Alright, my truck has a 4.5 inch lift and 37 inch tires. The top of the bedside is 64 inches and the bed itself is about 48 inches off the ground. Does anybody here have a truck lifted more than 2 inches and still pull a gooseneck? I may have to have one custom made where the neck risers are about 10 inches taller. If I'm reading this right, if the neck risers are 54 inches tall and my bed is 64 inches tall, there is a problem, right? I've never used or pulled a gooseneck before so these questions are probably very simple.

 

I have an old 78 Chevy with six inches lift and 38.5 Ground Hawgs that has probably backed gooseneck cattle trailers more miles than most trucks have pulled them forward.

I bought the truck new.

I have pulled all manner of goosenecks behind this truck just as they are with no particular attention paid to clearance.

A little short trailer might look a little high in the front; but, a trailer of 18' or more will look as good behind this truck as one behind a stock height truck.

 

The trailer I am going to get will be at least a 34 foot deck with dual axles, dual wheels.

So if I can hook the trailer up, then I shouldn't have any problems? I'm mostly concerned about turning a corner real sharp and caving in my bed side.

 

As long as you clear the bedsides, your biggest problem is gonna be scuffing the tires since the front axle will be light, and if you ever load it heavy the majority of weight is gonna be on the rear axle. So you will not get the full capacity of the weight rating without seriously overloading the rear axle. Be sure to get an adjustable gooseneck on your trailer and this will help. But always keep in mind the higher your center of gravity less control you are gonna have and this is amplified with a trailer behind you. Having said that I know I am gonna get slammed with people saying they do it all the time without a problem, I know this, but it still doesn't make it safe.

 

I'd be more worried about STOPPING the trailer with the tires you mention.

Getting going is no problem with the cummins, but stopping the truck & trailer, that is another story, especially in a panic stop.

Lifted trucks like yours (and my other dodge truck) are just not a good idea to tow with, due to lessened braking abilities, and the higher center of gravity.

Personally, I think you are asking for trouble trying to tow anything but a small boat or tag trailer with a truck that has 37" tires on it.

And I have had 38.5" or larger tires on my Ramcharger for over 15 yrs now, and it was my daily driver for probably 8 of those 15....so I think I kinda have some experience in this area.

 

A 34' dual-tandem trailer will be enough tail to wag the dog, especially a single-rear-wheel dog.

Make sure it has vacuum-over-hydraulic brakes and not that electric crap or it will run over you.

 

TRCM, thanks for givin me back my faith. I have said things like that on here before and pretty much been attacked for it by the multitudes that do it. I knew I wasn't crazy. Personally I can feel a big difference in how the trailer pushes the truck through turns when I put my 33" mud tires on.

 

ive seen a truck similar to yours

with that much lift im guessing and i would say 37 inch mud terrains here in LDO, he was hooked to a gooseneck and seemed to have no body damage... it was a flatbed 20 footer tho although it did look kinda high..

my photo gallery has me towing one with just a 2.5 inch lift and 285 tires..

Here it is empty



here it is loaded down



Just make sure u have enough blocks to put the jacks down on, and good wheel chox...

Tx

 

Those tires look more like 33's, 35's at best. 16" for rim, and 8-9" for sidewall...makes a 32-35" tire

 

and he said "here is my truck on 285's." The other truck he was referring to was someone elses.

 

Well, I'm really concerned about the neck risers not being high enough so I think I am going to get a custom trailer made. I can have it extended 10 or 12 inches higher for like $75. It's either that, or put a lift kit on the trailer.

I appreciate the info. I don't think stopping will be a problem. I'm talking about pulling two Jeeps that weigh like 6,000 lbs each. The load will be like 15,000 lbs with the trailer, and both axles have electric brakes. I have no problem with upgrading my truck's brakes at all if it's needed, I'll just have to wait and see what happens. The 37 inch tires don't weigh much more than the stock 10 ply tires I had, not enough to make much of a difference. They are not like the 10 ply 38 inch Swamper radials I had... 100 lbs each, tire only. I was hoping to see pictures of a truck with 35's or 37's hooked up. I looked through some of the "rigs and trailers" pages but don't have time to look through all 23 pages. I'm sure somebody out there does this with a slightly lifted truck.

 

Dude, Your Nutz

 

I am going to add that large bias tires are much more stable than radials.

They don't lurch and squish around like radials do.

Steering control is dramatically increased.

I mistakenly traded for a set of 38's one time that I thought were bias; the guy I bought them from swore that they were bias.

When I got the mud and ice washed off them, I saw they were radials.

I tried to run them anyway, but my truck drove so poorly that I gave up on them.

 

Ok, guess i was right on the tire size....but I thought he said the pic was the truck on 37's......oh well, we all make mistakes




And to 'upgrade' your brakes to compensate for the tires alone, well, since you increased the leverage the tires have on the rotors from roughly 15" stock (1/2 of a 30" tire) to 18.5" (1/2 of a 37" tire), you would need to increase your braking forces by roughly 25%. You can't fit big enough rotors inside your rims to do this correctly. And this does not even begin to take into account the extra weight behind the truck, or the brake fade that will occur trying to stop such a load with those big tires.

And sway, yep, you will have plenty of it from the trailer length AND the lifted truck.

I hate to break it to you, but a trailer big enough to haul 2 - 6000 lb jeeps (what the heck are they made of to weigh that much ?) will weigh a lot more than your estimated 3000 lbs empty (15,000 loaded as per your post, minus 12,000 in jeeps). With 37's, you'll have a heck of a time stopping that thing quickly and safely. And you want a 34' dual tandem trailer ?? My dual axle 24' gooseneck weighs 4000 lbs empty, and it isn't a dual tandem axle either. A dual tandem that length will probably weigh around 6500-7000 lbs EMPTY. I KNOW it will weigh more than 4000 lbs.


I bet yer gonna be overweight when loaded.

Good Luck.....hope you don't have to stop quickly.


BTW...trailer brakes do fail, and the truck is supposed to be able to stop if they do.

Please stay away from Virginia and Florida. I would say stay away from Arkansas, but you live there. I have relatives in all three states.

 

Again, I appreciate the info. I've never half-assed anything in my life and this will be done the right way. Increasing braking power by 25% is easy to do. I can also install a pac brake.

My truck is not "that" tall, it's got a 4 inch lift in the rear unloaded, and the tires give another 2.5 inches of lift. Loaded down, the springs sag about 2 inches. Height is not really an issue except that I don't want the trailer neck to hit the bed.

My Jeep is probably 6k lbs, that is just an estimate. It's got 1 ton axles with lockers, 42 inch bias ply tires, and the whole frame is plated with 1/2" steel, the body is plated in 1/4" steel. The other Jeep weighs less but they are both very heavy due to big axles and tires.

I'll come see you once I get everything hooked up.