[rank]

Ok I broke this down. We'll see if this helps.

>My front axle weight limit is 12000,or 13,000
Sounds OK. But that is the AXLE...the tire ratings may be different.

>the truck is 33,000 but has a air axle or tag axle
OK

>I WEIGHED THE TRUCK AT A SCALE AND IT READ 22900.
Sounds a bit heavy but OK. All of our KW's weigh approx 17,000 lbs according to the sticker on the door jamb.

>Anyway if I set a car up there with a full load will that counter the front weight because the back is so heavy.?
I doubt it. I'd guess at least half of the weight of that car will be on the steers...but it's tough to guess without seeing it.

>If I set a car up there with one on the back will my front axle be over weight?
We don't know because I don't think you posted your steer weight when empty...or did I miss that?

>The Dot man <snip> said he goes by tire rating .
Hmm. Maybe. I seem to recall reading something about different states using different methods to determine allowable axle weights.

>I asked him if they go by the tag or the gvw of the vehicle he said , he just checks the tires on each axle ( hope I understood him correctly) .
I think they can hold you to the lowest allowable measurement. i.e. tires won't help you if your GVWR is only 33,000.


>I assume if a vehicle has a gross rating , that is all you can weigh .
I think so.

>Does a tractor have an 80000 gvw or is it the combination of both tractor and trailer .
Yes. Truck and trailer.

>If this is so then would my gvw be increased because of the tag axel
Because the tag axle is another axle to carry the weight. Won't hurt the roads as much.

>..and because I could tow another vehicle ?
Putting 40,000 on 5 axles over 50' doesn't hurt the roads as much as say 20,000 on 2 axles over 20'.

>Oh the car was 59" tall and my upper platform is 8'9"
I guess I miscalculated in my earlier post. You would have been 164"....2" over legal as you already noted.

Anyway....after all is said and done, I wonder if the TRUCK has a GVWR of 33,000 but that is increased by adding the axle. I wonder if you're 12,000 on the steers and 34,000 on the rears. i.e same as us.

You should really visit the DOT websites of the states in which you will be operating. They should spell out the weight laws there.

Hope I understood this correctly and I hope this helps.

[rank]

Ok I just read your second post.

>the front was 10,200 and the rear was 12,700.
I should have read this earlier.

>Now this truck has a tag axle which was added later
Probably because he couldn't carry anything without it. Just like you're finding out.

>I asked the DOT man in Maryland , he said and I will quote him " It is suppose to add 20,000 but not really"
I don't see how it can add 20,000 because then you'd be allowed 41,000 on your "drives" and the max is 40,000 (with a 10' - 1" spread) as far as I know. Maybe that's what he meant by "not really".

>according to the DOT man I have a total of 12,350 on the front, 7280 tag axle and 23, 360 rear. The entire total is 42,990.
Hmm. I would need to check the DOT info on tag axles, but I would have guessed you were allowed 34,000 on the rear....providing you have the tires to handle it.

>Lets say I have one car that weighs 3500 and I put it on the head rack Would that make my front weight over?
I would say yep. But ya gotta scale it to be sure. Part of trucking is learning how how to load your equipment.

>so with a 3500lb car up there I suppose I would weigh 13,700 on the front
Less I would say. Some of that weight will be on the "drive(s)". 2/3rds on the steers maybe? Again, ya hafta try it. Try a small car first and see how it goes.

>So as I asked in the previous post would a car on the very back ( mostly
behind the rear axle ) off set the above mentioned weight.
probably.

.

[Darin Younce]

Thanks Rank , I think I will talk to some people, weigh the truck
and get an answer by tomorrow . I am hoping that my empty weight is actually less than I thought. I have to wonder though why a truck , say a Dodge dually that has a gvwr of 8900 can tow a trailer with three cars that have to weigh more than 8900 , not to mention the empty weight of the truck plus the empty weight of the trailer. Now I understand about combination of truck and trailer but wouldn't that sort of apply to my truck using the wheel lift? IOW , let's say that have three cars on the truck , and they and the truck weigh 30, 000, I hook a car to the wheellift
and it weighs 4000 but some of the weight is actually on the road ( rear of car) . One more thing , when I was looking for a truck , I was told by several people , (one on this forum) that I better get a 4 car rollback with a tag axle or I will be overweight every time I haul 4 cars. By that statement I assumed that the extra axle would in fact increase the amount the truck can haul.

[no_worries]

I had a 6500 series a few years ago with a steel dump bed and it only weighed around 9,500 as I recall.

I think that's your answer right there. I agree with you, your setup won't weight that much and there shouldn't be much difference between a 6500 and 7500. I didn't realize those Kodiak's were that light. I think when you get your new empty weight all your problems will be solved :wink:

[Bandit102]

When I was doing it in an F-350 with a 3 car wedge, New Mexico registered it at 33,000# gross. 12k for the truck and 21k for the trailer and that was according to the factory specs. Never was axle weighed. On your overhead rack, I'd say small cars nose forward and larger cars nose (engine) rearward. That should save you weight on your steers.

Surely your tag axle has only single tires, right? If that's the case, the 34,000 would be incorrect. I would think DOT would only allow the axle or tire rating, depending on the state. Different states have different methods of measuring acceptable weight.

I'll bet that was it. My guess is that they didn't reset the scale when you pulled on. When you push the button to talk to the lady she does a reset and waits for it to calm down then takes a snapshot.

[Darin Younce]

Bandit 102 , Do you mean that you tagged it 33000 . What was the gvrw of the truck, 12000? If that is the case then if you pulled a trailer with cars on it and it weighed more than 12000 would the truck be over weight? I mean according to what I have been reading , 12000 would be you legal load limit to haul or pull correct?
Yes the tag has single tires , they are rated at 3640 each , not sure what the actual tag axle is rated. the drive axle is rated at 21000, and the tires are rated ( all drives combined ) 23,360 , the steer axle is rated 12000, steer tires are rated at 12,350. BTW, my truck is tagged at 55,000.

[Darin Younce]

Thanks Steve, I am hoping this is the case. I mean this truck is fairly big
but nothing like a class 8 tractor, trailer .

[Darin Younce]

I copied this off of a site concerning gvwr , it was canadian based but I suppose the same applies here. If so then I am correct in my assumption that a vehicle I would be towing on the wheellift , would carry part of its own load , so the whole weight of that car would not be counted toward my truck overall weight. I was a faq section concerning gvwr, see the following .




If I am towing a trailer (or other vehicle) should I include its weight in the GVWR of my vehicle?
No, you do not have to include the weight of your trailer into your vehicle's GVWR. However, you must consider the weight the load will put on your vehicle's trailer hitch or 5th wheel. The weight exerted on the hitch forms part of the load of the towing vehicle and should be included as part of the towing vehicle's load.

[Darin Younce]

Well, I went to the nearest scale which is the county landfill and the truck
weighed 23100. That is more than the previous scale , fuel tanks aren't even full but more than when I last weighed. I called the man I bought it from and he said he never had a problem . Also I called the Kentucky
transportation cabinet and talked to an officer . I explained what I had and he said that I would be fine with four cars . He said the Gvwr is factory recommended but with my tag axle I should be fine . He explained that they allow 700 lb per sq inch per tire of road contact .
I would have to go measure right to get that figure but heck I am not going to worry about it . I am sure that I cannot haul a car up top without having something on the back unless it is a really small car. Dropping the tag should help the front a little .