GEAR M UP Posted October 6, 2003 Report Share Posted October 6, 2003 Just pulled out the 26' Pontoon. No problems! Trany got up to 150*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevelleBoy Posted October 15, 2003 Report Share Posted October 15, 2003 I pull a 20' ski boat that weighs about 2500 lbs and I don't even know it's there. Dump the Jet Ski's and get a real boat, maybe your towing problems will go away...a real truck expects a real boat...<grin> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhbar Posted October 20, 2003 Report Share Posted October 20, 2003 I have towed with my SS several times now and have had no issues. First time out was with a 6'x12' tandem axle utility trailer loaded with 3 Harleys headed to Reno. Average speed was 70MPH and fuel economy was 11MPG. Second time was a two horse slant load trailer with a 5 year old mare. Towed just as smooth as with the Harleys. Third time was a 7'x18' tandem axle car hauler with diamond plate deck, loaded with a 1978 Cadillac Eldorado. We were headed to the demolition derby so we weren't concerned about correct loading and ended up a little heavy on the tongue. It squatted the back on the truck quite a bit, but really didn't affect driveability. Most recent was the same car trailer with a 1966 Pontiac LeMans. This was loaded a bit more carefully than the Cadillac, so the back end didn't squat as much. The truck drove better than with the Caddy, so there is definately something to be said about loading trailer properly. Pulled a hill with his load, cruise control set at 61MPH and the truck never slowed down. Averaged about 11MPG. For my money, the SS is an awesome tow vehicle. I think adding air bags for the hea ier tongue weights will solve the sqatting problem. Another thing, I haven't yet installed my brake controller and the factory brakes stopped all the loads very well, even when traveling down hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Mike Posted October 21, 2003 Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 Your vehicle has little or nothing to do with your towing situtation. Problems can occur, but they are not related to pull vehicle but more with trailer being pulled. If you are having so much problems process of eliminition will lead to one of the following; Most common are - Inadequate trailer for what you are towing - Overloaded or unbalanced loading - Poor or mismatched or too small tires Another solution is Installing a weight distribution hitch or/and with a sway bar. A trip to your local trailer dealer with the guilty party can also be beneficial. Hope this helps, Dr Mike Dr Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richw01 Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 Last weekend pulled a 28' enclosed race car trailer (est 4250 lbs.) from Chicago, Ill. to Albuquerque, NM - 1345 miles. Trailer came with sway bars and I installed an electric brake control unit. This is absolutely necessary if you don't want premature brake failure. The truck brakes alone could stop ok, but not good for a long haul or a panic stop. Coming over a hill in Missouri at 75 came upon a string of used school buses all doing 35 - Glad for those trailer brakes then. Wind seemed to move the ass-end around pretty good, but not alarmingly. MPG for trip was 10.2 - getting around 200 miles a tank. Going up hills in NM into a 30 mph headwind dropped mpg to around 5. Had to forget cruise control - downshifting under load saw RPM's in the 5k range - rather just bleed off some speed. One note to you voters in Illinois - Please do something about the arcame 55 mph speed limit for trailers (under 4 tons). I do not wish to see cornfields for that long ever again - thanks ! By the way, side note - New Passport 8500 Blue gave superior performance against all types of speed monitoring equipment - even alerted to laser in St. Louis with more than enough time to adjust speed. Money well spent ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whmayhew Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 The equalizer hitch is the way to go when towing a heavy trailer. When it is set up right the back of your pickup will not squat and it keeps the front down also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redSSon20's Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 I tow a 21' Blazer Bass Boat with my SS with the McGaughy drop and have only hit the bump stops a couple times which felt really good..lol...Other than that no complain ts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue-SS Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 Sounds like you dont have enough Tongue weight. If I tow my car hauler empty it will bounce like that, put a car on it and you dont know its even back there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 Sounds like you dont have enough Tongue weight. If I tow my car hauler empty it will bounce like that, put a car on it and you dont know its even back there... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Exactly what I was going to say. Would bet that either (a) not enough tongue weight (b) load placed too far rearward on the trailer, actually picking the rear of the truck up off the pavement, and/or © solid axle trailer, has no springs or too stiff springs for load and is amplifying condition (a) or (b) by jumping all over the road. This truck weighs over 5K-lbs empty, and it has 4.10 rear gears; the truck is not the problem. A solid axle trailer amplifies tongue load problems. While living in CA I and my buddies did the demolition derby car thing, and we had no money so we built a solid axle car trailer for ourselves; it was better because the trailer was a good 8-inches closer to the ground and easier to load a dead car onto after the derby! But it also trailered exceptionally well, because of the lower CG and we made the tongue relatively long. But, if I had the load (car) too far rearward it was unforgiving, completely unloading the tongue weight off the truck hitch. I would actually load a car completely to the front of the trailer, and that would nearly bottom the truck's rear to the ground but it tracked perfectly at high freeway speeds. If your trailerig problem is not 'bucking' but rather 'whipping' side-to-side, then your trailer tongue could use more length; get a sway control mechanism to compensate. There are actually formulas for all this, I know that you need minimum 10% trailer weight on the hitch, but 15% is safest for freeway travel. I do not remember the rule of thumb for tongue length... Happy Trailering... Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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