1Wheeldrive
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Re: Getting Pin Weight From Tongue Weight Scale
If you are towing a 5th wheel, moving cargo around is not going to affect pin weight very much unless you put a bunch of gold bars in the basement. I have a 35 foot toy hauler which I weighed empty (as delivered), then loaded up for vacation with a dirt bike, a 600+ lb. quad, camping gear and 50 gallons of water for the road and 30 gallons of gas for the toys and the genny. Probably over 2,000 lbs. total of cargo, then weighed again. The load added about 440 lbs. to my pin weight. Adding the toys to the garage made little difference in the pin weight. As delivered the trailer weighed 13,100 lbs. with 2,560 lbs. on the pin. Loaded for vacation as described above the trailer weighed 15,740 lbs. with 3,000 lbs on the pin. GVWR for the trailer is 16,400 lbs.510Views0likes0CommentsRe: rockies or smokey's
Don't know what kind of a tow vehicle you have, but for my GMC Sierra/Duramax Allison when towing, I turn on the exhaust brake as soon as I start the engine and use the cruise control whenever I want to maintain a steady speed. On down grades the speed may creep up to about 5 mph before the exhaust brake an downshift occur. On steep down grades I may have to touch the brakes occasionally.294Views0likes0CommentsRe: Fifth wheel Travel on I-90 from Montana to seattle
Get the RVParky and ParkAdvisor apps if you have a smart phone. You won't find too many forest service campgrounds anywhere in the west that will accomodate a 40 foot 5th wheel (I have a 35 foot 5th wheel and travel a lot in the Pacific Northwest). The only one I know of on Hyw 12 is the Powell Campground just west of the summit of Lolo Pass. It has maybe a half a dozen sites that would take a 40 footer (I stayed there about 3 weeks ago). Private campgropunds are another matter.902Views0likes0CommentsRe: Proper 5th Wheel Hitch Position
I ran in to the same problem when I upgraded my truck from a 2003 Silverado 2500 HD to a 2015 Sierra 3500 DRW. In order to maintain bed rail clearance and keep the trailer as level as possible while towing, I had a 2 inch lift installed on the trailer. As you found out, the OEM steps became and issue, making getting in the trailer more of a challenge. I ended up replacing the OEM 3 step assembly with a Torklift Glow Step 4 step assembly - problems solved. The Torklift steps are great. Because the bottom of the step assembly is supported on the ground by adjustable feet, the trailer bouncing motion while leaving or entering the trailer is eliminated.209Views0likes0CommentsRe: fifth wheel tires
I travel mostly in the west and northwest, and when I replaced the tires on my toy hauler, I specifically went to Les Schwab because of my experience with their customer service. I bought G rated Geostars and have been very happy with them. You need to have wheels rated to 110 psi. The tires are either 12 or 14 ply "rated". They are heavy and can be regrooved if needed.548Views0likes0CommentsRe: Coupler clamps
I think the method you described is the only sure fire way to confirm that the trailer ball is properly captured by the truck mounted hitch. While is has been a few years since I had a "pull behind" or "bumper pull" trailer, what you described is how I always confirmed that the trailer was properly hitched. I you want to get down and possibly dirty, you can look under the hitch to see if the ball has been completely captured by the movable part of the hitch. That is one reason to have an electric trailer jack, makes the hitching process much easier.426Views0likes0CommentsRe: License/Tags for ATV's
Are you talking about using your quad to drive on paved state and/or county roads, or just using them on public lands off of paved roads? The requirements are different for each case. In some states, if you are a resident, you can get a license plate for an ATV or a side by side if you meet certain equipment requirements (Arizona and Idaho come to mind). In some states (Colorado is one of them) you cannot get a state license plate for an ATV or a side by side so they cannot legally be driven on state of federal highways. However, some local governments (city and county) in rural areas do allow people to operate these vehicles on specifically designated roads. The forest service and BLM also allow non-street legal vehicles to operate on some of their roads. Usually an OHV permit is required to operate on federal public lands, and some local governments may also require an OHV permit. Colorado state law does not recognize OHVs (quads and SXSs) as "motor vehicles" and therefore they cannot be licensed, even with adequate equipment (lights, horn, turn signals, etc.) so even visitors from out of state who have license plates on their quads or SXS cannot legally drive on state or federal highways and are limited to which ever roads a local government may designate as open to those vehicles.585Views0likes0CommentsRe: ? On quiet generators and size needed for TT ac
Genny is slang for "generator". I have a 5.5 kw Onan "genny" in my toyhauler, so I am not very knowledgeable about the smaller portable units, My perception from camping with folks that have (typically) 2,000 watt Honda generators is that they are mostly used for battery charging and running a coffee pot or a hair dryer. A 2,000 watt unit might run a 13,000 BTU AC unit, but I think they would be hard pressed to run a bigger unit for any length of time. As far as which is the quieter unit, you can look at the manufacturer's claims.221Views0likes0CommentsRe: High Fluid Temperatures
Another potential problem with a vehicle of that age is that over the years, there is a build up of bugs and other debris in the radiator, tranny oil cooler, AC unit, etc.. My 2003 Silvarado Duramax at about age 10 started overheating where it had never done so before, took it to my mechanic and he checked it out and said it needed a "stack cleaning". There was a lot of "stuff" in the various heat exchange units, including a lot of cotton wood cotton. Overheating went away after the "stack cleaning".404Views0likes0Comments
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