[rlandry6]

The engineers who design and set the specifications for these trucks(and others) do so using a little different approach than how the axle and differential look. What a laugh. Good luck to that guy who said his truck was rated to tow 10,500 BEFORE modifications. Sorry, but you can't increase the payload or towing capacity of a truck by adding aftermarket "helper" parts. Also, there are states and documented cases to go with it where the state cops as well as DOT will pull you over and put you on the scales. Non-compliance is very easy to prove, and if this guy thinks that his insurance company would not reject a claim because of that, he is dillusional. He's also dillusional if he thinks an injured party's lawyer wouldn't have a field day with that in a civil suit and in the case of litigation, don't think for a second that they won't look at all of that. Unfortunately, people like that are not receptive to reason or factual information and it's likely he will continue on his way. I wish him luck and hope that I'm not on the road with him. If he really has the same attitude when he's on the road pulling 12,000lbs with a 1/2 ton truck as he does here, there's no reason to waste much time arguing, just stay clear of him.

 

[clark123456]

Remember, negligence costs money in court....especially when it's easy to prove like violating a manufacturer safe load limit.

EXACTLY!!!

Plus, it's irresponsible. The reason rational and reasonable people on this forum care about what you do with your truck is that it's possible we'll be on the same road when you're "engineering by how something looks" turns out to be a flawed approach and that we'll be impacted.

The truck should be looked at a system, not an independent collection of individual parts. For example, if you increase the payload of the bed with helper spring or airbags or whatever part required, you need to increase the braking capacity too.

What I really don't understand is why people don't buy a truck rated at the capacity they actually need.

 

[cpobst]

I am not promoting anything here but my insurance agent from State Farm said the same thing. They cannot deny any claim because you exceeded the payload of your truck. He said I could hook a bulldozer to my truck and drive 90 down the highway and they would still have to pay any claims that resulted from that. Again, I am not promoting going over your rating but I wish people would quit using that as a reason.

 

[1stYoda]

I am not promoting anything here but my insurance agent from State Farm said the same thing. They cannot deny any claim because you exceeded the payload of your truck. He said I could hook a bulldozer to my truck and drive 90 down the highway and they would still have to pay any claims that resulted from that. Again, I am not promoting going over your rating but I wish people would quit using that as a reason.

Yet this internet rumor is brought up every time a thread like this comes up. My agent said the same as yours and I suspect all insurance companies are the same. Otherwise, there would be no point to buying insurance at all.

Cater,
How many miles have you towed with your setup? How does it handle the weight? I'm not so quick to condemn anyone because there is a lot that goes into determining what a vehicle's tow rating will be. The engineers are not the only ones who have a voice in the matter. The legal department has a big say as well. Toyota's own promotional videos show the Tundra towing A LOT more than 12K pounds.

 

[warsw]

EXACTLY!!! What I really don't understand is why people don't buy a truck rated at the capacity they actually need.

Up to this point the tow ratings that are put on tow vehicles by the manufacture don't really mean much. They are only trumped up numbers to make their trucks look good on paper. The manufactures have been raising the tow rating numbers for years without making any changes to the vehicle. Also the tow ratings are only suggested maximums and there are NO laws that state that you need to follow them nor are there any law enforcement.

If you cause a wreck and are at fault, you are at fault rather you are hauling a trailer that weighs 12k lbs or 10lbs. If someone else is at fault the fault will not shift over to you just because you are pulling a trailer that weighs 12k lbs.

That being said, I wouldn’t haul a 12K lb trailer behind any pick-up. When you are pulling a trailer that is twice the weight of the tow rig it ceases to be fun and now is just a lot of work.

As far as brakes go, The Toyota Tundra has great brakes, as good as any ¾ ton on the market. Besides, the brakes on the tow truck are not designed to stop the truck and the trailer. The trailers brakes are there to stop the trailer and the truck brakes are there to stop the truck.

 

[Big Shasta]

Remember, negligence costs money in court....especially when it's easy to prove like violating a manufacturer safe load limit.

........................

 

[cpobst]

A soccer mom towing 3,000lbs is more dangerous that me towing a 10,000lb trailer. A number is simply a reference. It is not the one and only thing that goes into determining what I can or cannot tow. Towing my 6500lb camper is alot more work than towing my trailer with tractor(around 8k lbs). I understand their are limits on all trucks but they are built to take more than what they are rated for. Is it always a good idea to grossly exceed these limits? Probably not but just because I do does not mean that I am putting your life in danger anymore than the unexperienced person towing a pop-up camper.

 

[cater]

Sorry, but you can't increase the payload or towing capacity of a truck by adding aftermarket "helper" parts

The hell you cant. Airbag's, Supercharger, Springs, Tires, shocks, lockers, gears, ETC dramatically increase the load carry capacity.

Never underestimate the resourcefullness of a personal injury attorney.

I agree.

How many miles have you towed with your setup? How does it handle the weight?

I would guess 1100-1500miles. It handles it very well, Being 5th wheel the trailer pull's and rides as well as a trailer can, and turning 32' trailer isn't a problem.

They are only trumped up numbers to make their trucks look good on paper....As far as brakes go, The Toyota Tundra has great brakes, as good as any ¾ ton on the market. Besides, the brakes on the tow truck are not designed to stop the truck and the trailer. The trailers brakes are there to stop the trailer and the truck brakes are there to stop the truck.

Agreed. The ford 1/2 ton 5.4 is rated around 9400lb i believe and it couldn't tow 9400lb's down hill.. It just doesn't have the motor.

I'm glad some one understands about braking systems around here. Not to mention Toyota has the TRD Big brake kit for a reason.

and there are NO laws that state that you need to follow them nor are there any law enforcement.

Thought everyone need's to see that again. ^

 

[cater]

A soccer mom towing 3,000lbs is more dangerous that me towing a 10,000lb trailer....does not mean that I am putting your life in danger anymore than the unexperienced person towing a pop-up camper.

Personally I worry more about those little 8' unlicensed trailers full of junk and swaying all over the road. or Log trucks doing 65 in a 55 with a full load in a 1979 Mack truck

 

[cpobst]

I met a log truck on a two lane road on my way to Arkansas a few months ago. He was all over the road and his load was swaying. My life flashed before me. Two-wheel trailers are worthless. I had one for about a month. Thought it would be handy but turned out it was more trouble than it was worth.

 

[cater]

I met a log truck on a two lane road on my way to Arkansas a few months ago. He was all over the road and his load was swaying. My life flashed before me. Two-wheel trailers are worthless. I had one for about a month. Thought it would be handy but turned out it was more trouble than it was worth.

They are particularly bad around here, especially south Arkansas, as there isn't many DOT officers to speak of. I would hate to meet up with one up there in the MTN's. You thought your local UPS driver was bad..

 

[Powertechn2]

i have found with my maybe few years of driving to some, but lots of miles also compared to some that most important thing to towing ANYTHING be it a 4x6 trailer with a washing machine on it to a 28ft tt behind a jeep liberty is experience, just like any other type of driving.

i have towed with my fj a diesel toro dingo with attachments, which pretty much met my trailers 3500 cap, with the trailer weight, and i was near my limit of 5k lbs... with that said, it towed just fine, even without trailer brakes on my single axle trailer, even with 200 lbs of shit in the back.

2 wheel trailers arent necessarily worthless, just they are only as good as they can be for the price.

currently someone i know has purchased a liberty, 2010, 3.7v6.... he said it is rated at over 6k lbs, my gfs liberty is the same drivetrain, and it cant get outta its own way, yet my fj with wayyy more power would run the gfs liberty down and do circles around it...

so ratings are all over the board, some are capable of higher some are not capable of the actual ratings...

but it all comes to experience. how many of us have seen the pickups with a pop up swaying left to right all over the place, or a trailer full of just shit swaying, yet when you see someone who you can tell camps, and tows and knows what they are doing towing a 30ft in wind and doing just fine...

just like when it snows, peeps will bitch all over that whatever they own is useless in the winter, for example my gfs liberty.... she is afraid to go out in snow, she hit a tree once and did 4k worth of damage.... i can drive her liberty all over hell in 2wd, whereas she has it in awd all winter...

is it the vehicles fault, or can she just not drive worth a shit in winter cause she has a lack of experience...

now is she any more unsafe on the road than the 17 yr old daughter of a coworker that bounced off a guardrail into a tree last month with 2 inches on the road in a front wheel drive car...


experience experience experience.

if ever in life you are doing something that you can not handle, do not do it.

if you cant handle doing over the posted speed limit dont do it...

just cause the speed limit is 65, does that mean that others cant handle doing 110...

its a guideline. otherwise our vehicles would all be limited to 75.




one of the guys at my work who doesn't normally do deliveries said the trailer didnt seem like it was braking right....

no one else noticed.

its behind a 3/4 or 1 ton ford 4x4, possibly a dually depending on what truck is there, as it turns out 3/4 brakes had teh wires ripped right out, and the one brake that was connected the actual magnet was toast...

so, the travel trailer that has 1k miles on it, and is regularly checked and in good shape being towed by a truck vs a trailer that may be loaded to 15k lbs of equipment that has defective brakes... hmmm.

you wouldnt know the difference if either hit you as you pull in front of it.

 

[jarrett475]

Let's hope he's a troll since this is obviously a dumb f'n question.

Why do people go out of their way to put people down??? either dont say anything at all...or just answer the question and be done with it. Idk why people are so mean nowadays. Honestly. I thought forums were for asking questions and talking about our trucks???

 

[jarrett475]

Are you all seriously crying over someone pulling 1500lbs over the "limit"??? I bet every single one of you that are wining over this have driven home after a few beers(or more) while hangin out with your buddies. That is FAR more frightful to me than someone pulling a meezly little 1500 pounds over a trucks limit. And whoever said you can't increase the towing capacity by doing afterarket add-ons...are you f-ing serious??? LOL You are obviously a COMPLETE moron and have no idea what your talking about. So your telling me if you put the exact same rims, tires, shocks, springs, and hitch from a f350 turbo diesel on a tundra you cant pull 12000lbs??? With everything else hes done to it. Not to mention a SUPERCHARGED Tundra!!! Hey CATER, as long as you have trailer brakes(which im assuming you do) i think your perfectly fine to tow 12000lbs. I mean its not gonna do 90 uphill with it. But you should have no problem with it. And also, i think it was rlandry6...you can only get a ticket if your vehicle exceeds the ROADS weight limit chief. But i highly doubt that an officer is gonna bring you in and weigh your Tundra and trailer. Its amazing how people cant just answer a simple question and have to start crying over something that COULD happen. You haver a better chance of a 16 year old girl whos texting crashing into you than someone towing 1500lbs oveer their rating with their truck that is MODIFIED to tow it. But you probably also sit behind a desk all day and consider watching football the most exhilerating thing in your life. No matter what you do people are gonna hate and get all worked up over things that have nothing to do with their life at all. So CATER, go ahead and do it and put a post up after and let us know how it goes. Im sure everything will go fine!!!

 

[1stYoda]

Why do people go out of their way to put people down??? either dont say anything at all...or just answer the question and be done with it. Idk why people are so mean nowadays. Honestly. I thought forums were for asking questions and talking about our trucks???

That probably explains why the OP never returned. With the warm welcome he was given can you blame him?

 

[tonyspin]

I am not putting anyone down, and I don't expect to change anyone's mind, but as a trained engineer, with some experience in the design and testing of structural components in vehicles, I will wade in with my opinion. It is never prudent to exceed the manufactures recommended weight or towing capacities on any vehicle. People have said, well, I upgraded this or I changed that, but without a detailed analysis of those upgrades or changes, the vehicle could be even less capable, and less safe then stock. The reason for this is that when one component in upgraded, the stress on others could be increased, and could lead to failure. When towing, dynamic loads can be 5X what static loads are. That means if you are overloaded by 1500 lbs., that load could turn into an additional 7500 lbs. in some situations. You might think the rig handles and drives fine, but you might find out differently if you are going around a slight curve and suddenly have to make a panic stop, or perform an evasive maneuver. Clearly, when you exceed manufactures recommended capacitys, your rig is less safe then if you stayed within the recommendations, whether or not you have upgraded or changed components. Personally, I don't understand why someone would put themselves and their family in a more dangerous situation if they didn't have to. Think of it this way, would you ride in an aircraft if it was overloaded by 15%?

 

[Dirty "OLE" Man]

I have been driving for 45 years and towed all over. I used to drive 3/4 and 1 ton diesel trucks. That was cool. This Tundra will out pull and is built better than most older 70's and 80's 3/4 ton pickups. Also you are sharing the hiway with a lot of Hot shot drivers in there 1 ton dually's that could be 5-10K lbs over the rated capacity of there truck. 12K on the Tundra is not excessively overloaded. Any time you tow you need to drive like you have a load back there and use good judgement.

 

[tho98027]

I think it would be fine to pull a 12000 lbs trailer for a short distance on a counrty road/dirt road at slow speeds. Such as a farmer needing to move equipment from one field to another. But, I think it would be unsafe to pull a trailer that heavy on the highway with more traffic and higher speeds involved. Sure the tundra has the power to do it. But i don't think the chassis, suspension is up to the task to do it safely. .02.

 

[clark123456]

Why do people go out of their way to put people down??? either dont say anything at all...or just answer the question and be done with it. Idk why people are so mean nowadays. Honestly. I thought forums were for asking questions and talking about our trucks???

I didn't go out of my way at all. It's pretty easy and effortless to call a dumb f'n question: "a dumb f'n question". Again, why even consider buying a truck that is obviously not rated to the needs of the person asking the question.

 

[clark123456]

That probably explains why the OP never returned. With the warm welcome he was given can you blame him?

No blame at all. I sure hope he/she goes somewhere else and buys something else. The Tundra is not the right truck for that person if he/she wants to tow over the rated limit on public roads.