I have moved to California and am surrounded now by states that are not too friendly with pulling double trailers behind a pickup. A pickup without a box is fine as long as it is licensed as a tractor, with a box is a nono. So i can no longer make use of my old setup.

So I would like to rig a 25' GN trailer to handle 2 rigs on the Deck and then have wheel buckets, or pockets in my beevertail or an extendable arm with buckets similar to what a tow truck has for suspending and attaching the front axle of a vehicle to. I have seen this used in the Midwest on a few trailers so i know it is legal but i never inquired as to what it is defined as. Is it considered a double setup or a single setup. I cannot find a statute prohibiting me from doing it in NV, CA, UT, CO, AZ, NM, OR, ID nor MT. and have called several DOT offices and they could not answer my question with certainty. figured i would pose it here and possibly give you all a potential idea for adding capacity to a trailer

I need the short GN for specific applications and the additional deckspace, capacity for 3 rigs on long trips. Decissions decissions :D worth thinking outside the box though


I would assume since it is solid mounted and does not utilize a pivoting point it does not constitute an additional trailer, only an extension of the current one.

My justification for this thought is they do not consider a dolly to be a trailer and then the vehicle in tow as an additional trailer, they consider them as one, so wouldnt the same principle be applied.



Mathematically and design wise I have also factored in the changed loading characteristics of a suspended front half of a vehicle leveraged on the rear frame/ beavertail of the trailer behind the axles, and how it will react with the two vehicles loaded on the deck of the trailer.


Thanks
D

Have to tried talking to the commercial enforcement officers at the Rohner Park CHP station?

I think that set-up is going to put some serious lateral loading on the axles of the trailer and the 'dollied' car since the trailer wheels and rear axle of the third vehicle will be so far apart.

What is your tow rig? Sounds like quite a load.

Brian

I think that set-up is going to put some serious lateral loading on the axles of the trailer and the 'dollied' car since the trailer wheels and rear axle of the third vehicle will be so far apart.

Brian

I don't think it will "if" you tie the front wheels down and leave the steering unlocked.

I have moved to California and am surrounded now by states that are not too friendly with pulling double trailers behind a pickup. A pickup without a box is fine as long as it is licensed as a tractor, with a box is a nono. So i can no longer make use of my old setup.

:confused: Where have you heard that?


So I would like to rig a 25' GN trailer to handle 2 rigs on the Deck and then have wheel buckets, or pockets in my beevertail or an extendable arm with buckets similar to what a tow truck has for suspending and attaching the front axle of a vehicle to. I have seen this used in the Midwest on a few trailers so i know it is legal but i never inquired as to what it is defined as. Is it considered a double setup or a single setup. I cannot find a statute prohibiting me from doing it in NV, CA, UT, CO, AZ, NM, OR, ID nor MT. and have called several DOT offices and they could not answer my question with certainty. figured i would pose it here and possibly give you all a potential idea for adding capacity to a trailer

There is nothing in the vehicle code. However, err on the side of caution and call it a double.

I would assume since it is solid mounted and does not utilize a pivoting point it does not constitute an additional trailer, only an extension of the current one.


If CHP see you and decides to check it out, it's not going to mean diddly squat if it's not delineated well in the CVC. I'd call it a separate trailer because it pivots separately just like a tag trailer. It's no more solid mounted than a tag trailer is.

"confused: Where have you heard that?."



Thats how we used to get away with hauling compercial Doubles behind our rigs when i was hot shotting through Nevada and Oregon, other carriers have to drop thier tags but there is an exception in Federal transportation law that says if a vehicle has only wheel fenders (optional), mudflaps, open frame and a hitch and it can be re-inspected and classified as a tractor then all rules applied to any commercial tractor now apply to it. Where as if it has a pickup box or a flatbed it cant be inspected and re-classified because it is serving as a pickup.

Id have to look it up for the specifics but that was the long and short of it, used to have to carry a copy of the statute to present to the un-co-operative DOT & HP officers in Oregon.


The CHP said that so long as i am under a total length of 65' front bumper to rear of load i am within thier rules :shaking: LOL the three officers that io spoke with all thought that because it is chained down to the deck of the trailer they would consider it one with the trailer.

I am working on trying to find a special permit through Nevada to allow me to continue to haul my doubles as a private citizen not commercial carrier through thier state.



I have tested the therory a few times with the old gooseneck and the side loading doesnt seem to bee too much of an issue actually the trailer tracks quite well

People in Nevada pull doubles all the time with a pickup, i think you need to investigate some more.

get a class A license then you can pull doubles as long as one is either a fifth wheel or gooseneck. i have seen these style trailers 2 on deck one tag-a-long so legality with the trailer wont be an issue.

http://www.rvsafety.com/state.htm

Good to hear that people do it in NV, the above site is just one reference of where it says no double trailers in NV but rules and laws have been known to change and accomodate out of state vehicles, or it may not be enforced any longer Or like was said i may be inturpretting the law incorrectly and the rule against doubles might actually refering to bumper pull not gooseneck/fifth wheel???????? Dont know so this is interesting

i actually still have my Class A with tripples endorsement and Med card so non-issue there. :D

Thanks

thsi was debated a while back on here, and IIRC< someone actualy pulled into the scale house, and they classified the trailer as being a extra large tow dolly, with brakes.

Here in Nevada people pull 2 bumper pulls, i've seen several motorhomes pulling cars with a trailer behind the car and Jeeps behind both fifth wheels and bumper pulls.

thsi was debated a while back on here, and IIRC< someone actualy pulled into the scale house, and they classified the trailer as being a extra large tow dolly, with brakes.



Ah ha. Interesting. Thank you. I'll have to inquire further with Nevada, if they allow doubles its a done deal i'll run doubles again. If not i will review the dolly idea.


Thanks Guys


I never could understand the RV sites that said Nevada didnt allow pulling doubles, seems like if all the other states are allowing it surrounding them and they allow tripples in thier state why they would put the kabosh on a GN with a Tandemn made no sense to me.

That RV link thing must be old. It says the speed limit is 65 and it has been 75 for years.

That RV link thing must be old. It says the speed limit is 65 and it has been 75 for years.

So you have been towing on the interstate going seventy-five miles per hour for HOW long??? hahahaha :shaking:

So you have been towing on the interstate going seventy-five miles per hour for HOW long??? hahahaha :shaking:


Im confused are you saying you can't tow at 75mph. I guess it depends on your rig, trailer, and weight. I certainly see alot of tractor trailers doing 75mph b/c there set up right.

Towing 75 + is an everyday occurance in Nevada. We are not oppressed like some states.