Newby here with some question on hauling firewood,

[banshee67]

Thanks for your input banshee. I didn't even think about that. I already have heavier duty leaf springs. They handle 1000lbs like a champ compared to my old stock leafs with an AAL.

As far as being "legal" I think I'm still in factory limits?

'09 Tacoma
curb weight - 4130 lb
GVWR - 5450 lb
Payload - 1320 lb
Gross Combined weight rating with tow package - 11,100 lb

So Vehicle - 4130
Bed of the truck = 1000 lbs
Trailer weight = 800-900 lbs
load of wood in trailer = 2000-2500 lbs

After posting I see that airwolf has already beat me to it



(again, this is all in terms of being "legal")

Forget the gross combined weight rating - thats what they use to advertise in magazines, its an easy way to trick people in reality, it usually never works out like that when you take into consideration the vehicles GVWR.

If you have 1300 pounds of "legal" available payload total, and you put 1000 pounds in the bed, you now have 300 pounds of payload left. Then add your weight (just say 200 lbs for an even number) you are down to 100 pounds of available payload left.
If your friend gets in the truck, you are now ~100 pounds over your payload without even having hooked up a trailer yet.
Estimate 10-15% of the trailers total weight to be pin weight (weight on ball - counted as part of GVWR since its on the rear axle). So say you have a 3000 pound trailer hooked up, thats gonna add another 300-450 lbs to your payload, - depending on how the trailer is loaded, so now you're at least 400-500 pounds over the payload of the truck, "legally".

Those big numbers truck companies like to quote for their max trailer tow rating, are usually not even attainable - legally.
They all do it.

So lets say you wanted to test toyotas numbers and hooked up a trailer that weighed 6000 pounds - right off the bat (using the 10-15% estimate of pin weight) you're going to have 600-900 pounds of tongue weight from the trailer alone. With that much pin weight, you only have a few hundred pounds left to play with. Add yourself, a friend, some saws/gear and you could easily hit that 1300lb may payload without even putting one log in the bed of the truck.

But again, this is all "legal" terms, something that usually doesn't apply to a guy hauling some firewood home.

 

[Steve NW WI]

If you want to split a few more hairs, what's the rear axle weight rating? You could be legal on the GVW, but over on the rear axle, especially with a bumper pull trailer which transfers weight from the front axle to the back when loaded. Think of a teeter-tooter with the rear axle being the pivot and the hitch being one of the ends.

My advice, get a nice single axle 5x10 with brakes, load it up to the factory sides, not heaped, use the truck bed for hauling gear, throw a few rounds in there if you need to carry "just a little more" to finish a tree or whatever, and you should be good. If you can find a scale to weigh one of these loads on, you'll get a pretty good idea if you could go a little heavier, but your truck will probably let you know by itself.

 

[mistaare]

Airwolf and Banshee, thanks a for the that angle. I knew I was missing something. :msp_thumbup:

Steve, I have been leaning more towards a 5x8 so it will be a little more manageable on narrow dirt/back roads. I have been looking around but really haven't found a 5x8 with brakes.

Can any of you guys recommend a manufacturer, preferably around southwestern/western Pa, northern West Virginia, Eastern Ohio, or western Maryland?

Thanks a ton for all your input so far.