How crazzy am I

[jfnemt1ff1]

Ok for those here that know me know that I am nuts. So that leads to the question. I was thinking of towing a M543a1 with my deuce.
John

 

[doghead]

How far? details?

btw, your not alone!(nuts)

 

[BFR]

In a pinch I pulled an 819 through town once. I would not reccomend it.

 

[73m819]

i wouldnt do it, the 543 weighs a tad more then the deuce, it will pull it, though slow, but stopping, or for that matter just slowing down or taking your foot off the throttle may not be the funnest thing that you have done in a while. the 543 mite just push the deuce a bit

 

[chgofiveo]

Ok for those here that know me know that I am nuts. So that leads to the question. I was thinking of towing a M543a1 with my deuce.
John

You must be nuts!!
You spelled crazy wrong!!

 

[papabear]

If you mean moving it around the farm...off-road have at it...drop the deuce in low/low and crawl on!

If you mean on the road where unsuspecting innocent citizens are motoring happily along:
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT...PLEASE!!!

I'm sure you know that M543 weighs nearly 3 times as much as that poor little deuce.

I won't go into the hundreds of reasons I think it should not be done, but the biggest one I can think of (assuming you have the brakes working on the 5ton) is that if...God forbid...something goes wrong and that 5ton decides to go it's own way...it will take the little deucy with it and you will prolly be powerless to stop it.

We are all nuts in some way or another but I would call that operation down right sucidal and even criminal (as would the LEO's - if a serious incident happens).

Guess I should have waited for you to answer Doghead's questions but DANG!!! Red flags filled my eyes and the hair raised on the back of my neck at the thought.

 

[jfnemt1ff1]

Ya that what I was thinking,it would be a long haul. I just started checking into getting it shiped but Iam cheap. And the money I spend on shiping takes away from the restore.
John

 

[gimpyrobb]

Don't the 5tons have glad hands on their fenders so you can work the brakes? As long as the brake system is in tact and hooked up, I see no problem. You just have to think about what you are doing. Take it slow and steady, they are designed like that for a reason.

 

[Westex]

Westfolk always has da bomb!

 

[Maverick1701]

Thanks you Chris. Everyone always talks about the brakes and stopping, yadda, yadda, yadda. You shouldn't be moving ANYTHING down the road if the brakes don't work. With the brakes working, as they should, tie the trucks together with the airlines.....so what's the problem with stopping now?

X2!

 

[jfnemt1ff1]

Thanks to all , and Chris I was kind of thinking of the same thing. It is going to be about a 900 mile trip and it does not matter to me if it takes a week to make it back. I have towed my Goat,M725, and in the move out to Iowa about 3000 pounds in the back of the deuse towing the goat with about 800 puunds in the back of that. No problems, just take it nice and slow. I am also going to but some 395s on it and redo all the bearings and check the brakes on the 2 1/2.
John.
P.S so far the lowest price to ship is $3500.00 makes to deal not look so good.

 

[OPCOM]

Even if the brakes work, don't be overly confident. Pretend they do not.

 

[4x4 Forever]

X2!

 

[Maverick1701]

X2!

X(-)2

X2 has been cancelled lol

 

[BKubu]

Don't do it. Think about it this way. You want to save money, but, if you get into an accident or have some other problem, you will spend more money than you would have on shipping the wrecker.

 

[area52]

To move a wrecker 900 miles should not cost you more than $1800. $3500 is $4 per mile and thats a little ridiculous. I got my M816 moved over 800 miles for $1500 and that was with a RGN trailer. Put a listing on Uship and see what bids you get.

 

[jfnemt1ff1]

Keep the input coming, I have am very careful driver and have towed some things that I should have not. I also have been in the fire service for 20 years and for the last 10 years instructed driving classes for the same. So my part of my brain says dont do it - the other says do it. I would plan the trip so to drive in low car volume, and route it so I dont have to drive through the mountins.
John

 

[tmbrwolf]

When I was a military instructor teaching recovery there was one rule we taught that was NEVER to be broken! NEVER EVER tow a disabled vehicle that is heaver than the towing vehicle! (we didn't recommend towing a 5 ton wrecker with another 5 ton wrecker) True the 5 ton has provisions for hooking up brakes to the towing vehicle but in my personel experiance they are not as effective as one might think. We had an incident in Germany where a unit in the division I was assigned was towing a 5 ton wrecker with a 5 ton tractor, had the brakes hooked up (safety chain was not), the driver tried to stop and the wrecker rode up over the tractor, snapping the towbar, the kid went home in a king sized ziplock bag! My opinion ( and you know what they say about opinions) DON'T DO IT! It's not worth the risk

 

[papabear]

That's what I was getting at in a nut shell tmbrwolf.

Don't mean to sound like an old fuddy-duddy...but...well...heck..I am and it has served me well.
I just don't think it's safe to do.

 

[Stretch44875]

Yea, you can stop 36,000lbs. Go around any corner and the road, and the entire front of the wrecker is trying to go straight, pushing the back of the deuce sideways. Would not take much for a jackknife to happen.