Heaviest load yet with new truck.

[DBoggs]

Today I pulled my best friends 35 foot 5er from Grand Junction, Co. to Roosevelt, Ut. Went over Douglas Pass which is very steep, narrow and twisty. The truck weighs 7900lbs empty, the trailer weighs about 12500 empty so I figure about 20400 total GCW. I'm going to weigh it on Monday at a scale so I will know for sure then. I must admit I was very impressed with the manners of the truck pulling that much weight. I could have easily pulled the hill in 4th and 5th gear but there are some 15mph turns and I never had the room to get that much speed up and keep it. I did break the tires loose coming out of two of these turns but I was in 2nd and 3rd gear at the time. I don't have gauges in the truck yet so I can't tell what the EGT's were, but the engine temp stayed right at 200 all the time. I average about 11 mpg loaded. Ride was good but above about 65-67 mph trailer started to sway just slightly. Not sure if this was from two lane roads or if it is because my truck is only a SRW. I can tow my 28ft 5er and not have any sway at all at any speed, so I'm just not sure. I think if I was going to tow a trailer that heavy all the time I would put air bags or something to help keep the truck level, as I did notice it was just barely touching the overload springs. Overall I was super impressed with it's performance. The more I drive this truck the more I love it.



Duane

 

[mlandis2]

That sounds great. If it handled that weight well in those mountains than it should handle my 29 footer like a dream on east coast.

 

[Gene Arnold]

Duane,



I pulled my 34 foot Airstream north over Douglas Pass three years ago. It is one awesome pull!!! My 12 valve didn't go over quite as well as your '05 but I was more than impressed with it. Going down was worse for me than pulling up as I have no engine brake and was unfamiliar with the road. I just took my time in third (and at times, second).

 

[DBoggs]

Gene, I'm curious. What is the approximate weight of your trailer? I've heard that Airstreams are really heavy. Is that true?



Duane

 

[Grizzly]

Do you think that a DRW would have helped any? I would think that it may be a little more stable. Grizzly

 

[Gene Arnold]

Duane,



Packed for travel, and my wife doesn’t pack light, my Airstream weighs 8400# on the Flying J scale in Cokeville, Wyoming. My truck weighed 6820# that day.



Gene

 

[DBoggs]

Grizzly, I suspect a dually mighty have been a bit more stable, unfortunately I have no way to find that out. I think some of the the high speed sway may have been from ruts in the roads caused by big trucks. Is there any difference in the rear suspension between a single or dual wheel set up other than the additional tires?



Duane

 

[DBoggs]

I went to the scale today and discovered two things.



1. Sway was caused by ruts in road. The road I was on today was smooth and I got all the way up to 75 with no stability issues at all.



2. Trailer was lighter than published in the manual. It weighs 9940 as opposed to 12400 that is published in the papers. Total weight of truck and trailer is 17880. Pin weight is approx. 1800lbs.



Empty wieght of my truck is 7940 (from previous trip to scale).

I was well within all of the weight ratings for the truck, however this was with just me in the truck. If I had passengers or cargo in the truck it would cause me to exceed the 9900GVWR for the truck. This doesn't concern me too much but if I owned this size trailer I'd be a bit more comfortable pulling it with a dually. Other than that I can't complain.



Duane

 

[Grizzly]

Grizzly, I suspect a dually mighty have been a bit more stable, unfortunately I have no way to find that out. I think some of the the high speed sway may have been from ruts in the roads caused by big trucks. Is there any difference in the rear suspension between a single or dual wheel set up other than the additional tires?



Duane

Rear suspension is the same on all 3500 of the same year. Only difference is the dual rear wheels, which gives you considerably more payload. My experience with my 95 CTD 3500 dually, my 29' 5er and my 11'-3'' Cab-over camper is that the dually is more stable with respect to sway. If I'm wrong someone with reliable information tell me. I don't want someone just guessing. Grizzly :-{}

 

[macdaddy]

Rear suspension is the same on all 3500 of the same year. Only difference is the dual rear wheels, which gives you considerably more payload. My experience with my 95 CTD 3500 dually, my 29' 5er and my 11'-3'' Cab-over camper is that the dually is more stable with respect to sway. If I'm wrong someone with reliable information tell me. I don't want someone just guessing. Grizzly :-{}

Hey Grizzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The DRW axel is wider, and has larger brakes. Check out members rigs Greg Boardman's DRW to SRW conversion the photos clearly show it.



Mac