I had to use my new truck to haul for the first time and I must say I am very happy with it. I have been hauling horses for years with a 1/2 ton and was a white knuckle driver because I never felt the truck was adequate.

I have been having a minor meltdown about having to travel in February with all the snow we have been getting and lousy road conditions and my hitch/brake controler had not yet been adjusted/added to my new truck hence the panic over getting the WD hitch correct. I received some bad news that my young horse has cancer and we had to truck him to the University Hospital for surgery. He is usually a very nervous hauler and often thrashes around in the trailer which is extrememly nerve frying. We had a 4 hour haul on a busy highway through Toronto with many big semi's on the road to suck us into their wake.

This truck was awsome. I really hardly feel the big trucks, perhaps I would feel less with a GN trailer but it is a big improvement and lots of power. I am still not sure about the tow/haul button but I let the truck go into OD once on the highway and it was not hunting for gears, it did seem smoother in OD, I'll watch for the revs next time because I think I read that aroung 1700 was good for OD.

My horse was sedated for his journey (but he was a good boy anyway) and we are waiting on the pathology report to see if they got all the cancer. I am so happy with this truck. Now I can breath a big sigh of relief and have a celebration beer--for the successful haul---still anxious about the pathology report.

 

That's good to hear about your towing experience. I bought this truck for the exact same reason....to pull a trailer because my Explorer couldn't handle the task.

Good luck with your horse.

 

First of all I hope your horse gets better. You sound like a good owner.

I'm happy to hear about your experiences with the new truck. I understand your experiences 100% as I'm pulling a BP with a Yukon now. I can't wait to get my 3500 which should be here in March. I'm also getting a 3 horse gooseneck. Why? To turn hauling horses into a pleasant experience with the right equipment instead of a white knuckle, stress express!

Happy Trails

 

I also moved up from a 1/2 ton I need to drop the W/D hitch a notch though this truck sits much higher. The ride is much better and stopping is not an adventure any more.

 

I moved up from an '02 GMC HD crew, and pulled my trailer with this truck last fall(only 800mi.). Man- it's like heaven!! The GMC had the 6L with 410's. It sucked the fuel back more without a trailer than the Cummins does with the trailer. (That's no word-of-a-lie!) Did you know that for every 1000ft. gain in elevation, your gas engine loses 10% of its HP?? A diesel loses none. I pull long sometimes steep hills in the mountains, and pulling with the Cummins is the greatest!!

 

Hope all goes well with the horse, but dang you sure made me a little more anxious to get that 6000 # TT out and get to campin'

Havent got to haul with mine yet...

Best of Luck
Tom

 

I can't wait! Gotta get out there in April!!

 

I hope your horse gets better. I do not know what I would do if any of my nine had the bug "C". It is every horse owners nightmare.
I was glad to hear your journey went well. I have pulled my three horse slant load with a dually since '87. With live weight, I feel reassured with the duals. My 2 cents!
I have pulled my trailer with my new truck and can not believe the difference! I had a Ford before this one and the Dodge does not squat in the back like my Ford did! I had to raise my gooseneck to clear the tailgate while up.
Again, Good luck with your test results.

 

I towed for the first time this weekend too, at least the first time I've towed anything substantial. I towed a 6000 lb TT around all weekend and the truck didn't even know it was there. The Jordan brake controller was flawless.

Wanna talk tow vehicle upgrades? I used to tow my 1000lb atv/trailer with my 1.9L jetta tdi, lol. It did OK I guess, but definitely was straining. To say the least, the cummins doesn't even notice the atv(or 3). I was so pumped to actually tow something of substance this weekend. Glad to hear your experience was as good as mine!!

Good luck with the horse. Some ppl dont understand how close you can be with your animal/pets until they own one themselves. They are family members and are loved much. Hope yours recovers quickly and is out on the trail soon!

 

Thanks for all the kind words of support. I do get very attached to my animals. We are still waiting for the pathology report to see if they got all the tumour. I think just the cancer word is shocking to me right now, I know it is not always a horrible outcome, I really didn't expect this in a young horse.

I have a hauling confession---when I was younger and foolish I hauled horses (yes more than one) with a jeep and a little fiberglass trailer. The trailer actually towed really well but a jeep... !Years later I discovered that our friends called the rig the barbie jeep and trailer. My daughter actually had that toy, the jeep barbie had was a pink YJ type (of course the top was down) with a well equiped large horse trailer with a stove, closet full of clothes etc. Thankfully now in Ontario there are yearly inspections of horse trailers/tow vehicle combinations and hopefully that sort of thing would umm discouraged. My horse alone weighs in at 1400 lbs--he was weighed at the vet college-- and that is a moving shifting weight with a high center of balance, I am feeling so much safer with my 3/4 ton truck, would never dream of hauling in anything less.

We have a TDI Jetta also, I can't imagine towing with it

 

well the tdi was much better after the wetterauer chip! Still slow tho. Sure miss 50mpg!

 

An update on my horse (yes this is truck related sort of). The biopsy results came back on the surgery on the right third eyelid, the margins are clean so it looks like the removal of the tumour was complete and the prognosis has been upgraded from fair to good. BUT... the biopsy taken of the left third eyelid shows early squamous cell carcinoma--we did this just in case on a small non pigmented spot. The opthamologist was as surprised as I was with this result, we thought it was nothing. She has never heard of this cancer occuring in both eyes.

It looks like I will have to hitch up the truck again for a second surgery on the other eye another 8 hour total trip, I was hoping the next time I had to haul with my truck would be for a happier occasion! Hopefully I can talk 'the husband' into coming with me this time if it's during his March break. At least I have a great truck for hauling now.

We live in Ontario in the cold north, I not sure why am I seeing this cancer that is likely caused by UV light but it's time for some preventative measures. I think have to get my guy some horse goggles, check these out [url]http://www.guardianmask.com/GM.html

 

I'm glad to hear about your horse is doing better. My horse had an eye problem and they are not to mess arround with.

I to upgrade from a 1500 to my 2500 and it is night and day better towing.

Good luck, Srigs