leveling our Travel trailer

[dsjohns71]

Originally Posted by old goat travelers

Hey everybody we're back. We took our 2008 Salem T.T. up from Phx. to Woods Canyon Lake area up on the Rim. My 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 2wd 4.7 engine w/ auto trans worked like a dog on those steep climbs. Several times it went all the way down into 1st gear, floored and the RPM's were 5K and above a couple times. So I don't know how the truck would hold up on a long country tour So now we are looking at Dodge diesel pickups . Now about the 23 foot Salem travel trailer with a slide. We left Phx. with a full water tank, extra gas, tons of food,chairs, tables, coolers, just everything you really don't need but we brought it anyway. We found a great spot right on the rim and the way we pulled in we didn't have to unhook the trailer, it was pretty level, so that part was nice.Then we made the trailer stable and put out the slide, the slide went out perfectly and didn't need any support. We wanted to try everything to see what worked and what needed to be fixed. Water pump, hot water heater,fridge, shower,the sinks,toilet,the awning, furnace,the Queen walk around bed (very comfortable)kitchen stove and oven,all the lights all worked perfectly. Then we tried out our new Yamaha 2600 generator and found that every 110 outlet worked, microwave worked perfect, the A/C would freeze you out, the fridge switched from Propane to 110 as it should, There is not one thing that didn't perform perfectly We are so pleased with our Forest River Salem Trailer everything worked flawlessly . So other then the truck crying a lot we had a great time up there. We are now thinking about our big trip up the Pacific coast then across the country to upper Michigan then down to Detroit area. Oh and one thing about the rim country this time of year it's very windy and cold Sorry for being so long winded but I told you I'd tell you what happened so there it is. Neil and Maureen (Old Goat Travelers)

Hey Old Goat Travelers,,,, what about a ram 1500 Hemi. I pull a 31' Heritage Glen and it has plenty of power. I used to have a 2002 ram with the 4.7... Great engine but undersized for pulling a TT. It did pull my boat just fine, but it was like 3000# fully loaded. Just a thought and my two cents. Glad everything went well for your first trip out.

[old goat travelers]

Hey dsjohns71, thank you for the info on your experience with the Dodge Hemi. You made my start looking at the Hemi now. I've noticed there is a 5.7 and a 300C are these the same animal? I don't need 4wd as it sounds like more problems then the 2wd models. Does your truck have a tow package or anything that would make a difference? I would appreciate any more info you can give me. Neil and Maureen

[dsjohns71]

I believe the 300 is a V6. The hemi has 395 hp and can tow 8500-10500 lbs depending on how it's equipped. Plus they get better mpg than the 4.7. I have a 2011 that I've owned since new and my TT is about 9000 loaded and have had no prob pulling. I also have a wdh installed and TT only makes the back end of truck lower about an inch.. Also my truck is 2wd as I don't have a need here in the south for 4wd

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Glad everything worked great. BTW, good to see you spell your name correctly. So many folks want to spell mine Neal or Niel (plus some others with more letters).

I think "OLD GOAT" is the same to me......

[old goat travelers]

Is your truck equipped with a tow package ? and we don't know what wdh means. Sorry for the dumb questions but we want to look for a Hemi that will do the job for us. We are getting ready for a long trip through lots of mountains and we want to avoid as many problems as possible as we are OLD goat travelers

[dsjohns71]

Yes it has a tow pckage.. Most are with the hemi.. Wdh is a weight distribution hitch.. And no questions are stupid ones...

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

So much easier to mount the big level on the front of the trailer, use Anderson Levelers and just watch the bubble as you back, lock the wheels, unhook and level front to back, run the stabilizers down and in 5 minutes it's done. Takes from 1 hr to 2 days to finish unloading.

X2 on OC's level. With that baby & Anderson levelers I can level the 5er by myself and let the DW stay in the cab with me

[old goat travelers]

You people are awesome .

[BamaBob]

Hi Neil and Maureen!

Glad your maiden voyage was a success! Sorry to hear about the truck issues

We tow our 5er with a F150 2WD 3.5L Ecoboost and have no problems at all going through TN & KY (but their "Mountains" are NOTHING like the REAL Mountains out west .. we lived in NM for over a decade and pulled a PUP all over CO/AZ/NM and them's some STEEP grades!)

Since you are in the market for a new truck you may want to consider a mantra often recited on the forums: "Buy your truck for your NEXT Trailer not the one you have now."

Of course, a lot of factors go into that. Will the truck also be your daily driver? If so, can you comfortably commute in a 1 ton dually and will that 8' long bed fit in the parking spaces in your parking garage?

No doubt about it, a diesel will give you the torque to yank your trailer up a 8% grade at speed and it will give you better gas...err diesel mileage to boot! But at a cost. All the data I have seen suggests that your break-even point for diesel over gas is right at 108K miles, so make sure you buy a diesel that you plan on having a long term romance with

[TT233S]

How did your leveling go? What did you use? Lego blocks? Andersen chucks? Wood? What type of level did you use, bubble, cap. level inside trailer? Do you follow anything in the 5th post?

[old goat travelers]

TT233S I'm sorry for that, I pulled into a campsite and I put a carpenter level on the floor and it was close when we got there. Then I moved a little forward and back till it was perfect. Set the stabilizers and Whallah ! we were home. I bought a new set of leveling blocks and I've made some thick plastic plates for under the blocks so uneven ground won't break them or so I think. The new wheel chocks seem very strong, I don't see a problem with them.

[old goat travelers]

My dodge ram 1500 was a little weak pulling up to the high country so we just bought a dodge 2500 5.9 diesel pickup towing problems solved .