Re: Increasing towing capacity of 800 series trucks?

From: MV (MV@dc9.tzo.com)
Date: Thu Oct 13 2005 - 07:43:03 PDT


The ratings on the M series truck are definitely on the light side
compared to what they are really capable of.

What's the rating of the pintle hitch itself?? I'd find a similar
commercial articulating pintle and compare ratings. Once you find that,
look for attachment recommendations from the pintle hitch maker.
Compare that to what you have.

I would not be surprised if the frame and hitch are good for 50,000 lbs
or more. I wonder more about the vehicle dynamics of putting a lot of
tounge weight on the pintle. With that pivoting rear axle and big tall
tires. I suppose it also depends on just how far and how fast you want
to go.

What are you going to pull that weighs more than 30,000 lbs? Huge
backhoes are about 20,000 lbs.

HP is going to become an issue also if you have to climb any hills.
With my M51 dump with 30-35,000 lbs in the bed, it is not a fast
machine. 45 mph is pretty much top end and that is after going through
most of the 10 forward speeds. The 800 series trucks have a little more
hp than my old R6602 which is at 200 hp, but not that much more.

I'd seriously think about acquiring a 5 ton tractor (m52 or 800 series
equililent?) and using a 5th wheel trailer for heavy loads. Tag
trailers just have a lot of limitations when they get that big. Besides
semi trailers are cheap and plentiful at least in the midwest.

Dave

J wrote:
> Looking for any info on increasing the legal towed load capacity of a
> 800 series truck. Out of the box, it is 30,000 pounds. I'm guessing that
> is due to the articulating pintle hitch that the Army wanted for towing
> loads over rough ground. For normal hiway driving, the articulation
> feature is not needed, so a heavier duty commercial hitch would work,
> provided that the local structure of the frame will support it. Has
> anyone done or seen such a mod? Thanks. Jim
>
>



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