5 Tons, trailers and Max GVW

[madsam]

One thing to note.

If you are hauling some equipment, It is best to go by a scale in a truck stop before you get to a weigh-station. It is better to know than not know. ($7.00 vs $500 ticket.)

 

[rmgill]

The plan is to get base weights of all the vehicles in their stowed condition to get a GOOD working weight of the armoured cars and the truck and trailer combo. That way when we're on the road for an event we won't have as much if anything to argue about with a scale master.

I half figure since we'll have them out gunned, they'll be nice anyhow.

 

[vbe75]

don,t know if it will help at all, but most commecial trucks with trailers run between 29,000 and 38,000 lbs. empty.
my KW T-600 with 53' box is about 34,800 with fuel. most trucks run about 17,000 to 22,000with a average of about 18,500 for the tractor. a steel stepdeck should be in the 16-17,000 range depending

 

[tmbrwolf]

Another consideration that has been mentioned and I'll give a little personal history, the 5 tons just aren't up to the job of line haul. My first tour in europe the army was using IHC transtar and loadstar tractor trucks for the line haul mission, this was before the M915 series was available (now i'm telling my age!), we just couldn't keep the damn things operational (5 tonners), they were never designed for that mission and it showed!

 

[reb87]

My 818 truck data plate has the following information
stock # 2320 050 8978
GCW Highway 75955
MT 20955
Trailer wt 55000


Front 10467 11554
INT 5244 16790
Rear 5244 16790
Trl Bogie 30821
Max towed 30000
I think this is saying you can have around 25000 lbs of trailer on the fifth wheel and around 30000 lbs on the trailer axles for a 55000 lb loaded trailer weight. Also I extrapolate the gvwr to be 45134 for the tractor itself.
Ross/Nebraska

 

[CUCVFAN]

As reb87 posted, the 37,500# rating is the off-road rating of the M818 & M819.

The highway towed load is 55,000 (M81 and 46,000 (M819).

You still need to figure trailer weight in that, but it's a heck of a lot better than 37,500... You might not get there fast, but you're not exceeding the rated capacity at the 55K level, either, provided you pay attention to 5th wheel loads and such...

 

[topo]

the numbers to watch are gross vehicle ? The weight on each set of axles ( steering -drivers- trailer ) and how much weight the truck is registered to carry . the weight laws vary from state to state .

 

[jwaller]

As reb87 posted, the 37,500# rating is the off-road rating of the M818 & M819.

The highway towed load is 55,000 (M81 and 46,000 (M819).

this is good to know. I always wondered what my limits were "supposed" to be.

so with
my truck and trailer
M818 and M270A1
24k+18k=42k unloaded

so that leaves what for max gross combined weight? 80k is the limit on class 8's but how about the 818 max combined weight?

I can go another 20k on the truck and 18k on the trailer? roughly?

 

[reb87]

according to my data plate the max combined weight is 75955

 

[jwaller]

according to my data plate the max combined weight is 75955

see thats just it. the data plate on my Xm818 must be different as the biggest # on it is about 44k.

 

[madsam]

Just a different idea on this. One could buy a civilian Freightliner FLD120 and paint it to look like a M916 for probably less money which was made by Freighliner. Those could do 75 on the highway in comfort with AC and no earplugs to haul the toys to shows. Here is a single axle that is going for $5000.

http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/detail.aspx?OHID=1783581&guid=051E7AD1751E4DE595046720C973572F

I know it is not technically the same, but it looks almost the same. Just a thought.

 

[rmgill]

That is probably not a bad idea.

 

[IN Farmboy]

AM GENERAL m818

Hey hoping yall can help. Looking to buy an M818 but concerned with the GVW ratings, Ive looked at different trucks and had guys tell me different ratings such as 70000#, 50000#, 57000#, can you help

Im looking to use a 6X6 truck on our farm to pull a 36-38' double hopper grain trailer

 

[poppop]

I think an 818 will handle any weight a regular over the road tractor will. If you are working it on the farm or not many road miles away to the elavator it will do the job. If you are looking for something to deliver grain 100 miles away you need a civilian tractor truck. To get that grain out of your field and into your bins it can't be beat.

 

[IN Farmboy]

thanks Lloyd for gettin back so quickly, i just dont want to overload the truck, Im concerned with the GVW of the truck. it would be pulling a 36-38' grain trailer with 56-60,000lbs of weight just in corn, that doesnt include weight of trailer, but also we have the trailer axles as well that take alot of that weight.

 

[IN Farmboy]

is there any spec sheets to be found on the am general m818 and options available, Im wanting a 6X6 truck, be nice to have front air locker. lookin at 71 AM General m818 now and owner says no air locker in front but sprag in transfer case and he doesnt know if rear axles have lockers or not. I dont think he knows what the truck has exactley. I thought all trucks were built to certain specs.

 

[poppop]

You are welcome. There is a post on here from several years ago showing an 818 pulling a payload of over 100000 pounds not counting the trailer. If speed is not an issue you will have no problem. I am a Farmer also in Ga and am very familer with corn harvest. My crop is in the bin and we are doing some custom harves for a neighbor.


Just saw your last post. Some trucks had lockers added and there should be a tag on the dash to confirm. The sprags were more relaiable on the five tons than the Dueces. There are some things to know about the sprags. There is an air shift that engages the forward or reverse sprag. If you stop the truck and allow it to roll in the oppisite direction without first shifting the trans into the correct gear the front and rear axles will be fighting each other. There are TM's here on site in the resources section that will tell you all about the trucks.

 

[IN Farmboy]

Hey Lloyd is there any way i can talk to you by phone, I hate computers. My family farms here in southern IN, we havent started harvestin yet but it will be here in bout 3 weeks.

 

[poppop]

Sure, my cell is 912-682-6299.

 

[reb87]

here is a link to my post about using my m818 to haul beans. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/5-ton-up/23945-moving-soybeans-m818.html

I borrowed a trailer to see if the m818 would handle the job. I used a set of magnetic lights from walmart with 1662 bulbs(24volt version of 1157) My first load was approx 900 bu beans and my gcvw was approximately 85000 lbs. I didnt put as much in the next loads and was running around 75000 lbs. The truck with trailer empty weighed around 30000. I need to move the fifth wheel forward some so I can get more weight on the front axle. the 85000 load only had 10000 on the front. The truck handled well and performed like our 427 gas powered chevy c65 trucks that haul 500 bu. (they weigh around 45000 full) There is one hill that I had to shift to 4th gear on but it pulled right up without another downshift into the dreaded 3rd gear. On a flat road it would pull around 50mph.