California - 55mph towing a vehicle?

I am making my first trip down to Palm Springs from Vancouver Canada and have been very comfortably travelling 65 to 70 mph through Washington and Oregon with my 2011 Yukon GMC and my 2007 and 2720SL and I just came through the California border today to Redding California and there are signs on the highway that say- Any vehicles in tow - max 55 mph, which I assume means trailers. Likewise I have kind of cut my speed down from 65 - 70 to about 60 mph with my relatively new 15 inch marathons at 60psi with no problems. I notice in Oregon and even California the semi-trucks travel about 10 mph over the posted speed limit. I agree that 65 mph is a good safe speed for a trailer, but it seems odd that you can go 70 mph in Oregon and only 55 mph in California. Has anyone every got a ticket going 65 mph in California? or do I need to keep to the the 60 mph?

[ShrimpBurrito]

I don't go any faster than 60MPH. It's safer (especially with a trailer), uses far less fuel (maybe 20-30% less) than 70MPH, and I don't have to be on the constant lookout for CHP. They do pull over folks for it.....

Dave

Well because of all the talk on this forum about tires blowing. From the get go I decided to keep my speed down. I never drove my 2720SL or now my Elkmont over 57MPH. Now there are times like goin down a steep hill when I realize better slow down. I decided that at 57 I was a little faster than what is posted but just fast enough to stay out of the slow lane to allow cars get on or off the freeway.

I decided a long time ago for a variety of reasons that it would be extremely foolish to drive over 60mph towing a TM. The signs you saw are correct...55mph is the speed limit in CA for vehicles with trailers. I wouldn't push it over 60...one of those reasons is that our son , who is in the CHP, said that they actively ticket speeding vehicles with trailers.

I believe Michigan also has a 55mph limit for trucks and vehicles with trailers. And there may be other states.

For me it's a relief as I normally don't exceed 60mph, and it's nice not having big semi's blowing by me all the time.

With all the talk about towing and being able to stop safely and survive a crash, I was reminded of this video from awhile back. The insurance companies tested a 1959 Bel Air vs a 2009 Malibu. I remembered those old cars of my misspent youth as being tanks and really thought we were making a mistake trading fuel mileage for structural safety. I never expected the results of this head on crash test.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

[rvcycleguy]

In Texas, we have commercial truck speed limits that are 5 mph lower than light duty trucks and cars. Many areas will have a night time limit of 65mph for all vehicles. No minimum for towing. Posted speeds have been increased to 75- and 80 in some places in west Texas. I towed my 3124KB to Arizona recently and on the first full day, I was running close to 70-73mph. Fuel mileage was almost down to 11mpg. I slowed way down to 60-62mph and increased to 14mpg. That was total weight of close to 9k with Tundra, cruiser motorcycle and loaded TM.

If you have been driving 70 MPH while towing a trailer in Oregon and not have had a ticket then you are very lucky. I believe a section of Interstate might have a 65 or 70 max stretch but that is a single vehicle only. Towing a trailer is 55. Most highways here are 55 with towing a trailer also 55. We have had some horrific wrecks here by people traveling fast with trailers and everything suddenly going sideways so hope you are not one of those that try to go for the most distance in the least amount of time. Eventually it catches up.

Bob

[B_and_D]

Originally Posted by happybeebob

If you have been driving 70 MPH while towing a trailer in Oregon and not have had a ticket then you are very lucky. I believe a section of Interstate might have a 65 or 70 max stretch but that is a single vehicle only. Towing a trailer is 55. Most highways here are 55 with towing a trailer also 55. We have had some horrific wrecks here by people traveling fast with trailers and everything suddenly going sideways so hope you are not one of those that try to go for the most distance in the least amount of time. Eventually it catches up.

Bob

I glad that you posted this...I towed the TM to Oregon a couple of summers ago. I drove 55 on the way up, but my cousin's husband (who has lived there all his life and tows boats, trailers, etc.) told me that there was no special speed restriction on towing a trailer. So I drove a little faster on the way home; guess I'm lucky that I didn't get a ticket!

After having a couple of blowouts, I like to keep the speed around 55 or so.

[Mr. Adventure]

You guys are spot on about this. Everything about towing is substantially better at 55 than at 65 no matter what you're driving (and hugely better than at 70). 55 vs 65 gives you a 39% reduction in wind resistance (where most of your fuel goes), and 55 vs 65 provides a 40% reduction in stopping distance, for a couple examples. It substantially reduces the forces that the bumps hammer onto tires and hitch components. For vehicle durability, safety, and fuel economy, 65 instead of 55 is like turning your 4000# trailer into a 5600# trailer (and vice versa).

The faster you go the less stable on the road your rig becomes, requiring more driving care and attention (probably by these same kinds of percentages). In my motorhome days I found that I could drive more miles in a day at 60 than I could at 65 simply because keeping it in the lane was less stressful.