Weight and Truck

cs2kplus wrote:
Thanks again allworth. I think we are set on the 250/2500 2000+. Any preference as to GM/Ford/Dodge?

Oh...on another note....our trailor has a 2-5/16" ball fitting. It came equipped with side bars (I was told they are to control sway - but not necessarily sway bars) If the truck I get has a hitch - should it be 2"? 2-1/2"? 3"? I assume this is a simple straight adapter that plugs into this and would have the 2-5/16" ball?

2 and 2 5/16 balls will fit on the same hitch but the larger is a heavier capacity.

On the 1500/2500/3500 part. In the 90's, trucks started to be named by what they are designed to haul continuosly. A 2500 model is built to handle 2500 pounds on a regular basis. Such as a welding truck with mounted welder. The higher ratings have increased springs but also heavier brakes to handle the extra inertia to overcome.

The bars are probably equalizer bars for an equalizer hitch. The bars came from the hitch to the tongue of the trailer a bit back from the coupler. Essentially, what these do is transfer some of the tongue weight to the front of the truck. This lets the front axle carry some weight. This massively improves safety and handling. Instead of way down in the back with your headlights looking for possums in the trees, you drive more level. The extra weight on the front also helps keep side winds from causing you to change lanes when you don't want to. With a 6500+ tow, you really want the equalizer hitch. Instead of the little square doo hicky, these are often quite massive hunks of metal. I've got one I've had for 25+ years and I've hauled some huge loads with small vehicles. I towed a 1963 Imperial sedan (Chrysler product) on a car trailer, with proper brakes,with a 1988 S-10 pickup with a 2.8 and manual transmission. I didn't go very fast but it handled ot just fine. It looked like a Yorkie being chased by a Great Dane. The key is to balance the load on the trailer and use the equalizer hitch.

I think class iv would be right for camper @6500lbs? See URL...Classes

Thanks again allworth. I think we are set on the 250/2500 2000+. Any preference as to GM/Ford/Dodge?

Oh...on another note....our trailor has a 2-5/16" ball fitting. It came equipped with side bars (I was told they are to control sway - but not necessarily sway bars) If the truck I get has a hitch - should it be 2"? 2-1/2"? 3"? I assume this is a simple straight adapter that plugs into this and would have the 2-5/16" ball?

2000+ is probably a good idea and if you are getting one, then 2500 is a good mid-size.

1990 could be problematic. The diesel is probably just broken in good, but the rest of he systems (cooling, brakes, tranny, electrical) are 15 years old. Any rubber that wasn't replaced at 10 is overdue and electrical components have a finite life.

@pack...

Being newbies to bigger campers than a popup....we are not sure where we'd go with it. Once again...its just seeming like a lot of variables here - as per your particular scenerio.

@allworth...

Nice! Been waiting to here that. I am feeling like I should go for a 2000+ 2500/250? Did I post the 1990 (think I did) 7.3 deisel. Whadda ya think of that?

A couple of talking-points.

Don't worry about "rear drive". All real pickups are either rear drive or 4-wheel drive with a transfer case and low range.

Also don't get hung up on "half ton", "one ton", or whatever. Since about 1990 those names have had nothing to do with the actual cargo carrying capacity of U.S. made light duty pickups.

3500 has more capacity than 2500 which has more than 1500.

Same for F-350; F-250; F-150.

My "one ton" truck has a carrying capacity of almost 4,000 pounds.

Limits went up dramatically around 2000 and then again around 2005-2006. The latest big jump was for the 2013 model year.

//for you "truck experts" these figures are for a new guy. Spare us the unimportant details of truck ratings.//

What I'm trying to point out is that a 2002 2500 does not have as much capacity as a 2007 2500 and that cannot match a 2014 2500.

They get bigger, more capable, higher off the ground, and more expensive.

Would partly depend on rear end and where you plan to tow, I have a similar truck, but with the 3.4 or so rear end, which struggles with my #5000lb dry camper in the mountains. If I am towing flat for less than a couple of hours, its fine. I recently purchased a 2002 2500HD with the 6.0 and 4.1 gears and it does much better, and is much less fatiguing on longer drives. Google tow ratings and you can find a pretty good idea on the model year you are looking at, but need to know about the rear end and tow packages. They can be determined by looking at the codes in the glove box of the Chevy.

how about this?Silverado

@mbopp: Oh my...now enter in the same model being completely different. is payload same at tongue weight. What would the tongue weight be for a 6500# trailer?