Fl60 rollback questions

Weigh it to be sure. My ‘99 with Cat 3126 B weighs 15,500 with aluminum skin, plywood lined 24ft Supreme box and steel Maxon liftgate. The ‘03 we had that was specced the same weighed 12,000. Always suspected FL left some things out. Lol. The baby cat weighs a little bit more than the ISB Cummins in that truck too. I learned a long time ago don’t go off of title weight. The clerks only key in what they are told. I know of dealers that just go off of the weight on one similar truck and don't bother to weigh every single unit. Heck i needed to register a truck in a pinch and used scale ticket from a different one to get title and plate.

 

Short answer, those type of flatbed trucks are usually legal for two smaller vehicles such as cars and SUVs despite seeing some haulers moving two big trucks with them. Keep it at about 5,000 on the deck and you can tow the average 4,000 SUV behind you.

Your numbers as far as payload are accurate. You would have about 8,000 pounds to play with. The way it works with tow trucks is the same as any other truck, the sum of your axle weights on the truck cannot exceed the GVWR or individual axle weight. So, for the tow truck your example of loading a 7,500 pound truck on the deck would only give you about 500 pounds to lift with the wheel lift. In that case you would be limited to one vehicle.

You need to keep a few things in mind. One, the truck itself, when loaded, cannot exceed the GVWR or you will be subject to overweight tickets, and in PA a fine for not having a fuel tax decal or if out of state both no IFTA and no IRP plates. You still have your CDL, so you would be good there, but other towers have been nailed for not having a CDL because once the truck actually weighs more than 26k it is at least a class B CDL.

Next, for what you can tow you have two things to consider. First is the actual amount of weight being lifted by the wheel lift which will vary with each vehicle. Typically it is 60% of the weight of the vehicle being towed if you are lifting the engine side and 40% if you are lifting the non-engine side (Front or back) unless of course it is a loaded pickup truck or something like that. Then, how much of that weight will transfer to your rear axle, and how much weight will come off your steer axle and also transfer to the rear axle. The wheel lift acts like a giant see-saw lever, pulling weight off the steer axle as you pick up weight on the wheel lift, which makes estimating actual axle load interesting. Lastly, what is the rating of the wheel lift? Most of them are only rated to lift 3,500-4,000 pounds and tow about 10,000 pounds.

Lastly, you look at the actual weight of the flatbed tow truck with the load on it, including the weight transferred to the rear axle from the vehicle in tow. This has to always be less than the GVWR of the tow truck, and then the vehicle in tow has to be less than 10,000 pounds GVWR and actual weight, otherwise you once again become a CDL vehicle and would need fuel tax, apportioned plates, CDL, drug testing and such.

 

At roadside it would just be a overweight ticket, maybe an over registration ticket, but not likely to result in impoundment or leaving a vehicle behind. That said, it could trigger a compliance review where they would come look at your records, and if found to be operating a CDL required vehicle without the drug testing in place, that is a serious issue. That said, I rarely see it escalate to that level.

 

You're welcome. My pleasure.