What can I tow?

[eaw46]

Anyone have a comment on the max towiing capability of a CCKW in good shape. I would have the truck unloaded and I have a triple axle trailer with good brakes so I am not worried about stopping. I am only going under 50 miles and it is flat on good pavement. I am not in a hurry and 30MPH is just fine. I am looking for comments from people who have towed please. Thanks Eddy

[John V Cliche]

Let me ask how much does that empty 3 axle trailer weigh ?
And then how much does the Load your gonna put on that trailer weigh ?
Also how much does your CCKW weigh ?
Did you convert your CCKW to 12 volts ? (Iam assuming the trailer has electric brakes )


John

[eaw46]

The truck is in very good shape the trailer is about 1500lbs. The truck would be about 11,000 lbs as it has the winch. I have the trailer brakes working with the 6 volt system with a transformer box and a relay. I am just looking as to what would be a max safe load for the trip. I have a couple of other MVs and want to know what I can tow to a show or gathering.

Jeep 3000 lbs I would assume its a Yes It can go in the back but harder to load and unload that way.
Unimog 7000lbs I would assume its also a Yes
Ferret 8000lbs I would assume its Ok too as I am not going far and on good flat road and do not mind going fairly slow.
Half Track 16000lbs ???????

[John V Cliche]

A 3 axle trailer with brakes on each axle, you would consider hauling a halftrack on..... that only weighs 1500 lbs.....are you sure something can't be right...


John

[eaw46]

Trailer is 1500 Klg sorry thats about 3300 lbs the other wights are close. The CCKW might be almost 14000 lbs Eddy

[John V Cliche]

OKAY...But it still seems kind of lite to me ( I have a 14,000 Lb GVW flat bed with 2 axles that weighs 4160 lbs )
Anyway....
The CCKW is rated for 5000 lbs in the body off-road.....or 10,000 lbs in the body on-road.....and tow 4000 lbs as well....so....you have a 14,000 lb load capacity over and above the vehicle weight, so ...I guess you could tow up to 14,000 ( combined trailer and load weight ) But braking could be a problem given that the rear tandems are not hauling additional weight other than tongue load.

I would not recommend attempting this.....but ...ultimately the choice is yours...

John

[dr deuce]

I sometimes carry my WW2 Clark-Air dozer in the Searchlight Trailer. The combo is about 9300 lbs.

You will find the CCKW pretty sluggish with the 270 @94 hp. I have a 160 hp 302 in mine and it is pretty tough on the hills!

I towed the combo once with the original 270. That was what finally convinced me to put the 302 in.

To have the electric brakes work fully on a modern trailer you need to have the ability to have 12 volts. My truck is also 12 volts and the trailers have 6 volt brakes. I wire the brakes in series instead of parallel so I can use the full 12 volts through the brake controller.

In my normal driving, I get about 6.5 mpg. Towing the dozer-SL trailer twice and measuring the mileage, I got 5.9 mpg! I was amazed that I only lost ~10% of my mileage by almost doubling the GVW.

Remember the torque rods and their bushings. You are pulling/pushing through them. Also inspect the pintle mount, braces and brackets.

My $0.02

PS: I also carry the GPW Jeep in the back (not when towing the SL trailer)