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Class 5 hitch can handle 1700lbs, I think I'm good.
I'd still try to get your WD to move some of that forward. Can't imagine it is steering very well with the front under 4500lbs of a 23k total. I usually shoot for 20-25% on the steer axle. That would get your rear down to 5000-5500 which would be a bit easier on it.
I'd still try to get your WD to move some of that forward. Can't imagine it is steering very well with the front under 4500lbs of a 23k total. I usually shoot for 20-25% on the steer axle. That would get your rear down to 5000-5500 which would be a bit easier on it.
Class 5 hitch can handle 1700lbs, I think I'm good.
Twitch, I think everyone's concern is the axle weight distribution, not that your setup can't handle it. At least that was my first reaction when I saw the weight ticket.
Twitch, I think everyone's concern is the axle weight distribution, not that your setup can't handle it. At least that was my first reaction when I saw the weight ticket.
Stewart
Correct. Going in a straight line won't be an issue but try to make a sudden swerve or enter a turn a bit too fast and you'll be picking up your *** from a ditch (best case)... I'll leave the worst case to your imagination.
Not to even mention the legal repercussions when you damage anything/anyone and your insurance bails on you since you tow much more than the vehicle is rated for. IMNSHO the tow vehicle's weight should not be exceeded by the trailers weight. I don't care what the numbers say, you can't change the laws of physics. Having a big difference in weight distribution between the front and rear of the tow vehicle will make things even worse.
Hence my comment about a semi tractor.
When we went from Bar Harbor to Laconia, we went one more link up on the WD. My concern was too much weight on the torsion bars but Tom helped be calculate everything and we decided it could handle one more link. The truck sat damn near level and it did feel better going down the road. I need to lower the hitch one or two more holes so the trailer now sits level as well.
I will re-weigh on the next trip out when I am fully loaded again. I am hoping I sell most of the product here in Laconia and I travel back home somewhat light.
So we are finally back home…ish. I should have updated this thread earlier but I got lazy. As I was heading back from Myrtle Beach, I blew another boot. This time it was the upper boot with the elbow on the hot side. I ended up ripping a small hole in it as I was crossing into Maryland. I managed to get it back on and slowly make it home. I realized that all my issues with the engine since November circle back to the turbo; after doing some more reading I decided it was surging and on its way out. I was hoping to have the warranty replacement boot arrive at the same time as the turbo but no such luck.
I went with a Powermax Stage 1 and she is BEAutiful!! Since the replacement boot did not arrive, I had to install the old OEM boot back on…that turns out to have been a mistake.
The shop gets the turbo on the day before we leave for Maine and I pick it up, hook up to the trailer and we are on the road within 24 hours. Once on the road I started to notice an oil burning smell but didn’t see anything leaking and figured it was just from the install or maybe they spilled a little oil somewhere. Of course one of my road trips would not feel right if we didn’t end up on the side of the road at some point and my Excursion felt the need to stick with that tradition a few hours into the trip. I saw my coolant temps were running a little high so I rolled down the windows and turned on the heat to see what the truck's reaction was. The truck was blowing hot air at the temps dropped right away so I assumed I needed a little coolant and would keep an eye on it until I was able to stop. Now, we are running with a fairly heavy load, total weight of truck and trailer was shown on the scale ticket I posted earlier (22,300lbs). We start going up a decent grade and the temps started to rise, we roll down the windows and turn on the heat, a safe exit was at the top of the hill which is where we would have pulled off to check things out…WOULD HAVE… Temps get to 235° and I decide to pull over and let it idle for a minute and try to get the temp down. No such luck, the temps keep climbing through 245° as I was jumping out to pop the hood. The wife tells me the temp is now 254° and I tell her to shut it off. I open the hood and go to unscrew the degas bottle cap to release some of the pressure. I know some of you are shaking your heads right now as this is something not to do but, it has always been a common trick in the Texas heat during the hot summer days to save the engine. The outcome was a little more violent than I expected and something closely resembling the tar pit eruption scene from the movie Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones ensued.
I got the truck cooled down, used what coolant I had to refill the system, had to turn back down the hill since I did not think I would make it up the rest of the way and made it to the next closest service station. Once stopped and in a safe location (not on the side of a mountain) I took a closer look at everything and found that the shop disconnected the cooling fan and never hooked it back up. I was slightly irritated to say the least at this point and sorry, but I did not think of taking pictures of the events that had taken place…IMy wife however likes to take pictures of the side of the road when I am fixing the truck... She also captured a short video of a worm dancing on the hood...
Once this issue was discovered I reconnected the fan, topped off the cooling system with whatever coolant I could find at the service station, got back on the road, and quickly called 2 or 3 FTE members to bitch about what just happened….
I have more to post, but this one has been long enough for now…will update again later…
Oh, and I called the shop to give them a good ol’ a$$ chewing but they didn’t even give me a chance after telling them what was wrong. They will take care of my next oil change, flushing the coolant, making sure nothing else was damaged, and cleaning up the mess that is now all over the engine compartment.
Now the original goal was to stop at all the State Welcome signs and get a picture with the family or at least the truck and trailer. After thinking it over, we decided that pulling over on the side of the road is not always the safest photo opportunity. We also found out that some states don't even have a sign....WTH? So now you all will just have to take my word for it that we went to all the states....
After being on the road for a little while, I ran across this guy that just kept giving me a strange look the entire time we were behind him. I couldn't take it anymore! Those bug eyes and sideways grin, I had to catch up to the guy and figure out what was going on...
We saw Twitch in MA, NH and ME and he had to cross some others to get there so I think he now has the New England part of his travels covered!
With the engine troubles; we did decide to skip Rhode Island. If it comes down to the end of the year and we only need that one to have covered them all, we'll make a quick trip up there for the weekend.
Did you guys enjoy Maine? I remember going when I was young, two week trip with the family and stayed at I believe the same campground you guys did. Will find out for sure tomorrow.
06-06-2016, 11:46 PM
