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What is the law what is safe
DeTwang If you are welding the hitch directly to the frame leave the lift gate out of the question.
If you are welding the hitch to the lift gate frame that is attached to the frame then its anybodies guess.
If you get pulled into a state DOT inspection you need to be able to show them all of the engineered rating of each component where the hitch is attached and the certifications of the welds.
If you do not give a rats butt about the DOT weld the hitch on buy, rent or borrow a trailer and go for it. Just keep in mind:
"IT DOES NOT MATTER IN AN ACCIDENT (especially if someone gets seriously hurt) NO MATTER WHOS AT FAULT IF YOU HAVE A TRUCK OR ARE TOWING SOMETHING. YOU ARE GOING TO GET A VERY COMPRENSIVE INSPECTION BY SOME ONE WHO WANTS TO SEE RATING NUMBERS. ALSO YOU BETTER HAVE THE WEIGHTS CORRECT AND REGISTRATIONS TO SUPPORT.
Are ya gonna have a accident? No probably not! BUT how much risk are you willing to accept? Especially from some moron who rear ends or "T" bones you running a stop sign with no seat belt and gets a broken neck. Here you are with this, home made non rated, rig asking for a major lawsuit. As I said it does not matter who is at fault here. Its not fair but you are gonna take the heat.
I am invloved with lots of trucks and have been there and done that! All that said I still do lots of stuff that is nowhere near the letter of the law. So I say go for it!
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What is the law what is safe
You might want to check the trailer. My experience that the rental trailers for tractors ect have pintal hooks rather than balls. They usually just loan you a receiver with a pintal on it. so you would need a way to awap the recivers.
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What is the law what is safe
If your truck isnt DOT registered, I would say that legally speaking, you would be fine because the DOT doesnt generally concern themselves with non DOT registered vehicles (unless something is obviously amiss). If your truck is registered with the DOT, then its a crap shoot. Im sure that they could interprep your liftgate as not being firmly fixed to the frame because it is either hydraulically or electrically movable. I know we had a Mack semi tractor that had a hydraulic fifth wheel lift. To legally take it on the highway, it had to have a hydaulic lockout switch that would lock it in the lowered position so it couldnt be raised.
As far as what would happen in an accident. For you to be found liable, I would think that it would have to be proven that you or your tow setup caused or somehow made the accident worse. Beware though that YOU will probably have to pay for your defense because your insurance co will probably wash their hands of you when they find out what youve done.
Is your set up safe? I cant say.
Will the rental yard let you tow their trailer? Maybe, maybe not, they're a fickle bunch. They would certainly have cause and right not to. I probably wouldnt rental a trailer and equipment to you with that setup.
I hope you are planning on wiring up some trailer brakes.
Be careful turning and backing. If Im imagining correctly what your plan is, it wont take a very tight turn to mash the corner of your liftgate its the trailer.
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