Lowering Truck and Effect on Towing
I have a 2008 2500HD CC/SWB/2WD that I use primarily for towing a 13,000 lb. 5th wheel and I want to lower the truck 2-3 inches to give me more clearance between the top of the bed rail and the unders...
Forum Discussion
Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the time you all took.
I also put a post on the GM forum and got pretty much the same feedback although there were several that did it and said there was no problems. Of course they limited the lowering to a couple inches and the others that went farther, don't tow, and of course didn't have any problems.
My conclusion is that even at two inches it is more of a deviation from the carefully designed factory baseline than I want to make, when you are responsible for piloting 22,000 lb. of GCW.
So, I will continue as is but the first time I do any serious damage to the truck or trailer from maneuvering into a gas station or campground driveway (as I did when I had impact), I will be looking at trading it in on a 2WD Ford or Dodge.
I did do my part and contacted GM with my frustration that they don't configure a model with a lower height to accommodate better those of us that tow 5th wheel trailers and that the consequence is that some of their customers will leave GM for other manufacturers. To their credit I actually did get a phone call back and offered to provide them more details if needed. Being an engineer myself leading product development programs, I couldn't let it go without providing feedback as I have appreciated that when I was in that role.
Thanks again everyone...
I also put a post on the GM forum and got pretty much the same feedback although there were several that did it and said there was no problems. Of course they limited the lowering to a couple inches and the others that went farther, don't tow, and of course didn't have any problems.
My conclusion is that even at two inches it is more of a deviation from the carefully designed factory baseline than I want to make, when you are responsible for piloting 22,000 lb. of GCW.
So, I will continue as is but the first time I do any serious damage to the truck or trailer from maneuvering into a gas station or campground driveway (as I did when I had impact), I will be looking at trading it in on a 2WD Ford or Dodge.
I did do my part and contacted GM with my frustration that they don't configure a model with a lower height to accommodate better those of us that tow 5th wheel trailers and that the consequence is that some of their customers will leave GM for other manufacturers. To their credit I actually did get a phone call back and offered to provide them more details if needed. Being an engineer myself leading product development programs, I couldn't let it go without providing feedback as I have appreciated that when I was in that role.
Thanks again everyone...
