*Truck and Towing thread........ask your questions here.*

[peg110]

The manufacturers know most trucks will never/rarely see weights close to max, so they soften up things to make it comfortable driving to the market or soccer game.

My F150 had a looser suspension and rode great. It took bumps/holes in the road in stride and you rarely felt them. Add the Travel trailer on the bumper and you felt them much more.

I upgraded to an F250 2 years. First thing I noticed, is you felt those bumps MUCH MORE (unloaded). The suspension was tight and rigid. When you put a load on it though, it was like a dream. I picked up a ton of coal (on a pallet) and it sank the bed quite a bit, but the truck ran like a champ. I barely knew there was the weight there.

I think in the case of my F150, you are correct. Most people who buy them don't typically tend to tow with them except for the fishing boat. When you move up to the Super/Heavy Duty vehicles, manufacturers tend to think you are going to do more "Work" stuff and probably adjust suspensions accordingly.

 

[Nevaland]

Seeing everyone else's awesome setups, I figured I would post ours. I love seeing all the pics!!! There are all kinds of sweet setups going to the Fort and I love to see them!! Except the tire pics, but it reconfirms to me the importance of the TPMS we now have, acquired after having too much damage from tire blowouts than I prefer to remember! Here we goooooooo......

Pulling into the Kingdom last Christmas




Our setup last Christmas


Partial pic of tow vehicle - 2016 GMC Duramax setup at Charlotte Motor Speedway this past Memorial Day Weekend.

 

[Teamubr]

Great pics Nevaland and nice looking rig. You have me wondering how you got the pic of the back of your trailer waiting to get through the MK plaza. Of is that another Cedar Creek that just happened to be in front of you?

j

 

[Nevaland]

Great pics Nevaland and nice looking rig. You have me wondering how you got the pic of the back of your trailer waiting to get through the MK plaza. Of is that another Cedar Creek that just happened to be in front of you?

j

Hahaha!! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at) I have to many kids to fit all in my truck so we must take separate cars when camping. That's my wife's view following me all the way down from Massachusetts!!! Thank you very much!

 

[tltay2005]

Well we finally got to tow a TT with our new truck yesterday. We towed our Hideout to trade her in on our new Micro Lite. The dealer was about 2 hours away. DH said that towing the Hideout was like nothing was there, I can agree since I had to point out to him he was going 80 MPH several times! We got good gas mileage going, 10.8 MPG, not so good coming home with the new trailer, 7.7 MPG. DH said he could tell the TT was there, but the Titan XD pulled it with no problems. Said it was definitely different being that the Micro Lite is about a foot taller and sits about 10 inches higher off the ground, which added almost 2 feet to the total height, is 5 feet longer, is about 1200 lbs heavier and has duel axles. We also had a very strong head wind as storms we brewing all around us.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

I had airbags on my F250 and it made a difference in the ride when towing, my F450 rides like well a tank there's no better way to put it, but when it's hooked to the camper it rides like a Cadillac, I have about the same pin weight as Jim, 2600#. In my opinion truck manufacturer needs to go to a full stock air ride suspension like commercial tractors. I know that there is more upkeep and cost, but the truck would always ride like a caddy loaded or empty, it would always sit level with a load/camper. I know that Ram has air assist suspension on the 3500 and 2500 and I believe full air ride on the half tons pick ups. I'm glad to see some is starting to do this and maybe it will catch on with everyone else.

The other day I visited the Ford site and built a 2017 F450 to the same specs as my 2008, $85,000 later I decided I better take real go care of my 2008!, it's hard to fork out that kinda money on something that has a rough ride while empty. The new trucks are nice and have more bells and whistles and cameras than a nuclear power plant, but still has over a hundred year old technology for suspension. For that kinda off money I shouldn't have to invest more $$$ in aftermarket add on parts to get a better ride or to eliminate sag or squat when loaded.

Like me and Tiggerdad has discussed several times, I'd be had pressed to buy another pick up, for less money a person could buy a used commercial tractor and never have to worry about towing power, stopping power or ride again, Gregg from RVHaulers.ca converts trucks to pull a camper, re registers the truck as a motorhome so no CDL or higher insurance rates. I've thought pretty hard about making the investment, but for now I'll stick to my old ford, it hasn't let me down yet, (knock on wood)

Just my opinion.

 

[bama_ed]

It's a sad day in the Bama Ed household.

The original family tow vehicle, our 2005 Chrysler Town & Country mini-van (with factory installed tow package) will be leaving the family this week. It was our TV for the first 6 years that we pulled our Jayco highwall pop-up. After that the TV responsibility went to my new-to-me Suburban.

We actually bought it new in July 2004 and it has 211,000+ miles on it - we literally drove the wheels off it. In its later years it was the car driven by the youngest kid to high school and back daily. But it was prone lately to expensive repairs and it's to the point where it costs more to repair it than to say good bye. My last kid started college and needed a dependable set of wheels and she's been taken care of.

I hated to drive it (and didn't) after its towing days but DW liked it so it had its place in our family.

But there is one thing about it I will miss.





Bama Ed

 

[Teamubr]

Awe Ed. I know how you feel. I typically drive my vehicles until they are dead. I just sold my loved BMW when I was in the Smokies. It only had 168,000 miles, but a $4 part failed and did $3000 worth of damage to the engine. Even if I did the work, it still wasn't worth fixing. It is going to a good home. One of the guys I raced with owns a BMW shop and was looking for a "customer loaner". He also wanted a mule test car with the newer N52 engine to "learn" on. He's going to drop a new engine in (actually cheaper than replacing the head and cams) during his down time.

j

 

[Flametamr]

This is our haul as we leave today from a wonderful three week vacation. Back to the frozen tundra fo tundra for us. We will return next year. Our trip home will be slow and wise weather watching.View attachment 145095

I think you have the truck I want to consider buying. Can you tell me more about your truck. Such as weight limits and mileage normally and when towing ? Thanks

 

[bjschil]

I think you have the truck I want to consider buying. Can you tell me more about your truck. Such as weight limits and mileage normally and when towing ? Thanks

I will do the best I can to give you the details. Bill has been spending long days in the self-propelled JD Chopper chopping corn silage to to feed/store silage for the "girls" at our dairy farm for the winter/Spring/summer, till it repeats itself! We have a 2015 Dodge 2500 Longhorn package 6.7 liter 16 Cummins Turbo Diesel with a 6 speed automatic RFE transmission, and has airbags. Ours is a crew cab with the short box. This has the tow/haul feature which is nice going through Monteagle, etc. This fact I know, as we just came home last week from "up north" camping trip to Door County, WI. We get about 12 miles to the gallon pulling our 2016 3701 Sanibel, whose empty weight is 13,187#. Bill will jump on board with hauling limits, but our previous truck and fifth wheels have been similar, and have traveled to Yellowstonw NP, and Colorado with no problem. Over the road driving is about 17 miles per gallon. This is our RV truck, not a "useable farm truck"!! Mama would be upset if it gets a musky farm smell! Good luck on your search.

 

[Flametamr]

You answered enough of my questions to help. My Open Range only weighs 9000 lbs empty. Your truck wouldn't even strain pulling it. Only other questions I would have is it 2 wheel drive or four ? Does you have an add on tuner like Bully Dog and does your's have to use DEF ? Thanks for the help.

 

[bjschil]

Sorry, I missed a vital answer. Yes, it is 4-wheel drive, and does use DEF. When we pull to Florida, it seems to take more, or appears to go through at a faster rate. Didn't drop at all going into the 5 1/2 hour drive to the tip of Door County and return home. Obviously hills in Tennessee/Georgia. We have learned to travel with two four gallon jugs, in case it is a stop that does not offer the sale of DEF. do not know about Bully Dog! But I am thinking we did not add this feature. That is an answer for Bill

 

[Flametamr]

Bully Dog is a performance tuner. A lot of diesel owners use them to optimize towing performance and mileage. You can basically re-tune the truck while rolling to suit what type of driving you are doing at the time. I have not used one but have friends that swear they are great.

 

[Teamubr]

I have not used one but have friends that swear they are great.

I had one on one of my prior trucks. They really need to be used in combination with other mods to have the best effect and not risk doing bad things to the motor. My old tuner was a Bully Dog (there are many others out now) I was a 6 position switch. +40 HP to +250 HP. But I also had replaced the exhaust from the turbo back to handle the extra power. A different air box to manage the air flow in better and new injectors to keep up with the fuel needs. And I added some real gauges for EGT (exhaust gas temps- critical), boost pressure and oil pressure.

Many of the newer tuners plug into the truck computer that is already monitoring those things and unless you want some serious HP boosts (> 150 HP) I don't think the injectors would be needed. My odl 2002 F250 with the 7.3 made around 260 HP and 535 lb/ft of torque. With all the mods, I was making just under 500 HP and nearly 1000 lb/ft of torque. As a comparison, the new Ford 6.7 makes 440HP and 840 lb/ft. That's why I haven't bothered to mod my truck... yet.

j

 

[jaredjohn4]

We did the major upgrade to a new 2015 Ram 2500 megacab diesel 4x4 and a 2016 Keystone Cougar 326rds fifth wheel. In 2014 Ram went to coil springs in the back, even unloaded the truck rides fairly smooth. Hooked on to the 37 ft fifth wheel, it goes down the road almost easier than my old conversion van and popup. The new truck is also so much quieter inside than our old (2008) Chevy conversion van. People new to diesel need to keep an eye on the DEF. Just driving locally, I would add some every other month. But pulling the load, running about 70, it went through it fast. It was filled when I left home in northern Illinois. About the Florida line I was adding a 2 1/2 gallon box so we could get to Disney. We love the truck and camper hooked together. We're planning our next spring break trip right now.

 

[Teamubr]

People new to diesel need to keep an eye on the DEF. ...pulling the load, running about 70, it went through it fast. It was filled when I left home in northern Illinois. About the Florida line I was adding a 2 1/2 gallon box so we could get to Disney.

That's a lot of DEF. My F350 holds 5 gallons. I have to fill it about the same intervals I do oil changes- about 5,000 miles or so. Towing doesn't seem to use much more than driving solo.

j

 

[jaredjohn4]

We were a little shocked too. We have a Grand Cherokee with the little V-6 diesel using def that usually makes it just about to it's 10,000 oil change. We never really checked how much the truck went through when not towing because it didn't seem to use it hardly at all. We had only had the camper about 3 weeks before we headed out, so we didn't know what to expect. We grabbed a box near Atlanta just because I thought the gauge was going down fairly fast while towing. It was nice to have when we hit the Florida line and it was getting pretty low. I filled it up in Orlando, and we made it back to Illinois without adding any, but it was almost empty. We'll see what happens this spring on the trip, but I'm bringing along a spare box just in case.

 

[tiggerdad]

That's a lot of DEF. My F350 holds 5 gallons. I have to fill it about the same intervals I do oil changes- about 5,000 miles or so. Towing doesn't seem to use much more than driving solo.

j

This.

My f-250 uses about 5 gallons for every oil change which is at the 5,000 mile range. Towing does increase it but not as drastically as some people had told me it would. The Wal Mart DEF is $8 for 2.5 gallons, so $16 more every 5,000 miles is nothing and it is not an inconvenience at all.

 

[PaHunter]

Alright all my 5th wheel towing friends. Towing a 5er, upgrade to air ride pin box (trailer air) or not ?? Saw a product made by trailer saver, TS3, for the truck bed, anyone with experience ?? I see that the TS3 is very expensive. Looking to get my hitch in preparation for a trailer upgrade someday.....

 

[peg110]

Can't help you with the Air ride Pin box.... but I was looking at a truck upgrade. Thinking it's time to go diesel. Looks like Blue Book on my current truck is $10K - $15K above what I owe. Boy... I will have ponder this one.