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Old 02-16-2013, 06:51 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by JFM-jr View Post
My Ram 4x4 quadcab 3/4 ton Hemi with a 3.73 gear is rated to tow a mere 8,800lbs the jump to a 4.10 bumps that figure up to 10,800lbs. I skipped right over the 4.10 and went to a 4.56 when I did my gear swap about 2 months ago. It cost me 2K for parts and labor and that was cheaper than the other shop quoted me (2,800).
When you made that bump, did you notice if your mpg got worse? Ours can't get any worse.
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Old 02-16-2013, 07:52 AM   #22
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Mtnguy, his 7400 number was INCLUDING the tongue weight, which I estimate at 1100lbs. I still say no worries. If a 3/4 ton GM truck can not pull a 9K trailer I would be shocked.
Yes, I realized that the 7400 lbs. already included the tongue weight. But........I did not subtract that from the total weight of the trailer figuring the GCWR. Good catch, Ibrjet. That ought to make the GCWR figures more in line.
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Old 02-16-2013, 07:53 AM   #23
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Currently my TV is a 2004 chev silverado 6.0, 3.73, 3/4 ton with HD tow pak. I tow a 35' TT unloaded 7251lbs. loaded about 8400. Tanks empty. I use a dual cam hitch 1200. I have no problems except for stupid drivers!!!!
I get 11-12 mph @55-60. I have pulled this TT in Ga mts with min problems on steep grades, using tow/haul mode. The trans temp stays about 180.

This truck has pulled a truck with trailer (10-12') out of a culvet with no problem, like it was a tooth pick. The most important aspect is setting the trailer and truck up with the right tow gear.
I load my truck bed up with supplies. The wife uses light weight items in the camper.
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:01 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by kayanyagio View Post
You're right, the payload is 3,606 (according to towing guide). My husband and I will mostly be traveling by ourselves (400 pounds total) because our grown kids and grandkids will join us in camps in their own cars. We got bunkhouse for them, but we won't be pulling their gear in our TT, so that's good. Question about carrying stuff - Does it help the weight problem if you carry stuff in the truck bed versus the TT?
kayanyagio, sorry about my previous misleading information that Ibrjet pointed out......my bad.

With the additional information here, I believe you will be good to go.

With a 3/4 ton truck, I don't think there is big concern on where to carry the weight. If it is waterproof, then the truck bed should be fine. An advantage of loading the truck bed instead of the trailer, is that you have less weight in the trailer to "push" a heavier truck around.

Again, back to the receiver hitch on your truck to make sure it is rated for trailer tongue weight. You want at least 10% of the total trailer weight on the tongue, and 12-15% is better. Figuring a 9000 lb. trailer with the 12-15%, then that might range from 1080 lbs. to 1350 lbs. That is where it might be better to load up the truck bed, to keep some of the trailer weight down and in turn keeping some of the tongue weight down, if your reciever hitch is not rated for the weight.

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Originally Posted by kayanyagio View Post
Our hitch is a Reese with a sway bar and stabilizers (if that makes a difference).
Back to the 1st post. I am not exactly sure what you mean by the above statement. That sounds like it might be a Reese WDH with a friction sway bar. Not sure what is meant by stabilizers.

Even though you have a 3/4 ton truck with probably close to a 157" wheelbase, you have a loooong trailer that is gonna push your truck around some. Other than having a Crew Cab with a 8' bed with a wheelbase in the 172" range, that is about the best you can do with conventional pickup. IMHO you need a top notch WDH with a integrated sway control. Those include the Equal-i-zer 4 pt., the Reese Straight Line Dual Cam, or the Blue Ox Sway Pro. Another up and coming make is the Anderson, but I haven't seen any actual scale weights in using that, and I question the weight distributing ability of that hitch with such a heavy tongue until I see some results.

If you want to spend big bucks, the Hensley Arrow or ProPride are top of the line.
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:09 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by woodsman View Post
Currently my TV is a 2004 chev silverado 6.0, 3.73, 3/4 ton with HD tow pak. I tow a 35' TT unloaded 7251lbs. loaded about 8400. Tanks empty. I use a dual cam hitch 1200. I have no problems except for stupid drivers!!!!
I get 11-12 mph @55-60. I have pulled this TT in Ga mts with min problems on steep grades, using tow/haul mode. The trans temp stays about 180.

This truck has pulled a truck with trailer (10-12') out of a culvet with no problem, like it was a tooth pick. The most important aspect is setting the trailer and truck up with the right tow gear.
I load my truck bed up with supplies. The wife uses light weight items in the camper.
Thanks! So, you're saying it's smarter to load up your truck bed with gear versus putting that gear in the TT?
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:16 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by mtnguy View Post
kayanyagio, sorry about my previous misleading information that Ibrjet pointed out......my bad.

With the additional information here, I believe you will be good to go.

With a 3/4 ton truck, I don't think there is big concern on where to carry the weight. If it is waterproof, then the truck bed should be fine.

Again, back to the receiver hitch on your truck to make sure it is rated for trailer tongue weight. You want at least 10% of the total trailer weight on the tongue, and 12-15% is better. Figuring a 9000 lb. trailer with the 12-15%, then that might range from 1080 lbs. to 1350 lbs. That is where it might be better to load up the truck bed, to keep some of the trailer weight down and in turn keeping some of the tongue weight down, if your reciever hitch is not rated for the weight.
How do I find out what our hitch is rated for? All I was told is that it's a Reese and it can pull 10,000 lbs.
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:22 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by kayanyagio View Post
How do I find out what our hitch is rated for? All I was told is that it's a Reese and it can pull 10,000 lbs.
There should be a sticker on the reciever hitch stating the weights. There will be 2 figure.....a weight carrying number, and weight distributing number. You might have to crawl under your truck to find that sticker.

Find out from the dealer what hitch you the are installing. If it were me, I would except nothing less than 1 of the hitches I previously listed.

As far as spring bars, you will need at least 1200 lb. bars. Make sure that whatever hitch the dealer sets you up with has the weight capacity to go up to at least 1400 lb bars, if you find out your trailer tongue is gonna be over 1200 lbs. later on.
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:31 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by mtnguy View Post
kayanyagio, sorry about my previous misleading information that Ibrjet pointed out......my bad.

With the additional information here, I believe you will be good to go.

With a 3/4 ton truck, I don't think there is big concern on where to carry the weight. If it is waterproof, then the truck bed should be fine. An advantage of loading the truck bed instead of the trailer, is that you have less weight in the trailer to "push" a heavier truck around.

Again, back to the receiver hitch on your truck to make sure it is rated for trailer tongue weight. You want at least 10% of the total trailer weight on the tongue, and 12-15% is better. Figuring a 9000 lb. trailer with the 12-15%, then that might range from 1080 lbs. to 1350 lbs. That is where it might be better to load up the truck bed, to keep some of the trailer weight down and in turn keeping some of the tongue weight down, if your reciever hitch is not rated for the weight.



Back to the 1st post. I am not exactly sure what you mean by the above statement. That sounds like it might be a Reese WDH with a friction sway bar. Not sure what is meant by stabilizers.

Even though you have a 3/4 ton truck with probably close to a 157" wheelbase, you have a loooong trailer that is gonna push your truck around some. Other than having a Crew Cab with a 8' bed with a wheelbase in the 172" range, that is about the best you can do with conventional pickup. IMHO you need a top notch WDH with a integrated sway control. Those include the Equal-i-zer 4 pt., the Reese Straight Line Dual Cam, or the Blue Ox Sway Pro. Another up and coming make is the Anderson, but I haven't seen any actual scale weights in using that, and I question the weight distributing ability of that hitch with such a heavy tongue until I see some results.

If you want to spend big bucks, the Hensley Arrow or ProPride are top of the line.
My husband said what I called "stabilizers" are really equalizer bars (to keep the nose down) and our truck bed is 8'. So, the "top notch WDH's" you refer to, are they just to help the sway or do they also help the weight situation?
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:31 AM   #29
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Another subject that I don't think has been covered: Does the truck have the factory tow package, or is the hitch an add-on ??
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:37 AM   #30
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Originally Posted by mtnguy View Post
There should be a sticker on the reciever hitch stating the weights. There will be 2 figure.....a weight carrying number, and weight distributing number. You might have to crawl under your truck to find that sticker.

Find out from the dealer what hitch you the are installing. If it were me, I would except nothing less than 1 of the hitches I previously listed.

As far as spring bars, you will need at least 1200 lb. bars. Make sure that whatever hitch the dealer sets you up with has the weight capacity to go up to at least 1400 lb bars, if you find out your trailer tongue is gonna be over 1200 lbs. later on.
OK, thanks so much for all your advice. I'll make my husband crawl under the truck.
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Old 02-16-2013, 08:48 AM   #31
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Another subject that I don't think has been covered: Does the truck have the factory tow package, or is the hitch an add-on ??
It has the factory tow package. Is that better than an add-on?
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Old 02-16-2013, 09:18 AM   #32
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Originally Posted by kayanyagio View Post
It has the factory tow package. Is that better than an add-on?
I'm pretty sure, not positive...all 3/4 T trucks and up come with a factory tow package as standard. The factory tow package is fine. You could add an additional trans cooler in series if you found that the trans temps were running high.

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Old 02-16-2013, 09:27 AM   #33
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I'm pretty sure, not positive...all 3/4 T trucks and up come with a factory tow package as standard. The factory tow package is fine. You could add an additional trans cooler in series if you found that the trans temps were running high.

Dave
Yes, we definitely have tow package, so I guess it follows that the manufacturer would have installed a truck hitch strong enough to support the amount of trailer it says the truck can pull - correct? and manufacturer says this truck can pull 10,000, so hopefully that part of the equation (truck hitch capacity) is ok.
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Old 02-16-2013, 09:40 AM   #34
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How do I find out what our hitch is rated for? All I was told is that it's a Reese and it can pull 10,000 lbs.
My husband checked under his truck hitch and it says tongue weight is 1,280 pounds and trailer weight is 10,000 lbs. Sorry about confusing responses I was giving you earlier about hitches. I was confusing the truck hitch with the trailer hitch the dealer gave us (the Reese). A week ago I would have never dreamed that I'd be discussing, much less caring, about truck hitches. Life is funny.
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Old 02-16-2013, 09:41 AM   #35
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When you made that bump, did you notice if your mpg got worse? Ours can't get any worse.
Not to answer for JFM-jr, but to add my experience. I dropped tire size as opposed to rear gear change and found that for towing it was better. The trans tended to stay in a higher gear and therefore, the towing mpg didn't change. The non towing mpg dropped by 0.5-1 mpg. This is for an equivalent change from 3.92 to 4.10. I would expect the change from 4.10 to 4.3 to be very similar.

As I mentioned in a earlier post, the low max towing and GCWR is a reflection of the 6L power, 4 speed trans and 4.1 rear gear.

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Old 02-16-2013, 11:47 AM   #36
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dropping tire size would be cheaper and there is only 1 brand that I know of in a 10 ply tire that offers a 3 ply sidewall which is bf tko tires, just a thought for less tire sway, the tread is a bit aggressive so probably going to be a bit louder as well. also something to think about is in the 5 speed allison trans when you activate the tow/haul switch ( on diesels anyways i know) it actually winds up dropping line pressure which can actually add to the trans temps and poor shifts. there is a solution for this issue, it's called a trans jr kit for the trans fairly inexpensive as well. the six speed allison doesn't seem to have this issue and I don't know which years the 5 speed allison was offered in the chevy's but I'm sure it was offered with the 6lte and 8lte engines just not when. factory trans coolers are seldom up to the task imo. when it comes to hitch's we get what we pay for so don't go cheap and always shoot for over rates versus just enough. just my opinion from turning wrench's for a living for many years.
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