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towing

hole

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I might be wrong but I seem to remember reading that a single rear wheel one ton truck , when properly set up, was rated to tow 12500 lbs. You are pushing your luck
 

sprucemt

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Warrensburg NY
Trailering, good - Flat tow, bad.

Thinking the pintle hook mount would need to be somewhere just below the middle of the back doors of the van to get the correct angle for the towbar. The towbar angled down in a panic stop could cause the duece to run up over the van. Assuming it would stop at all.
 

randyscycle

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hole said:
I might be wrong but I seem to remember reading that a single rear wheel one ton truck , when properly set up, was rated to tow 12500 lbs. You are pushing your luck
And that is usually in combination with the tow vehicle factored in....A loaded trailer with a run-of-the-mill passenger car and the trailer itself usually pushes the limit....

I brought my M715 home with a full-size Dodge Crew Cab LWB pickup, and a 12,000 Lb trailer, with electric brakes on both axles, and the truck knew it was back there both stopping and starting, and the 715 only weighed around 6,000 lbs.
 

1stDeuce

Member
351
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Location
Farmington, NM
The issue with flat-towing any Deuce isn't so much the weight, as the fact that these trucks are set up with virtually no caster. Caster is what makes the wheels want to self-steer when led. (think shopping cart front wheels with the swivel in front of the wheel center... Now move the swivel right over the wheel center and suddenly they turn all directions instead of going where you push them... )

I think I've read specs that suggest that a deuce can at times show negative caster, meaning it should want to steer to lock once started in a turn... this is actually countered by the locked rear tandem, which pushes the truck back straight. Still, NOT good geometry for flat towing. (but easier to steer at low speeds w/o power steering!)

With little to NO caster, a deuce must be forced to follow while it's tires occasionally scrub, and this requires a lot of weight over the rear of the towing vehicle. I think the military never intended for the trucks to be flat towed down the highway, only as a means of field recovery, and even then, possibly with a "steerer" sitting in the truck to make things go better...

So power isn't the issue, nor is the gross lack of braking ability when flat towing. Instead, it's the fact that a deuce tends to wander where it wants unless the towing vehicle is massive enough to force it to follow... Even a 1-ton pickup only has about 3000 lbs on the rear axle at best. This fighting the 6000lbs on a deuce front is going to be only a subtle influence when the going gets anything but straight.

Chris
 

swbradley1

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I see that you are located reasonably close to me in Ohio.

Please send out a PM or posting to let everyone know for sure if you are going to try and tow it for sure and let us know when. I'd like to make sure I'm not on any roads when you do.

There is a chance I will get to meet you someday and I'd like for you to be there in one piece and without injuries to share your recovery story with me.

Have it professionally towed or trailered. (Gimp could help as well I'm sure.) If you really want to do it yourself rent the equipment to do it safely.

Have a good and safe experience.

steve
 

airtech

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cinn ohio
i borrowed a trailer with brakes to haul it home now if i could get someone from the site to call me back so i can inspect the truck i will see what its going to take to get it running
 

alphadeltaromeo

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Alto, GA
airtech, thanks for taking the abuse from some of the folk on here....you've been gracious lol

we've all done things that aren't quite safe from time to time. i had my deuce on a 5th wheel to a dually for 500 miles and it did just fine. we were quite safe as the driving was careful. cant wait to see the pics!
 

1stDeuce

Member
351
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Location
Farmington, NM
Airtech, glad to see you're getting a trailer... BUT... You'll notice that everyone you hear talking about that is talking gooseneck... There's a reason for that... Please make sure you have good tongue weight on the back of the truck. And stop calling your E350 or whatever it is a "van". I'm pretty sure you'e talking about a straight frame vehicle with the front 1/4 of a van on it, usually followed by a flatbed or cargo box... That's a lot more HD than just a "van"... :)

Either way, a deuce is an awful lot of weight to be dragging from a "bumper" hitch behind anything less than a dumptruck. (bumper meaning not hitched over the axle like a 5th wheel or gooseneck.) If your truck has a decent overhang behind the axle, it'll be a fine line between too much tongue weight lifting the front tires off the ground, and too little with causes instability at speeds with the heavier trailer pushing the truck around... If you can get load bars, I'd put them on and crank them for all they're worth... Then load it forward until the truck has a good squat anyway. Then go nice and slow, and just take it easy... Hopefully the rear axle is close to the back of the truck, as this helps with stability immensely! (Again, think dump truck...)

I picked up my deuce with a 20k gooseneck behind a '06 dually Dodge and it was fine stopping and going, and plenty stable, but we squatted the dually pretty good... A bumper tow with that much weight on the nose would have picked the front of the truck off the ground or ripped the hitch off...

Hopefully you have enough experience towing heavy trailers to be fully capable!! A lot is possible if you're CAREFUL, and it sounds like you will be.
Chris
 

Recovry4x4

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Airtech, I'm writing about it so it musta worked out. That was a 1000 mile trip home. It was demanding but I did it. Also did 1100 miles dragging an engineless deuce from Columbus OH to FL and 2 more M35A2s from GA to FL (400 miles ea). Did all this with that pickup (which is about to be scrapped). I'd not recommend it but I've done it and survivied
 

airtech

New member
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Location
cinn ohio
yes you are correct it is a cab and chassis van .I have been pulling that much weight for the past 9 years with it . A 963 bobcat goes well over11,000 lbs with attachments
 

Recovry4x4

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Darrell, why don't you let me pull the motor and make me an offer on the rest of the truck. Still has the Alcoa wheels on it.
 
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