is it to heavy

[lantraxco]

Yep, legally they are deemed safe and as long as everything is maintained in good order and the driver is conscientious and aware of the limitations there should be no problems. I think the point people are making is there are just so many variables and things that can go wrong on these setups that they are inherently less safe than the full sized trucks. Yes, there are cases where the big rigs get in trouble, every day, but the industry is so regulated from birth to end that mechanically they are more robust and less likely to have a catastrophic failure.

To me it's a matter of safety margins. When I had a gooseneck equipment trailer behind my Dodge dually, the placement of the hitch was critical to get the hitch weight I wanted for good traction and braking but not overload the front axle. Extended cab 4X4 with the diesel, it was already nose heavy. Load placement was fussy, for me at least, the trailer was plenty long but getting enough weight on the hitch and not going over on axle weight at the scale took some practice. Sometimes hauling machines you really can't get it perfect because the machine runs out of deck space to move. There were a couple times I had an issue with the electric brakes, thank God that Dodge was built with plenty of stopping power. One corroded connector in the trailer plug, in my case the ground, and I lost brakes and lights. Got that squared away in jig time. Oh, and I think I mentioned this, there may be exceptions but none of the electric brakes I know of work backing up, same with surge brakes. You run out of power or traction on a hill (I did more than once, off road) and it may be a rodeo backing down.

So you pays your money and you takes your chances, try to keep it legal, keep it maintained, and be aware at all times of your loading and what can go wrong, you'll probably be fine.

 

[fast_st]

Most of the dexter brakes will swing front/back but they're slow on backing up, takes a half turn of the wheel to get any action. The new tekonsha controllers have some diagnostics and helped me spot that I'd lost brakes on 1 wheel by a 25% reduction in current draw, total rewire fixed it.

 

[jaluhn]

Thing to remember is that electric brakes are not fail safe. Anything goes wrong and you have no brakes, possibly with no warning. Loose wire, cut wire, connector is loose, etc etc. Air brakes you have the emergency system which will apply the brakes in the worse case scenario. Now, you can still overheat the brakes being an idiot, or have them so far out of adjustment to not apply, but it's going to give you much more warning and is less likely. Electrics it may work fine one second and not at all the next.

Weight distribution as mentioned. Also how heavy duty the components are.

 

[Georgia Iron]

I have pulled loads like that with my F-550. I broke the rear hitch out of my truck. I also have a 10 ton goose neck trailer, I pull around here and there with what ever I can cram on it. I noticed that the trailer was popping a little. I looked at the metal plate on the bed of my truck that sits on top of my goose neck ball. I noticed that there was a weld that was free floating from the base channel under it. I got to looking real close. I went under the truck and inspected the frame work and the channel that holds the ball. The ball moves freely on a shaft that is inside of a heavy duty sleeve which is welded to the cross channels. The entire sleeve was broken at the welds. The metal plate on top was welded over the sleeve I guess as insurance. 4 fat welds, 3 broken. The ball was ready to cut loose from the truck frame work. These guys that make steel beds and hitch connections do not make them to hold and work with the weights that can be stuffed on the trailers. It is all inferior and if you pull loads like that much you can bet something will cut loose. Long highway drives on rough roads that beat your rig up will surely help you understand that, you cant just hook it up and forget. You need to inspect the hitches, couplings, welds, tires, at least every day. Some times again while on the road depending upon conditions. Just overload your tongue by a 3 or 5 thousand and you will see what I am talking about that much faster.

Mine is rated for a 6000 lb tongue load, looking at your pic, I bet you are close to or over max...

Good luck.

 

[Georgia Iron]

I just recently snapped a leaf spring on one of my trailers and upon flipping it over to inspect the hardware a complete rebuild was needed. The springs had sagged 2"s, and the hardware that holds them in place was worn out.