newbie and confused

rubsal70 wrote:

gmw photos wrote:

rubsal70 wrote:
Guys Merry Christmas again. Thank you all for the info that y'all have given me. As of right now it looks like I'll be changing to 3.73 gears. I also will be adding a transmission cooler to it. What else would I need. The way we camp with the family is we just take clothes, cooler and some gear. It never totals 500 lbs of cargo. Besides the cooler what else do y'all recommend. My truck is not a 4x4 so only rear axle change would be needed. I do plan on getting a WD with sway control and obviously brake control for the trailer. Do I need to upgrade brakes to my truck also? I appreciate the info. I'm a little confused but to me it makes sense that changing gears will add max tow as per manual and like others have confirmed. To the person who posted the video to me and like someone said it doesn't look stressed. Any one else have any more advice please let me know. I will try to make a decision in the next week or two
Thanks

My opinion is that the brakes that GM fit to your truck is certainly fine for what you are going to do. Lets face it.....it's a truck, so it was made for carrying and towing more of a load than a car.
Lots of choices in WD hitches, and several also in brake controllers. I chose a BlueOx swaypro, and a prodigy P2 brake controller, but there are certainly others out there that would, I'm sure, work just as well. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences of their chosen gear.

Well my truck is coming on needing new brakes so maybe someone can chime in. How do trailer brakes work?

Trailer brakes are typically drum brakes, that are electrically actuated. When the trailer is plugged into the tow vehicle, there is electric power available to them. The brake controller that will install in the truck, sends varying amounts of power to the trailer brakes based on how hard you are braking. The brake controller is adjustable, and when you do your initial setup, you will go thru a procedure that fine tunes the controller to the trailer. Once properly set up, the traile and truck braking systems work well together for safe efficient stopping.

As for changing the ring and pinion in the trucks rear end, you do understand that an easier way to get the engine to rev higher, is to simply use a lower gear in the transmission ? The whole object of the game in going to a lower gear ratio in the final is to get the engine to rev higher up into it's powerband. Which is exactly what you do when you leave the trans, let's say in third, rather than in fourth. If I were in your shoes, I would choose and buy the trailer, and try towing with it before going to the expense of changing the final gears.