Chuck&Gail wrote: Well first off it is illegal in every state, I think, unless you get a special commercial license.
.
WRONG !!!!
It is LEGAL in MOST states.
Don't worry about it until AFTER you go to the dealer and speak with them.
Wrong again. It is Legal in some states, Illegal in most.
Here is a chart Of the laws for each state. Some states like Ca allow it only if the front trailer is a 5th wheel.
No Sir,
I'm STILL right.
Cute list ya got there.
But too bad it's VERY WRONG in several instances.
(the speed limits should be the FIRST clue)
MS, for ONE instance, has length restrictions for COMMERCIAL TRUCKS, not private vehicles.
AND,
Triple towing is LEGAL here, even with "double ball" hitches.
AND,
MOST of those lengths are measured from the front axle to the CENTER of the trailer axles.
How do you think a 20' Tractor is placed under a 53' Trailer and remains under 38' or 40' ??????
Unless you are delivering for a dealer, you are NOT a commercial vehicle and those laws/regs do NOT apply to you.
I'll let the folks from the other States tell you about their areas.
dusden wrote: man, I would hate to back up with a second trailer.
I will be puting a reciever on the back of my TT for the single purpose of holding my bike rack.
Nothing to it.
You back the trailer don't you???
It's actually not that "squiggly" to back if you go slow and take your time.
Well, adding the second trailer makes your steering like you have no trailer at all. (for the rear)
Where the horror stories come from is when pulling doubles or triples with a BIG TRUCK.
1st trailer is no problem as it's on the 5th wheel.
2nd trailer is actually the DOLLY which hooks to the 1st trailer.
Dolly has 2nd trailer on it's 5th wheel
Lines up like this....
TV/hitch * TT * Trailer....
"*" = pivot point.
Real trucks pulling doubles are like this....
Tractor/5th wheel * trailer * pintle hitch dolly w/ 5th wheel * trailer.
You can see that there are 2 pivots in the TT setup, and 3 pivot points in the BIG TRUCK setup.
dusden wrote: man, I would hate to back up with a second trailer.
I will be puting a reciever on the back of my TT for the single purpose of holding my bike rack.
Hi Dusden,
I'll second that!
We had this done on our last hybrid travel trailer and it worked (sota) ok. I had a Thule 4 bike rack that I attached to it, and would load up the bikes.
After a few trips we started to break the tie down straps. A few trips after that my sons bike got bounced off the rack and dragged behind the RV. $140 worth of repairs fixed that up. Then about 2 trips later my bike bounced off the rack and fell between the bike rack and RV and was pinned there. No damage.
About 2 trips later the bike rack failed in-tranist and dumped the bikes on the road. $220 worth of repairs later, I got the bikes fixed.
Note that the bikes REALLY bounced around back there!
Some lessons learned.
Don't leave the bike rack attached and in the weather between trips. The bike rack failed at a rust joint. Also,
Don't buy a kneeling bike rack for this application. Get one with a beefy supports at the bottom L joint. The Thule rack failed at that hinged joint.
Always use a safty strap. Double the tie downs with bungies.
I'm going to do this again, even though I had problems last time, as there really isn't any very good options for taking your bikes with you. This is the best of the poor choices available (IMHO).
Just to add my 2 cents. I did this for 2 summers with our pop-up and towing a waverunner. I couldn't have my 2 gas cans filled with gas on the waverunner trailer or I would get to much sway at highway speeds and I did check with the two states we would be driving in (TX and OK), leagal authorities, as to the legality of this. Both said it was leagal as long as we didn't exceed the length requirements of 65 ft as you previously mentioned. For the most part I didn't enjoy it. Only time I could see the waverunner was at slow speed turns (to confirm it was still back there) and I did encounter some sway issues at higher speeds (65 mph). The trailer warranty would also be void if we were to have axle or frame issues, but I wanted to have the waverunner along so I set it up so I could. The hitch I attached to the frame of the camper, so I wouldn't have any issues with it. If you do decide to do it, once you get everything hooked up I would recommend you take it for a test spin before you go any long distance with it and make sure you like how it tows. It would be a real pain to get down the road with it and have to be adjusting things all the time. Again, just my 2 cents.
Is it time to go home already?
2008 Gulfstream Kingsport 236 RB
2002 Ford F-150 5.4L Supercrew
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