Tandem Trailers in B.C.

[sledderdoc]

Sledderdoc

Sorry it took me a while to find it, my filing system is fantastic....my retrival system sucks.....

I'm possitive I downloaded it from the Queens Printer, got that info from the Leduc Vehicle inspection station..... http://www.qp.gov.ab.ca it's in there some where, when I have another moment I'll hunt through there, in the mean time my hunting....

and yes the maxium lenght bumber to bumber is 65' 7" or 20 m....also the first hitch has to be a king pin style...(common fith wheel) the second trailer has to be the same or shorter and has to weigh less...dont play with that one unless you like multiple pile ups...

I also but an anti sawy bar on my second trailer, being a flat deck I had to watch how it was loaded, some weight forward but not to much ....

Thanks for the reply .... good idea on sway bars for second trailer, I don't have them but I can see her bouncing back and forth when the first trailer moves lol. I drive slow 100-110km and that seems to be the trick. Would be nice to pull the unit to the Shuswaps though. Hope it goes thru! I'll post when I find out more. :d

 

[magnet]

just a note if you read the regs on class 5 drivers licencing you can only tow 1 trailer and if you are driving an rv the trailer cannot have more than two axles. I believe that there is also a weight restriction on class 5 drivers but cant find the rule for that one.

 

[Iron Horse Racing]

Thanks for the reply .... good idea on sway bars for second trailer, I don't have them but I can see her bouncing back and forth when the first trailer moves lol. I drive slow 100-110km and that seems to be the trick. Would be nice to pull the unit to the Shuswaps though. Hope it goes thru! I'll post when I find out more. :d

Where the sway bar really helps is when your going down a grade, you engine brake or step on the brake and your tailer weight shifts forward onto the hitch.....the rear trailer can start to wonder side to side....braking harder makes it worse, appling your trailer brake directly can hep ( side note make sure your brake control is built for more than two axles..) the best way to bring the rear trailer back in line is to get on the gas...then when its straight you can try braking again...this is where balancing the load on the rear tailer is critical.

Depending on your axle postion on the trailer, 60/40 or 55/45 ...if theres not enough tonuge weight on deaceleration the rear trailer will sway....but to much tonuge weight and it will weight the front trailer to the point any little bump and it lifts and rattles the fith wheel hitch on the truck....

I was in Scona spring and he showed me a wreck that someone brought in....the guessed that the rear trailer took to much weight off the fith wheel and bouncing around was to much strain and it bucked the hitch.... all weights were within specs and it took two years ....now this may have been driven by some madman driving way to fast down bumby back roads for all I know....

But weight distribution makes a huge deal on good roads much less icy roads....ask any trucker....

 

[sledderdoc]

Yes I agree weight distribution is key. I normally pull two trailers one is a two place flat deck that holds my two quads and my daughters dirt bike and I always make sure the weight is in front of the axles. The other is just my boat trailer which is automaticly weighted properly just by the design. The other thing I did was add surge brakes to the boat. Works well.

 

[f150truck]

In a conversation last year with the DOT....they indicated they were pushing to not allow it in Alberta.....

They stated it was to difficult to inforce, as a lot of peole doing it were overloading the truck and alot of the trailer manufactors were agaisnt it as well stating there 5th trailers were never Engineered to have a hitch.

I have for years pulled a 24' 5th wheel with a 22' flatdeck....bumber to bumber 64' 5" with a 3/4 ton truck....I was stopped several times and used to carry a copy of the reg's as the hiway patrol didnt think it was legal.....

I haul a 27.5 5th W with a 22ft boat behind a F350 Harley and have never been stopped. I always thought max length was 60ft. It would be handy to carry a copy of regs. Where did you get them?

Here is the Alberta Regulations, check out section 86 for trailers

Alberta Queen's Printer

 

[magnet]

I have a good friend that is a RCMP and he informed me that in order to [pull tandem trailers with any vehicle you must posses a class 1 licence.

 

[Iron Horse Racing]

Thats the problem....to many people including RCMP, Hiway patrol and City police.....

Read the regs....all you need is a class 5.......

 

[08summit]

RCMP are not the best people to be asking the rules of the road to as all to often they have no idea themselves....as stated above read the reg's for yourself to be sure.

 

[sledderdoc]

Here is the Alberta Regulations, check out section 86 for trailers

Alberta Queen's Printer

Thanks for the info I actually printed it off and will keep it in the fifth wheel. :d Thanks 150truck

 

[sledderdoc]

I have a good friend that is a RCMP and he informed me that in order to [pull tandem trailers with any vehicle you must posses a class 1 licence.

So better tell your friend to brush up on his info as he is dead wrong!