Small semi tow rigs

[351rlts]

To those who have or have had a single axle semi and a tow vehicle. Been thinking of looking at a used truck to tow my rig. With the cost of $25 -$30,000 for what I have seen it appears on the surface to be not such a bad idea. What is are the thoughts of those who have done this.

[Seann45]

Depending on the truck and local requirements you may need an air ticket to drive one.. but for the buck they are a good deal usually.

[3'senough]

Originally Posted by Seann45

Depending on the truck and local requirements you may need an air ticket to drive one.. but for the buck they are a good deal usually.

x2 plus it's probably now considered a split rig aka Class A (at least here in NY) and will require you to test and pass another road test for it. Here in NY you get what you test in based on weight and air brakes. I have a class B with air and up to 80K, but not split which I could take with my setup. I would loose my air certification in doing so and limit my ability to drive air brakes in any truck. Many of the laws have gone Federal and now I am required to take a physical to keep up my interstate portion.

One other point is that it may require frequent truck weight station stops due to the nature of the TV now being commercial. Just something to consider.

[hammer]

My next truck is going to be a class 8 highway tractor conversion to single axle. Check out Greg rv haulers.com from Calgary Alberta

[Jagiven]

It is probably worth giving your state’s licensing bureau a call. As I understand it here in MN, I can drive a class A MH with no special license change, no restrictions as long as it is for private use. I would expect a Class A TV for you 5ver would be the same. Also if I travel to NY or CA the MN licensing laws follow me. I met up with a guy last year driving a single Axle Volvo painted to match his luxury 5ver (tandem dual axle) behind the small sleeper was a spot to haul his Smart car, and on the back of the 5ver was a hydraulic lift for his motorcycle. He said fuel economy was close to a pickup truck, and never runs low on power.

[Bird Dawg]

I would also check out the cost of maintenance on the tow vehicle. If it has a Freightliner Chassis and Cummings or Cat motor, it can be very expensive. We had a MH with the Freightliner chassis and Cummings ISC 360 motor. Our local Freightliner dealer charged $120.00/per hour. We traded the MH on a 5er and purchased a Chevy 3500HD Dually. Not only is the maintenance a lot cheaper but we are getting much better fuel economy. The other thing to consider was, when ever we brought the MH in for service, we would be 'bumped' by truckers that came in. The rationale was that the truckers need their rig to make money and ours was for pleasure.

Fred