Why won't trailer salesmen be honest about what people can tow?

I had a customer come in today with a crew cab 2011 Dodge 1500. They wanted to know what they could do to their truck to be able to tow their new trailer.

The trailer is a 31' double slide out camper with 2 seven-thousand pound axles and a dry weight of 11,740 #'s!! GVWR was 13,999#'s.

I open the door jam and the sticker says max capacity, occupants and cargo under 1270#'s.

The truck has a couple and 2 kids in the truck, WD bars and the hitch is only a few inches off the ground.

When I roll under the truck to see if the receiver hitch is even rated for their weight I notice the coil springs under the rear suspension!

Now I get to inform the owner that their new trailer exceeds the hitch weight capacity and the truck's towing capacity. They really need to look into a heavier truck that they can't afford.

BTW, their 1st trip is from Colorado to Idaho and back the 1st week of August with this rig and they are gonna do it like it is!!

Beware drivers and potential trailer buyers.

 

I'm sorry but if you are dumb enough not to even have a vague idea of what your truck can tow, do no research what so ever, and listen to a salesman completely i have no sympathy for you.

I hope he realizes his mistake before putting his children in danger, but i can't blame the sales man completely for this one.

 

Salesman's wallet was empty. That is bad. I will watch out for an extremely over capacity dodge half ton.

 

The issue I have is I work in the trailer service/repair industry.

I see this daily!

This is not a one time thing. I see overweight issues all the time.
I had a Honda Ridgeline come in with a bad receiver hitch. The hitch was fine... it ripped the back of the Honda off where it attaches.
This constuction manager bought the Ridgeline to replace his 1 ton dually to save on fuel costs. He then hooked it up to his equipment hauler with the track hoe already on board. RIP....the hitch falls to the ground attached to the trailer. The guy thought he had a faulty hitch! The Honda salesman told him towing the trailer would be just like his dually!

 

Should I keep on giving examples.

The car/truck salesmen are just as fault as the trailer salesmen as I see it.
They are informing the uninformed an the uninformed trust them.

 

Wow... I'm sure you could type up example after example Colorado!

Being an active member over at RV.net, I read a lot of posts from folks that go out and buy a brand new "15" series truck with some of them now having over #10,000 "tow ratings" (** when properly equipped) and ask the famed question...

"Can I tow this with my truck?" or "what can I tow with this truck".
9 times out of 10, this is AFTER they have already bought that TT of their dreams!

They go on quoting the "tow rating" figures, but rarely recognize the trucks Payload, GVWR or GAWR..

Members come on and you get the ultra conservative responses that say they are going to be a hazard to themselves and everyone on the hwy to those that say go for it.. Pretty entertaining really!

I fall somewhere in between of all of this... No where in any of the manufactures literature does it state this "tow rating" is meant specifically for RV's! Yet, people suck this info up and think they can load their truck to the gills and still tow something that 'comes close' to that "tow rating"..

I knew over 10 years ago when I started shopping for a travel trailer for my F150 that I needed to stay with a LOADED weight of around #5000 - #5500 even thou my truck has that magical "tow rating" of #7700...

I had several RV sales folks ask "what kind of truck do you have?". I'd tell them and then I'd say I want to look at TT's that have a GVWR of no more than #5500... They would come back and say, "Oh, your truck can tow more than that!"..

I would say, "that maybe so, but I don't want to tow more than that and I only have a budget for something in this weight range.."

Okay, so off we go onto their lot. I say I'm only interested in NON bunk-house models. Has to have a walk around Queen bed, full width rear bath and be under #5500 GVWR..

So, what do they show me... Rigs that have 'dry weights' of #5500 and bunk-house models! I didn't even go inside.. I'd walk around and peek at the weight sticker, and say, "this has a GVWR of #6500.. That's more than I want and it's too expensive too"...

Well, the guy is getting frustrated after we go thru this several more times and finally says, "we don't have any trailers that fit your needs..". I say, "Oh, okay.. you didn't know that 15 minutes ago when I stated this at that time? Thanks for your time and wasting mine...".

That dealership went out of business not long after I bought a trailer with the exact requirements I was looking for at a different dealership! Guess what? That dealership is still in business!

Anyway, what I've learned is that most people that want to get into the "RV" lifestyle don't really have a clue on the mechanics of it all and if they can't find a camp ground with full hookups, WiFi, Cable, pool, they try going to a regular campsite and wonder why they run out of water and fill up their holding tanks in 2 days!

Or, they come back on RV.net and their next questions are, "how can I increase my trucks tow rating?"

Or, "how do I get better mpg's while towing? I'm only getting 8 mpg, but I get over 19 mpg not towing anything?"

Or, "how do you keep your trailer from swaying or bouncing so much?"

And the entertainment continues!

Mitch

 

Like this, Mitch?

 

Ha, ha! I've seen that one before GLC! There was a second photo that showed a close up of the actual "hitch" setup for that... Some sort of 'plate' where the ball for the GN is bolted to that's on the tail gate and the 4x4 wood post "custom fit" between the S-10's hitch and the bottom of the tail gate!

I think there was also some sort of chain link setup to "reinforce" the OEM tail gate cables!

I wonder if the angle of pic is the actual "grade" of the road in that pic??

Mitch

 

I'll just post a link to the forum where all 3 pics are posted.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...heel-9357.html

 

I really sympathize with you guys also....

I see a lot of that going on around here also....makes me cringe when I have to pass one of those idiots who drank the sales person's cool aid and bought in to the B.S.

 

Scary

 

Did you see that one post where they said that idiot also had a boat hooked up behind the TT?

 

So what is the problem, the front tires are on the ground, and nothing is dragging?

 

I forgot about the "S" hooks! What a joke.. That's what it had to be... A staged setup with a trashed S10 Blazer and 5th wheel... Just to see what kind of reaction it would get on the internet??

Mitch

 

Add to all of this the yahoo's who think towing at 75 mph is perfectly safe. And by the way, get the hell out of their way is the attitude. I once clocked a Duramax pulling a 3 axle 5th wheel at 85 mph and he had a double axle boat trailer hooked on the back of the 5th wheel. Yep, tailgating anyone who got in his way.