F350 Towing 5vr

The officers on scene would determine which driver was at fault.
Not attorneys.
I’m not concerned. And, through my research I’ve not found any evidence to support that theory.
Rich
The officers on the scene might determine fault as far as writing tickets, but they will not be the final say if/when a civil suit arises from the accident. That's when the lawyers get involved and in most cases, they will leave no stone unturned to try and win a litigation for their client.
 
The officers on the scene might determine fault as far as writing tickets, but they will not be the final say if/when a civil suit arises from the accident. That's when the lawyers get involved and in most cases, they will leave no stone unturned to try and win a litigation for their client.
If the other party is found to be at fault by officers, that really doesn’t give their attorney a leg to stand on.
Rich
 
If the other party is found to be at fault by officers, that really doesn’t give their attorney a leg to stand on.
Rich
Sure it does. Do you think that "on scene" officers are going to thoroughly investigate ALL the factors involved in the collision? They are there to "clean up the mess" and get the vehicles towed and the road back open. They aren't going to weight anything, probably not check to see if one or the other driver was on the phone, check the brakes on a vehicle, probably not even look at tires to see if they are in good condition. There is so much more that can and would be investigated when the attorneys get involved that the police are not going to investigate on a normal accident scene. The exception to that is a fatality accident. Those will usually involve bringing in the state police investigators to help out...but honestly, it's very likely that they will also NOT investigate the entire realm of possibilities like a trained investigator that a lawyer would use who is going to try and sniff out every little thing that could possibly contribute to fault. That's what they are paid to do.
 
I am not a lawyer.

I was advised (~ 10 years ago) that the GVRW limiting factor on my truck was brake capacity, aka stopping distance. Thus, if you exceed your GVRW you cannot stop quickly enough and could be found at fault in an accident which might otherwise have been no-fault/the other driver's fault. This was in Colorado, so maybe it's a state thing. I don't know. Do I know of specific cases? No, and I haven't looked into it to know otherwise. How would they know the weight? No clue. If I'm wrong, sorry for passing on bad info.
That doesn't really make much sense to me since one can be over the GVWR and still under the GCWR. If you are under the GCWR I don't see how braking could be compromised.
 
I am not a lawyer.

I was advised (~ 10 years ago) that the GVRW limiting factor on my truck was brake capacity, aka stopping distance. Thus, if you exceed your GVRW you cannot stop quickly enough and could be found at fault in an accident which might otherwise have been no-fault/the other driver's fault. This was in Colorado, so maybe it's a state thing. I don't know. Do I know of specific cases? No, and I haven't looked into it to know otherwise. How would they know the weight? No clue. If I'm wrong, sorry for passing on bad info.

Trailers should have enough braking capability to stop themselves. Of course depending on what type and the condition of the brakes could determine how much they help or not. the full weight of the trailer pushing on the truck will have way more to do with stopping than how much is being carried by the truck.

GVWR and braking has more to do with carrying a load in the bed i.e. a load of lumber or stone, etc.
 
Trailers should have enough braking capability to stop themselves. Of course depending on what type and the condition of the brakes could determine how much they help or not. the full weight of the trailer pushing on the truck will have way more to do with stopping than how much is being carried by the truck.

GVWR and braking has more to do with carrying a load in the bed i.e. a load of lumber or stone, etc.
But you are carrying a load in the bed, its called pin weight.
 
If the other party is found to be at fault by officers, that really doesn’t give their attorney a leg to stand on.
Rich
See, you would think that makes sense but that is living in a common sense world. We don't live in a common sense world. Fault has nothing to do with getting sued. The deeper pockets will always get sued and probably lose. Jury's love to blame someone.



Guy loses control in a winter storm crosses the centerline and runs into a truck. Truck driver and company get sued by the party that crossed the centerline and win 90 million.


And BTW, they lost the appeal

 
Well to follow that logic, the truck is also connected to the trailer so it wouldn't need its own brakes.
Then how would the truck stop itself without being attached to the trailer?
A fifth wheel or TT can stop itself without being attached to a truck. Via breakaway switch.
Rich
 
The officers on scene would determine which driver was at fault.
Not attorneys.
I’m not concerned. And, through my research I’ve not found any evidence to support that theory.
Rich
I never said the "Attorneys" would determine fault. Read my statement again. The attorneys will hire specialty investigators to gather information about the accident and then, based on their findings will either tell the attorneys that they found this or that or something else and that could have contributed to some fault for the other driver. Then it goes to court and a judge/jury will decide whether there is fault and if so, determine a percentage of fault. All the attorneys do is start the process rolling, hire whoever they need to gather information, then based on what that person or persons found, decide whether or not to pursue or go ahead with a trial......or tell their client that there is nothing or not much there and it's a lost cause.
 
Well to follow that logic, the truck is also connected to the trailer so it wouldn't need its own brakes.
Ummm what? Im pretty sure I’m saying the opposite. That logic would dictate that since the truck has brakes the trailer doesn’t need its own.

With 4K of some material in the bed the truck is responsible for stopping all of it. 4K of pin weight is part of a trailer with its own brakes that should be rated for Its own GVWR.

Let’s look at it this way. Take a gooseneck loaded to 20k. Load it with the weight forward at 25% on the pin so you have 5k on the truck well out of spec. Now move that load back so you have 15% on the pin and 3k on the truck now within spec. Will there be any difference in stopping distance or wear on the truck brakes?
 
I never said the "Attorneys" would determine fault. Read my statement again. The attorneys will hire specialty investigators to gather information about the accident and then, based on their findings will either tell the attorneys that they found this or that or something else and that could have contributed to some fault for the other driver. Then it goes to court and a judge/jury will decide whether there is fault and if so, determine a percentage of fault. All the attorneys do is start the process rolling, hire whoever they need to gather information, then based on what that person or persons found, decide whether or not to pursue or go ahead with a trial......or tell their client that there is nothing or not much there and it's a lost cause.
Whatever, still not concerned. There are no state or federal regulations regarding personally owned RVs. Except for some states requiring additional licensing for very large RVs, which are not considered CDLs.
This topic has been beaten to death on this and other RV forums.
I have yet to see a real example pertaining to a personality owned RV. It’s all been speculation, opinions and here say from “my BIL, sister, brother says blah blah”.
I’m done.
Rich
 
Last edited:
Whatever, still not concerned. There are no state or federal regulations regarding personally owned RVs. Except for some states requiring additional licensing for very large RVs, which are not considered CDLs.
This topic has been beaten to death on this and other RV forums.
I have yet to see a real example pertaining to a personality owned RV. It’s all been speculation, opinions and here say from “my BIL, sister, brother says blah blah”.
I’m done.
Rich
You may not be concerned, but there are others out there that may be or they are concerned. If you choose to ignore, that is totally up to you. Many of us however, do not choose to ignore the possibilities and we take the necessary steps to insure that we are not "easy pickins" for a civil suit if there is an accident and we are in an overloaded or some condition that could cause some liability on our part.
 
Ummm what? Im pretty sure I’m saying the opposite. That logic would dictate that since the truck has brakes the trailer doesn’t need its own.

With 4K of some material in the bed the truck is responsible for stopping all of it. 4K of pin weight is part of a trailer with its own brakes that should be rated for Its own GVWR.

Let’s look at it this way. Take a gooseneck loaded to 20k. Load it with the weight forward at 25% on the pin so you have 5k on the truck well out of spec. Now move that load back so you have 15% on the pin and 3k on the truck now within spec. Will there be any difference in stopping distance or wear on the truck brakes?
I understand but the topic of conversation is whether braking performance increases GCWR. A transport truck with disc brakes will have a higher GCWR than an identical one with drums.
 
What would be awesome if at some RV rally a manufacturer could have an engineer who’s also an enthusiast to go over some of this stuff.

I’m not an engineer so I’ll extrapolate. GCVWR must be a combo of pulling(engine/drivetrain) and carrying(suspension). This is why you’ll see gas trucks with lower GCVWR’s. Less power to pull and no exhaust brake to help slow. However they may have higher payloads due to being lighter to begin with leaving a little more suspension.

It’s not rocket science to extrapolate the info as you look at the differences in truck configurations and weight limits.

As to legalities…who knows. Always a threat towing. Don’t be the guy doing 85 on the busy interstate towing a 42’ toy hauler with the lifted DRW and most likely you’ll be fine. Don’t make it easy for the lawyers. The only thing faster than a truck pulling a toy hauler is a semi pulling a load of cattle.

We live in a litigious society and even if you do it all right, you may still get sued. Had a hole in my front yard from a collapsed sprinkler valve access cover. Didn’t know about it. It was under the fall leaves and just big enough for my mail man to get his foot in there as he brought a package to my door. Messed up his knee and ankle. I felt terrible. He was out of work for months. We talked and his family told him to sue me. He didn’t think that was right and didn’t follow through. That’s the closest I’ve been. Too close.
 
I am not a lawyer.

I was advised (~ 10 years ago) that the GVRW limiting factor on my truck was brake capacity, aka stopping distance. Thus, if you exceed your GVRW you cannot stop quickly enough................

True, but we were talking about the GVWR being influenced by the brakes on the truck.

I understand but the topic of conversation is whether braking performance increases GCWR. A transport truck with disc brakes will have a higher GCWR than an identical one with drums.

Which conversation? The OP's original post was about being over GVWR. My original response to @wrp75_CO that you quoted specifically referred to braking being a problem if pulling a trailer over GVWR. GCWR or what type of brakes was not part of the conversation.

As it relates to this forum and any of us pulling anything with our pick up's, the GCWR is set by the manufacturer and does not account for, or change for, trailers with drum's, disc's, double axles, triple axles, etc. I don't have much knowledge on the commercial side, even less so for Canada, but I have a hard time believing the the GCWR of a truck changes based on the type of brakes on the trailer. Trucks may pull many different trailers over its life. But I definitely don't know for sure.

Performance will get better with disc's but the GVWR or GCWR does not change.
 

New posts

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom