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Will the Cybertruck Be able to tow a 5th Wheel?

Discussion in 'Cybertruck' started by kcroyaljosh, Nov 22, 2019.

  1. Blup85

    Blup85 Member

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    Cool, but TBH pretty dinky.. make it a dual axle with a propper stateroom at the front
     
  2. keeney

    keeney Member

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    Huh? 3mm thick (0.118 inch) steel is not light. It weighs about 0.3 lbs per cubic inch.
     
    • Funny x 1
  3. CMoZ

    CMoZ Member

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    Conventional steel which is not what they’re using. They’re using a proprietary alloy designed at SpaceX for rockets which necessitates low weight, weight eats money when getting to space. This is all ignoring the fact that they outright said “it will be about the same weight as the F150” they outright said it, and it’s not like they didn’t have a prototype to weigh of all the things they could get wrong I’m betting that’s not one of them
     
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  4. ulrichw

    ulrichw Member

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    I don't think the prototype weight is a great guide for them: From the Motortrend reveal article: "Construction of the prototype is "unibody-on-frame" in the same vein as the new Land Rover Defender, but the production Cybertruck will be pure unibody"
    (https://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/cybertruck/2021/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-photos-info/)

    I suspect the prototype is considerably heavier than the final truck will be (due to the redundant frame) - the question is how good are they at estimating how much of the weight they can lose?
     
  5. Rusty1

    Rusty1 Member

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    Apparently the CT will weigh in as a 3/4 Ton truck. If so, I think it needs to be 5th wheel capable to compete with F250, Chevy/Dodge 2500.
     
    • Disagree x 2
    • Like x 1
  6. Brando

    Brando Active Member

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    CyberTruck has at least one more year of design/engineering work.
    No one knows any details for sure - things can and do change.

    Most anything can be designed/engineered or offered as an option.

    You'll just have to wait and see.
    dreaming & speculating is fun
     
    • Like x 1
  7. MP3Mike

    MP3Mike Well-Known Member

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    No, it won't weigh that much, but the GVWR will be up there because of the increased payload capacity over a F150.
     
    • Like x 1
  8. Xenoilphobe

    Xenoilphobe Active Member

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    Wonder how many power walls that trailer could carry?
     
  9. Saghost

    Saghost Well-Known Member

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    Hmm. 14000 pound towing limit. Here's a supplier of enclosed cargo trailers showing weights empty and loaded:

    ENCLOSED TRAILER WEIGHTS AND PAYLOADS - Brothers Trailers Tampa - Enclosed Trailers for Sale in Tampa Florida | Trailer Dealership | Cargo Trailers

    Figure maybe 2800 pounds empty, so 11,200 pounds of payload. With a 14 kWh powerwall weighing 269 pounds:

    https://ww.electrek.co/2016/10/28/tesla-powerwall-2-game-changer-in-home-energy-storage-14-kwh-inverter-5500/

    That's potentially 41 powerwalls for ~574 kWh of usable capacity - for ~$250,000...
     
  10. JBee

    JBee Member

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    #70 JBee, Dec 24, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2019
    Lol better off towing a couple more TM CTs on a trailer for less money than the powerwalls.
     
    • Like x 1
  11. Uncle Paul

    Uncle Paul Well-Known Member

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    Remember the ICE answer to these towing capabilities is a huge dually smelly diesel with a 5th wheel in the bed. Makes the bed totally useless for anything else and will get around 5mpg overall with load. Will typically cost more than Cybertruck as well. Will ride like ass when not towing, not fit in a garage or even parking lot stalls. Needs a step to climb up into cab. Essentially a one trick pony. It will idle like a can full of rocks and stink up everything around them while spewing canceragenic particles.
     
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  12. M3BlueGeorgia

    M3BlueGeorgia Active Member

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    Seems entirely possible that a fifth wheel could be welded onto the bed.

    The question is whether it'll be a third-party extension or something Tesla would offer as a factory option.
     
  13. M3BlueGeorgia

    M3BlueGeorgia Active Member

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    Since the Cybertruck has a 3500 lb load rating, why don't you call it a 1.5 ton truck?
     
  14. ricohman

    ricohman Member

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    Have you owned a modern diesel? No stink, no noise.
    The CT will compete against half tons anyway.
     
    • Like x 1
  15. Saghost

    Saghost Well-Known Member

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    I didn't say it was a practical or sensible use of money. I just answered the question. :p
     
  16. JBee

    JBee Member

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    @Saghost

    Lol true.

    I am wondering though if its possible to design a trailer in such a way that it either improves or at least keeps the same drag co-efficient.
     
  17. ThomasD

    ThomasD Member

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    A basic rule to go by is that the tongue weight of a 5th wheel trailer is about 20 percent of the gross trailer weight. Based on the 5th wheel trailer dry weight of 13,400 pounds the dry hitch weight is correct at 2,535 pounds.
     
  18. Breezy

    Breezy Member

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    There are plenty of F-150s towing smaller fifth wheels, like the one I have. Towed another with a Ram 1500 before that. Lots of people don't want to live with an HD truck 100% of the time when they're only towing a camper 5% of the time.

    Since the Cybertruck appears to be out of the question, I'm holding out hope that the electric/hybrid F-150 will have a conventional pickup bed with room to attach a fifth wheel hitch to the frame.
     
  19. ThomasD

    ThomasD Member

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    Don't forget to include the 5th wheel hitch in your payload figures
     
  20. muleferg

    muleferg Active Member

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