2500 QC 4x4 SB, What will it tow safely?

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I pull a 9000# 5th wheel, extended pin box with my shortbed quad cab 2wd. My hitch weight is 1880lbs, the pin is directly centered on the axle and the truck is about 1" above level in the rear and just touching the front pad on the camper spring. Rear axle weight is 4960lbs and the truck rides and handles fine. With the hitch in the forward location I have never had to slide it to manuver, although if you ever wanted to jacknife completly, you would have to slide it to get cab clearence. The one problem you will have is the height of the bed rails. You will probably have to flip the axles under the springs on the trailer to get the needed clearence, and beware that all trailers won't allow you to do this. Good towing.

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01 2500,SB, Club Cab, 5spd,3. 54 LS, Bright White, Camel Leather. 01 Sunnybrook 27' 5ver--All Stock

 

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Thanks to RonVB, Thomas, & a few others I was able to acquire the same official 20,000 lb rating!

Looks like the Sunnybrook fans are thinking alike here.

John, I just took my new 28' Sunnybrook out and found EXACTLY what you just described w/ my short bed as well. I'm going to lower the rear about 2" and this should remedy the 4" bed clearance at the ends. Just deciding on the best route to go. Probably will get shorter u-bolts & fab some thinner spacers. It should ride just about perfect then.

Interesting on the weight figures. I was estimating around 15,000 lbs gross, but havent loaded'er down yet.

One last comment about handling. This thing handles great! I mean no problems w/ sway whatsoever, & pulls like a dream. No probs.

[This message has been edited by Shortshift (edited 11-25-2000). ]

 

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Shortshift
The weight on my 27 was loaded without food in the fridge or extra clothes. Empty holding tanks, 1/3 tank of water and full propane. Mine has fiberglass sides which weigh about 800 lbs extra, also have three batteries in the front, combined gross was 15,600#. Did you move your springs on the trailer to the lowest mounting position? One more note, if you have a sliding hitch, make sure the tailgate is down before you slide, it will hit:O

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01 2500,SB, Club Cab, 5spd,3. 54 LS, Bright White, Camel Leather. 01 Sunnybrook 27' 5ver--All Stock

 

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John, Didnt change the height on the trailer yet. Hoping that by dropping the rear of the truck, that should do it. If not, will look at raising the trailer.

Yea, was looking at the tailgate clearance, and it will hit the hitch with the slide in the rear position. Didnt check to see if when the tailgate is down, will it hit the trailer in a tight turn. Hopefully not, then it would be no big deal (just drop the gate & slide'er back), that might be too much to hope for though. Will probably just get a net to replace the gate with.

I didnt realize the fiberglass was that much heavier. We have it too. After seeing your numbers, the trailer might be abit heavier that Im thinking. Cant wait to get the extra batts in it, and load it down good and get it on the scales.

 

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Did weigh the truck in the past. It was 6950 lbs (dont remember how much fuel was in the tank). Loaded down with the popup camper all tanks full (extra batts, inverter, etc. )was at 9000 lbs.

This setup with the 5th wheel feels ALOT heavier pulling the grades & stopping, so it may be way heavier than the 15,000 I was thinking. We'll see on the next outage.

 

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I pull the Auto Wurks Diesel 3500 racer on its trailer. The racer weighs just over 6200 lbs. and the trailer is a tandem. It's gotta weigh around 2000 lbs. I have absolutely no problems towing or stopping it. I keep my distance and focus on what the dummies up ahead are up to. The trailer has surge brakes and my truck runs the 4 inch BD exhaust brake. Lots of retarding power there. I pull the big hills at 75-80mph no problem.

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Chris Timochko
1997 5sp 4X4, HX40, BD 4" Brake, Marine Compression, Custom Tuned Injection Pump, 370B Injection Nozzles, Delivery Valves, Governor & AFC Spring Kit, Psychotty Air, Water Injection, NOS Diesel Kit, 6" Chrome Exhaust System, No Smoke Valet Switch, McLeod Dual Disc Clutch, Mag-Hytec Rear Cover, Cummins Chrome Kit, Optima Red Tops, Hadley Bully Horns, Hurst Line Loc, Goodyear Wrangler AT/S 305/70/16s. Test mule for Auto Wurks Diesel race program

 

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My 2wd weighed in at 6700 full of fuel and Reese 15k slider. The tailgate down misses the trailer by a mile. Braking is no problem as long as the trailer brakes are adjusted correctly and the controler is also adjusted, although mine does have 4-wheel discs. All in all the combo works great!

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01 2500,SB, Club Cab, 5spd,3. 54 LS, Bright White, Camel Leather. 01 Sunnybrook 27' 5ver--All Stock

 

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I pull a 5th wheel Travel Supreme that weighs nearly 15K pounds with all my stuff loaded on it. RV dealer wouldn't sell the trailer unless we flipped the axles on it to get proper bed/trailer clearance. Cost me $400 to have this done. GCVW was almost 23K.

With all my addtions, truck pulls trailer fine and handles great. Triple axle trailer brakes really helps stop the whole beast too.

Wiredawg

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2000 4X4 SLT QC 8' bed; 6 spd, 3. 54 ; BD exhaust brake and 4" exhaust syst; TST PM2; Airlift Super Duty rear air bags; RS 9000 shocks; pyro/boost gauges in 2 gauge a-pillar mount; back preasure gauge mounted under dash; KN air filter; Brown's Welding brush/grill guard, rear bumper & headache rack; nerf bars and aluminum roll top rear cover, Warn front receiver and Hadley air horns

 

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For anyone that may be interested, Just weighed 'er in... The grand total is 16,780 lbs. Thats fully loaded w/ a pair of L-16 golf cart batts in the forward cargo.

The 2500 ram handles it fine. No probs. We hit some pretty good winds in the desert and I was amazed at the way this thing handles. Very little sway at all (the rocker hitch makes the truck hardly feel the trailer moving w/ the road & wind).

The motor obviously has plenty of "poop" to pull the grades without being in anyones way, and has lots more grunt to spare. Have averaged about 12. 5 - 13 mpg (lots of hills) so far.

The tekonsha voyager brake controller works pretty well, except theres no perfect setting. For downhills it requires a more aggressive setting than it needs for low speed stopping, but still very managable.

Very happy with this setup, and also totally legal with the official letter showing my 20,000 lb rating. A happy camper, and lucky to have everyone's input in making the final choices.

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2k, 25k miles, QC, SB, 4x, 6sp, 3. 54, 285/75r16 bfg/at, stock air cleaner (reliable), silencer ring "in" (runs better), Sunnybrook 28' fiver, 15,000 lbs. 18. 5 mpg (unloaded), 11-14 mpg (loaded). VA, DD1's, PS Boost module & elbow... also, Nitrous Oxide piped direct into the block (stealth - to keep the warranty), twin turbos, 10 gallon per minute fuel pump, ECM right out of Don Garlit's Top Fueler (he gave it to me) (for letting him ride in my truck), Super Modified DD1 Injectors ("Hand Honed" with a 1/4" reamer & my 12v (thats "volts" not "valves") Makita). More BOMBING to come!!