Adding Lift Axle Cost

I always fudged my estimates by 10% if it was new or dealer shipped, 20% if jobsite pickup or more if damaged or needing cleaning if estimating from Ritchie specs.

 

Well by all means if u have your mind set on it then no one is to stop you. We all start somewhere... I know the advice given here seems quite harsh and blunt.. but some of the best hands in this industry are on this very forum giving you advice.. and they only have this advice because they have went thru the experience themselves and have learned the hard lessons they are trying to steer you away from.. just something to keep in mind before you go diving into the deep waters.

 

"
Think about this. The company sold you the trailer and also wants to sell you the tractor. If they were making good money with this combo why would they sell it?

 

I only made it to page 4 and wanted to bang my head on the wall. Weeks to go from reefer to flatbed and then says rgn shouldn't be that much different from flat? OP, many people are giving you absolute gold in advice!!!!! Please heed the warnings you are getting! As an owner-op there isn't a spec on my truck or trailers that I don't know or couldn't rattle off to you, including the tire weight ratings and what pressure they are set at based on temp, locations I will be running and the speeds those areas allow. Hell, I can tell you the torque of every nut and bolt of the suspension components, not to mention the last 6 of the vin. Trust me, RGN and heavy haul is a different game, but you better prep that tractor with heavy brake shoes/pads and be ready to lose everything as one screw up can cost you everything. If you insist, please start small and learn more, it seems as if you are really green with not only OD, but open deck in general, just based on the responses. Someone transitioning to HH typically knows most of this already and requires only the learning of the trailer and the nuances to an RGN. Personally, I wouldn't recommend a mechanical neck with a stretch, especially to someone green, that is a horrible combination to get hung up, yes the trailer flexes up as you extend, but once you load it, you have no way besides your hcv to control the bounce going down the road.

 

Who needs to know any of that ? Just load big machine on trailer and go.
If you ram the bridge hard enough it will just go away, like durka durka did to the one in new mexico.. It is still missing 5 months later... Lol