| onetrackmind |
11-02-2017 11:25 AM |
Towing experience of a new owner
To all in the forum, Greetings. My name is Clyde and I'm new, first post by the way. A little backround. Almost 70, retired 12 years ago as a heavy equipment and machinery hauler.. I have over 3 million miles big truck experience under my belt. I learned an awfull lot and am still learning. I recently bought a 2004 dodge 4 dr., crewcab long box 3500 dually with a 5.9 cummins. No cat. converter and no emissions on engine. 4 spd. auto with tow haul. Black on black leather seats. I hooked up a 12 ton econoline gooseneck equipment trailer with the multi max suspension.. (look it up it is unique in the industry.) The trailer was 23 long 18 ft flat deck and a 5 ft. beaver tail. It is a very heavily built trailer with heavy duty ramps. I live in Northern MInn. I drove to Rochester New York, left on a sunday at 3 pm. I loaded an Allis Chalmers hd 6-b bulldozer c frame and 10 ft. blade. The machine weighed a little over 17,000 lbs. I was grossing 31,000 and change. I put that puppy in tow-haul set the cruise at 55 and no matter what, up, down steep or mild, rain or shine that truck hauled that dozer very nicely. I arrived home at 8 pm on a thursday. I know the manufacture says 12,000 gvw on the door and mine by the way does not give a combined gvw. Ladies and gentlemen it is more about tire capacity, strength of your wheels and your suspension.. I was 4820 on the steers, 6940 on the drives and 19720 on the trailer. All of my tires were rated at roughly 28 to 29 hundred lbs apiece. For those of you who have never owned a dually, trust me they track sooooo much better around corners, they don't sway or lean they track flat. I weighed my truck and trailer empty and it came to 14,440 lbs. If the gross combined weight is between 21 and 23 thousand why would you even bother buying on of the best pulling pickups on the market new or used.. I think the gcvw is BS! And one other thing all and I mean all big trucks, semi's have for decades used the in line 6 cylinder geometry, it is more balanced, more efficient, easier to work on etc etc etc . Do not let anyone tell you the v 8 and 10 geometry is better because it is not!!! I am not bragging or complaining just sharing my first honest experience with my 2004 dodge. My engine does have the new fuel pump installed and I do intend to do converter and some tranny work on my truck. Nothing serious just a little modification upgrade. Thank you all for reading, Clyde
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