Towing a 5 ton behind a 5 ton

[Dixmotorpool]

I am thinking about towing a 931 behind a 923 from Ohio to Illinois, not sure if it is legal, would be all interstate. both will have plates and insurance. need to rent, buy or borrow a tow bar. can anyone tell me what the laws are about towing.... So far in my 6 years of playing with green trucks I have not been stopped one time although I have always been (somewhat) legal... but two 5 tons in tow across 3 states will not go unnoticed even if I do leave at 0200 on Sunday morning.. and will a 931 in good running condition pull a 923 at 50 mph for 6 hours. 250 naturally aspirated cummins engine. or should I put the 931 in front, maybe I should because it has regular truck tires and the 923 has 14.00 20 super singles.... the smaller tires on the semi tractor would give it a little mechanical advantage over the larger diameter super singles, but less speed.. . I need the voice of experience here... somebody help me.... haaa.. and who wants to sell cheap, rent or loan a tow bar... gonna do this sometime in October probably...

 

[M813A1]

I would not consider pulling a M923 with the lighter M931 it could lead to BIG problems if you do not hook up the air lines from truck to truck . Trying to slow down or when stopping especially if it is an emergency without the air lines could get scarey !! Now on the other hand pulling the M931 with the M923 should not be a problem because the heavier truck is pulling the lighter truck that is much SAFER !!

 

[bradmachine]

I would hook up the airlines, and the light cord.... so that would activate the brakes... right??

 

[Dixmotorpool]

Yes I would hook up the air lines and the light cord.... forgot to mention that... never done it before but I would guess then the brake lights and brakes would all work... ??

 

[sandcobra164]

I'll chime in on the lighter truck pulling the heavier truck comments. I towed a few 5 tons with my Deuce. Air hoses are a must, Do Not tie off the steering wheel on a 5 ton. Otherwise, things went pretty good. I've not towed a M900 series behind my deuce but the M800's are a hand full behind it. Things got better in the towing business when I started using a M936 to do recovery's. Those 5 tons would drag the deuce to a 25 mph crawl on inclines. Lucky for me, the 5 ton wrecker showed up and it can drag a 5 ton straight back up a cliff without slowing down. For the tough work, see if you can get your hands on a M984 HEMMT Wrecker as it can lift tow without a cable hookup and you'll never know that the truck is behind you.

 

[KsM715]

Tonight, on my way home from the Black Hills of SD, coming down hiway 81 from Neb. into Kansas I passed a convoy of about 4-5 pairs, one truck pulling a second truck on a towbar, of 5tons (M813's) out Lincoln, Ne. Not one had a plate and I bet they never stopped at the weigh stations and bet they never even got a second look from the cops.

 

[Derrickl112]

I would not consider pulling a M923 with the lighter M931 it could lead to BIG problems if you do not hook up the air lines from truck to truck . Trying to slow down or when stopping especially if it is an emergency without the air lines could get scarey !! Now on the other hand pulling the M931 with the M923 should not be a problem because the heavier truck is pulling the lighter truck that is much SAFER !!

It definitely makes sence to use the heavier truck as the tow vehicle, but I have a question...

Could the tractor safely pull the heavier truck, since it has the valve on the steering column to activate the trailer brakes? (In this case the trailer would be the m923)

Example: You're coming up to a red light, so you push the brake pedal, but feel the m923 pushing you. Instead of pushing the brake pedal harder, you pull the lever on the steering column to apply more braking force to the 'trailer'?

Just wondering.

 

[eagle4g63]

After JUST doing the tow bar thing with 2 deuces from Ohio to Northwest Indiana.........I'll tell you this.........and before anyone asks: I did have brakes hooked up and lights, and used a HEAVY tow bar...............the problem isn't as much the starting and stopping as it is the shoving and steering............with the rear truck ridding much like a wagon instead of a trailer, it will want to push the front trucks rear when you are trying to turn, even a highway turn, not just an intersection turn like some will think I am talking about. More weight on the back of the tow vehicle helps to keep the rear tires planted under you.

It wasn't a terrible thing, but also with this effect it directly effects how fast you can sanely drive, at 50 my truck wanted to sway and get pushed around, but at 47-48 it was solid as a rock and a dream to drive...........just keep that in mind if you do tow bar to expect to go slower than you would like and leave yourself plenty of time.

 

[eagle4g63]

I didn't add.......I would NOT recommend using the tractor to do the towing, not enough weight over the rear tires and the rear truck will want to push them out from under you..........JACK KNIFE!!!! A tractor works with a large trailer and lots of weight cause the trailer is hooked to the fifth wheel right over your rear tires, a tow bar will be pushing on the very back of the frame so NO weight over the tires that need to bite into the pavement..........food for thought.

 

[gunboy1656]

Another option (if you can find one) is one of those 5th wheel lifts.

 

[mactiredearg]

You know I'm always seeing OTR semis going down the road with at least one (usually multiple) other OTRs in tow with the front axle of the ones in tow rigged on top of the 5th wheel of the truck in front. Wonder if that kind of setup would work in this case...

[Edit: gunboy put it better...]

 

[eagle4g63]

That would be ideal...........that's what gunboy is talking about.........piggy back is the way to go if you have to get equipment anyway.

 

[davey8943]

.. and who wants to sell cheap, rent or loan a tow bar...

If your route brings you through (or near) Columbus IN, I have a medium, along with gladhand air lines if you don't have them.

We can likely work out some sort of reasonable trade......

PM me when your timing firms up and we can talk details.

Dave

 

[gunboy1656]

That would be ideal...........that's what gunboy is talking about.........piggy back is the way to go if you have to get equipment anyway.

2 different setups. Think it was recovry who towed the way he is talking about. The way I was describing there is an attachment that goes into the 5th wheel and lifts from that..yes there are picks on here of what I am talking about.

 

[eagle4g63]

Oh........ I think I know which one you are talking about now.......I did see some trucks that were pulled with that thing...........SO.........Both of those would be great ways to do it...personally I think better than tow bar, if I was given the option.

 

[Beerslayer]

I towed an M925 with an M923 the other day. With the air lines hooked up you couldn't tell the other truck was back there when braking. Things did tend to wiggle around a bit, but that is typical with using a towbar. Pretty tiring, plan on a shorter day.

 

[WILDBOY6X6]

Tow

HI I see a lot of good info for you allready,but 27 yr 63b here(mechanic) and wrecker operator. I agree with rest 1 NEVER tow a heaver with a lighter if possable 2 use air lines (and yes they will work brakes on towed trk) 3 do not tie stearing wheel (5 tons only) you MUST tie it if towing a deuce,they are manual stearing if you do not tie them when you turn the deuce will try to go straight, but remember a deuce does not have air glad hands in front so will need to tie a line into air tanks or go easy, the m35 is 13,030 empty.
Then most of the time in cal guard I was using a HEMTT wrecker so did not feel even a 23,000 + 5 ton on hook,since the hemtt wrecker is 52,000- .

 

[Dixmotorpool]

wow, thanks for all the input... I like the fifth wheel mount idea, have seen it before also,,, and that puts the weight on the rear axles of the tow vehicle.... gonna strongly consider that option... if I can find the hardware....

 

[gunboy1656]

Just for reference this is the concept I was talking about.

 

[Csm Davis]

Yeah there's one called a protote also that gets used around here a lot. Easy to use works great, the other way with the front or rear of a trucks over the fifth wheel uses a cradle that has a kingpin and has to have a wrecker to take them on and off.