New owner of Open Range LT308BHS

Greetings everyone! I'm currently pulling a 2015 OR 310BHS with my 2014 Silverado CC/Standard bed Max tow.

No I didn't intend to go with the 310...but the lacrosse dealer was being a bit of a douche and the 308 was sold out from under us. On top of that the catalog claimed the 310 was only 500lbs heavier. In actuality it was close to 1k heavier when it arrived due to "engineering changes" that were not incorporated in the literature.

Truck mods:
I use the equalizer 1400 adjusted per that manual. Because the wet tongue weight of the rig was heavier than a normal class IV I upgraded to a curt Class V 2". To tweak the ride I installed supersprings SSA8. Waiting on either the bilstein 5100s or rancho 9k shocks to be released so I can finish finessing the ride quality.

I have run the combo across the CAT scales wet (3 pax, trailer loaded and bed full of bikes and cooler) and I come in slightly overloaded. Here are my numbers steering axle 3450, drive axle 4245, trailer 8800. Comes out to 16,495 lbs. Since that weigh in I've relocated the cooler to the floor inside the entry door when travelling and ditched a lot of the heavy stuff from forward storage (was using concrete block to support the trailer jack). As we continue to travel we are refining/lightening where possible.

How does it pull. Just fine...when you hit bridge expansion joints it tends to porpoise just a little too much. So I have to tweak the damping a little to dial it in. Braking is perfect. I dial in my controller on loose gravel and tow in that configuration (gain +9). Temperatures remain well within limits and I pull 8-9 mpg @ 60.

I agree with that Lantley, To me there is nothing light about my trailer at 8500 lbs dry. I know it's back there, I did add bags to help with the bounce as I do load my bed heavy with wood/coolers/bikes. When we retire and the grand kids are older we are going to get a 5th wheel like yours as I met a member in Idaho and walked through his with 5 slides, I was amazed at at all the room. Need a new truck for that one :)

OR builds a quality RV. Not perfect but there is no perfect RV. OR does a great job of standing behind there product. Checkout the OR owners forum for more specific info on your model.
While OR's cable slide system does allow for lighter trailers, OR's marketing jargon is somewhat misleading. Despite what the marketing department wants consumers to believe. There is nothing lite about a 10K loaded trailer.
If the trailer does not fit within all of a vehicles parameters it is a good sign that the trailer is too heavy.
The idea is to be within all of the parameters just some or a few of them. There are no parameters intended to be ignored
Either you believe/trust the ratings or you don't.

To help you with the PDI, I had to take my trailer in for a couple of issues. Check all the braces on the skirting, I think they over torqued the bolts that connect the skirt braces to the frame. Check the clearance lights, I had a couple that seemed to be loose from the body so I had them tighten and caulk. Check the ground wires behind the stairs, when I got mine home there were 2 of 3 wires not connected to the frame as they had over tightened the bolts and sheared the heads off. Shower door was a little bit bowed in the center from I think being out of adjustment. Last is check all the windows in the trailer from the outside and inside. I had one window in the bunkhouse driver side where either they had made the cut out too big or the window had dropped in transit and it had a 1/8 in gap where water could have came in. My dealer fixed all issues including loosening the window and pushing it up and resealing - just something to check on when you do the PDI. Luckily my step son told me he saw light coming in when he was in the bunkhouse and it saved me from future water intrusion. Any questions, send me a PM. It's a great trailer and we are having a great time in it. Hope it works for you.

PeeJay, some capabilities are higher with my truck, some with yours.

What WDH are you getting?

I have the same trailer which I pull with a 2500 duramax. I chuckled when I saw the marketing on it at the RV show as half ton towable. I wouldn't do it but have seen others that do. Post back your weights for sure, I'm curious as I have never weighed mine. I love my trailer and had a great first year with it. Hope you are good to go but I have my doubts. Good luck.

Very nice trailers. Don't take the weight comments the wrong way, most of us are just concerned for anyone who pushes the limits of their vehicle. The manufacturers push the limits in the first place which is why we always suggest leaving a 20% margin for safety.

You will also continue to add weight to the trailer, they all get heavier with age. Imagine telling the wife that she has all that storage and is not allowed to use it, ha ha. Good luck with the weights, hopefully you will squeak under for now.

We have the OR in my signature. We have used it extensively both on a seasonal site and traveling this summer. Our only problem is the failure of our power tongue jack, which of course is being replaced under warranty. We are very pleased with our Open Range!

Go over to the Open Range Owners Forum, tons of reading, info and other assorted comments. Enjoy! ...........cC

goducks10 wrote:
I think he's living in the state of Denial.

GM calls that Denali, LOL

Pack it up, head to the scales , then post back. Good luck with the new trailer!