Re: towing advice please
 

OK Boys: All of you miss the most important point when setting up your truck for towing. The truck is not suppose to carry the boat. You should only have the max of about 200lbs tongue weight on the ball. The trailer is suppose to carry all of the boats weight.
Here are the spec on my truck: 04 GMC Serria 2500HD with the duromax and allison trans 373 gears averaging 13.4 mpg pulling a 38ft Powerquest on a tri-axle trailer.(13000 lbs gvw) Capable of pulling down the road over 65mph or better(have pulled up to 80 with no swaying at all)
Chevy and GMC both now have 3500 in single axle if you want them but the gvw is only 400 lbs better then the 2500hd
My old 02 Chevy had the 8.1 and 373 gears avg only 7 mph and when you got out in the passing lane you ran out of motor. Hate that feelingOne other thing the wider the tires on the trailer the better it is. It will make the trailer pull straighter with less swaying. I had narrower ones on the trailer when I first got it then I change them out to the wider ones. Setting up the truck and trailer is no different then setting up a 18 wheeler. You have to do your home work. That is why you see guys in trouble all the time they don't spend the time to do things properly.

Re: towing advice please
 

like this

Re: towing advice please
 

Dan B: I have a townhouse In Cape Coral. I want to know where all the big power is down there when I bring my 38 down. Where does everyone hang out at and where does everyone go and party. The wife talk me into to buying on the West coast I want to buy in Ft Lauderdale so I could go to Shooter's all the time. Had a hard time finding boating people to hang out with when we we down in Feburary and March. We found the VIP club down on 41 and it was a pretty good place to hang out at night. I sure would like to find where all the boating people are.

Re: towing advice please
 

All due respect- but you're kind of all wet- except for the doing your homework part. 10%+ tongue weight on a tag trailer has been the industry standard for years, well published. too little tongue weight will quickly have the tail wagging the dog. I suspect, if your towing has been ok, you have way more than 200lbs tongue weight (unless you're towing a pair of waterbikes or doing short/slow/local trips). You may want to hit the scales with your tongue weight, you can do it at a truck stop or use race car scales like I do. 200 lbs hitch weight on a 10k boat trailer is asking for trouble handling wise, go into a corner a little hot and the trailer will be driving you. Just trying to save someone the grief- but don't take my word, look it up- happy safe trailering!

Re: towing advice please
 

All well said, specially about the tongue weight... 200 pounds!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Re: towing advice please
 

depending on what you go with if something that you can park and just use to tow the boat and not need to haul a lot of people I would look at the regular cab chevy gmc gas duallys plentyful and cheap enough. I would also add a set of tow bags along with a class 5 hitch aka titan, solid receiver ball mount along with a one piece machined ball rated for overkill mines at 30k for the ball. tongue rate is roughly around 10 to 15 percent depending on amout of axles and ballance of trailer. Just some thought about truck and set up for towing hope they help.

Re: towing advice please
 

Why doesn't the Dodge get any respect?

Re: towing advice please
 

Says who? I had an 01 black sport SB just like it and it was rated for 20k gross. My 03 3500 srw sb is rated for 23k gross. And I like your Warlock too :)

Re: towing advice please
 

200 lbs tongue weight no matter what? What are you smoking?

10% is the standard rule.

Re: towing advice please
 

I have an '04 Burban 2500 with 4.10 and tow about 9600lbs. (trailer included) + all the baggage and friends that a family can stuff in an SUV. I use a weight-distributing hitch, would I gain much by installing the air shocks? and if so, which do you recommend?