I have to admit to lack of experience on hauling anything except a few pull fb's and tt's. We are talking fiver and would like to travel a bit ,incl Alaska, after our last grads from HS.(3yrs). havn't decided of fiver yet but have looked at specs on CTD SRW and the wife thinks we should get a sport hauler. I would rather prefer to stay with the SRW. My last 3 trks have been CTD 2 12's and the last a 98 24 QC 290K. I'll never have another gas. I think the SRW would be much more useful and economical when not towing. Advice?

 

not sure what the question is...

 

Sport hauler, as in a Freightliner www.sporthauler.com/
vs a CTD-SRW/DRW? If so, you'd better take some driving lessons first. The SRW won't carry the heavy loads that the DRW or the FL will. It doesn't have the safety of the extra two rear wheels. Comparing apples to oranges. $99k vs $45k.

 

The DRW depends on the size and weight of the fiver you get. My fiver is a Montana 2750 weighing in at about 10,000lbs. I used to pull this trailer with my 99 2500 and a 01 2500. This year I bought the 3500 DRW to give me the option to go bigger. While the 2500 SRW pulled and handled the trailer well the DRW was so much better in the stability etc. If you're planning on travelling like you say then buy the DRW. You'll be glad you did.

 

Good point induchman... a friend of ours just got a FL because he didn't feel like he had enough braking control on his 01 QC CTD DRW for his 35' 13k fiver. However I believe the load and braking has improved since 01???? and how about a Pacbrake on a CTD auto???

 

I've got the 3500 QC SB SRW and pull a 13Klb 5VR. I love the way it pulls and handles. I can't compare it to anything else but if I were to do it again I might think about getting the DRW only so I could pull even more. The disadvantage of the SRW SB is that you have to get a slider hitch to pull the 5VR. I got the SuperGlide which is just awesome. I don't have to worry about making sharp turns or even having to back it up.

 

Yes the brakes are much improved from 01, they are 4 wheel disc and much bigger also, and 4 wheel anti lock.

But in reality if your trailer is working right the truck brakes shouldn't be working extra to slow it down any way. The trailer should handle slowing its self down.

I believe that now with the 04.5's you can put a exhaust brake on the auto, and it is worth every penny.

Unsless you have a really huge 5ver that you are going to pull all the time I can't imagine that you need more then a dually. I have pulled around 22,000 with mine.

 

My rig is stock. I don't have a PacBrake, I use my gears. I haul 16000# on a regular basis without any difficulty. I had a 03 D1500 with the 4discs but they didn't hold up. I dumped it for the 01 in sig. I'll go thru three sets of front discs before I need to replace the rear drums and I replaced the front at 75k mi.

Problem with the FL is not being able to handle it empty. They kinda bounce a bit without a load. Sorta like bobcatting a class 8.

 

LOL, yea the rason is that most of the time the rear drumbs aren't working. They need constant adjustment. We have an 2000 and 2001 with them. In the winter you know right away when they need adjustment because you sit at a stop light and a rear tire will be spining as you idle with the brake on, makes people look. * I have converted vehicle to get rid of drumb brakes, they are 60 year year of technology. Now I just wish it didn't cost so much to get rid of the drumbs on my trailer.

You will also find that your gears work a whole buch better with an exhaust brake on it, big difference

And how can you compare a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 or 1 ton ?

 

They all towed the same trailer. I used to bust up concrete and haul it away on a flatbed and with whatever truck I had driven to the site. No time to go running back thirty miles to get the right rig. Don't like the 4 disc setup, much prefer the rear drums. They don't need constant adjustment, backing up solves that problem.

 

You are the ONLY person I have ever had tell me that they prefer drum to disc. And no backing up doesn't solve the problem, 1/2 the time the adjusters don't even work. Hell our truck are plow and delivery trucks, when plowing snow you might back up 200 times a day and the back brakes still don't work. Don't mater how you look at it you will never make me thing that a drum is better them a disc.

Try drums in an off-road truck once, they are fine if you like adjusting them once a day and replacing the shoes twice a year.

 

Snowplows weren't covered by warranties in my old neck of the woods.

I've never had any problems with rear drums not holding up. Front brakes are always failing at much higher rate and at less mileage than rears.

On my two previous Dodge farm trucks (96) we replaced the drums only b/c of rear axle seals leaking (32k mi). Then we replaced two trannies and four sets of front discs-total 115575 miles! The one before that (92) had 22k miles on it with a replacement of the rear drums due to leaking seals. Then it ran for another 128500 miles before replacing the drums.

We worked them hard too. Not plowing roads, there were tractors for that, but hauling heavy round bales into fields, dragging other vehicles out of irrigation ditches, driving thru heavy mountain snows, in weather far worse than what the NE has had recently.

From 1992 to 2003 we had a total of four vehicles go over 500000 miles with less difficulty than our neighbors with the Fords and Chevy's, spending less money on a yearly basis on parts and repairs. Say what you will about it, but that's our experience.

 

whats the price on 1 of those sprthaulers ???

 

I saw a four door model at Gardners in Kalispell last summer for $99k.

 

I have seen sport haulers and other brands from 65,000 to 125,000. I was going to build one using a new international chasis and it would have ran right at 70,000 with all the work jobbed out. the biggest factors in the MDT group seems to be the extra carry capacity and the bed storage you can't get with a pickup type as well as much better stoppingcapacity. Overall Fuel milage will be much less in most cases, they get about the same milage empty as well as loaded, With a custom tow bed there isn't much bouncing around either