Just bought a 55ton trail king

[440chevy]

I just picked up a 96' trail king 55 ton recently and although its a really nice trailer i'm a little unsure if i made the right choice. Maybe someone can help put my mind at ease, i'm wondering if i bought too big of a trailer. It's 46' from king pin to center of rear axle and 9' wide. So far it has been a very challenging getting it down residential streets and seems like I might as well forget about 90 degree backs unless i'm in a parking lot. Is 45'-46' pretty much the norm or were there other options that maneuver a little better? Right now i haul 48,000 but bigger machines are always possible.

As far as the trailer does anyone know if the beaver tail is factory? As far as I'm concerned it looks good enough to be factory but i really cant say for sure. I'm pretty sure the ramps were added but unsure on the beaver tail. Also, what happens when this trailer gets hung up? Some guys i know with a witzco ground bearing 50 ton have had the trailer disconnect 4 times now, just driving a long and it gets hung up and just breaks apart at the trailer. Obviously I have a better set up but makes me wonder whats going to happen to me if I'm not careful enough? Oh and if anyone else owns this trailer i really don't know what it weighs in at, I'm guessing with the beaver tail and ramps its around 23,000.

Finally if anyone has a little advice on truck length, right now i have a 190 and it needs to be upgraded. How much more a pain is a longer truck? I was considering a 205 with a third axle but now that I have the trailer and put some time in driving I'm not sure if should stick to the 180 190 range.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Will Musser]

That looks like a good trailer from the picture. I like a 9 wide, but other opinions may be prevalent. As for wheelbase, I like em around 280". That trailer looks like it is set up for a 4 axle truck from the looks of the neck. Looks like you can move the king pin up to the fron hole for better weight transfer

 

[Tiny]

Here is what I use a couple of days a week,Its can be tough getting used to a longer truck but the shorter ones seem to fight the pusher axle.I think 240

 

[Kgmz]

Looks like you have the optional longer neck. With the standard 10' neck it is about 44 1/2 feet from pin to rear axle.

And yes the beavertail and ramps are a factory option. We had them on both are TK70 and TK110.

Since your weight laws are different there don't know what to suggest for length, but you do need a 4 axle truck. When we had these trailers we pulled them with 4 axle Pete's with a 248 and 260 wheelbase. We need these long lengths since we have to go by federal bridge law here.

 

[mikesheldon]

Gonna make lots of money with that thing mike!!!!!