Forum Discussion

Lyrikz's avatar
Lyrikz
Explorer
Apr 01, 2014

My first trip out, very overweight.

I dont need the weight police, i know what im doing and what im changing. This is just my experience and i will be asking about some concerns.

2007.5 6.7 mega 1 ton. SRW. I do have 19.5 rims and some 4700lb goodyears. Added airbags
Weights fully loaded
front 5100
rear 7000
trailer 14600.
So i am grossly over weight on combined vehicles. Almost 4000 over the gross combined.

It towed great going uphills, going downhill, and in a straight line.
There were times you didnt know it was back there.

BUTTTTT, here is the issue and concern. Switching lanes you would get this sensation that the trailer was moving the ass of the truck around. Tail wagging the dog??? This feeling is one i do not like. I want control and that is NOT control.
Now, if i switched to a dually, does that feeling go away??

Besides that, it pulled great, stopped great, but as for a feeling of control, it wasnt there. It handled the wind well also..

See the trailer isnt that big.



OK ITS HUGE.





oh, and with my 4 battery setup. We went 3 full nights with heater running, radio and what not, batteries never got below 12.3


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  • broccoli2's avatar
    broccoli2
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    I have the same size trailer, When I bought the trailer I had a SRW F350. It towed it no problem, up, down, wind no wind, no problems. I was about the the same, 4000lbs over weight. I bought a DRW and holy smokes what a difference. I had a 34 foot bumper pull before my 43 foot 5er and I would say the SRW towing the 5er felt similar but more stable than the bumper pull. When I got the DRW it was like a whole new feeling.. The first time we went out to the desert I had to keep looking in the mirror to make sure it was still attached. The only thing I might change now is the pin box on the 5er to get rid of some of the bucking..
  • Steve76eb's avatar
    Steve76eb
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    Lyrikz wrote:



    HAHAH.. Well,, i had that moment. It was like. "ahhhhh, this is what they meant". My wife just looked at me weird. LOL.

    I am going to raise my pin box so the trailer sits perfect. its off by about 1.5 inches right now.. Im just trying to see if i can raise that so i can lower the nose just a bit.

    Currently there is 3 bolts in the front, and 2 in the rear. If i raise it, it will be 3 in the rear, and 2 in the front. Same amount of bolts. Would that work??


    Not sure what bolts you are referring to, I have 12 bolts that hold my pin box on. 6 on each side. 2 rows of 3. Its all a trade off. If you raise your pin box lowering your trailer or lower your hitch, you will now have less clearance between your bed rails and the bottom of the trailer. Will you be comfortable with less room?

    If you just stay on paved roads you just might be fine. I went through that battle with mine. I like having the 8" of bed clearance since I do leave the paved highways, but I have to live with my trailer being 1.5" nose high. My axles came SOA, so my only option would be to lift the trailer or get that correct track kit that will raise the trailer a bit.
  • Lyrikz's avatar
    Lyrikz
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    revflyr wrote:
    I tow the same one with a 2011 3500 dodge dually and don't feel any movement when changing lanes. You look like you have the trailer spot on for being level so I would say it has to be the swd.
    If you have someone with a dually, hook your trailer up and take it down the road, I would bet that you won't make it ten miles before you go OMG.



    HAHAH.. Well,, i had that moment. It was like. "ahhhhh, this is what they meant". My wife just looked at me weird. LOL.

    I am going to raise my pin box so the trailer sits perfect. its off by about 1.5 inches right now.. Im just trying to see if i can raise that so i can lower the nose just a bit.

    Currently there is 3 bolts in the front, and 2 in the rear. If i raise it, it will be 3 in the rear, and 2 in the front. Same amount of bolts. Would that work??
  • Stefonius's avatar
    Stefonius
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    Stand with your feet together. Now have someone give you a shove from the side. Pick yourself up off the ground and try again, but this time stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Still standing? That's the difference between an SRW and DRW on the road. Also, you have an extra tire on each side in case one fails and to spread the load more evenly between them.

    In all seriousness, there is one more difference to consider between the two types of truck. The hub bearings on an SRW truck are often inboard of the rim. On a DRW, they're on the inboard and outboard sides, and the hub extends all the way through the center of both wheels and sticks out a bit. If you put a second rim onto a truck with a non hub-centric axle, you can snap your axle shaft under heavy loads, such as hitting a pothole while towing. It's hard to tell from your picture, but it looks as though your truck may already have the correct hubs on the rear.
  • carringb's avatar
    carringb
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    Lyrikz wrote:
    Switching lanes you would get this sensation that the trailer was moving the ass of the truck around. Tail wagging the dog??? This feeling is one i do not like. I want control and that is NOT control.
    Now, if i switched to a dually, does that feeling go away??


    Definitely not good! If your combination can become unsettled during normal driving conditions, anything beyond normal (emergency lane change, snow, Gorge winds....) it could easily put you in an uncontrollable situation.

    Yes, a dually will help with stability immensely. Twice the sidewall stability, twice the traction.

    Also, even though you have 19.5's, many of them achieve their high mileage ratings using harder compounds which have less traction than your stock LT tires. (Continental 19.5 HDR/HSR tires are one exception to that generalization however. Those come stock on the Ford and Dodge 450/5500).

    Of course, keep in mind that even with a dually, there will be some situations where you will feel the trailer. Even Class-8 trucks can get pushed around by a heavy trailer with forward-mounted axles, under the wrong conditions.
  • tsetsaf's avatar
    tsetsaf
    Explorer III
    Apr 01, 2014
    Yes that is what people were referring too. A dually will give you a wider foot print and more stability. With that much weight you would probably be better served with a 450 chasis running 19.5 duals.
  • revflyr's avatar
    revflyr
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    I tow the same one with a 2011 3500 dodge dually and don't feel any movement when changing lanes. You look like you have the trailer spot on for being level so I would say it has to be the swd.
    If you have someone with a dually, hook your trailer up and take it down the road, I would bet that you won't make it ten miles before you go OMG.
  • sptrucksbyed's avatar
    sptrucksbyed
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    Lyrikz wrote:
    sptrucksbyed wrote:
    Here we go again !! You have allready been told by MANY that with that trailer you need a dually but you got mad at everyone because you knew what you were doing !! Now why ask people what you have allready been told the answer and now know ???



    My thinking behind that was the differences in the trucks were the additional wheels. The drivetrain and everything else was almost identical.
    Now im just asking, is THAT what everyone was talking about?? Thats all i want to know. If that is what they were all concerned about then they were dead right. Those two extra tires will really stabalize it that much???

    As for my original post, i was mad at one particular person who was being an ass unnecessarily. I thanked people numerous times for the advice. I knew i was going to have to make some changes. I now know exactly what i need to do...

    Besides the dually, the 4.10s are on their way also.



    My trailer is every bit as heavy as your and I have 373 gear's . In MY opinion you don't need 410 gear just make's your fuel milage go down.
  • Lyrikz's avatar
    Lyrikz
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    sptrucksbyed wrote:
    Here we go again !! You have allready been told by MANY that with that trailer you need a dually but you got mad at everyone because you knew what you were doing !! Now why ask people what you have allready been told the answer and now know ???



    My thinking behind that was the differences in the trucks were the additional wheels. The drivetrain and everything else was almost identical.
    Now im just asking, is THAT what everyone was talking about?? Thats all i want to know. If that is what they were all concerned about then they were dead right. Those two extra tires will really stabalize it that much???

    As for my original post, i was mad at one particular person who was being an ass unnecessarily. I thanked people numerous times for the advice. I knew i was going to have to make some changes. I now know exactly what i need to do...

    Besides the dually, the 4.10s are on their way also.
  • sptrucksbyed's avatar
    sptrucksbyed
    Explorer
    Apr 01, 2014
    Here we go again !! You have allready been told by MANY that with that trailer you need a dually but you got mad at everyone because you knew what you were doing !! Now why ask people what you have allready been told the answer and now know ???

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