I'm shopping for toy box trailers to pull my quads around with. a few of the ones i like are going to be about 7-8000 pounds fully loaded up. of course i doubt it will ever be fully loaded but i would like to have some cushion. I have no doubt that it can be done but wanted some ideas on how to make it work well. i already have one of those load distrubiting hitches and there will definitely be some electric brakes involved. the truck is in perfect mechanical condition and i keep it that way. had a major tune up last month as well as tranny fluid flush. buying a full size pickup is out of the question right now and i don't plan on towing except maybe once a month. besides, i really like my dakota. here are my truck's specs:

1999 Dakota extended cab 4X4
5.2l V8
stock heavy duty tow package
stock heavy duty brake upgrade
31" tires
load distributing hitch

mods:
Air Raid intake
under drive pulley

planned mods:
shorty headers, hi flow cat, cat back flowmasters

 

Just don't ever get stopped by the cops. The truck can do it just fine (get some overloads), but it's well beyond the registered weight limits, and you can get fined a fair amount for being overweight.

FWIW, if you're going to get the headers, cat, and mufflers replaced, go somewhere good with a mandrel bender and have a custom exhaust fabbed up. I'd go with 2.25" collectors into a Y with a single 3" high flow cat and 3" flowmaster of your choice out the stock location. Out the back is ok, but you'll tend to blow carbon all over your trailer.

 

Wow, as stupid as it sounds i never realized that that was the reason truck exhaust goes out the side.. freakin epiphany man

your talking about overload springs in the rear right?

and empty the trailer only weighs 5500 pounds so it wont look obviously overweight

 

Empty it weighs 5500??? Jeez. That's a heavy trailer!

Do you have the 3.92 ring/pinion? The tow pkg comes with an extra tranny cooler, you may want to look into a bigger one though, and you might also think about getting a large capacity rear diff cover with cooling fins and whatnot. I don't know if they make one for the 9.25" but you'd think with the number of 1/2 ton Rams running around with it they would.

Payload on your truck is what, 1200 lbs including passengers and gear? If you load it up right you're going to be looking at about 800+ lbs sitting on the hitch, plus people/gear in the truck and it'll be getting close to the ragged edge.

Here's the thing about 1/2 ton axles - the axle shaft itself is a wear surface for the bearings. In a 3/4ton and up there is a hub that takes all of the abuse and the axle shaft is just there to transmit thrust. When you really load down the light duty axles they will wear faster, and given long enough you can actually snap the axle shaft.

8000 lbs is a hell of a lot of weight to pull, but the truck can do it. I'd start throwing coin into an account saving up for a 3/4 ton axle swap just for the stronger setup.

Definitely get brakes on all axles, get the beefy load leveling bars, and I'd seriously consider getting either an overload setup or talk to a spring shop and see if you can't get some springs rated for heavier loads.

 

the lightest model i want is 4900 pounds empty and the heaviest is 5500. its not just a trailer its an RV with a garage. and i doubt it will ever be fully loaded

 

OK then how about this?

Get a 7X16 CARGO TRAILER. Make some fold down cots on the walls. or use a tent. Quite a number of guys at the track do this. Keeps the truck within its limit. Trailer shouldnt be more than 1500-2000 empty.

I was thinking of a toy hauler for my next trailer. But the one I want is 42' with a 5th wheel. Mainly since it actually has a WALL and door between the garage and living area.

Seriously you dont want to have a trailer that is more than the trucks rated for. Like they said ,you DONT want to get a ticket for it. They could make you unhook it and leave it there and have someone come get it. Overload tickets arent cheap and it can be EXTREMELY dangerous even by only a few hundred pounds. Its not the axles that are the only thing to worry about, the brakes (even with trailer brakes) are the next biggest issue.

 

cargo trailer is out of the question, wife and 2 year old would have none of it. i convinced my wife to get a smaller trailer, its only 7000lbs at max capacity and that's including 800 pounds of water 2 ATVs (800 lbs) and another 400 pounds of misc. crap. my average load would be 6100 pounds fully loaded and if i got water on site i could travel at 5700, much better..

 

6100 would be a lot better. If you hit any hills with 8000 you'd slow down pretty good. Even with only 6000 you'll be slowing down a bit.

 

What ever happend to the old days when a good old camper and a small utilty trailer was all that was needed.... sigh. You may thinck into getting new shocks as well the rears gonna be sagging you cna get the ranchos that have the air comprsor to stiffen the load it will aloooyu to carry more with out crappy sag and take a loud of other parts of the truck..

 

Shocks won't help sag much at all. They will however keep a heavier load from bouncing as much as oem if you get firmer shocks. Springs are what support the vehicle, which is why I highly recommend overload springs or even an airbag system. With a D60 rear axle swap naturally you'd take a 12x3 drum setup off the 3/4-1ton truck.