Appalachian Micro IV?

No, the manual indicated 29,200 GCVWR. The GVWR for the Chevy 3500 is 13,000 and the GVWR for the App 3 car is 20,000. When I realized the GCVWR was 33,000 I changed the register to class 10 or 33,000. Hope this clarifies.

I have not had my axles weighed in the 6 years since I started and I have gone over a bunch of scales in that time period. I do know that should a DOT weigh the rear truck axle it will almost always be over.

FYI In recent months I have noticed more DOT's weighing axles on similar setups. Tks

 

Wish I had this info 6 years ago. Should have asked. Tkanks for sharing

 

Yes, reverse loading will move weight from your drive to the trailer. Problem is that the trailer is already close to max. So is the drive axle....

When I had a 4 car I pulled it with a class 7 tractor and ALWAYS loaded as heavy as possible on front of the trailer to baby the PIA axles... unfortunately, you can't do that with a pick-up.

You should consider air bags for the truck. It will NOT give you higher capacity but at least it will ride level and will help keep the rear from wearing out, bottoming out and will be a much more comfortable ride.

As for the scale issue.. depends on the scale, and what state. They can make you fix it before you leave which means leaving a car there a d coming back for it, or having it towed away.... or just give you a ticket, or both...

 

Without seeing the part numbers for your bearings I can't be 100% positive in saying this but, I would be willing to bet that those axles are really 7k axles with a SLIGHTLY larger inside bearing.

Unless things recently changed nobody makes an axle that is in any real way stronger that the 7k until you step up to the 10k which is almost always a dual wheel application.

Keep in mind that no matter what your axles may (or may not) be rated for, the TIRES also play onto the equation. If you had 20k axles with a single tire on each side rated for 1k then legally you have a 2k rating.

That means in order to even be able to claim 9k per axle your tires better be rated for 4,500 or more. And yes, this is something that routinely gets checked and unless I'm mistaken is an OOS condition until corrected.

I'm GUESSING the tires that came on the trailer are probably rated properly in order for the factory to be able to claim the 9k rating. Another bet I'll be willing to make is that properly rated tires are going to be really, REALLY expensive.

The problem really is they sell these trailers pretty cheap, especially when compared to a "Real" car hauling trailer, and guys like yourself without the background see it as a good entry into the business. They, (these manufacturers) are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge and selling these things without a care. All the while knowing the problems your going to face in the real world.

Because of the relatively low cost of entry many people go that route. Many of them find it impossible to actually make a living with that equipment and go out of business. Some people, (and hopefully you can be 1 of them) figure out a way to make enough to pay the bills including proper maintenance on the rig and a livable personal paycheck.

It CAN be done but it is difficult at best. Your off to a decent start by asking questions. The more questions you ask the netter your going to be.

I'll tell you in advance you need a height stick. That trailer is REAL easy to load way to tall. Legal height is 13'6". If your going to ride higher than that you better know where your going and ALL the bridge and tree limb heights or your going to be making a lot of calls to your insurance company.

A lot of guys do ride taller than 13.6 but doing so you obviously risk a ticket and of course damage.

You asked about backward loading to transfer weight on to the trailer. I believe with that trailer your going To find that you'll be loading in whatever direction you need to in order to make the load fit onto the trailer and make height.

Another thing to watch for with that trailer, (unless Texas addressed the issues in the original Kauffman design) is your loading angles. Meaning it is real easy to scuff, break, destroy front air dams, and bumpers with that trailer and low cars can easily high center when making transition from the dovetail to the flat deck.

3' long 2x8 sections can usually fix this when properly placed but be careful you don't move them around out of position and or shoot them out from under you with the drive tires......

Oh yeah, the fun of being a car hauler has just begun...lol.. Good luck man, take your time, think about what your going. Limit damages to cargo, do not haul cheap freight and take good care of your equipment and your do well...

 

My 9k axles have a 4" tube, 2.250 inner bearing, 1.750 outer bearing.
Tires are 17.5 16 ply load range H 4,805 lb each so a total of 28,830 lbs.

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I think your trailer is a decent one. Make sure the tires are inflated to the max allowed PSI, because underinflated tires blow up on the road with heavy loads. Proper maintenance is the key. Service the trailer more often than recommended and it will do the job. All the comments in this thread are true, from time to time you should come back to this thread and re-read all the comments because certain things start making sense only when you get some experience. Also when you have a chance get the air bags for the truck as someone mentioned before, we had Firestone air bags from SD truck springs. We used etrailer for our trailer parts, some parts were good quality, some parts were cheap and made in China but extra part is better than nothing when you are stranded on the road.

 

The air bags will make the truck ride level. This is important for several reasons.

Not in order of importance:

1) Keeps headlights on the road, not in the trees and the eyes of every driver your going head on with.

2) keeps from trashing your factory springs in record time.

3) allows proper weight distribution to the front axle which effectively moves some of the weight off the rear and puts it on the front to share the work

4) extremely important it helps keep the fro t of the truck on the ground when the trailer is heavy and you have a hard stop. I have seen 1x and heard of many more times when the front end literally lifted completely off the ground in hard braking because of weight transfer from the trailer to the truck. The time I saw it there was about 6-8" of air under the front wheels as he slid all the way through the intersection right in front of me... i was not in the path of destruction and it still scared the crap out of me..

5) much better ride quality so your not nearly as worn out after a long trip. Less fatigued = more alert and safer.

Other than that, they don't do much..