What is "Standard" or "Recommended"



Truck = 2003 Chevy 2500HD CC Short bed, 6.0 Gas, 4x4, 4.10 gears, RCD 6" lift on 35's.

Trailer = 28' to 29' 5th wheel Toy hauler, 10k.

What does it take to make this safe, efficient and reliable?


Thank you,

A sliding hitch is "required" on a short bed. If you dont, you will eventually smack the cab and break the rear window and blow glass all over your occupants. Its just a matter of time.

Reliability will come with maintenance on truck and trailer. I would however "reccomend" airbags for the truck, as they will help out alot in load leveling, and help control the pin weight. I would not go over 10k loaded trailer on a gas motor, even though its a 3/4 ton p/u. You are really going to give it a workout towing that trailer with 35" tires, even with the 4:10 gears. Make sure the tires on rear of truck can handle the load. Remember, the weight of the truck + the weight of the trailer will be on there now. Have seen lots of people with bigger tires that purchase "c" rated tires to save money, but they cant handle the load. Get a "d" or "e" rated tire better yet.

Efficiency would be greater if you had a diesel in it, but thats not an option here. Tow in the tow/haul mode. You will be burning up fuel no matter what, so keep it at 55 on the hwy, and your tow mileage will be better than compared to if you were running 65+. Keep air pressure where its supposed to be, and keep axles bearings on trailer lubed up.

Practice backing up, sliding the hitch, etc. Towing fifth wheels, the pivot is over the bed and not behind the truck. Practice making turns as well. Again, 5vers are total different experience than a tag. Also, get help from somebody you know that has one, to show you how to properly hitch up if you dont know how to do it. You dont want to be dropping your trailer on your bed. It can get messy. You also want some decent clearance between the bed rails and the overhang of the trailer. I have about 8" on mine, and would "reccomend" you have no less than 6. Reason is, you get into a steep driveway, you can smack the bed rails with the overhand. I learned this the hard way with my old truck and trailer. There are people here that may disagree, but as far as im concerned, the more clearance, the better.

Shameless plug:

I have a Reese 16k Slider hitch sitting in my garage. Its 5 years old, was only used for 3 years. Has been sitting for 2 years. I used it to tow a 7900# springdale fiver. If you need it, its yours for 2-36 box's of budlight (fellow gd.comer price!). You will have to buy a rail kit. They retail for about 109.00 bucks. The hitch goes for 799.99+ new.

Let me know if I can help out anywhere else.

-kev

I would get the automatic slider they have out now... it never has to get locked in either position.
Airbags Definately, maybe a trans temp gauge if you don't have one?
Also change your trans, tranfer, and diff fluids every 15 with synthetic lubricants, not to mention the motor at every 5 with synthetics as well...
Also you may want to regear so that when your towing your in your torque band (if not already?)... That truck came factory with the 4:10's I would say a regear would be a must... Not to mention a nice set of vented rotors for the front brakes...



Also another thing, look at the frontal area of the trailer, if it's high profile I would think twice...
If it's like the fifth wheel warrior lite trailer, I wouldn't worry...
Also gas and water intown instead of towing it with you...

Great advice here, and a fantastic deal on the hitch!

I'd like to add a few things. I'd recommend more like 10-12" of clearance between bed rails and bottom of trailer. I have the crunched bed rails to prove it. Some of the gas station driveways are pretty steep, and that's when you need the clearance.

I'd go with E rated tires for the added safety margin, preferably 33" if you could see your way to doing it. I know peeps think a lifted truck with big tires looks cool, but it really hurts braking ability and sometimes stability as well.

Get the best brake controller you can afford. Contrary to popular myth, your truck brakes are not supposed to stop the trailer, the trailer brakes do, and the brake controller directly affects how well they work.

Install airbags with a compressor and gauge. Well worth it.

On most trailers, people load them a bit tongue heavy to avoid sway, but a 5er doesn't sway, so consider loading everything toward the center or more rearward than before to decrease pin weight.

Depending on weight, you might consider regearing, especially if you keep the 35s. Try it out first, then decide. I know gassers make more power up high, but there's a limit how high you want to wind it up.

Oh yeah, you might consider a large tranny cooler, bigger tranny pan and bigger rear diff cover to help lower temps, but you'll be able to decide after the first couple of trips.

IMO going to be a slow ride out and hope there are no head winds.I have a 6.0 4x4 and it is stock height 265 tiresIt does great with my 21ft trailer loaded down but headwinds or just strong winds in general kill it fast.Handling may be fine but power will be on the lower side.

As far as handling my brother tows a 39 ww 5vr with a 8 inch lift and 37s he does fine powerwise he has the diesel.

My neighbor has your truck (just an 05 version) and tows a 34' Gearbox. He has done an intake, exhaust, programmer, trans cooler, larger trans pan, and 4.56 gears (also 6" lift and 35's). I was impressed at how his truck handles that trailer. I mean it's not going to win any drag races with it, but it feels safe and stable towing that trailer.

EXCELLENT info thus far.....

My GVWR is 10k, I'm not going to even look at anything above that wether it ends up being a TAG or a 5th.
We have seen some really nice trailers and if I'm gonna be at the 10k, why not have all the benifits of a 5th.

I have pulled quite a few TAG TH's at 10k and while its no drag race, we move along just fine. Worst case scenario
was going up the White Wash grade with 40+ mph winds. I chugged right along at 55 mph.

If I decide to keep my truck on 35's I know I have to gear to 4.56. It would be the perfect gear ratio, I have not done
it yet as I don't own a TH currently and my 4.10 gearing does excellent on the HWY and even around town. Buying
a TH would change that as I would be out towing MUCH more often. If you have it, you use it right?

My truck has the OEM Upgraded Tow package, which includes a Trans cooler. But I would definatly look into after market
larger capacity items. Brake Rotors, and rear diff included. I already run a Cat-back Magnaflow, Hypertech Programer with altered settings and a Volant Cold Air induction system. I'd like to add a Jardine/Gibson header for a little more kick.

My plain Teckumsa controller would be changed out for something more appropriate as well. It's simple, manual and suits my needs today....not in the future.

I never tow above 65mph unless i'm passing...and that itself is rare. Safety never surpasses my desire to be somewhere.

Seems Airbags would be ideal, thats something i'd have to look into.

Auto-sliding hitch - a must!


Again, thanks to all who have offered some really good info.

wow great info
Step up crusty and get one. I need a place to sleep.

Yeah, step up Crusty! Our mutual buddy, the guy we chatted about earlier today, needs a place to sleep in the desert, too.

STAY AWAY FROM THE SLIDER HITCHED YOU WILL BE UNHAPPY, I love the the fith airborne sidewinder it swivels at the trailer not at the truck you can use even a 5 foot bed and it will not hit, way way way safer than a slider.

http://www.fifthairborne.com/fifthside_details.html

Crusty, you not worried about being over weight? I had an '02 just like what you talk about and there is no way it would pull the WW LE3305 I have. It did fine with the TAG 31' Prowler @ 7000K lbs, but no way any heavier.

Buy that SL30'er the OB is selling killer deal and a nice trailer no prolemo for your truck either. Side note it does only hold 3 fullsize quads no matter how you slice it.

A smaller trailer.......

ut oh .... weight police.... look out...

Here we go again with the weight thing. Ready set go. lets see if we can re post all the weight posts again and get about ......20k posts.

As iFly usually points out, no one can tell you but you and a scale. You need to do your own homework here, but i can tell you a few things for sure...

Gas trucks are not made for towing toy haulers. (Ask me how I know) Get a diesel first, then get a toyhauler type trailer.

The shorter the wheel base, the less stable you'll be towing. A crew cab long bed is the best way to go, when your planing on maxing out your weight limits.

What you Really need to be aware of is your Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating. Take your truck to a scale, see what it weighs fullly loaded, and subtract that from the GCVWR. Now you KNOW how much you can tow.

Pretty simple really, and there is more to it than this, but this will get you the info you need to make an informed decision on how much trailer you can two.

More reading...

http://www.dunesafe.com/trailertowing.htm

http://www.dunesafe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1183

http://www.dunesafe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1181

Super-Light 5th wheel TH's exist. Seems pretty simple to me.

Truck = 10k GVWR

Some examples....

Vortex 28L

Hitch Weight 1,650 lbs. - GVWR 10,900 lbs. - Cargo Length 15'
Dry Weight 6,565 lbs. - Payload 4,335 lbs.




Vortex 31L

Hitch Weight 1,765 lbs. - GVWR 10,900 lbs. - Cargo Length 18'
Dry Weight 7,235 lbs. - Payload 3,665 lbs.

Thanks RM, I'll be reading that info on Dunesafe.com as well.

Don't go by weights in a brochure, they are never right.....

Im curious who sets the weight limits on these trucks? Are they really accurate?

I see what you did there....

cool...C's lookin at gettin a hauler!!

i installed my own airbags on my truck, which is just like yours, but a diesel. i would be happy to help you do the same.

there is a used WW superlite 5ver for sale on the board somewhere too. i think it would be a great fit for your truck

u need deeper axle gears if your gonna be towing with a lifted 6.0....if your gonna keep the 35s go 4:88s u wont regret it...if u go down to 33s go to 4:56 ...your tranny and motor will thank you after u regear

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

Maybe the enginers who designed em???

Spoken like a true salesman Shawn!!!

We all know any truck will do far more than it's rated for. We all know they HAVE to design stuff that will take the abuse beyond what it's rated for, cause people will always go past those limits!

But you have to realize, when your pushing limits of what ever you have, your pushing the life right out of it to. I can't afford to buy new stuff every couple of years, so I stay within the rated limits, not only to be safe, but so my stuff lasts as long as it can.

Different stokes for different folks!

Some dopey engineer sitting in some dark corner somewhere...... just takes a SWAG and says "yep, that will be good for another year...."

So weight ratings dont mean ship!! Do they do any real testing with real Rv's?? Do they tow Rv's until its breaking point? The tow vehicle or the RV?

Youre a funny guy!!!

Im not saying I endorse or condone over weight towing. I just want to know how accurate or reliable are the auto manufacturers. Like maybe using defective tires when they knew they shouldnt have... their crediability is sub par.

And we all know that they also do the tests with a flat bed trailer wieghted down with ballast. They have no wind drag what so ever, So I think the ratings are even lower than what is shown. Man I need to buy a Kodiak to tow my Superlight now. The ratings the wieghts what do they realy mean ? Maybe it's all just a marketing scheme to get us to buy smaller trailers and bigger trucks.

Your speaking of WW and Carslie i presume??

Or maybe Lexus and Goodyear?

Or Ford or Firestone maybe??

I'm sure GM is had the same issue as well. They are going BK arent they?? :rollyeyes:

EVERYTHING is designed for abuse, but me personally, I have no interest in finding desing limits.

I was being sarcastic......... the math is WAYYYYYYYYY to complicated for you to understand.

Some more Options....

Forest River - Shockwave (Previously Sierra)

F28SPL



Unloaded Vehicle Weight 7,279 lb.
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) 9,500 lb.
Cargo Carrying Capacity 2,221 lb.

Should have got a diesel for one. Second Forest river is junk!!

2200lbs is not much. By the time you add a Gen-set a awning and AC you might get that 700 you want in there before you go over.


Just Saying.

Diesel is not an option right now.

Please elaborate on your personal experience with Forest River. They have two lines right now for this model...

Sandstorm and Shockwave.

Watch this closely. Many manufacturers weigh their trailers with nothing in them (no a/c, no gen, etc) at all and leave you very little load capacity without going over the gvw of the trailer. Do your own homework also. I found that many of the sales people would tell me whatever it is they thought I wanted to hear.

crusty,

do this. we all know the weight stories, salesman stories, etc. protect yourself from all this. if there is a trailer on a lot you like with everything you want on it, follow them and have them tow it down to the nearest CAT scale, and have it weighed at your cost. its like 12 bucks if i remember right. that way, you will know exactly what it weighs unloaded. thats the only way you will know for sure.

CAT scale locations can be found on the internet, or just public truck scales for that matter. public scales dont guarantee like CAT does, but will give you a good idea.

EXCELLENT suggestion.

When it comes down to the wire...that will be part of the deal.

I agree. Bet most sellers will balk though...same some shiz like can't take the trailer off the lot, ins wont allow etc....

Yep. Of course, you could either walk, or make them guarantee their listed dry weight in writing...

we went from a tag to a 5th wheel... people don't understand how much EASIER it is to tow a 5th wheel than a tag... no sway, no real wind issues if your driving safely...

Definitly go E rated tires...

We have the auto slider hitch I'd have it no other way... and after our truck was stolen, I realized it was also a theft deterant, cause a standard 5th hitch can't tow the trailer... ask Giant RV... they ruined thier truck!! Sorry bout' that shawn!!

we could make a full u-turn in our culdesac with our 3905 without blinking an eye... even if a car was on the street...

Definitly at least 6" above the rails... we have an oversized fuel tank, so stopping for gas is less of a hassle...

Get the mirror extenders if you don't have them...

Airbags forsure... onboard compressor isn't necessary, but a nice convenience...

If you can swing 2 spares.. go for it!! Also make sure you have a full size spare for your truck!!

Been towing our 5th wheel for 4yrs now, and never wore down our truck breaks!! Prodigy break controller!!


Most importantly Pack that mofo up and enjoy glamis clean & comfortably!!

Then from my experience, youd be better off buying a nice enclosed trailer. My gas truck got about 4MPG towing my 26ft trailer. One 16 gal tank would last maybe an hour. I had dual tanks on the truck, so every two hours i had to re-fill with 36 gallons of gas. At todays prices, that would be $52 an hour. Im five hours from glamis towing at a reasonable rate, drive faster, and you use even more fuel!!! so thats $520 bucks in fuel round trip, just for the truck. Now dont forget to gas up your quad, generator, extra gas cans....

Just something to think about. Makes storage out at G a very attractive option!!!