Well if you do lift it, make sure you get a drop hitch to match. A level trailer is the most important thing you can do for a good tow IMO.

 

It's a good habit to always do a "walk around" the trailer when you first get out of the truck. Mostly checking the tires & bearing hubs, looking for excessive heat on either and still check trailer coupling and what ever load you may have. The tires should be the same temperature, the hubs should be cool and the heat from the brake drums should be even on both sides. I'm sure I missed some other stuff but that is all I can remember right now. I tow my boat in the summer and the winter has been soooooooooo long I forgot how to tow anthing or even boat anymore .

 

good points, also check the lighting frequently, its harder to get over when other drivers don't know that you want too. i recomend Light Emmitting Diodes

 

When you're backing up, put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. If you want the trailer to go in the direction of your right shoulder, move your hand (while on the bottom of wheel) toward the passenger side of the cab. If you want to bring the trailer left, move your hand to the left.

 

Don't get in a hurry and leave a little extra room between you and the car in front of you. Try to stay on more main streets than side roads. But most of all have a good time

 

well got it home OK.....LOL sure looked alot smaller sitting in the showroom. Anyways, I towed great all except for the thunder sotrm I dorve thru with the wind bloweing me all over the place........thats part really sucked. Backing it on the driveway was a real treat also......haha

Thanks for the advise guys, I appreciated it.

One more thing........WOW that prodigy P3 worked awesome......adjusting it on the fly was easy and god im happy thats what people on here suggested.....couldnt have been happier with it.

Have to get some pics of my new toy.....actually here's the link to the one I bought

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=

later,
tom

 

Looks like a pretty handy floorplan.

I'm glad you are happy, and the first tow was safe.

Have fun with hit.

 

tongue weight 1500# ? yikes, keep an eye on the whole hitch where it mounts to the frame for cracks, mine cracked, added some gussets, a load distributing receiver and hitch is basically taking the frame from the rear, and pushing it down in the front = lots of abuse. I like using adjustable shocks adjusted to 3 or 4 front and back (5 is highest) to keep the truck flat and tight (not bobing up and down all the time)

 

I upgraded my truck to a Superhitch, something to think about if you have 1500 pound tongue weight. Enjoy your new toy.

 

like was said before, with 1500 lbs of tongue weight i would look into getting a stronger aftermarket one. none of the stock recievers on any of the big threes trucks have been very impressive. heck, some of GM's tubular hitches would rip right off the truck even with a pretty small trailer.

 

Guys don't forget toyhaulers have ALOT of tongue weight empty because they plan for the back end to be loaded heavy (when loaded)... I bet your tongue weight will actually stay the same or even lighten up when you load in your toys... Remember the 10% rule, if this wasn't a TH then it would only have about 600lbs on the front (6k x 10%)...

 

Tom,,,If you really want to feel confident with the braking, get an exhaust brake like the PacBrake. Come off the Interstate at 60 onto the cloverleaf and never touch your brake pedal unless you come to a stop sign. Will make your pads last up to five times as long also. But the real issue is the greater stability, safety, and confidence that the engine braking provides. I can't imagine coming down the mountains here without it.

Kurt W.

 

I'm replacing my factory hitch with a Torklift Superhitch too. Had it on my 03, it's been sitting in the side yard ever since. Time to get it installed so I can get another Lance camper in the hopefully near future. Other than that, the stock receiver only gets to tow my small enclosed snowmobile trailer.

But to echo many of the tips already mentioned... take it slow and easy. When I toy my 40' 5th wheel toyhauler, I generally run at 62 mph. That seems to be my "sweet spot" for mileage.

Whenever I stop, the FIRST thing I do is leave the truck running, and get out with my little $50 infra-red temp reader and zap the hubs on the trailer to ensure nothing's getting too hot. I also do tire temps on truck and trailer, since if you get a close reading across the surface of the tire, you have enough air in them. If it's hot on the outside edges, they're low, and if hot just in the middle, they're too full.

Next, I check my hitch and make sure everything looks good. I make sure I haven't picked up anything under the trailer, that nothing is leaking from truck or trailer, etc.

When this is all done, the truck is about ready to shut off if I'll be there a while (it's nice to let the turbo cool a bit).

Inside the trailer... let's say you stop to use the bathroom, and you use the trailer... be sure you turn the water pump OFF when traveling. Why? What if a water line works loose? You'd find yourself with a very wet trailer if the pump is left on.

Be sure you latch the shower door, if you have one, so it doesn't swing open and break. Be sure the TVs are strapped down, the TV antenna or satellite dish is retracted (where applicable). Can't tell you how many times I've seen an RV going down the road with the antenna sticking up, waiting to be taken off by a power line or low tree branch.

I tend to carry only non-breakable kitchen items too... just in case something happens that a cabinet door opens and stuff comes out.

Rob

 

I think the stock hitch is Class 4, 10,000. A class 5 is 15k, I think. This is pobabaly what you need for your rig.
Turning sharp corners is the biggest thing to get used too. You have to swing WAY out, in the oppsite lanr if needed, on right hand turns. Otherwise, you jump the curb, real bad for tires and can hurt your rig.
55 should get better mileage than 60, depending on gears.
Bilstein shocks on the truck will help all around. best mod you can make.

 

One thing that i didn't see any one suggest is wind pushing by a big rig or large motor home.When you are driving at high way speed you can feel semi's coming behind you and while passing. : You'll feel a slight increase in speed and as the rig passes it will pull you to your left towards the passing vehicle. As it passes it will push you to the right towards the shoulder. Don't panic just hold it steady. I experience this with my rig. I have an 85 D-350 crew cab with a 12 Valve and pull a 25 ft. travel trailer that weighs about 6,000 - 6,500 lbs. Maybe it does it because it's an older truck i don't know but i thought i would add my .02. I drove semi's for 20 years so towing is not a big deal for me. Have fun with your new toy. I hope this helped. I LOVE CAMPING!!