry some weight and "overload" the trailer. TECHNICALLY if you load the tractor so the truck is carrying 1000lbs on the tongue and each axle is carrying 3500lbs, you can load that "7000 GVWR" trailer up to 8000lbs gross, and you would not be exceeding any ratings except the GVWR of the trailer. The problem is getting the weights balanced correctly without a scale. Not to mention you're STILL right on the edge of the limits of everything, and when you're doing that the tires have to be up to snuff, brakes up to snuff, everything right up to snuff. You wouldn't want to do this with an old used trailer that has seen better days.

Is it a death trap? It could be but probably not. Even the sketchiest of rigs makes it there and back the vast majority of the time. When failures do occur, they are generally the "flat tire on the side of the road" type of failure, not the "flaming fireball bouncing down the road obliterating busloads of nuns and orphans."

DOT should be the least of your worries. If you look good, DOT isn't going to bother you. You're under 26001lbs and hauling your own personal property. You're not commercial. You can legally roll right on past the inspection stations. Just don't tow a junky looking trailer with bad tires and pieces falling off, make sure all the lights work, and strap/chain everything down. Make it look like you know what you are doing, and you'll be fine.

Personally, I would look for the next size up trailer, but it's up to you.
 
That% was supposed to be a 5 as in 5,000 lbs. You load to max and you run risk of bending frame or hitch. When you see the hitch-frame bending as you drive down road you are overloaded and that would be the way my newer trailer is with only 3,000 pounds on it. And is a 7,000 pound rated trailer with a manufacture rating for 5,500 pound load. unsafe at half that. My loads run under 2,000# on that trailer.
 
You might want to take into consideration the tire capacity. We got pulled over one time and the officer looked at the tire ratings to determine if we were over weight. My 14,000 lb rated trailer with 2 7000 lb axles wood need at least tires rated to 3500 lbs each according to the officer.
 
In towing capacity The tundra is up to 10,200lbs. and Ram 250 starts out at about 9,500lbs. for a 3/4 ton truck. So the tow package tundra is
a light weight 3/4 ton truck.
 
You try figuring a 7000# trailer and comming up with that 8000# figure could get you a date with the Judge, not legal for that.
 

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