Towing vehicles
| February 17, 2009 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
For anyone who is on ridecamp, visiting my blog (go to endurance.net to sign up for this fabulous endurance-related e-mail list), I would like to comment on a recent discussion of towing vehicles.
The opinions ran strong in a recent discussion on an e-mail list I belong to on the subject of what is appropriate to pull a horse trailer with. Basically, people fell into 3 categories:
1. Half tons are not appropriate to pull trailers with. They are light duty trucks and you are risking hurting yourself or others by continuing use such a vehicle. A ¾ ton is necessary and required.
2. Half tons can be OK as long as you live in an area without significant grades. (I believe the California central valley qualifies as such a place).
3. Half tons are perfectly fine if you are careful. After all, they used to pull horse trailers with cars!
I probably fell in between category 2 and 3. I drove my half ton carefully with a trailer and never had any issues. I knew it was borderline, but I was careful.
After driving my new ¾ ton, I now fall in between a 1 and a 2. My half ton drove like a car. True, it was bigger, but I could accelerate from a stop sign, whip around corners, and come to a STOP if I so wished. The ¾ ton drives like a TRUCK. It’s HEAVY, has a LOT of momentum, and there is no pulling out in front of a semi and “flooring it”, even without a trailer attached. 🙂 I haven’t hooked up the trailer yet, but it’s obvious from driving it that it’s geared to pull a trailer, and honestly, I don’t even think I’m going to notice that I’m pulling a trailer! I’ll let you know how it goes….. I may get out for a ride on Thursday. Tonight I think I’ll hitch it up and drive it around the block without horses in it.
Thought for the Day
So, right now I’m pulling a bumper pull 3 horse, steel trailer, with a dressing room with a ¾ ton. (I did pull it with a heavy duty half ton). How about you guys? What is your truck/trailer combination?
I pulled my 2 horse slant load w/ dressing room aluminum trailer with a half ton Suburban for about 6 years and never had any major problems. That year of Suburban (’99) had really bad brakes, though, and that was always the major weakness. Again, no problems, but you had to really watch it and hope people didn’t cut you off too closely.
Now, I haul with a 3/4 ton diesel Chevy Silverado, still the same trailer. It is FABULOUS! The truck is a lot heavier, but it’s got some serious accelaration ability from the Duramax engine, and it’s possible to burn rubber if it’s in a low enough gear. 🙂 (Ask me how I know this…)
So I’d say I too waver between a 2 and 3. It’s possible to use a half ton, but it’s much more comforting, mentally, to have the larger truck.
Oh yes, and FYI – I’m in Gilbert, AZ, which is just southeast of Phoenix. McDowell is about an hour north of me in Scottsdale.
3/4 Ton pulling a steel HEAVY 2 horse slant gooseneck with dressing room. Stop on a dime? NOT! I’m packing some push behind that truck.~E.G.
We pull our 2H LQ (very small LQ) with our 3/4 ton diesel, and while the gas mileage is not as good as it used to be with our 2H bumper pull (went from 17.8 to 14.5), it pulls and handles quite well. I agree, I would not pull anything more than a 2H bumper with a half ton truck!
Elly
My first horse trailer was a 2H bumper with a dressing room. My 1/2 ton seemed to pull it fine…..when I bought the 3H slant (it’s more like 2 1/2H slant but that’s a discussion for another post), the 1/2 ton truck struggled. The weight on both trailers empty was the same, but in my opinion, the 3H puts more weight on the tongue, which affected my truck more.