Vehicle Towing advice

So, here's my final rig and some thoughts after my first pull:

1. Ram 1500 is plenty of truck both for pulling and for stopping quickly, especially since the trailer has brakes and the truck has a progressive brake controller.
2. You can barely feel that there is a trailer back there, when properly loaded (empty, the trailer sits too far forward in weight).
3. Having coil shocks in the rear kinda sucks, since even with a moderate load, they sag. Airbags have been ordered to remedy the sag.
4. Having broke the taillight out of my truck already, I learned that aggressive turns when backing is a bad idea (the ladder on the toy hauler protrudes just enough).
5. I get 19mpg by itself, and 9mpg when towing.
6. I saved over 10 grand by not upgrading to a 3/4 ton. I like money.

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That trailer doesn't look the claimed 30' long. Is it really? Maybe just an illusion of the trailer with the truck...
 
My '06 duramax has hauled 10-18k lbs for 8 years. It seems I've tried to kill it but it just won't die. I hardly maintain it, besides oil. Broke three drive shafts, finally put super shaft in it, replaced front end after 100k. Employee rear ended a truck, smashed into a tree, and we've fallen Ito more than one hole that slammed it to the frame. Starts every time, pulls every time, and I think the duramax is the quietest diesel out there. If you're pulling often diesel is the way to go. Stay away from the earlier dura models though.
 
flyingron said:
I've towed a few things (my wooden boat and a monster wood chipper) that were very close to the max weight of my pickup. Yeah, it's not fun. Fortunately I wasn't going very far.
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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: One for the other?:lol:
 
denverpilot said:
That trailer doesn't look the claimed 30' long. Is it really? Maybe just an illusion of the trailer with the truck...
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It's because of the aft axle placement they do on toy haulers. Look in front of the axle and you see where the extra 2-3' are.
 
SkyHog said:
So, here's my final rig and some thoughts after my first pull:

1. Ram 1500 is plenty of truck both for pulling and for stopping quickly, especially since the trailer has brakes and the truck has a progressive brake controller.
2. You can barely feel that there is a trailer back there, when properly loaded (empty, the trailer sits too far forward in weight).
3. Having coil shocks in the rear kinda sucks, since even with a moderate load, they sag. Airbags have been ordered to remedy the sag.
4. Having broke the taillight out of my truck already, I learned that aggressive turns when backing is a bad idea (the ladder on the toy hauler protrudes just enough).
5. I get 19mpg by itself, and 9mpg when towing.
6. I saved over 10 grand by now upgrading to a 3/4 ton. I like money.
Click to expand...

When you do the airbags, do a big sway bar at the same time. They aren't expensive, and you'll be glad the first real emergency braking or major cross wind situation you get into. Sway bars are more important to stability than springs.
 
SkyHog said:
Street gas, actually. Just a 1000cc Motorcycle engine (GSX-R in my case). Alcohol is illegal, but every year it comes up again as a push. The mod is so expensive we usually vote it down.

The Sprints, on the other hand, mostly run alky. Those that run gas are the ones in the back. LOL.
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These are cool cars. I recently redesigned a cooling/air intake system for one of these, interesting setup with the engine "wrong way round" and regs saying no external scoops allowed (not sure if your series has the same regs, this was 5000 miles away:))
 
Oh yeah, move the ladder in closer to centerline. If you snug it up with the frame and tanks it doesn't do that, stupid design failure commonly perpetrated. One of the more frequent sources of damage by the drive away guys who deliver it. :(
 
mtuomi said:
These are cool cars. I recently redesigned a cooling/air intake system for one of these, interesting setup with the engine "wrong way round" and regs saying no external scoops allowed (not sure if your series has the same regs, this was 5000 miles away:))
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Same regs. There are only two sets of regulations nationwide. TUSA and WSDCRA. We use WSDCRA, but the differences are negligible.

No external hood scoops. But my air filter protrudes through the hood, so same dif. :)
 
SkyHog said:
Same regs. There are only two sets of regulations nationwide. TUSA and WSDCRA. We use WSDCRA, but the differences are negligible.

No external hood scoops. But my air filter protrudes through the hood, so same dif. :)
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Cheater.......:rofl::rofl::D...

Remember, there are two types of people at a race track...

We are paid to cheat........... They are paid to catch us..

And the other two types....

Cheaters........ and LOSERS....:redface:
 
N801BH said:
Cheater.......:rofl::rofl::D...

Remember, there are two types of people at a race track...

We are paid to cheat........... They are paid to catch us..

And the other two types....

Cheaters........ and LOSERS....:redface:
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Meets the letter of the rule...good enough for me! :)

There is also some sort of rule about not deviating from certain rear end ratios. To my knowledge, everyone plays with those and they never tech the rear end.
 
The nose of those cars is aerodynamically "interesting". Putting the intake/cooling where most people seem to put it is far from ideal.

A couple of years ago I completely destroyed a semi-big European racing series for a whole season. Next year I admitted and helped rewrite the regs so they didn't allow that anymore. I completely agree about the cheaters and losers :)
 
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