This is a reprint of an email I did on 1 Dec. 97. It's been updated a
little.
I have a XM211 and have towed it for over a year with a Ford(F350) 1 ton,
4x4, 7.3L turbo diesel, single wheel pick-up and gooseneck trailer. The
Trailers title states Empty Weight = 6,000, Carrying Capacity = 19,000, and
Gross Weight = 25,000. It works perfectly fine. The one thing that I think
is
important is... you need to know how to drive it. In my case, the truck,
trailer, and military vehicle, weight almost 30,000 lbs. I work with this
type of equipment almost every day as I'm in the shipping business.
When loading the vehicle on your trailer, whether a jeep or M60 tank, your
procedure should always be the same. Load your trailer with most of the
weight over or just in front of the trailers wheels. Its true that you need
some
weight over the back wheels of the truck but, you don't want the trucks
front wheels to leave the road surface when you hit a bump. Don't forget
that the trailer
should have brakes of its own. The brakes on some of the heavy duty
trailers will probably be better than the brakes on your average pick-up
truck anyways.(I.e. have better stopping power when loaded.)
Double check you trailers hitch. Make sure all connections are tight and the
ball is
locked securely to the tow vehicle. Make sure you use the proper chains and
binders. I use 4 - 5800 lbs chain and chain binders. Check them before
you leave your start point, every time you stop for gas or food, and
anytime you get the
chance. Keep an eye on your load, if something looks weird, stop and check
it out.
When driving, leave your self plenty of time to get to your
destination. This usually means about twice the normal time.(I.E. If it
normally takes you 1 hour in your car, then make it 2 hours towing your MV.)
Don't be in a hurry. Leave plenty of room to stop. I know, you leave your 1
car length for every 10MPH but, some #@%^# always cuts in
front of you.(this happens a lot in urban areas) This area is your stopping
zone. When towing you should leave double that. If some one gets in there,
slow down a little more. Your load
will also be anywhere from 18" to 48" off of the ground when on the
trailer. This means the center of gravity is higher. Slow down on curves
and go very slowly on turns.(such as turning from one street to another. 90
degrees or more.) You don't want your military vehicle falling off on a
corner or turn.
The number one thing you need when towing heavy equipment is common sense.
Sorry this emails so long but, there's a lot of information that's required
for safety. I hope this information will help anyone who tows their
military vehicle.
P.S. I can email a picture of the pick-up and gooseneck trailer loaded with
the XM211 on it. Anyone that interested just drop me an email at
kweiss@wans.net
Ken
Lone Star -- MVPA
1953 XM211
1954 XM105E3
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Cole <DA_Cole@compuserve.com>
To: INTERNET:mtowers@netxpress.com <mtowers@netxpress.com>; MV List
<mil-veh@skylee.com>
Date: Sunday, February 22, 1998 12:21
Subject: Re: [MV] Moving a dead 2 1/2 ton
Message text written by INTERNET:mtowers@netxpress.com
>You use binder chain and boomers to tighten them up. Yeah, you're right.
It was too much weight. I don't think you should be concerned about the
gooseneck, provided you're got enough truck (1 ton dually minimum).
However, a tandem axle rated at 7,000lb ain't gonna get it. Either
rent/borrow the right equipment, or pay someone to do it.<
Oh, boomers are binders, I've never heard them called boomers. Learn
something new everyday.
My trailer's got two 6000 lb axles but it only has an 18 ft bed. It should
be good for about 12 K GVW. The trailer weighs 3000-3500 lbs itself. I
think the truck will work ok, Chevy 1 ton dually with a 454 and 4:10 axle.
Perhaps I should just try to load up the truck and see how it goes. No hot
rod stuff obviously. I've had a 7200 lb truck on the trailer before and it
had no problem with that. I'd probably stay off the eway and stick to
state 55 mph highways. You don't happen to know how long an XM211 is
overall do you?? Also is a 6x6 front heavy or pretty much balanced front
to rear. I'm a bit concerned about getting enough tongue weight with a
truck that long.
Thanks,
Dave
=
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