Towing Speeds

Great discussion and thank you all for the various points of view. More than anything else what I am concerned about is road rage and impaired drivers; a study by the National Highway Safety Commission showed that States which have legalized marijuana are having more vehicle accidents than those that have not. The entire west coast of the U.S., California, Oregon, and Washington State, have all legalized marijuana for recreational use and I am concerned about what this may do to driving conditions which are already crazy on the interstate.

Nevada just opened up a drive thru for purchasing marijuana; you drive up, stay in your vehicle and buy your product at the window, and then drive away. I am not really talking about marijuana; rather I am talking about more people on the road impaired when we already had a bunch of people getting a DUI for alcohol. All of us need to be extra careful out there regardless of the posted speed. Although I do not tow at 55-mph in California because I think, as others have stated, that slower speeds can cause accidents just as much as higher speeds. 60 to 65-mph seems safe to me on the interstate. But I am glad to read about the different opinions on trailer tires and speeds which many of you have posted here.

Again, thanks for the discussion.:)

I really do not care how fast the next person drives, if he is in a hurry to get to the accident scene so be it.

I know how fast I can drive and be comfortable, on the Interstate; it is 60 to 65 mph. On the US highways it is usually 55 to 60 mph or less.

On two lane roads try I try to pull over periodically and let the parade that formed behind me pass.

The plain truth is the fast, carless, and even drunk drivers rarely get caught, so it is unlikely that they will change any time soon.

drsteve wrote:

I would not expect four drum brakes to stop a 15K 5er as quickly as four disc brakes will stop a 6K truck. Physics is not on the side of the 5er. So the truck is going to do some extra work.

This is why brake controllers exits with gain and boost settings. The controller activates the trailer's brakes in proportion to the TVs brakes. When setup correctly, the controller will apply proportional braking forces to the trailer relative to the force being applied by the TV. The trailer's braking should be equal or greater so that the trailer does not push the truck. If it does then there's a problem with the trailer's brakes or the setup of the controller.

I have my brakes setup so that when I press my brakes the trailer gives me a slight tug. As truck and trailer slows down, you can feel that the trailer's brakes are applying slightly more braking force than the truck. When you allow the truck to do the work you increase the risk of putting the truck into a skid or a slide with jackknifing being the end result. This is especially true when on low traction surfaces like wet or snow covered pavement or loose road surfaces.

Passin Thru wrote:
I really don't care how fast you drive. Mind your business, I'll mind mine. Today, coming through Harrisburg Pa on I 81, one of the correct police was making 1 car pass him on the right then speeding up so 5 or six had to stay behind him. It's not a smart way to act these days when people will shoot you for being ugly.

Keeping to the right for others to pass is also an issue in CA that exacerbates the 55/70 split speed limit issues that most complain about. This makes for more weaving for those that want to travel 70+ mph.

The 55mph restriction in CA is based on stopping distance.

Passin Thru wrote:
I really don't care how fast you drive. Mind your business, I'll mind mine. Today, coming through Harrisburg Pa on I 81, one of the correct police was making 1 car pass him on the right then speeding up so 5 or six had to stay behind him. It's not a smart way to act these days when people will shoot you for being ugly.

In MI the cops will ticket you for that nonsense.

I really don't care how fast you drive. Mind your business, I'll mind mine. Today, coming through Harrisburg Pa on I 81, one of the correct police was making 1 car pass him on the right then speeding up so 5 or six had to stay behind him. It's not a smart way to act these days when people will shoot you for being ugly.

Weight may or may not play into ability to stop depending on equipment. However travelling 10 to 15 mph slower will always stop faster and shorter in all conditions.

I use the cruise control to avoid creeping up in speed.

Every time I leave the house I say to myself, " OK lets go nice and easy " then I get on the road and people are passing me like I am build a garage around it, then I catch myself going 70+, I keep thinking as I get older I can get this under control, so far I have failed.


one day I will be able to go 55-60 on the entire trip.


this weekend we are headed out again, I think I have it this time as we are just going 30 miles from home. :B :B :B

Nunyadamn wrote:
Do you think it could have to do with the construction of the road as well? I know the autobahn has something like 27" of concrete below the asphalt and they have a really strict maintenance program there. I think the CA roads (like most in the US) have 11". If we all drove our heavy trucks and trailers faster on the US roads it may play into the roads early destruction - potholes. Makes me think that is why the CA roads are so bad - we are all driving really fast on them and they can't/don't keep up with the maintenance. Plus there are so many more people driving vs more rural states/roads. If CA were to allow a higher speed, they would also have to repair the roads more and faster - $$$$$. I am sure there are a lot of factors that play into the reason. We could probably ask a legislator if we really wanted to know all of them.

There is not really a standard depth for interstates. Each roads pavement structure is designed for that road based on volumes and percent of trucks. I've worked on sections of interstate in NC and there is significantly more than 11" of road bed.