Hauling a Ford F-250 7.3L Diesel in for repair.. Only one equipt failure of the day!

Ok so I got a call from a friend to haul another friend of his F-250 7.3L Diesel. Have to say my Chevy did just fine. Little Bit of Squat considering 6800lbs on the trailer:



Only one hiccup. Pulling the truck off at its repair shop, the rail ramp on my trailer had a serious FAIL! Bummer!:

What is the front strap attached to??

No Damage to the F-250

Both Front Straps are axle strapped and tied down to "D-Rings" on the front of the trailer.. what you see is the excess strap that was just closed into the hood so they didn't flap in the breeze as I went down the highway!

Ahh, I was sure you knew how to tie down a load lol just looked funny in the pic!

Also the 7.3 was a beast, last good diesel Ford made IMHO they have been crud ever since the pollution police changed the setup..

Ironhunter-
I always put my excess strap in the doors, these guys had the hood open and said "Ahh we can just put em under the hood" I was like "Umm ok" I always like to tie/strap down my own loads start to finish because it is my rig and my arse if something goes wrong. But I double checked their work. They had only strapped down the front axles, I started pulling the straps out for the rear axles and they said "Ahh you going to strap the back too huh?" I was like- "6800 lbs- yeah- if this were a scrap truck it would have an additional 2 straps on top of these 4- one over the hood to a pocket and one over the bed to another stake pocket." Since this wasn't- just had to go with (4) 3,333 lb rated badboys

Originally Posted by Dermestid

Wow I would've guessed that weighed more than 6800. Just curious how long is your trailer? Is that a long bed F250? Incase I ever come across one wondering if it will fit on my trailer.

Well you think like I do! I had to Google the wheelbase to ensure that it would fit before I ever started the trip. It is an Extended Cab with a 6.5" Bed. My trailer is a 16 foot deck, It fit, but this was really the longest and heaviest thing on the trailer I have hauled. I hauled an F-350 Standard Cab Dually on it once- but it had no where near the weight of the diesel- the diesel outweighed it by about 800 lbs.

Originally Posted by Dermestid

Must be just like my truck then, never would have imagined it would fit on a 16 footer! My trailer is also a 16' deck but has a 2' dovetail is that what yours is?

Mine is just a 16'.. no dovetail on it. The picture doesn't show it from a good angle but that truck was all of that 16 footer and it still hung off the rear of the trailer. Wheels on, Body- Over the back of it- it was a beast!

Originally Posted by Dermestid

Ahhh gotcha must be the angle of the picture makes it look like a dovetail. Was it hard to get a good balance of the weight on the truck/trailer with not much room to move it forward or back?

You are correct, it really was a tight fit on there.. But we made it. Trailer is now at my welders shop getting the rail rebuilt.

Originally Posted by sledge42

You are correct, it really was a tight fit on there.. But we made it. Trailer is now at my welders shop getting the rail rebuilt.

You might move the toolbox a little further forward so if you do this again you can move the truck further forward if you need to for proper balance.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

You might move the toolbox a little further forward so if you do this again you can move the truck further forward if you need to for proper balance.

Wish I could. Have you seen how this was put on the trailer? Dug up my pics.. it's "fixed" in place:

Well Gents. Got my trailer back today from the Welder. He and I spent a bit of time coming up with the design for a new rail. My boards are getting pretty creamed from the winch, so I had him fab me up a new rail and install pipe along the top of it so that it should hopefully curb the "winch rash" on the boards. The design was pretty simple- strong but not cumbersome, I wanted the ability to freely move the ramps wherever I wanted too without the old style "slats" that didn't give me much flexibility. I have to say the design worked, the functionality works, and the welder is an ACE.. Check out those beads he laid down! BOOM- This badboy is ready for anything I can throw at it! Just wanted to give you all an update on the "Rail Fail!"

He also extended out my ramps to 6 foot now instead of the old "4 foot" AHHH... Much Better!