Double Towing

[eHoefler]

Looking for input on those who currently tow doubles or have towed doubles. Especially if you have been over lentgh, 65">. Have you had any experience with law enforcement, and the results.

[laknox]

One of the things to read carefully in State regs is =how= they measure. Some states will give you X feet from front bumper to rear axle, then give you another Y feet of "overhang" beyond that. I've seen some regs where you have 65' bumper to rear axle, then 10' of "overhang", for a total measured OAL of 75'. Other states just have an OAL of X feet front bumper to rear bumper.

Lyle

[4x4ord]

I haven't been taped yet but now I'm nervous. I have a tandem enclosed motorcycle trailer that pulls very nicely behind our 5ver but it puts me about a foot over length. I was thinking that would never be an issue. Maybe I better think again. I could build a lift for the back of the trailer. My bike weighs about 800lbs so with the weight of the lift I would end up with little pin weight. I would be legal but dangerous unless I add a third axle to the trailer.

[rkortes]

Gregk55 wrote:
Unfortunately I am one that was caught over length and ticketed. I was 67 feet and driving below the speed limit. A weights and measures trooper got me in Wichita Falls Texas. Not good. Screwed up the start of a long planned vacation. He told me to correct the situation before moving. He did although let met drive to a nearby RV Park and determine how I would handle the delima. I would not do it as you will constantly be worrying every time you see a LEO.

My two cents.

Sorry for coming to the party late, but if I'm reading this correctly the LEO was causing you all of this grief over two feet?? Wow!

[campinghut]

Gregk55 wrote:
OK. Hate to say this but we sat and pondered what to do. The options were few. We were 8 hours from home. The LEO said I had three options. Disconnect and leave the Razor on side of the road. Or he would escort us to a convenience store and we could leave it there or he would escort us to a near by RV park and we could call someone to come and pick up the second trailer with the Razor.

I now have a Idaho Tote Trailer that loads from the side and I am legal. Never again.

Not to be that guy but in British Columbia Canada they still call an Idaho Tote a second trailer and will not let you continue with both.

[mapguy]

Gregk55 wrote:
OK. Hate to say this but we sat and pondered what to do. The options were few. We were 8 hours from home. The LEO said I had three options. Disconnect and leave the Razor on side of the road. Or he would escort us to a convenience store and we could leave it there or he would escort us to a near by RV park and we could call someone to come and pick up the second trailer with the Razor.

We were on the way to Colorado where they have a 70ft law. We got up the next morning and left the RV park at 4:30 am and drove out of the way via two lane hwy to Oklahoma and then on into Colorado. I felt like a bank robber. Not a good situation at all. On the way home we took the Second trailer to a relatives house in Oklahoma and went back and picked it up months later. It was a night mare.

I now have a Idaho Tote Trailer that loads from the side and I am legal. Never again.

That same situation will happen in Washington State. Seen it on I-90 many times between Bellevue and North Bend as I travel this road regularly.

[laknox]

Gregk55 wrote:
OK. Hate to say this but we sat and pondered what to do. The options were few. We were 8 hours from home. The LEO said I had three options. Disconnect and leave the Razor on side of the road. Or he would escort us to a convenience store and we could leave it there or he would escort us to a near by RV park and we could call someone to come and pick up the second trailer with the Razor.

We were on the way to Colorado where they have a 70ft law. We got up the next morning and left the RV park at 4:30 am and drove out of the way via two lane hwy to Oklahoma and then on into Colorado. I felt like a bank robber. Not a good situation at all. On the way home we took the Second trailer to a relatives house in Oklahoma and went back and picked it up months later. It was a night mare.

I now have a Idaho Tote Trailer that loads from the side and I am legal. Never again.

That's just an a-hole LEO, IMO, looking for money to feed the coffers. It's friggin' =Texas=; BIG country. They =do= have discretion...if they =choose= to use it.

Lyle

[Gregk55]

OK. Hate to say this but we sat and pondered what to do. The options were few. We were 8 hours from home. The LEO said I had three options. Disconnect and leave the Razor on side of the road. Or he would escort us to a convenience store and we could leave it there or he would escort us to a near by RV park and we could call someone to come and pick up the second trailer with the Razor.

We were on the way to Colorado where they have a 70ft law. We got up the next morning and left the RV park at 4:30 am and drove out of the way via two lane hwy to Oklahoma and then on into Colorado. I felt like a bank robber. Not a good situation at all. On the way home we took the Second trailer to a relatives house in Oklahoma and went back and picked it up months later. It was a night mare.

I now have a Idaho Tote Trailer that loads from the side and I am legal. Never again.

[Wadcutter]

packnrat wrote:
just get a class A non commercial with doubles endorsement.
you would be legal in ALL 50 states.
canada ? pending there rv laws.
mexico? do they even have any law?
do not excede the weight or length laws and have fun.

Who told you that? Not even close to being true, other than "do not excede (sic) the weight and length laws".
Each state can set their own tow laws. You obey the laws in the state in which you are currently driving.

[packnrat]

just get a class A non commercial with doubles endorsement.
you would be legal in ALL 50 states.
canada ? pending there rv laws.
mexico? do they even have any law?
do not excede the weight or length laws and have fun.

[travelnutz]

QUOTE:

"Recreational doubles are not allowed in some states and I do know that here in Michigan you must have a Recreational doubles endorsement on your license."

Only have to have an "R" (Recreational Double Endorsement) on your drivers license if your drivers license is issued in Michigan aa that is your state of residency. All it takes to get the endorsement is read the DMV little pamphlet and take the very easy commonsense test and pass it and you get the endorsement. Cost is a couple bucks.

If you live in any other state and have valid drivers license, you may double tow in Michigan without the Michigan endorsement.

Wife and I have had ours since 1992 and you do not have to retake the test when renewing your drivers license as they ask you if you want to keep the endorsement and you only need to reply "yes".

Our double tow rig (Crew Cab long box truck, 29' 5th wheel, 16-1/2' boat) measures 64' 11" as I had to cut 14" off the boat trailer tongue to keep it under 65'. Last time we actually double towed was in the summer of 2015.

Only stopped once in all those years and was measured and that was on Long Key in the Florida Keys by a Monroe County Sheriff in 1996. "He said we look awfully long" and then he took the wheel out of his patrol car trunk and rolled our length and then asked me if I knew how long we were? I said, 64' 11", and he said "have a nice day" and left! Double tow was totally legal in Florida in 1996. That same rig was towed thru 13 states without ant issues ever. Never personally heard of anyone else actually being stopped and measured with a double tow RV rig.

Yes, we have towed illegal at 72 feet long about half a dozen times in Michigan all the way to the Upper Peninsula when we towed our 3 axle 36' Carriage 5th wheel on the same size truck with the same boat behind but never was stopped or measured. 7' over the max legal length. We do see a lot of over length RV rigs on the roads and don't see them being stopped.

[dwayneb236]

As an officer I would honestly not measure a double tow, unless it was ridiculously long and unsafe looking. Other than that, if they are driving safely and there are no other issues, they fine with me.

But I'm just a regular patrol unit and not traffic. They get a bit serious on occasion.

[gkainz]

Gregk55 wrote:
Unfortunately I am one that was caught over length and ticketed. I was 67 feet and driving below the speed limit. A weights and measures trooper got me in Wichita Falls Texas. Not good. Screwed up the start of a long planned vacation. He told me to correct the situation before moving. He did although let met drive to a nearby RV Park and determine how I would handle the delima. I would not do it as you will constantly be worrying every time you see a LEO.

My two cents.

So, what did you have to do to correct the situation?

Another Greg K ...

[Gregk55]

Unfortunately I am one that was caught over length and ticketed. I was 67 feet and driving below the speed limit. A weights and measures trooper got me in Wichita Falls Texas. Not good. Screwed up the start of a long planned vacation. He told me to correct the situation before moving. He did although let met drive to a nearby RV Park and determine how I would handle the delima. I would not do it as you will constantly be worrying every time you see a LEO.

My two cents.

[azdryheat]

I must say that I've never heard from anyone who ever got pulled over to have their length checked. An acquaintance had a custom built 18-wheeler enclosed car hauler that was over length and never got taped.

One requirement AZ has is that the front trailer must be a 5th wheel.

Since you brought it up; Yeah, I've seen a bank robber pulled over. It was me doing the traffic stop.