Update on first shakedown cruise on new Raptor (many pics)

[EricBu12]

Well we went to Southern California for some sun and fun riding the desert near El Centro, CA. got just done raining down there and dried out fast. 70 deg during the day. 45 at night. The raptor tows very well, the 6 wheels make a fairly smooth ride and my truck tows it very well.



Here is our first stop near vegas. A short ride before dark and a few pics. Truck is hooked to the trailer and legs are retracted. also when the truck is hooked, both are level. trailer and truck.



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Shot of the rear open. my 2 quads sit side by side and there is a tool area in the front. I bought the tool holder on the right to match the desk which came with the coach.



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These are some short straps that came with the coach to tie down the toys. They click into the tracks you see.



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heres the tool bench. the tray folds up.



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Heres the pop-up hitch which sets the trailer back 10" and raises up the trailer 3". besides this, I am level on the trailer. and I have more room between the truck and trailer for deep driveways.



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Well, here we are, sunny california. thanksgiving turkey in the oven (11 pounder) runnin around the desert, such fun.



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Heres another angle shot



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Well, we left the place we were at early because of BLM rules and such so we went back to the place just north of Las Vegas and had some more fun there. No pics here but it is the same as the upper ones. .



Wind came up and we left there and drove half-way home to cedar City, Ut. It was not snowing when we parked but this is what we woke up to.



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This trailer went from desert to snow and long freeway and everything worked great...



now for the biggest suprise of all. for me as well. I do all my MPG figuring by hand and my odometer is right on. I got an 11. 1 a 10. 7 , another about 11 or so, and I havent figured out my last one but because of the snow and wind and climbing back up to 7000' it is in the neighborhood of 9 or 10.



I also scaled it out at a Flying J. Full of fuel (50 Gal), 3 adults, 2 dogs, and it was Fr. 4660 Rear 6100 and trailer 12,600 (6 wheels) tot. 23,500# Not over any axle weights or tire weights... . I had full water and 20 extra Diesel in the rear of the trailer to avoid CA high fuel...



Now I know it seems high but... is the single wheel 1 ton about 23,000 rated? I have some upgrades for the springs so I believe it like that. With the fairly heavy pin weight, I need different shocks. Preferably ones that have a helper airbag built in. The rancho RSX shocks I have don't seem to do much for heavy towing.



So all in all, a great trip, easy running, fun in the desert. great turkey, now the trailer is winterised and set for winter. Can't wait til May Madness in Vegas. Will be giving tours.



So what does everyone think?

 

[EricBu12]

Heres me and my dad onour quads. Dad is 73 yrs old but is the biggest kid. Both quads are Polaris 500's mine is the predator, dad is on the Sportsman 4x4. The area behind us is the Yuha Desert. is an ancient Sea-bed from the gulf of california. But the BLM has made so many restrictions on where you can ride and signage that is confusing, We have been going to that desert since 1976 when my dad took us kids out there. now I will never go back. sad day...



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The place we went back to just north of las vegas. Exit 57 Apex rd. on I-15 is a wonderfull place to ride. will go there for fun now...



Forgot to show you the toneau cover I bought. it is the lite rider and the bars are integraded into the cover so all roll up as one and clip to the front for towing. when you close it, there is a release inside so if you have a locking tailgate, it is secure and can't be stolen.



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[ndurbin]

Legally your overloaded. But ya wont find me up on a soap box about it. Even tho your not over axle or tire weights, that usually doesn't mean squat to Mr. State Trooper (there are a few out there that are exceptions) and Mr. Ambulance-chasing Lawyer. It all boils down to what the lil tag on the inside door jam of the drivers side door says.



Nice rig tho and good luck with it.



Nathan

 

[TxDieselKid]

Great looking rig!!



I missed what forum this was in, and thought the Raptor was your new quad!! LOL How do you like that Pred? That is the direction I am leaning towards right now.

 

[edgrim]

Yes your rig (both) look awesome, Nathan is right about lawyers and State patrol but your rig seems more need able to handle the load.

 

[Bertram65]

Sweet setup, did you need the hitch extension? in the picture it looks like the trailer already has an extended hitch, seems like with the extension it could put a lot of leverage on the hitch were it mounts to the trailer.

 

[EricBu12]

The trailer has 6 heavy duty bols at the pin box. Seems strong enough. No warning on The product about it... . I did need it for the short-bed. Can't make a full 90 deg turn but close, like 80 or so. Sharp enough for what I want to do...



I need sugg. for better shocks. The ranchos I have are not for heavy towing thats for sure. I have seen helper shocks that have springs in them, but I want something that is adjustable like a air charge you can add. anything like that out there?



TX Diesel.

I like the Predator. The new model has reverse now for 05 it is a very light and competent ride. Don't take too much throttle to get it airborne hehe!

 

[sangell]

Good looking rig you've got Eric.



Nathan, you need to go down and talk to your local Kansas State Highway Patrol office. I have been reading these posts for two years about what is overweight and what is not.



Towing with the truck in my sig. I have a 34' gooseneck that I haul two Jeeps and good amount of gear on. The last time out here were the weights.



Steer Axle 4940

Drive Axle 6240

Trailer Axles 12720

Gross Weight 23900



After reading this post earlier I took this scale ticket, truck, and owners manual to the State highway patrol office to see what they said.



I have a 26k tag on my truck, I am not over any tire, axle, GVW, or tag ratings. I was told I was legal. The state of Kansas does not base anything on the GCWR, only tire, axle, GVW, and tags. I also called my insurance, (All State). I am also covered by them with what I am doing.



With all of this being said I feel comfortable with not getting a ticket or going to jail if something bad happens but I am sure I could still be sued. But in this day and age any one can be sued for anything.



Scott

 

[ndurbin]

That might be all fine and hunky doory in KS but what about MO, NE, OK, CO, or anywhere else you tow? Their laws may not be the same. And the lawyers going to nail you for being over the factory's rated weights in a law suit if you get in an accident. And if you look on that lil tag on the inside of your drivers side door guess whats there, would ya believe axle weight ratings.



Now I am not part of the weight patrol around here nor do I want to be and this doesn't need to be turned into the laws over overloading. I run my truck overloaded probably more than I do within the ratings when I tow. I too have the same 26K tag on my truck.



Nathan

 

[Rockcrawler]

Sangell- good info.



I looked at the pop-up extender too- the piece itself is certainly stout, the real issue is to keep an eye on the area where the pinbox is fabbed in, bolts and welds/ adjacent structure. hopefully it's not covered with Darco. 10"

of additional leverage with hefty pin weight deserves some observation IMHO. I ended up springing for the superglide- still not 90 degree's in my truck but close enough and the extra cost is minimal when you start adding hitch extenders, manual slides or broken windows. (My 38' Work and play should be here in a couple weeks)



The shocks with little spring on them are somewhat of a joke- at least the type you are talking about. A real coilover with real spring capacity will load the shock mounts in a way they were never designed for. Springs and airbags to carry the load, shocks to control it. Your shocks really may be ok, you're probably just not used to that much weight. Do you have the helper springs? If so, I think that's the same springpack as the 3500 in that generation (I had an 01 sb)- and yea, my 03 SB has a 2300 lb sticker (it came with 4. 10's and I swapped axles with a buddy). It used to be that the axle ratio did not reduce the tow rating. I'm also a little slow to jump on the "must have a dually" soapbox- heck, they used to have a GVWR of 10,500, 600 more than my existing truck. My intent has been to have a dual pupose truck, I'd likely go dually if I had a dedicated tow rig.



On the state thing- I'm not positive- but pretty sure, if you meet the laws of your home state regarding equipment, you can legally operate that equipment in other states.

 

[sangell]

Rockcrawler, you would be correct. If you are legal in the state that you are tagged then you are legal.



Nathan, I know very well what is on my door tag. I also know very well that the GCWR is NOT on the door tag ( at least on my truck). If you read my entire post you would have seen that I agree I could be sued for hauling that heavy. I also feel and after talking with my attorney that it would be a strong stand that the state says I'm legal and if I was not ticketed for any infraction where am I wrong.



I guess the point to all of my jabbering is that you stated to Eric that "Legally your overloaded" when in fact legally he is not. Could he lose a cival case in court? Sure but so did McDonalds for selling hot coffie.



Everyone just tow safe, be careful and have a nice Holidays.



Scott



P. S. Nathan, my dads side of the family is all from Medicine Lodge.

 

[Bertram65]

Not to beat a dead horse but. . how can anyone be legal if you are over the GVW of the truck which is listed on the door, am not trying to give anyone a hard time just curious.

 

[sangell]

If you are over the GVWR you are illegal anywhere. I just reread Eric's post and with his truck GVWR of 8800 and a GVW of 10760 he is illegal, I retract the above statement of Eric being legal. He is not.



Eric, again good looking rig but you are running illegal so watch out.



Scott

 

[ndurbin]

Atleast we agree its a good looking rig. I wasn't aware of the fact that if your legal in your registered state your legal elsewhere.



Nathan

 

[KHollister]

Uh, he may in fact be legal in spite of the GVWR. There was an extensive thread on this over at rv.net, and according to several OTR semi drivers, the DOT regs go by axle weight, not GVW or GCW. While states may have additional laws that are more restrictive, the federal DOT regs apparently use axle weights. You will notice that the GVWR is substantially less than the sum of the front & rear GAWR's.



While I'm not advocating exceeding the GVWR (I don't - one reason I got a duallie), the original poster is not neccesarily illegal.



YMMV



Keith

 

[sangell]

Keith,

You are correct, he MAY not be. I am sure all 50 states are different. What I posted is what I found out for the state of Kansas. From what I was told that if you are hauling NON commerical then they look at GVWR, GAWRs, tire ratings, and the weight of your tags. Commercial hauling gets into an entire different set of laws. The tropper I talked to told me if I was stopped/weighed and it was determined that I exceeded any of the above listed ratings I would be forced to unhook the load and fined.



Scott

 

[EricBu12]

Keith,



Welcome to the TDR, I see its your first post. Thanks for your input.

Let the bombing begin



B. O. M. B ---> Better off modified Baby!!

 

[Beast2B]

Eric, sweet ride(s)! Glad the trailer works for you. Some years down the road I'll be looking for more trailer, hope there's good options then! Love all those riding restrictions, huh? I'm probably giving my 400ex to my son, so unfortunately (wink wink) I'll be in the market for another quad . Looking at Predator, Raptor (with some suspension mods), and DS650 (6' 275lbs).

But I deviate; you MAY or MAY NOT be over the GVWR, GCWR, GAWR depending on where you live, where you were born, where you happen to keep the $50 bill in your wallet and the color of your truck! **NO I'm not directing this at anyone in particular!!**

 

[rblomquist]

If you travel all the way to So. Cal to ride in the winter months you should hit the sand dunes. We go at least once a month to Dumont or Glamis. The camping is awesome with plenty of cool folks and equipment to see. I've given up on the desert off-roading in the people's republic of California but the dune scene is still pretty awesome. .

 

[EricBu12]

The Dunes at Little Sahara here in Utah is awesome. There is a mountain there that is 700' high. This is a very popular place. Gets crowded on busy weekends. Utah has recreation areas and in the recreation ares, you can ride without limits as long as you stay in the recreation area.



So I won't be going back to california for off-roading. There is a riding area just north of Las Vegas on I-15 at Apex Rd. exit 57 on the south side of the freeway. That is a new favorite place of mine.