First test tow with Cherry our new 3500 SRW SB

[SnoKing]

I hooked up and did a test tow today. Did a little clearance testing to the front box. The removed the braces for the front of the bike rack down to the pin box and will reinstall them a bit farther to the rear.

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I did some tight turning without sliding the hitch back, and later went to Wally World's big parking lot and test sharp turns going forward. I did cut the corners off the turned up lip on the pin box after this picture.


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Truck settled to level towing.

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So I ran it down to Donna's truck stop in Marysville and weighed it. It is not loaded for Arizona, so 400-600 lbs of Stuff will be added most likely.

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It appears to stay in 5th gear in TH at 60-65 mph. Tows nice, mirrors work nice, and I am a happy camper. Truck settles 2 inches with hitch in rear position.

Trying the bike of the rack now, and bikes a going to clear the cab fine. I moved the straps for the bike rack to pin box back, so they will not be an issue.

Time to go for a camping trip.

The DEF was down below 1/2 a bit so I bought a 2.5 gal jug for WM and it only took about 1.5-2 gals to fill it back up.

Snoking

 

[SnoKing]

Cummins98V12 wrote in the other thread in the wrong area:
Does "Cherry" have a EcoDiesel under the hood?

JR wrote:

"Quote Originally Posted by Cummins12V98 View Post
Does "Cherry" have a EcoDiesel under the hood?"

Na, he probably bought a Hemi

That's a beautiful rig, Sno. Congrats.

If I took it out of T/H it would shift to 6th. This was a short test tow and I was looking at lots of things. Given that at 80 MPH it turns around 1750 RPM, It caught my eye that it was at a similar RPM range towing at 60-65. So it was in 5th gear not 6th. Will learn more when I do our first real trip somewhere.

The other thing to work on is tire inflation for the LT275/70R18E's.

Lbs Combined
35 = 4140
40 = 4540
45 = 4940
50 = 5360
55 = 5680
60 = 6040
65 = 6390
70 = 6720
75 = 7060
80 = 7280

So with the front axle at 5100 pounds and that is not going to change much, it does not need the placard 60 lbs inflation. 55 lbs will give over 500 lbs extra.

The rear weight of 5920 will go up a few hundred pounds when I load the rest of the snowbird supplies, so 70 lbs inflation will provide a similar 500 lb buffer in capacity.

Another interesting thing to note is the truck was weighing in at 11,020 with a 11,700 GVWR. So if I load wife and maybe 3 or 4 hundred move pounds of gear in the truck, I will be within a couple hundred pounds of GVWR. Given that the truck weighed in a 8220 coming out of the transfer station/dump, one would be hard pressed to tow a 17K trailer and stay under GVWR. Might be able to stay under RGAWR, but wound be over GVWR - yet again!!! Any future trailer should be in the max weight area of 14.5K

Snoking

 

[gsbrockman]

Another interesting thing to note is the truck was weighing in at 11,020 with a 11,700 GVWR.

I thought I saw some 3500 SRW's rated at 12,300 GVWR.......do you know what the difference is??? Either way------I don't think you'll ever be "grossly over" GCWR in any event. Since heat is a tire's worst enemy.....I'd consider running a little more in the rear tires---personally. With the pin weight you have, the ride won't be diminished that much.....

As for the unladen truck tire pressures-----the tire inflation tables will be your friend.

 

[SnoKing]

Long Box is 12,300 and Short Box is 11,700. SNOKING

 

[Cummins12V98]

SAE Ratings

 

[SnoKing]

So I have been playing this morning with WEBOFCAM app free for the play store on two android devices. A tablet and an old smart phone. One can be set as camera and the other as the display. They need to be on a common wifi network in the truck, so I turned on the hotspot on current Moto X. Hung the old smart phone from the box in the bed just ahead for the hitch and set the tablet on the console, and I had a hitch'n camera for free. There is a slight delay in the picture, so you have to go slow. Will work on a mount for the smart phone to be just placed on the box while hitch'n.

Going to see if I can find another app that is also free with less delay. Also will check to see if I hang the smart phone on the back of the trailer for park assist if it will reach the cab with the signal.

SNOKING

 

[SnoKing]

Found another free IP WEBCAM app that has less delay. the remote device you just use the browser and flash. You need to be on a common WiFi network, which the hotspot will do. And I have a Verizon JetPack, so that makes a good offline WiFi hub/Router. Here is a picture of the tablet, HTC Rezound Smart phone pointed at the JetPack. SNOKING

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[SnoKing]

Hey Cummins, how does this compare to the bed view camera. Snoking

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Now to work out an easy quick mount! Remote control for front jacks would be good!

 

[wyosteve]

That looks like a nice set up if one doesn't have the cargo bed camera. That is one of the options I would not settle without on my '15. I really like it. Hooked up to the gooseneck twice so far and it's a 'one shot' back up deal.

 

[SnoKing]

That looks like a nice set up if one doesn't have the cargo bed camera. That is one of the options I would not settle without on my '15. I really like it. Hooked up to the gooseneck twice so far and it's a 'one shot' back up deal.

Hopefully they will provide a reflash to the 2015 that will allow you to switch the cameras around like the 2016's are suppose to be able to do, or did that occur with the security reflash to the 8.4 system. Park view on the rear view mirror is really lacking. SNOKING

 

[Cummins12V98]

Hey Cummins, how does this compare to the bed view camera. Snoking

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Now to work out an easy quick mount! Remote control for front jacks would be good!

That looks great!!!

Mine needs to be adjusted. It focused too much on the front of the bed.

I really do hope they come up with a flash to have regular backup in the big screen instead of the mirror!!! GRRRRR

 

[SnoKing]

That looks great!!!

Hopefully I can get the setup time down to 20 or 30 seconds. It is a great view of the hitch head and should work great with the 10" tablet screen to view it on. I might look for a WiFi based camera that I can just mount there, and feed the tablet. However most are not as high resolution as the smart phone camera.

BTW I am getting to really truck the park view camera when backing up in a parking lot or out onto the street from my garage. We have a lot of walkers on our street. SNOKING

 

[Deleted member 995608]

We have a lot of walkers on our street. SNOKING

I don't always shoot walkers, but when I do....I shoot them in the head.

 

[SnoKing]

Well, I was able to pick the hitch and picture frame out of the truck together with the front box that we modified still in place. That sure beats the Reese frame with the long lock arms. SNOKING

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[SnoKing]

OK, I have the hitch camera worked out with the temp mount for the box while hooking up.

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Here is the camera(old smart phone).

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It worked great. Takes a couple minutes to boot tablet, hotspot and smart phone, but the view is worth it. SNOKING

 

[Dogpatch]

Nice job SNOKING!

 

[SnoKing]

Yesterday, I repacked the wheel bearings on the trailer. This morning I washed the trailer a bit and then took for a another tow. Did 50 miles north to North of Bellingham and back home. Seemed to be getting 12 MPG at 60-63 MPH. Trailer and truck are about 1000 pounds lite vs Snowbird load. SNOKING