Even the pros have their moments!

[Francesca_Knowl]

All of us have our momentary lapses...but fiver owners especially will likely best appreciate this "oops"!



Pic from my SECOND favorite website, Say "No" to Bonehead Truckers

[kellertx5er]

Had to be the WFCo converter in the trailer.

[PastorCharlie]

I saw a RVer pull his nice large 5th wheeler out of camp sight the other day and drop it into his truck bed. That is why we need a Savior, to save us from ourselves. We are prone to make mistakes.

[cdlaine]

Dak...

Exactly why I do not want to be quick to judge the "pro" in
the OP. That could very easily be me.

Charles

[DRM796]

I think he was leaving in a hurry because he did not clean up after his dog.

[dakonthemountai]

Ok. I will admit it. I DID THIS with my friend's fiver. I was full timing years ago and he was next to me in a park (without a truck) and asked me to take his rig to the dealer for work. To this day I don't know what happened or how, but as I pulled away down came his 36' Teton double slide fiver. I was mortified!!!! The trailer was FINE!... BUT my beautiful 1 year old 1992 GMC extended cab duall with all the bells and whistles had 2 BIG dents in the bed rails where the trailer landed. They were there until the day I sold it... I'm baffled to this day how it happened. I'm always known as "Mr. Safety" and "Mr Check it Twice"!!.... NOBODY is infallible ! 🙂

Dak

[noteven]

spoon059 wrote:

R12RTee wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
Obvious case of TAIL WAGGING THE DOG here. That trailer probably weighs in excess of 80,000 lbs and the tow vehicle probably only weighs 15,000 lbs.

Its not safe in a half ton or a class 8 to have a trailer outweigh your truck... you can only safely do that with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

Forgive me, I don't know how to find the sarcasm font.

80,000 lbs would be the total weight of the tractor and trailer. Weight in trailer is generally less than 50,000 lbs.

Regardless... still talking a 3 to 1 weight ratio.

Its deadly, its unsafe, its stupid, its hazardous, etc if you did that with a half ton.

But towing a 5er with a half ton just to get groceries is overkill.

Its perfectly reasonable in any other type of truck thou...?

But towing a 5er with a half ton just to get groceries is overkill

[Gonzo42]

Well, I can get the front of the trailer under the bridge now, but...




How is the world ruled and how do wars start? Diplomats tell lies to journalists and then believe what they read. --- Karl Kraus

[spoon059]

R12RTee wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
Obvious case of TAIL WAGGING THE DOG here. That trailer probably weighs in excess of 80,000 lbs and the tow vehicle probably only weighs 15,000 lbs.

Its not safe in a half ton or a class 8 to have a trailer outweigh your truck... you can only safely do that with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

Forgive me, I don't know how to find the sarcasm font.

80,000 lbs would be the total weight of the tractor and trailer. Weight in trailer is generally less than 50,000 lbs.

Regardless... still talking a 3 to 1 weight ratio.

Its deadly, its unsafe, its stupid, its hazardous, etc if you did that with a half ton.

Its perfectly reasonable in any other type of truck thou...?

[dtappy3353]

I bet the traffic lights swooped down and caught the trailer head!

[pitch]

I always laugh at the characterization of the "Pros"
I spent 14 years as scale master and truck escort at a large Army depot.
I have seen the "Pros" do every thing that it is possible,(and a few that aren't!)with a truck.
We amateurs have nothing on them when it comes to stupid vehicle tricks!

[Cummins12V98]

Probably was powered by a "bullet proof 6.0":)

[mdamerell]

R12RTee wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
Obvious case of TAIL WAGGING THE DOG here. That trailer probably weighs in excess of 80,000 lbs and the tow vehicle probably only weighs 15,000 lbs.

Its not safe in a half ton or a class 8 to have a trailer outweigh your truck... you can only safely do that with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

Forgive me, I don't know how to find the sarcasm font.

80,000 lbs would be the total weight of the tractor and trailer. Weight in trailer is generally less than 50,000 lbs.

Class 8 tractors weight around 18-22,000#. A standard Wabash 53' van is around 13,000# empty and I could scale out a 47,000# load if it was loaded in all the right places. So Trailer weights 58-62,000#.
Which is a 3 to 1 ratio. Now in MI they run GCVWR's around 140,000# so that's a 7 to 1 ratio.

[R12RTee]

spoon059 wrote:
Obvious case of TAIL WAGGING THE DOG here. That trailer probably weighs in excess of 80,000 lbs and the tow vehicle probably only weighs 15,000 lbs.

Its not safe in a half ton or a class 8 to have a trailer outweigh your truck... you can only safely do that with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

Forgive me, I don't know how to find the sarcasm font.

80,000 lbs would be the total weight of the tractor and trailer. Weight in trailer is generally less than 50,000 lbs.

[WeBeFulltimers]

Had a co driver drop one like this in a brand new Freightliner (first trip). Before firing him, the company had lead mechanic examine the fifth wheel. He found that the fifth wheel was defective from the factory. Appeared to latch and passed the pull test. Did not drop until 2-3 blocks from departure terminal. I personally witnessed all of this and was in the tractor when it dropped. Don't be too quick to judge.