Help with truck capabilities
Hello all, Can my truck pull this? I am new to the travel trailer world and am currently looking at purchasing a Jayco Eagle 324 BTS. This trailer is about 36 ft long and has a dry hitch weight...
Forum Discussion
SolidAxleDurango wrote:No fear mongering here - I was personally involved with two cases where drivers in accidents were found "negligent" due to overloading, one of them was found guilty of "criminal negligence causing death". He was somewhere north of 1500# over payload of a 1/2 ton!
Please stop with the fear-mongering.
It doesn't matter if you are carrying a paperclip, or an Abrams tank on your trailer..... If someone THINKS you're negligent, they can file a civil suit against you.... Even if you're declared "not guilty"... Ask OJ.. LOL
Don't ask for minute details - I no longer have any as it was long before I retired, and that was 11 years ago!
My involvement was in providing the lawyers the weight specs of the trucks so they could go to court and say "the vehicle was never tested nor certified to carry the load in question".
Open and shut at that point apparently.
Does it happen often? - Hard to tell as such cases are normally not simply a charge of overloading, most times those figures simply add fuel to the charges that have already been laid. In the cases I'm referencing the charges were increased to negligence because of the overloading.
Hopefully such situations are rare, but don't say never.
My basic message is quite simple: stay within the Manufacturer's specs and you avoid all potential litigation situations that exceeding the ratings could cause.
