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The RVer's Open Forum / GENERAL RV DISCUSSIONS / Towing doubles?

Common Question User ID: 1028194	Sep 18th 1:10 PM Can I pull a trailer (of any kind) behind my travel trailer? IOW, pull two trailers?
Mike Administrator	Sep 18th 1:12 PM Travel trailers do not have the structurial integrety to pull a trailer. Some fifth wheels trailers do. Some states do not allow doubles towing at all. Some states do, but usually only behind a fifth wheel. Is it legal? You'll have to check the laws of the state(s) you intend to be in. http://www.bts.gov/external_links/government/state/department_of_transportation.html Is it safe under any circumstances? The *vast* majority here will tell you it's not. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/equipment/towing/index.htm Mike
Mike Administrator	Sep 18th 1:13 PM August 18th, 2003 A Great Falls couple died Sunday evening when their truck towing a camper and a boat fishtailed and flipped on Highway 89 about 10 miles north of town. A third person, the driver's 89-year-old mother, had to be transported to Benefis East, but her injuries were not life-threatening. Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Butch Huseby said the truck cab was crushed in the crash; the man and woman had severe head injuries and had to be extricated. The force of the rollover smashed the camper to bits. Only the camper wheels were recognizable in the wreckage. A witness described what happened: Driving south toward Great Falls, the 56-year-old driver moved into the northbound lane on the crest of a hill to pass a truck. As the truck moved into the other lane, the boat and the camper began to fishtail. Robert H. Tolbert, an 80-year-old retired teacher from Washington state, watched in terror as the truck that had just passed him began to lose control. He said the boat trailer tires hit the edge of the blacktop and the small fishing boat sailed off the west side of the road. The camper whipped back and forced the truck across the other lane and into the borrow pit. Tolbert said the truck and camper bounced five feet off the ground and flipped, landing upside-down. "I've never seen anything this horrible," Tolbert said, with tears in his eyes as he watched volunteer firefighters. "I've never been this upset." Emergency personnel were able to get the 55-year-old woman's pulse at the scene; she was flown to the hospital where she died. Volunteer firefighters struggled to remove her husband, but pulling him from the truck they realized he already was dead. Huseby said the crash happened about 5:15 p.m. All were wearing seat belts as all three sat in the front seat. A dog in the vehicle got out before emergency crews arrived and was walking around. Huseby withheld the victims' names until their family could be reached. Montana law allows drivers to tow a camper, that tows another trailer such as the boat trailer in Sunday's wreck, Huseby said. http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030818/localnews/81678.html
Sparky User ID: 1028194	Sep 18th 1:16 PM I have found that it may be legal in some states, it certainly IS NOT SAFE. After a VERY close inspection of the RV trailer structural integrity, I decided that this was NOT for me. After reading about the preventable disaster that Mike referred to, I am absolutely positive that to do this would be insanely wreckless, at best. Sparky
Steve D Moderator User ID: 1028194	Sep 18th 1:17 PM I have towed doubles myself, back when I was “young and immortal”. After reading this and thinking of the possible ramifications, I am not at all interested in ever doing it again! Steve
Randy Z User ID: 9544623	May 22nd 3:49 PM You know I have seen people ask this question for years and those who read my responses here in this forum know I believe in logical answers. Get a kid's wagon and tie another wagon behind it, now go for a walk. As long as you are going straight on level ground and at a constant speed everything is great. O K, now try to turn or slow down or speed up or dodge something or any quick manuver. Now instead of walking, do it at highway speed. Now do it with babies sitting on each side of the sidewalk. NUFF SAID ? Nuff SAID ! If something is only safe under perfect conditions then it is not safe. Big rigs can pull more than one trailer down the road but they have dozens of wheels to keep them going straight and even then they can look like a snake going down the road. If you need it that bad then rent it when you get there or have it shipped ahead or find another way, (ie; inflatable, collapsible etc.) Like the commercials on children's TV says, PLAY SAFE yours Randy Z
CLYDE User ID: 7106263	Aug 13th 6:58 AM http://www.rvsafety.com/state.htm A WEB PAGE FOR TOWING.
Dreke User ID: 9349783	Aug 14th 9:28 PM I was never trained to be an accountant; so I don't do it. If one isn't trained in pulling doubles......