blt2ski
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Re: Bias ply vs. radial tires
I would go with the radials myself. With that said, I am assuming these are single tires, rear is not a dual? If so, finding some 16" rims, you can go to a 225-75 or 235-75 or 245-75-16 and find ALL kinds of tire brands and options for your van. Of these, I would go with the 245's in a 10ply/LR-E option personally. Marty63Views0likes0CommentsRe: Insurance for F-550 1-1/2 ton
In general, a class 4 and above will be considered commercial, even if personal use. In general, liability is 10-15% more for an mdt than a LD truck or car. Comp is about the same, Collision about 5% less. As I noted, you won't get the legal gvw changed depending upon how the state licenses our trucks. These derated truck, in some states, you may not be able to carry anything but a driver. The 450 pickups weigh something like 10000 lbs plus or minus a few lbs. License this at a 14K here in Wa, you can't haul per say that double slide camper that weight 6000 lbs, plus a person or two, unless you license it at 18K. Which by the way, would be legal, and one would be legal driving down the road! At least here, one is still buying a 16K license with a 10K tare weight. I know of more than one person with a 25/35 series CC SW pickup that weighs 8-9K empty, they have 12-14K licenses, despite the 9900 factory gvw! Yes, one will pay more for a larger gvwr rig than a lighter one! HDT's from what I have heard are 25-40% higher in liability costs than an LDT! One can get an MDT/LDT with a one year policy, that you only drive a few days a month, less than X miles a year like a classic car. That costs me $80 a month with my IHC. About half of what it is doing daily duty. I would assume a new one vs my 92 that is worth nothing all things considered, would be more $$ yet. This is with State farm as noted by many. Marty8Views0likes0CommentsRe: Insurance for F-550 1-1/2 ton
Dreamalaska With your train of thought on the lower GVW on these class 4 and above trucks, how is a commercial use is out of the question?...... Then how do so many people drive 15, 25, and 35 series trucks in commercial settings? I've had a true midget trucks from the late 70's into the mid 80s used in commercial settings, with commercial insurance etc. I also do not per my state federal laws have GVW registrations on my vehicles for the door sticker GVW. Many states don't follow the manufactures GVW warranty ratings. You can buy whatever you want, as long as you follow the legal regs. Insurance is not an issue either, as long as I with a personal or commercial use state the GVW I am going to run down the road at for both the two rig, and trailer size added together. All trucks here pay tonnage, personal or commercial use. Your GVW is tare times 1.5 to the next highest ton. My 15 series half ton is licensed for 8000 lbs, not the 7200 lb door sticker. As is my sons 1500, the other has a Tacoma, also registered at 8000 lbs. ALl three trucks are in the 4800-5400 lbs empty relm. Too heavy for a 6000 lb registration. 8000 it is! We are legal to that amount on the two axles. This is fourty years of running light and medium duty rigs in business use. Yes, I have been pulled over with my actual weight over the manufacture's weights, I have yet to get an overweight ticket! I have heard BC is a bit stickier on this.... At least where I am, look up RCW45 and 46 to get how the weight laws affect me here. My guess, other states are very similar, as they ALL have to follow the "federal bridge laws" or lose road funding for roads. Those max limits are based on years of weight laws for roads going back to roads for horse and buggies etc in the mid 1800's here in the states. Lbs per axle, and lbs per inch width of tire, so the engineer spec point load for the road is not damaging the roads. That is the weight that ALL of us get to run down the road at, ASSUMING, you have enough paid for license weight. My 02 for the day. Marty18Views0likes3CommentsRe: trailer question
Reality, you're probably fine. The trailer is probably no more than 500 lbs, that plus 950 is 1450. 150-200 HW, and you axel weight is 1250-1300 lbs. With that said, we have no clue as to what the actual axel weight capacity is. If it is 2000 plus HW< you want to load to 2000 plus 250-400 lbs of HW, then the tires are too light. Marty57Views0likes0CommentsRe: Had a great time camping in the Gifford Pichott NF Mt. Adams area.
Hiked in that area a few times. I kept thinking a lake I took family too is in that region. I think farther south towards MT Adams on the north side. Takhlakh lake. Found it by accident one year driving around down that way. I still remember pushing my daughters out in my canoe with a paddle in ea of their hands. Ages 4 and 7 or there about. They screamed, they yelled, slowly they figure out how to go in circles the correct way, even straight forward.....Some thought I was mean when I was taking pictures, directing from shore, as they figure out what to do.....They don't let me live that down some 30 years later.51Views1like0CommentsRe: Mercedes/Trailer Lights Compatibility Issue
Not saying this is the case, but "SOME" manufactures use a separate wire for the brake and turn signals per side vs the left side pole being both brake and turn, same with the right side. I had this issue with a few Japanese - Toyota and Nissan trucks in the past. I needed an adapter that made the wires combine to work. Despite having an ML320 for 20 years, never wired it nor towed with it, I don't know if their wires are like the ones I described. The adapter is rather easy to find at any auto/RV parts outlet. Marty48Views1like0CommentsRe: DIY Truck Bed Drawer Setup for F150..
Mitch, The new web site is a bit different than the old one. Some parts easier, others harder. Normal for computer programs and how programmers work. I've seen a few boxes like that home built. Not always as slick looking as store bought, at times, more functional, others less. At least if you know you need a 6.5" drawer height, max store bought is say 6" or shorter, you can make them the correct height to put that junque in a drawer and take it along! Or if you need a 30" one side, and 18" works for the other on width....you can make them to fit. Like everything else in life, your needs change, or you figure out the, I had a good idea, but I should have done this_____! Marty68Views1like1CommentRe: Math isn't mathing
Then Grit and I also load equipment trailers. Many of those have payloads rated at the axle capacity, with a foot note, if you have enough hitch wt, IE the weight of the trailer! I was looking for a trailer that can handle 12000 lbs, they would spec it with 2-6K axels, of course I am assuming 2-7K axles! 12000 of load, plus 4500 for the trailer. 16500 total, 15% on a pintle hitch ~ 2500 lbs, leaving me with 14K on the axles, hence me wanting dual 7K trailer. I also had 2000 lbs for getting bigger equipment than I had at the time, plus other potential tool weight etc. I figured more like 12-13 on the axles, and 2000 HW on a pintle hitch in reality. Not that I have towed 5W/gooseneck style trailers, I would give myself the 14K on the trailer, plus 3500-4300 hw, total 17500-18300. that's about 5100-6000 lbs for other items. Whether the front part of the trailer frame is strong enough to handle that weight is another question or story to deal with. Another you have to watch for, is the base wt including water? LP and battery(s)? Some include those items, other do not. There should be a sticker inside a cabinet, usually in the kitchen area, that will give you an as built payload spec. Look at one or two you see on the lot, you will get a pretty good idea one how much you really have to work with. As noted, there are multiple ways a manufacture can say with the GVW of the trailer should be. Some make sense, others do not. Reality, if you get pulled over or have to go thru a weight scale, they only use the trailer axel weight towards your total GVW. The HW goes against the rear axle capacity GRAW of the tow rig! This includes ball or pintle hitch trailers also. So, if you have 2000 lbs of payload to use towards HW, divide 2000/.25 for 25% HW< you have a max trailer of 8000 lbs. 2000/.10 or 10% HW< you have the ability to tow a 20,000 lbs trailer. you will always need a bigger truck to pull a 5W than a ball mount trailer. I'm not going to go into legal weight amounts you can put on your rigs axels, I could legally pull this trailer with my 1500 Chebby. I won't recommend it. As more than likely, even with the trailer brakes working, I could not stop the total within legal requirements, I'll have a failed braking system. major fines, red tagged on the side wherever I sat etc. Weight wise, I would be legal! Enjoy your new rig! Marty16Views0likes0CommentsRe: Axle rating vs GVWR
Grit, Me myself and I agree. I still like what I was told when it came to buying an equipment trailer once, Told the manufacture rep I wanted to carry 12000 lbs on the trailer. He tried to tell me a twin 6K axle trailer was perfect, as long as I carried enough hitch weght, IE the 4000+ lbs of trailer tare wt. I was asking about a twin 7K axel trailer, because I only wanted to have 2000-2500 lbs of hitch wt..... I figure on this, I can put the amount rated on the axels, the rest is hitch wt. So a twin 5K axle trailer could run down the road at 10K on the axels, plus 10-25% of the total weight being HW, around 14K for a 25% HW trailer, or 1200 for 10%, both options leaving 10K on the 10K axles. This is ANY type of use of trailer one wants to talk about. Then again, one does not always have this ability, as the what the trailer tongue is made of, what strength etc, may lower the true total you can run down the road at. True weight LEO's, only measure the axel wts, they dont measure the HW of the trailer, other than what is on the axel of the tow rig. Marty15Views0likes0CommentsRe: Downsizing from Home to 5th Wheel
Get the truck that fits your wifes rear end! or you'll never hear the end of it. Leather seat for her, cloth for me! oops, can't get that option..... I do not know how heavy that trailer is, so you might be into 45 series territory too! As noted, you need to know the hitch weight of the trailer. THEN< and ONLY then can you figure out what truck you need. A reg cab 25 series that is moderate to lightly specked, can have the same payload as a loaded DW crew cab diesel per the door sticker payload. My 2000 rwd 3 chargeable optioned reg cab vs my 2005 DW crew cab diesel truck. Both by the way were Chebbies! Reality, the DW rig had about 1500-2500 more lbs of actual capacity if I went by axle wt GVW vs the detuned basic gvw ALL of the manufactures work with. Speed up hills with an equal trailer, one of the three wins a few years, then #2, then #3, then back to #1 brand.....The actual real difference is pretty minor in reality. GM is typically the lowest entry rig, then Ram a bit higher, Ford the highest entry. If your short, or one of you has hip issues like my spouse, the lower entry rigs are a better option. If you have to lift or carry things into the bed, again, the lower bed height helps save your back. Probably one of the various and sundry reasons why I have preferred GM's over the Dodge-ram/Ford options. Rear leg room for passengers, hard to beat the Ram Mega cab, Ford crew cab a bit shorter, GM crew a bit shorter yet. Unless you are 6.5-7' tall, probably in all honesty, you're not going to care about the legroom part in the back seat. Choose the seats for grand kids if you have them, favorite 4 legged creature that rides in the back seat etc. Or room needed for extra gear with the seat folded up. Oh, and Red is the lightest paint color, so always the fastest, Black the heaviest, slowest everything else being equal.......If you believe this, Grit and I have a volcano or three rumbling in our back yards we can sell you! Have fun shopping! Marty7Views0likes0Comments
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