OK, no more RGN for me..
Let's hear some views on spec'ing a tridem step. Don't actually need a tridem but our Heavy Haul allows me to permit heavy loads with a tridem. So, it's good for the future and stuff over 49,000 lbs (what I can haul legally now).
Wilson has a sloped gooseneck (45% angle), so that you can move tractors and such from the lower deck onto the upper deck. The option costs just over $1,000. I think it's a good thing to have.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]673[/ATTACH]
Here's what I picture:
Total length: 53
Top deck: 10 ft
Kingpin setting: 16" (all RGNs have 10ft decks and 16" kingpins, what's good for them should be good for a step)
Lower deck: 43 ft
Gooseneck: sloped, 45% angle (see the pic above)
Composition: combo (steel plus aluminum)
In-the floor tiedowns (6,500 lb rating)
Double spools
Stake pockets
Aluminum floor with 4 nailers
Steel coil package? (loads of pre-tarped steel coils from IN to ON, Canada) pay 3 bucks per mile
Tridem: 72" spread between axles; this would give me the highest weight rating in ON and USA
3 m to 3.6 m - 24,000 KG
3.6 m to 3.7 m - 26,000 KG or 57,200 lbs
72" between each axle is 3.65 m for the entire tridem group, hence the 26,000 KG allowance.
Wheels/tires: I have been bit**ing about my tiny tires but the reality is they DO allow to pick up some DD loads: with my 36" deck I can move stuff up to 10'6" tall, so I'd probably get a tridem with the same 17.5' tires, all aluminum wheels.
D-rings: I don't have these on my current step, but I"m thinking it'd be good to have them to tie down heavy equipment, at least 3 or 4 on each side.
Winches: Wilson finally has come up with a new design for the stepdeck winches and they no longer SCRATCH the side panel. Instead, they run on a rail underneath, just like in most flatbeds. Neat!
PS: In Western Canada (Alberta) you get 24,000 KG maximum if the tridem is between 3 m and 3.7 m.