Pickup trucks and trailers....

Just at the big annual horsy event for germany.....
Among the many opportunities to art with your money was American pickup trucks. Thing that caught the eye was a package consisting of a new dodge 1500 and a 4 horse gooseneck trailer... few other BIG trucks there in ford and chevy all 150 or 1500 series. AND pricey.. Went out back of the buildings and there were several big goosenecks that brought in the cattle, horses, and other equipment and nothing bigger than a 1500 series....

You still awake?

So far...... 10 more hours on the shift, and I'll catch up this evening I hope......

Be carefull lack of sleep can realy s crew you up long term. have a good short day

Why are they proposing such light trucks?
I don't believe manufacturers recommend that much weight for those trucks.

(quoted from post at 02:59:53 09/05/11) Why are they proposing such light trucks?
I don't believe manufacturers recommend that much weight for those trucks.

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I don't know, but the german laws on vehicle/trailers are pretty strict.... I'll try to find some of the literature they were passing out and see what it says..... the trucks/trailers outside were workers tho and the 1500's pulling the big trailers was real....

A "4 horse" trailer is not that big of a pull on the newer half tons - especially if they are goose necks. The new F150 is rate 11,000 pounds plus in towing - with a receiver hitch. Turn that into a gooseneck and its got it covered.

15 years ago that was the rating on a F250.

dave2's life is a lonesome one, his only real life is Yesterdays Tractors

And to think they're the small trucks here. A 4 horse trailer is only 20'. I've seen 36' tri axle livestock trailers for 1 ton trucks. Did you not say one time that people pull a small horse trailer or something with a Passat? Would NEVER happen here.

2 friends pull their trailers one with a passat wagon and the other with an Audi A6.

At the price of fuel I sure would hate to fill one of those trucks up over there. I have an F 250 Super Duty diesal and it is like paying the nat debt if I let it get below half.

it might be several reasons, with all the modern "improvements" that newer trucks have in designe and horsepower, a new 1/2 ton will do what a 3/4 ton used to do, also from pictures ive seen over there the country is more settled and the places are not as far apart as out here in the american west, [ there are still places here where one can drive 100 miles and not see anyone except other cars] also a larger 3/4 or 1 ton may or may not be concidered a "truck" and taxed differently too , as for me, i prefer trucks from the 80;s and earlier, easy to work on parts are everywhere, cheap and reliable, no computers to cause problems at the worst possible time, like 40 miles out in the boonies, ect

(quoted from post at 08:33:11 09/05/11) it might be several reasons, with all the modern "improvements" that newer trucks have in designe and horsepower, a new 1/2 ton will do what a 3/4 ton used to do, also from pictures ive seen over there the country is more settled and the places are not as far apart as out here in the american west, [ there are still places here where one can drive 100 miles and not see anyone except other cars] also a larger 3/4 or 1 ton may or may not be concidered a "truck" and taxed differently too , as for me, i prefer trucks from the 80;s and earlier, easy to work on parts are everywhere, cheap and reliable, no computers to cause problems at the worst possible time, like 40 miles out in the boonies, ect

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In this area, right of way roads thru forest and fields are better (not necessarily paved) than some countyand township roads back home..... rest is pretty much what you said, and vehicles are taxed by weight and size among other things.

Yea ya see a lot of that. As for myself Ain't no way i would pull much more then a 16 foot boat with a half ton. at one time i pulled a small 310 G case dozer with a 3/4 ton ford on a tri axle trailer that was more or less a bumper pull ( pintel hitch) , i learned a lot with that one (1) truck not big enough even with a 390 4 bbl . 4 speed with 4.10 gears and detroit locker . good brakes on trailer . electric brakes DO fail and truck does not have enough brakes to stop everything. Moved up to gooseneck much better handling But still electric brakes and again IF a magnet shorts out truck still does not have enough brakes. Moved up to a one ton with bigger brakes and dual rear wheels much better handling and a lot heavier tow vehicle . Ya probably got the idea that i do not trust electric brakes. I have had to many failures with them . Had a brake failure on my tandem dual one time a long way from home where on magnet shorted and with the short none of the other three worked . Found the short but could not find parts so cut the bad one out of the system . Well on the way home as i was going thru In. i lots everything , i was close to Elkhart and i went wright to Dexter just to get the parts i needed . Nice people there when they found out that i had a major problem they had me pull the truck and trailer and load into there service dept. and THEY pulled the wheels and drums off and replaced all the magnets and wiring . AT NO CHARGE and all i wanted was to buy new magnets . But i learned something and this come from there head man that the electric brake was not designed to STOP YOU it was designed to slow you down and that YOUR TRUCK BRAKES were what was suppose to STOP you. Back then he told me that if i wanted a trailer brake system that WAS designed to stop you then i should upgrade my trailer to Vac/ hyd. brakes or AIR .

I worry more about stopping than pulling. I have a 3/4 ton and will not use anything smaller to tow a trailer.

True, 1/2 ton trucks today can be optioned up to what the 3/4 tons used to be. We Tested the brakes on the F150's to 8200 lbs (max optioned load). Plain 1/2 tons are around 6200ish I think.

Things are WAY different in Europe.

Tow and payload ratings are a LOT higher for the same vehicle in Europe. Many vehicles that have tiny (e.g. ~1200lbs) or nonexistent tow ratings in the USA have pretty significant tow ratings in Europe.

The VW Jetta is one of them... A friend of mine has a 2009 model with a USA tow rating of 1200lbs. IIRC it has a 3500lb tow rating in Europe. SAME EXACT CAR.

I would bet those pickups have payload ratings of 2000-3000lbs and tow ratings of 15000lbs. They're the SAME F-150s as we get here, which only have 1200-1500lb payload ratings and 11000lb tow ratings.

One major factor in this is the distance and speed. Here in the USA you can travel hundreds of miles at 65-75MPH on a daily basis. Everything is a lot closer together in Europe when you're doing your daily business, and the speed limits are generally slower.

Liability is another big difference. Here in the USA you're afraid to breathe wrong because someone will sue you. God help you if you're in an accident where the other guy gets hurt. If you're lucky your insurance will cover the lawsuit and kick you to the street like a rotten potato...

In Europe people don't seem all that concerned about liability for some reason...

(quoted from post at 07:05:20 09/06/11) Things are WAY different in Europe.

Tow and payload ratings are a LOT higher for the same vehicle in Europe. Many vehicles that have tiny (e.g. ~1200lbs) or nonexistent tow ratings in the USA have pretty significant tow ratings in Europe.

The VW Jetta is one of them... A friend of mine has a 2009 model with a USA tow rating of 1200lbs. IIRC it has a 3500lb tow rating in Europe. SAME EXACT CAR.

I would bet those pickups have payload ratings of 2000-3000lbs and tow ratings of 15000lbs. They're the SAME F-150s as we get here, which only have 1200-1500lb payload ratings and 11000lb tow ratings.

One major factor in this is the distance and speed. Here in the USA you can travel hundreds of miles at 65-75MPH on a daily basis. Everything is a lot closer together in Europe when you're doing your daily business, and the speed limits are generally slower.

Liability is another big difference. Here in the USA you're afraid to breathe wrong because someone will sue you. God help you if you're in an accident where the other guy gets hurt. If you're lucky your insurance will cover the lawsuit and kick you to the street like a rotten potato...

In Europe people don't seem all that concerned about liability for some reason...

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In Germany, trucks over 7.5 ton have a speed limit of 80kmh (48mph), same with passenger vehicles pulling a trailer (exceptions 10 60mph with some hassle). Roads aremuch better and not the mountains that is in the States. Could all be part of it. The liability thing could be because pretty much anything you do is covered by insurance of some kind anyway....