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02-03-2019, 10:44 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Yukon Denali and Coachmen 292 BHDS
So...we thought we did our homework. We started out looking for a trailer under 8,000 pounds since our 2019 Yukon Denali could tow 8,400. After months of shopping, we realize that this was way too much. We were super excited to find the Freedom Express 292 BHDS with a dry weight of just over 6,400. We loved the bunk house, the storage and the outdoor kitchen, all within what we thought our Denali could pull. We pulled out of the lot on Friday, excited to start our adventure. As soon as we got on the highway my husband said that it was way too big, and there was no way that we would be able to travel very far with the trailer. We bought a blue ox stabilizer hitch at the dealership which they installed and put on our truck. The Denali's 6.2 engine is fine pulling it, it was the swaying and pulling us all over the road as we left San Antonio to Austin which is the problem. Anyone have any other suggestions, other than buying a new tow vehicle?
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02-03-2019, 11:06 AM
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#2
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Site Team
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 15,266
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Towing capacity is a marketing number to sell vehicles. You usually exceed cargo capacity or hitch weight before you exceed towing capacity. Cargo capacity is on a sticker on the drivers door jamb. This is the max weight that can be added to the vehicle. it includes the hitch weight, about 100 lbs for the hitch itself and any other cargo and passengers in the TV. Dry weight for the TT is also a marketing number as no one travels with an empty RV. You are close to your limits ( not knowing exact model TV). It is very possible that the WDH is not set up properly. They are not hard to set up. If you are comfortable, you might go through the set up procedures again. If not I recommend a reputable hitch installer.
__________________
2015 Freedom Express 248RBS
TV 2015 Silverado HD2500 Duramax
TST Tire Monitors
Honda 2000I + Companion
2 100W solar panels
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02-03-2019, 11:14 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,481
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I pulled my 32' Rockwood with my 2010 Escalade ESV AWD which is rated @7800lbs tow. It also has a 6.2. it would tow the camper just fine. Plenty of power.
The camper is 6600 dry but with everything loaded I was closer to 7400lbs. With a full tank of gas and 6 in the vehicle I was over weight capacity. Even with that, it still towed just fine using a Trunnion style Fastway E2.
I don't tow any longer with that vehicle because I was tired of replacing expensive parts (two pairs of air assist magnaride shocks, and numerous upgrades to handle the weight). The thing that really stopped it was the engine temps when hauling and replacing the transmission and motor mounts. I just couldn't justify doing it any longer.
Good luck.
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02-03-2019, 11:35 AM
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#4
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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https://share.icloud.com/photos/0TQj...JoCHFtHBcNE8oQ
Not sure if these pictures will show up, the door didn't have the max weight, only the maximum weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed 1504 pounds. Our owners manual is axle ration 3.23, maximum trailer weight 8,400 and GCWR 14,000
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02-03-2019, 11:38 AM
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#5
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Thank you! This seems to be pretty close...give or take about 800 pounds. I'm not sure in the grand scheme of things, if that's a big deal. I'm totally torn. I don't know how to find a hitch expert, but I'm crossing my fingers that this will help in someway.
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02-03-2019, 11:44 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,481
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Your WDH should be dialed in with the air ride shocks disabled. I'm willing to bet that the person that set it up didn't do that.
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02-03-2019, 11:52 AM
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#7
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flybob
Towing capacity is a marketing number to sell vehicles. You usually exceed cargo capacity or hitch weight before you exceed towing capacity. Cargo capacity is on a sticker on the drivers door jamb. This is the max weight that can be added to the vehicle. it includes the hitch weight, about 100 lbs for the hitch itself and any other cargo and passengers in the TV. Dry weight for the TT is also a marketing number as no one travels with an empty RV. You are close to your limits ( not knowing exact model TV). It is very possible that the WDH is not set up properly. They are not hard to set up. If you are comfortable, you might go through the set up procedures again. If not I recommend a reputable hitch installer.
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My door jam says that the combined weight of cargo and occupants shouldn't exceed 1,504. We were carrying 2 adults and 2 children with a combined weight of about 400 pounds. We don't have much in the cargo area, so I'm guessing we are way, way under in that area. I don't know how to tell how much weight is on our tongue. I did read something about us possibly not having enough weight on it (it was completely empty). We've had 2 RV's before, our 2nd RV was a Holiday Rambler and we towed a 30 foot trailer behind it, that houses our jeep, drinks, tables and misc. things. I (the wife) was able to easily drive this from Texas to Ohio and other places with no problem. Feeling the sway (and the stress of husband) on the way home, I would never try it on this one.
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02-03-2019, 11:54 AM
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#8
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 007matman
Your WDH should be dialed in with the air ride shocks disabled. I'm willing to bet that the person that set it up didn't do that.
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I read in our owners manual that it could interfere with it, so I'm seriously wondering the same thing. How do you do this?
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02-03-2019, 11:58 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 489
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I'm guessing with others it's the WDH.
Was it windy that day? Could that have added to your stress?
Three weights to consider...
Tow capacity... You are within limits.
Cargo capacity in TV. Your tounge weight will eat up nearly half of it. You really need a well balanced trailer.
Combined weight. No one can really tow max trailer load because they will most likely exceed combined weight first.
I'm towing about 6,100 lbs with a Navigator rated at 9,000 lbs. But I am right up against my cargo weight. We have to balance the trailer very well. One trip just the rear axle was 80 lbs over. The dog is 80 lbs and sits right over it. Hmmmm.
Load it up and take it to the CAT scales. You will learn a whole lot of information by doing so.
Good Luck.
Ron
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Ron & Family
2017 Shamrock 23IKSS (Traded)
No longer active with Forest River Forum.
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02-03-2019, 12:07 PM
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#10
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron045
I'm guessing with others it's the WDH.
Was it windy that day? Could that have added to your stress?
Three weights to consider...
Tow capacity... You are within limits.
Cargo capacity in TV. Your tounge weight will eat up nearly half of it. You really need a well balanced trailer.
Combined weight. No one can really tow max trailer load because they will most likely exceed combined weight first.
I'm towing about 6,100 lbs with a Navigator rated at 9,000 lbs. But I am right up against my cargo weight. We have to balance the trailer very well. One trip just the rear axle was 80 lbs over. The dog is 80 lbs and sits right over it. Hmmmm.
Load it up and take it to the CAT scales. You will learn a whole lot of information by doing so.
Good Luck.
Ron
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Really wasn't that windy. I kept looking for flags and banners on the way, and they were not blowing like I was hoping. Just googled and the nearest CAT scale is about 1 1/2 hours from us. We will have to make a day of it. Thanks for your input, very much appreciated!
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02-03-2019, 12:17 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 191
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Lots of good information above.
First thing to do is to make sure you ditch the “P” rated tires and upgrade to LT tires which will have a much stiffer sidewall.
Load the camper like you are going on a trip and head to the nearest CAT scales.
Bring the instructions and the tools to set up the WDH and plan on spending a few hours making adjustments to get the hitch set up properly.
Even if the WDH was set up properly at the dealers loading the trailer with a 1,000 pounds of stuff changes the dynamic and the it should be checked and re-adjusted as necessary.
Bob
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02-03-2019, 12:56 PM
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#12
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Site Team
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 15,266
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Not way under as hitch weight is probably around 850lbs + 100 for hitch+ 400 cargo and passengers is 1350.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rouk10
My door jam says that the combined weight of cargo and occupants shouldn't exceed 1,504. We were carrying 2 adults and 2 children with a combined weight of about 400 pounds. We don't have much in the cargo area, so I'm guessing we are way, way under in that area. I don't know how to tell how much weight is on our tongue. I did read something about us possibly not having enough weight on it (it was completely empty). We've had 2 RV's before, our 2nd RV was a Holiday Rambler and we towed a 30 foot trailer behind it, that houses our jeep, drinks, tables and misc. things. I (the wife) was able to easily drive this from Texas to Ohio and other places with no problem. Feeling the sway (and the stress of husband) on the way home, I would never try it on this one.
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__________________
2015 Freedom Express 248RBS
TV 2015 Silverado HD2500 Duramax
TST Tire Monitors
Honda 2000I + Companion
2 100W solar panels
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02-03-2019, 01:02 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,481
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rouk10
I read in our owners manual that it could interfere with it, so I'm seriously wondering the same thing. How do you do this?
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There is a fuse and a relay that you need to pull out. I'm not sure on your year so you'll want to look it up. Mine were both under the hood near the fuse distribution block.
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02-03-2019, 01:03 PM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Thank you, definitely didn't think about all of that.
Also, thank you for serving!
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02-03-2019, 01:09 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,481
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Found this online. It's for another year but it's surprising how much this stuff stays the same from generation to generation.
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02-03-2019, 01:41 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,001
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Yukon manual (older)
My Yukon manual states that the tow/haul mode interacts with autoride for towing. It’s working for me and my Yukon towing a 31 footer. Are you engaging tow/haul mode?
I’m also using a WDH
__________________
TV - 2020 RAM 3500 Mega Cab SRW with 6.7 Cummins HO & Aisin 6 spd, 4k payload, 23k towing
2002 GMC Yukon XL 2500, 8.1 liter (496ci), 4L85e & positraction with 3.73 gears
TT - 2013 Dutchmen Aspen Trail 3130 QBS
Great bourbon-just about any of San Diego’s craft beer
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02-03-2019, 02:11 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Valencia Pa
Posts: 602
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Make sure your tires are lt tires with at least an e rating. Have someone help you set up your hitch height and wdh properly. You should be having no problem with handling at your weight. Just sounds like your just out of proper setup..
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02-03-2019, 02:34 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 489
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Frankly, tires would be the very last thing I consider... Especially if you are not ready for new tires.
The OP must have all weights and WDH set up properly first. LT tires do not help with meeting those requirements.
I towed 5,000 miles last summer with my stock P rated tires and did just fine.
Last resort...
Ron
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Ron & Family
2017 Shamrock 23IKSS (Traded)
No longer active with Forest River Forum.
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02-03-2019, 02:37 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 489
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BTW... Which Yukon Denali do you have? Regular or EL. That makes a difference too. You might experience more sway with the shorter wheel base.
__________________
Ron & Family
2017 Shamrock 23IKSS (Traded)
No longer active with Forest River Forum.
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02-03-2019, 02:45 PM
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#20
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beachbourbon
My Yukon manual states that the tow/haul mode interacts with autoride for towing. It’s working for me and my Yukon towing a 31 footer. Are you engaging tow/haul mode?
I’m also using a WDH
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Yes, we turned it on when we started having such a hard time. Can’t really say he noticed a difference either way.
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