These are becoming all too often... trailer on their side.

Quote:  2002 Toyota truck pulling a horse trailer.

She hit an icy patch and lost control, sliding off the west side of Route 47, police said.

Ya know what? I had a 1992 Crown Victoria that was rated to tow 5500 pounds - but I don't think it would have been a very suitable horse trailer tow vehicle. too smushy.

Glad everyone was okay. It was pretty fortunate that an equine vet happened by.

Looks like they used a rubber mat from the floor through the "doorway" ? the opening over the ramp. Good thing to remember about using the floor mats.

Ever hear of a WDH?   It solves the "smushy".  I had a 85 Caprice that did fine on several occasions. 

Sure blame the equipment/someone else, cant be expected to take responsibility for ones self.......just not the American way.  It was certainly driver error that caused the wreck, the truck didnt wreck itself.  Most likely driving in foul weather was the mistake, had nothing to do with the truck.  Where were all the nervous nellys/smartasses when I posted this link a few weeks back about a GN/big pickup wreck?

http://www.kmbc.com/video/18299077/index.html

When I linked that video the post only received one response, and that was in reference to the link not cooperating......very strange.

Boy you guys love to jump on the threads that will help you spread the anti little truck/BP propaganda.

I read the article twice, no mention of equipment failure, so I assume it is driver error. I'm with Chadsalt on this one, call a wreck what it is,......... a wreck. Someone ran out of talent and about killed their horse.

IIRC,  hit some ice, people survived, 2 out of the 4 horses were put down.

I guess you better write a letter to Toyota, they are the ones who set the ratings.  

Of course we are only speculating here but; one horse, appears to be an aluminum trailer.......article said pickup, I doubt it was a Tacoma.........so if it was a Tundra that trailer/load could have been just over half the tow rating.  How much "margin" do you need?

I'll bet the guy who flipped his GN/big pickup in KC thought he had plenty of margin.............

I say "margins" aren't the problem here, "talent" is.

I'll bet the guy who flipped his GN/big pickup in KC thought he had plenty of margin.............

I looked that photo over / video and I really couldn't tell how "big" the truck was. Didn't see duallys and all I could tell, for sure, was that it was a crew cab.

For all we know, it was a short bed and when it started rocking-n-rolling/fish-tailing, the trailer smacked the cab of the truck and complicated things.

For all the know-it-alls that talk strictly about weight ratings, that's based on a PROPERLY loaded trailer. You know. where the heaviest part(s) of the load are at the bottom, it's correctly placed from front to back, loose stuff is strapped to the walls, etc.

Then, consider the horse trailer and its load. It's NOT loaded with the most weight at the bottom and the load is NOT tied down. The load can shift. The load can get unbalanced. That's why there needs to be an extra margin for safety.

Non-professional drivers who do it 5, 10, maybe 40 times a year. Experience and practice make good drivers, but you'll still have the variables of your load and, as seen in the 2 accidents noted in this thread, the weather.  

For me, I worry about the load weight so that I don't kill my truck and so that I'm not going 45 mph when everyone else is running 75 mph. I worry about the weight for stopping. There is much more to factor into handling than just how much weight is being towed and how much the tow vehicle can handle. Much more.

Ive seen warnings in owners manuals about reduced engine (gas) performance at altitude, INcreased trailer rating for towing boats, had numerous safety recalls over the years (the strangest was for the floor mats) and yet not a single one of the thousands of "Warning/Caution" notes ever mentioned derating for towing livestock. 

Youre certainly free to your opinion, but unless an expert tells me otherwise I will stick to the facts.  "For me" I let someone else worry and do the testing.  The manufacturer is the one who will end up in court if these trucks couldnt handle the loads they are rated for. 

I don't have an owner's manual handy, but I bet you, someplace, somewhere, the attorneys made the OEM make mention of weasel words such as

"properly equipped trailer" and /or "properly loaded trailer"

Having worked in the automotive industry, worked with automotive product liability, worked for the government... there's a whole bunch of "cover your butt" stuff out there that people don't ever read or see.

and yes, you are entitled to your opinion. But there are a trailer-load of folks that come here looking for advice, recommendations, suggestions, etc.  I prefer to voice an opinion that errs on the side of caution.

A horse tied in a stall in a horse trailer is "properly loaded", and using a WDH, brake controller, etc. is "properly equipped".  There is nothing wrong with preaching caution, and every situation is different, but to generically black-ball the smaller rigs because you do not care for them is not in the best interest of someone who came here to learn.

Not really any sence getting all over someone for stating his or her opinions. 

No one is really "black-balling" smaller rigs.  I would say maybe 75% of the people that buy trucks / suv's think since there is a hitch on the back of it, they can haul whatever will fit on the ball and do not understand there is more to it than that!  Just to prove that I was selling a 99 Chevy 2 door Tahoe last week to a couple and they seen it had a reciever hitch on it and "oh look honey we can haul your fathers camping trailer".  I stuck my nose in and ask what kind of trailer they had and the hubby said it's just a 34' Terry travel trailer.  I told them they needed to rethink pulling the trailer or rethink the 2 door Tahoe and filled them in on weight and saftey factors of pulling a trailer that size with a vehicle that short and not rated for towing that much trailer.  What do you know, they said OMG we had no idea that there was that much involved.