Andre from TFL talked with an engineer about a variety of things relating to towing, payload, tires, etc. I always like these discussions when Tim or someone else talks with engineers. Maybe I'm biased because I'm an engineer, but I think a lot of guys in general like to know more about the specs and calculations, etc.
Bigger Truck? Another discussion with an engineer
- Thread starter duggydo
- Start date
TheDo114
Active member
It was an interesting topic, but the engineer was a little dry when presenting his viewpoint. Seems like most people overload their trucks when towing anything above 60% of the max towing weight, and that includes me lol.
I would love that the manufacturer would need to follow an engineering standard for payload like they do for towing.
It's bizarre that the max towing standard accounts for 300lbs of driver/passenger but sometimes when looking at the payload sticker, if you had the max tongue weight, you would barely have 100lbs of payload left. A fully decked out power wagon has 1100 pounds of payload, with a max towing of 10 800lbs. With 10% tongue weight at 1080lbs, you're left with 20lbs of payload....
I would love that the manufacturer would need to follow an engineering standard for payload like they do for towing.
It's bizarre that the max towing standard accounts for 300lbs of driver/passenger but sometimes when looking at the payload sticker, if you had the max tongue weight, you would barely have 100lbs of payload left. A fully decked out power wagon has 1100 pounds of payload, with a max towing of 10 800lbs. With 10% tongue weight at 1080lbs, you're left with 20lbs of payload....
It was good to hear some insight into that spec and how it was created. I like how he explained gearing doesn't change max trailer weight capability, but it affects the acceleration part of the test. It was like Andre couldn't understand what he meant there. I think it would have been better if Andre just let him explain the tests, but he kept interrupting and covering extremely basic mundane stuff.
Fightnfire
Moderator
I tried to watch it and in total probably watched about 60-70% of it. I generally find the TFL crew tough to watch when it comes to engineer type interviews. They seem to want to try and insert humor and cut the speaker short when they feel an answer has gone on long enough. Roman is the worst but it's happening to Andre too. Right as the answer is getting to a good spot or in deep on a topic I want to hear about they move on. This guy was definitely knowledgable but also pretty dry.
I’ll be honest. I made it about half way through even at 1.5 times speed. Nothing against the TFL team. Just didn’t find it that interesting and all the references to the vaunted Ike Gauntlet just got too much.
It did seem a bit drawn out. The biggest takeaway I got from it was payload calculations in relation to tires and the pressure you run. I know a lot of people obsess about being over payload with the passengers, tongue weight, etc. But unless it’s a really significant overload, it’s not nearly as big a problem as running with low tire pressure. Out of all the things a driver can control, tire pressure is the easiest and has the biggest impact on performance.
My quick takeaway as well was the towing math was aimed at 95% of the average people tow with. So they don't look at high altitude towing nor max towing so much. Rather interesting considering the Ike TFL test focuses on both.
Yep. Some good info but confusingly discussed. It would have been better if Andre just let the guy spell out how one should set up their towing rig. Starting by identifying what you will be towing to what you will be towing with and then going over how to determine all the limits.