I know this is a stupid question, but how do I know what rear end I have? Also, you say it will get ugly if I have a blow out...exactly how will it get ugly. This is my first LQ trailer, so forgive me for my ignorance.

Certified scale:  ... 3 horse Sundowner loaded for a week trtip with 3 head aboard.  4 foot shortwall NO LQ, just a boot box and a cabinet ....  Truck bed: 12 bales of hay, a bit of firewood and misc stuff.

My rear axle weight was 5700 pounds. My front axle weight was 4140 pounds.

Total rig weight was 17,800

Your weight may be a "bit" more...

PS .. truck was a dually.  I like extra margin.  You may feel okay with less.

I have the same truck with  slightly larger trailer.  My rear axle wt was just over the rated weight for the truck.  A lot depends on how much you carry in the bed of the truck.  If you keep it empty you will most likely be ok but if you carry a large water tank and a few bales of hay you may be over. 

Max load says 3195...I am so confused..

To find out what gears you have look at the window sticker if you have it.  If not, go to the dealer and have them print out a build sheet on the truck by using the vin.  Standard is 3.73 and the option is 4.10's.  If you have nothing listed on the build sheet or the build sheet then you have 3.73.  This is for 03-07 Dodge HD trucks. Supposed to have a new gear 3.42's coming out in 08. With your 3500 you have the same axle and overloads as a dually. You just don't have the tires to carry that much weight.

3195 x 2 =6390 lbs.

That will be your limiting factor on how much weight can be supported on the rear wheels. My Exiss Event 412 hooked to my truck(04 3500 Dodge dually) with no horses, no camping stuff, full of fuel, full of water for the LQ, and no people weighed in at 6740 on the rear axle. I beat yours will be just a close.

So, right now I have E rated tires on my truck..do you suggest me going up to a G rating??

Drumrunner ... Let me cut to the end.. Your truck won't be able to carry the trailer you described fully loaded.  Spooler's trailer is over your ratings WITHOUT the horses or people or camping gear.

Include the horses and other loads and your truck is overloaded.   Tires are not the only part that is overstressed.  Don't do it.  You can expect some sort of break-down soon.  Likely when all the towing services are closed for the holiday, the sky is dark with rain clouds, the horse is colicing, the passengers are whinney. And you have a migraine headache!  enjoy the event.  (Remember to keep a diary so you can tell us all the details.)  LOL   !!

Here is a link to the max trailer weight for all vehicles for 2004, I cannot find a 2005 chart; http://www.trailerlife.com/images/elements/883783_Towing_Guide.pdf

This chart says that a Dodge 3500 regular cab, 5.9 TDI with a single rear wheel tow rating is between 14,500lbs amd 12,500lbs.  I have a Lakota 4 horse with 10' LQ with an empty weight of 8200lbs and I pull it with a Chevy 2500HD 6.0 gas and I an well below my 10,300lbs max trailer weight. 

You will be fine just don't over load the rear axle or tires by taking a full load of water if you can avoid it.

Have you actually weighed your trailer or are you relying on a marketing brochure?  The marketing brochure and even my truck registration grossly underestimate the weight of both my truck and trailer.  The only reliable way to determine the weight of your truck and trailer is to weigh them.

Thanks so much for this information!!

That is the weight the manufacture gave me from the VIN.  The weight they gave me was 8221lbs so it sounds like it was weighed.  I have to take the trailer home on Saturday and plan to stop by the Flying J truck stop and drive over the scales.  I'll report back what the outcome is, I know my truck weighs between 6200lbs and 6500lbs.  When I get rocks from the stone yard I always weigh 6200lbs but the truck has full fuel (150lbs 26 gallons) and a new hitch for an additional 100lbs but I took out a lot of stuff from the black hole that is the back seat, I even found some stuff that I was missing, so the weight may be close to the original 6200lbs. 

Just to clarify here, loaded I will exceed the manufactures max towing ratings for my truck by about 1500lbs.  I will not exceed the max towing capacity of a 2500HD with the bigger engine so I am limited by engine or transmission, both of which have been beefed up.  Do not ever exceed max axle weight rating or tire max load rating. 

My gooseneck Lakota pulls easier than my 2000lbs flatbed with my 3700lbs Jeep on it for 5700lbs on a bumper pull trailer.  Every time I have had the Lakota out it has been rush hour traffic in Columbus, Ohio and I have been taking it to or from Congress to have service and or delivery items dealt with.  During that 25 mile drive in slow and go traffic my transmission temp never exceeded 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  On the way home after rush hour the transmission temp stayed below 150, so at speed the trailer does not appear to put an excessive load on my truck, but that is only 25 miles.  I’ll learn more when we take it for a trip.

Thanks....let me know....I never knew this could be so confusing...I need all the help I can get. The info I got off the sticker in my door jam says Rear axle weight is 6200 and front is 4750...trailer weighs 8460 lbs empty, but it says the GVWR is 14000 lbs....what exactly is the GVWR??

Got the truck and trailer weighted today.  Just to refresh everyone 4 horse Lakota 6' 9" wide with a 10' LQ and a Chevy 2500HD 6.0 gas.  Front axle 3420lbs, drive akle 5140 total on both trailer axles 5900lbs for a total truck and trailer 14460lbs.  If I recall right from looking on my door jam my max rear axle weight is 6400lbs.

I would like to add to this that this is my first goosneck trailer so I am still learning.  Today when I got the trailer home it was raining so I hurried to unhook and get the truck out from under the trailer, do you see where this is going?  Well I got the gooseneck off and the safety chains and unpluggen the pigtail all is good right?  I forgot the tailgate.  Tailgate bend trailer stayed put.

I forgot the tailgate.  Tailgate bend trailer stayed put

That's one I haven't done yet.  I have forgotten to put the foot up after hooking up and it now leans just a bit.  Made a good brake.

I know you read the dry trailer weight rating off the trailer.  Well, that was before they put in the LQ's.  The average weight of that is 300 lbs per foot on the short wall. So, a 10 foot short wall x 3 is equal to an addtional 3000 lbs. So the actual dry weight of your trailer should be very close to (dry weight sticker) + 3000lbs.

Yes, you can upgrade to load range G tires but to do it you will need to upgrade to 19.5 in. rims. That will be an expensive tab (19.5 tires and wheels). Yeap, it is confusing and I didn't know a thing either until after I bought my trailer. I knew just enough before to be dangerous but I did already have a dually. I will never be able to fully load up my trailer. If I do it will be about over my GCVWR (Gross combined vehicle weight rating) and that is 23,000 lbs. with 4.10 gears.

Hi Jeepplr ... Did you have the trailer loaded?  If it was empty, (most likely) 1300 odd pounds to the rear axle isn't much stuff to load into the trailer... Forget about hauling four 1000# horses at the same time.

MHO based on:

Full load of 3 horses and stuff for three people in my 4 foot short wall 3H steel/alum trailer (no LQ) totaled 17,800 pounds.

It was empty.  I have my trucks owners manual and the 2500HD 8.1 or 6.6 diesel can have a max GCWR of 22,000lbs, so I am engine or transmission limited both are upgreaded but that is still a lot of weight to pull.

2008 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Classic             Base Number of Cylinders: 8	Base Engine Size: 6.0 liters
Base Engine Type: gas	Horsepower: 300 hp
Max Horsepower: 4400 rpm	Torque: 360 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 4000 rpm	Maximum Towing Capacity: 12000.00 lbs.
Drive Type: RWD	Turning Circle: 43.80 ft.

You are UNDER TRUCKED...

Jeeplr : I agree with Paul.  While you have upgraded your engine and transmission to some specification (You haven't said), your rear axle rating is the next weak link.  (not just the axle, includes the tires,springs, etc) You only have 1300 pounds of capacity left.  Unless you want to haul an empty trailer around, two horses alone will overwhelm the weight carrying rating of the truck. 

Under trucked yes, the trailer was too good of a deal to pass up. 

The engine has a supercharger for about 450hp and the tranny has a computer upgrade and I take it very easy on the truck,  sometimes.  The carrying capacity of the rear end I am not worried too much.  My longest pulls, Ohio to Colorado, will be with a 3700lbs Jeep sitting in the trailer backward with the trailer carring most of the weight.  I don't know the axle weights of that set up but once my Honey Do list gets shorter I will get that done.

Here is the other shoe that is about to drop...is your rear axle a semi-float or a full float??

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0112or_semi_floating_and_full_floating_axles/index.html

Also, have you checked with Exiss about hauling a VEHICLE in a horse trailer?

Some trailer manufacturers will void their warranty for such an exercise...

The axle is a full floater and the trailer is a Lakota.  I think by loading the Jeep tail front and the engine hanging far aft I will not load my truck too much and not cause the trailer to pull poorly.  If for pulling reasosns I have to load the Jeep frontwards I will have to get airbags or make my wife take less stuff.  What do you thing will happen, airbags or less stuff?

The Jeep puts less pressure on the floor than a full size horse.  The Jeeps tires are 12.5 inches wide and the contact patch is about 6 inches long with a tread void pattern of 50%.  Now I am just a weather guesser but this is how I figured it, 12.5 inches times 6 inches divided by 2 for the 50% tire void times 4, that is about 25psi for a 3700lbs Jeep.  Now I have no idea how to figure out a horses psi but from having my foot run over by my Jeep, missunderstanding between the driver and me and having my foot steeped on by a 1200lbs horse that did not put all his weight on me, the Jeep hurt far less. I know that is very scientific but that is just the way I am.

 I spoke with one of the owners of Lakota and told him about my plans to use the trailer to move my Jeep around, he did not say anything about that.  I was told that Lakota is entering the toy hauler market so I hope they would stand behind their product. 

I am most concerned about my transmission, I hope it can withstand the HP and the weight, I hope it is not a one or the other kind of thing. 

Using the tire contact patch for a pressure calculation is only good for determining if the tire will pierce the floor.  You are still concentrating 3700 pounds in about a two horse space.  Even two draft horses would be hard pressed to equal the concentrations.  ie... four tires versue eight hooves.

You might want to consider switching your factory transmission fluid to a synthetic based fluid. It will dramatically decrease the opperating temps and increase the longevity of your transmission. You will also be able to drive more miles between your oil service changes.

The synthetic fluid costs are higher than normal fluids, but the payoffs are a longer service life, reduced maintenance and increased transmission reliability.

Synthetics are especially favorable in mountainous driving where your torque converters are unlocked for longer periods of time. When your torque converter slips, the shearing action on the transmission fluid causes an immediate increase in oil temperature. In normal fluids the increased temperature can lead to a pressure and lubrication failure, with your transmission giving up shortly afterward.

The synthetics will all but eliiminate this problem without the added expense of an aux oil cooler.

BOL   Gard

Full synthetic on everything for the last 15 years or so.  It works great.

I will have to ponder on that but my flatbed trailer has a 2"X4"X16' wood deck and has angle iron every 3 feet I know the horse trailer deck is far stronger looking that the flatbed.