Question...

[HollaGeo]

Hypothetically, you tow a boat/trailer that weighs more than the recommended towing capacity of your car/truck. I'm not talking thousands of pounds, maybe a few hundred. What are the REALISTIC consquences???

 

[roscoe]

Re: Question...

That really depends on the tow vehicle, the weight of the rig, the distance/time, and the terrain..


Small car with a 1000# tow rating towing 1200# for 5 miles on a flat country road, would be much different from the same vehicle towing 1400 miles over the mountains.


Or are we talking a truck with 9600# tow capacity pulling a 10,000# trailer?


Either way, the consequences could be none, or disastrous.

 

[beau262]

Re: Question...

The main consequence is you end up getting dirty looks from drivers who are thinking "DAMN! That guy is overloaded, better get away from him!"

But, just spend a week in Baja to see countless overloaded cars, trucks and trailers going about their business like nothing.
ESPECIALLLLLLY during a Baja Race, guys (mostly from the USA) driving GM / Ford and Dodge trucks WAY WAY WAY overloaded with gear and spare parts, towing a tongue heavy race truck , breaking the speed limit up and down some NASTY hills.

I don't condone it......but I have seen many many people get away without incident for many years in a row.

 

[etracer68]

Re: Question...

Most times the hauling of the load doesnt cause issues, its the stopping of it, that will cause problems.

 

[superbenk]

Re: Question...

There's a couple consequences you could face. Safety has already been brought up & stopping is the key one. Just because it can pull it doesn't mean it can (safely) stop it. Brakes are smaller on weaker tow vehicles and may quickly fade or just not produce enough friction to successfully stop the momentum. Weight of the tow vehicle might be too light meaning traction is lower meaning the load may push the vehicle even when the brakes are fully capable of stopping the wheels from moving, etc. There's legal ramifications too if you cause an accident due to the inability to control your tow vehicle & are found to be over-loaded.

The other side of the coin is damage to the tow vehicle that can get quite costly. Mainly the transmission & drivetrain. They just aren't designed for the stresses involved in towing more than their rating and will age much quicker than normal. I have a friend spending $3k to rebuild his minivan's tranny for this very reason. $3k would go a long way towards a decent down-payment of a proper tow vehicle, but the damage is done.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Question...

I've said it before, but towing is 99% driver, 1% towing vehicle. Its the nut behind the wheel that controls how safe towing is.

A bad/inexperienced driver is dangerous no matter what is attached to the trailer. A 600# jon boat behind a one ton truck with an idiot driving just means he can do more damage!

I've driven overloaded tow rigs before. I've had 1 ton of cargo behind an ATV that weighed 300 pounds. I've had almost 4000 pounds behind my car, rated for 2000. When you are driving in that situation, you drive VASTLY different than you would in other situations. You do normal defensive driving, and multiply it by 100x. I also grew up towing from an early age, with pretty much every vehicle imaginable.

So in general though, outside of driver experience, the big questions are how far, how fast, and how often?

 

[bnicov]

Re: Question...

If you take it easy, you should be fine. You need to leave A LOT of space between you and the other vehicles on the road. BUT, if you get into an accident, you may find your insurance company leaves you high and dry because you were not operating your vehicle legally (over weight). the police may pull you over and either fine you or both fine you and pull you off the road for being overweight. Realistically, it's not worth it. don't take the chance.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Question...

Hypothetically, you tow a boat/trailer that weighs more than the recommended towing capacity of your car/truck. I'm not talking thousands of pounds, maybe a few hundred. What are the REALISTIC consquences???

Oh boy, this is a loaded question but lets factor in some common sense here. The key words are "recommended" and "a few hundred".......recommended is not a magic threshold for destruction. The manufacturer has to factor in too many variables to make an absolute limit. The towing capacity has alot to do with the person driving. Gentle acceleration, safe speeds, longer following distance,proper gear selection,proper use of brakes,etc. The manufacturer has factored in a conservative rating to protect themselves from idiots....remember they have to protect themselves from warranty claims. In Germany the same vehicles have a HIGHER recommended capacity simply because of better drivers. Getting a license over there is not a simple 20 question test that was designed for "Joe the dropout" to pass, you have to prove that you are responsible.

 

[emilsr]

Re: Question...

In Germany the same vehicles have a HIGHER recommended capacity simply because of better drivers. Getting a license over there is not a simple 20 question test that was designed for "Joe the dropout" to pass, you have to prove that you are responsible.

The speed limit when towing is 90kph (50mph), even on sections of autobahn that have no posted limit. That's why TUV rates the towing capacity higher than we do in the states. Here, people regularly pull trailers 70+mph and it takes a lot more tow vehicle to do that.

To the OP; what everyone has said. Stay 2 or 3 mistakes behind the vehicle in front of you and don't drive as you would an unloaded vehicle. The world won't come to an end if you slightly exceed the rated towing capacity. If you're careful (and lucky) you'll probably be fine, but I'd be worried about how the insurance company would see it if God forbid something did happen....even if it was the other driver's fault.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Question...

I used to work for an insurance company. Not once did we deny a claim because someone was overloaded. And yes, rural state, rural communities, people were overloaded ALL THE TIME. People towing heavy loads tended to be in far fewer accidents, ironically.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Question...

If the trailer has brakes that would be way better because that is where your problem will be is stopping, especially in an emergency situation.

I doubt you will hurt your truck, and this is a truck yes, if not I wouldn't do it, a car you can really damage it exceding the load limit and it is damage that can't be fixxed.

 

[JB]

Re: Question...

As load weight increases, so does the risk of an emergency maneuver turning into a crash. If the load exceeds the rating that risk is unacceptable.

If the driver is not professionally trained or very experienced they should not tow anything more than about 70% of rated load.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Question...

In Texas you have to have brakes on certain relationships and must have chains. Problem with chains is that if the boat is bigger than the tow, if it flips it can take you with it.

Was in an emergency stop once with a boat that was about evenly matched to my full size Chev wagon. I had trailer brakes, surge type, and that is the only thing that kept that boat from swapping ends and smashing up against the side of the wagon...roads were wet.

If the "Weights and Measures" division of the Texas DOT spots you he may invite you to a weight checking and the results could mean a Red Tag on your windshield meaning nothing moves from the spot till the problem is corrected.....some cities here have siimilar checkers run by the city or county sheriff's dept.

And then there is the accident where you injure or kill someone and that can get really nasty besides what you wind up with on your conscience.

Not worth it.

My 2c,

Mark