Let's talk about HOW we tow and with what truck.....

[D-Maxx]

Aronious.
I wish I had EFI live the things you can do with that programer are endless... but I don't I'm only running a PPE programer 2nd best in my eyes for a duramax. Not dissing banks I like the banks cold air intake and banks inter cooler. I have had friends that have had problems with there programming bad luck maybe I don't know but it made me stay away from there programming. The programer I'm runnin is not a shift on the fly I stay away from that as it is just way to easy to crank the juice up!!! the allison tranny is always learning and it don't like going from a 30 hp tune to all of a sudden crank it up to 150 hp tune. The allison is always learning the shift patterns and learning the hp adjustment. I just run the programmer to shut off my DPF crap not to interested in the performance side of things as far as monorting I just use a pillar gauges boost and egt..
All the EFI does is re program your trucks ECM and you have a dial in your truck that has 5 different setting of power levels aka DSP 5 switch I know that some people run this set up and use the edge CTS screen for the gauges or the banks IQ just for he gauges. Pretty much it's all boils down to preference !!!!
I have 4 kinda sorta good climbs nothing too serious on my way to the mountains where we go ride . But I'm always In manual just leave her in 5 gear and cruse @ 100k/m I'm in no rush when that trailer is hooked to the back of the truck.
As for the way the truck acts when I pull the trailer it pulls awesome even with a six inch lift on the truck and a four inch lift on the trailer it all is very well mannered
My tires are 35inch by 12.5 inch on 18 inch rim

[Aronious]

D-Maxx - Thanks for the great reply. Reread your first post an ya it says PPE, don't know how I turned that into EFI - Live, MY BAD!!!
My old mushy brain must have just stuck on it from somewhere else.

Have to agree with everything you said about the Allison and how flipp'en tunes upsets the learning curve for it. Like I said before, I'm not that impressed with the results I've gotten from the Banks tuner. I run the same route to the northwest side of Michigan, (Ludington area), several times a summer pulling a 28' beaver tail flatbed with a compact tractor and attachments on board. The first year with the Bank on board I ran each trip on a different setting, (up to about 40hp added, #4 on the touch screen, #1 is stock), to compare tow-ability/mileage. Now it just sits on the #2 econo setting, (well most of the time). Comparing trips with the stock thru #4 settings I only gained about a mile a gal difference and that could have been just because I had a tail wind those days.
You've done some mods that are still on my wish list so was glad to hear a little of your opinion on them. It appears that getting rid of the dpf would give the biggest mileage gain. Probably hear from the -- er -- air quality people on that last sentence but when they start paying my fuel bill, (almost $7000 last year), they can bitch and I'll listen.

[FatFiat]

I posted here last year (#10) just after we picked up our new Denali 270FK. We are pulling with a 2011 Ram crew cab 5.7 gas hemi with the factory towing package. The truck is our family sedan and has all the bells and whistles, and it is a comfortable ride. But we are not too happy with the gas mileage....without the trailer: freeway is about 19 MPG, around town only 12 MPG. Hitch up the trailer and we drop to 7 MPG. The truck has plenty of pull....we have about 3,000 miles experience......but we are unhappy with the amount of trailer sway we experience. We switched from an Equal-i-zer with 1,200 bars to a Reese dual cam set up and that helped some. I am considering some other modifications that I hope will help ie heavier duty tires for the truck, and maybe for the trailer, air bags for the truck. I am also going to check the axle alignment on the trailer. I think however that because the trailer is longer and heavier than the truck (33 FT, 8,500 LBS vs 20 FT, 6,000 LBS) we may always get pulled around some.
Flying Dutchmen: I noticed that you were considering a dual cam hitch, did you jump and if so how is it working for you?
Thanks to all of you for posting all your great information. We are new to trailer ownership and have a lot to learn.

[Denali2012]

Bob.....that is a pretty long trailer for a 1/2 ton to tow around, however......we tow a Denali 289RK with a hitch weight near 1,000 pounds with our F 150 EcoBoost.....when you think about an engine that is only 214 cubic inches doing this, its pretty amazing. We do not have bags and use the equalizer hitch set up on the fourth chain link.
There are a few things that affect how much the TT is going to cause sway. We switched from a longer wheelbase full four door truck to a shorter wheelbase truck, and I immediately noticed how much more sway I had with the shorter truck. Ford's stability control does an amazing job of keeping you straight though.
The main thing though that is going to affect sway is the suspension on your truck. Unfortunately, Rams are known a little bit more for this because of their rear suspensions. Rams have a nice softer ride than some of the other 1/2 tons out there, but sacrifice the resistance to sway when towing. If you bag the rear of your truck, experiment with various PSI so that you still have some compliance while still minimizing the squat from the hitch weight. A good LT tire can also fit in the mix well when you upgrade your truck.
And if you do get the bags, get the on board compressor so that you can adjust the PSI on the fly. You definitely want to take the air OUT of the bags when not towing, then air them up before hooking up ---- much easier to do than a visit to the gas station every time you need do this.

[GOLDENYEARS]

Originally Posted by Fat Fiat

I posted here last year (#10) just after we picked up our new Denali 270FK. We are pulling with a 2011 Ram crew cab 5.7 gas hemi with the factory towing package. The truck is our family sedan and has all the bells and whistles, and it is a comfortable ride. But we are not too happy with the gas mileage....without the trailer: freeway is about 19 MPG, around town only 12 MPG. Hitch up the trailer and we drop to 7 MPG. The truck has plenty of pull....we have about 3,000 miles experience......but we are unhappy with the amount of trailer sway we experience. We switched from an Equal-i-zer with 1,200 bars to a Reese dual cam set up and that helped some. I am considering some other modifications that I hope will help ie heavier duty tires for the truck, and maybe for the trailer, air bags for the truck. I am also going to check the axle alignment on the trailer. I think however that because the trailer is longer and heavier than the truck (33 FT, 8,500 LBS vs 20 FT, 6,000 LBS) we may always get pulled around some.
Flying Dutchmen: I noticed that you were considering a dual cam hitch, did you jump and if so how is it working for you?
Thanks to all of you for posting all your great information. We are new to trailer ownership and have a lot to learn.

That highway mileage is awesome. I think the loaded mileage aint. When we had our first trailer it was a 29 ft fifth wheel. The TV was a ram hemi, 2006 mega cab with the HEMI. Loaded was about 8. unloaded was about 12. It stunk like a skunk.

It took me two more trucks to finally get it right. We now pull with a RAM 3500 Dually. We are getting 11-12 mpg pulling an Infinity 3750FL. Empty we are getting about 17 to 19. MSASTI!!!!!

[Infinityrver]

Originally Posted by GOLDENYEARS

That highway mileage is awesome. I think the loaded mileage aint. When we had our first trailer it was a 29 ft fifth wheel. The TV was a ram hemi, 2006 mega cab with the HEMI. Loaded was about 8. unloaded was about 12. It stunk like a skunk.

It took me two more trucks to finally get it right. We now pull with a RAM 3500 Dually. We are getting 11-12 mpg pulling an Infinity 3750FL. Empty we are getting about 17 to 19. MSASTI!!!!!

I'm thinkin' you forgot to mention that your Ram 3500 dually is a diesel compared to the Hemi which was gas. That, in itself, has changed fuel mileage .

[Torch]

Well I have a 2012 Ram Laramie 1500 4x4 crew cab,5.7 with a 3.92 and tow package. I'm pulling a Kodiak 276BHSl with an Equalizer 4 hitch. I like the Ram for it's comfort and all around performance. I did add Airlift1000 bags to it and it makes a world of difference on the squat the truck has. I have not pulled long distance yet but the setup felt stable at 65mph for the trips back and forth to the rv dealer for warranty work.

[GOLDENYEARS]

Originally Posted by Fat Fiat

I posted here last year (#10) just after we picked up our new Denali 270FK. We are pulling with a 2011 Ram crew cab 5.7 gas hemi with the factory towing package. The truck is our family sedan and has all the bells and whistles, and it is a comfortable ride. But we are not too happy with the gas mileage....without the trailer: freeway is about 19 MPG, around town only 12 MPG. Hitch up the trailer and we drop to 7 MPG. The truck has plenty of pull....we have about 3,000 miles experience......but we are unhappy with the amount of trailer sway we experience. We switched from an Equal-i-zer with 1,200 bars to a Reese dual cam set up and that helped some. I am considering some other modifications that I hope will help ie heavier duty tires for the truck, and maybe for the trailer, air bags for the truck. I am also going to check the axle alignment on the trailer. I think however that because the trailer is longer and heavier than the truck (33 FT, 8,500 LBS vs 20 FT, 6,000 LBS) we may always get pulled around some.
Flying Dutchmen: I noticed that you were considering a dual cam hitch, did you jump and if so how is it working for you?
Thanks to all of you for posting all your great information. We are new to trailer ownership and have a lot to learn.

That highway mileage is awesome. I think the loaded mileage aint. When we had our first trailer it was a 29 ft fifth wheel. The TV was a ram hemi, 2006 mega cab with the HEMI. Loaded was about 8. unloaded was about 12. It stunk like a skunk.

It took me two more trucks to finally get it right. We now pull with a RAM 3500 Dually. We are getting 11-12 mpg pulling an Infinity 3750FL. Empty we are getting about 17 to 19. MSASTI!!!!!

[Jlew127]

"What WILL I tow?" Just put the money down on a new 280LBS, really excited. The truck is my new F-250 diesel. Open to comments, I think I did my homework, the 5'er should be right in the wheelhouse of this truck. No mods yet, pulled my old TT to Disney and got about 12mpg. Did I mention I'm excited. I sure hope the Denali doesn't disappoint, I bought it sight unseen out of state.

[FlyingDutchmen]

Originally Posted by Fat Fiat

I posted here last year (#10) just after we picked up our new Denali 270FK. We are pulling with a 2011 Ram crew cab 5.7 gas hemi with the factory towing package. The truck is our family sedan and has all the bells and whistles, and it is a comfortable ride. But we are not too happy with the gas mileage....without the trailer: freeway is about 19 MPG, around town only 12 MPG. Hitch up the trailer and we drop to 7 MPG. The truck has plenty of pull....we have about 3,000 miles experience......but we are unhappy with the amount of trailer sway we experience. We switched from an Equal-i-zer with 1,200 bars to a Reese dual cam set up and that helped some. I am considering some other modifications that I hope will help ie heavier duty tires for the truck, and maybe for the trailer, air bags for the truck. I am also going to check the axle alignment on the trailer. I think however that because the trailer is longer and heavier than the truck (33 FT, 8,500 LBS vs 20 FT, 6,000 LBS) we may always get pulled around some.
Flying Dutchmen: I noticed that you were considering a dual cam hitch, did you jump and if so how is it working for you?
Thanks to all of you for posting all your great information. We are new to trailer ownership and have a lot to learn.

Hi Bob. I didn't change Hitch , i changed Truck to a 3500 Longhorn Cummins. Lots of power in the 1500 but as soon as you put the Trailer behind , gas just goes out the window. Not had chance to pull the trailer with the new truck yet as it's been in the shop for 6 weeks waiting for Awning to be replaced... Not a happy camper !!

[FatFiat]

What great comments.......sure helpful to me.
Flying Dutchmen: I read about your trailer difficulties on another post...I hope all turns out well. Your new truck will certainly haul most anything without difficulty.....congratulations.
Thanks to Torch, Denali and others about air bags.
I've committed to new Goodyear Tires (MADE IN AMERICA) E load rated LT305/55R20 and am looking into air bags. Additionally I'm going to play with the WD hitch set-up......it is possible that I have been shifing too much weight back to the trailer and making it wag the tail of the trailer. The trailer is still out of state, but hope to see it in the next couple of weeks.
Torch: What is the size of the Kodiak 276 you are pulling with your RAM?

[sunofabeach]

the kodiak 276bhsl is listed as 33' bumper to ball.

i have the same trailer and i love it. i tow it with a F150 5.4L with 3.73LSD. no problems controlling the size yet.

i also have the Reese Straitline dual-cam hitch system.

[FatFiat]

Thanks for your note. What is the dry weight of the Kodiak 276?

[sunofabeach]

the little yellow stick on my trailer says 64xxlbs even though the brochure lists it over 6500lbs.

[Torch]

Thanks for answering sunofabeach,my sticker says 6312 for my 276bhsl,but i also carry a couple of yamaha 2000 gens and whatever else in typical camping.

[Torch]

FYI I installed the airbags myself,took about 1.8 hrs to do. I'll carry a bike pump or battery operated pump to inflate when I tow. I went to Harbor Freight to look for a tire spoon to assist with the bags but the ones they had were too long so i got a pry bar with handle,12-14"s long and rounded off the tip on a grinder and that helped with the install. Could not find a bronze tee as small as the nylon one but it seems to work. Paid 88.00s with free shipping.

[Devinmum]

We just purchased a 2013 Rubicon 1905. We have a 2010 F-150 towing cap of 10k. Hubby says the truck won't downshift on hills. Dealer says truck is fine but they found the right front strut and rear left shock have blown. We want to know if there is a way to adjust the hitch? I know very little about this stuff and Hubby is a little shy when it comes to looking for answers.
I don't want to regret buying our new trailer. Our son is quickly approaching the 6ft mark and the dinette bed in our Springdale was just too small. Plus we have a quad we want to take with us sometimes.

[Nana & Poppy]

Hi Dvinmum - welcome to the Forum, we have a 2013 Rubicon 2900 - spent almost a week in it fixing some things and modifying others (I've never seen so much un-stained wood)....we will use it for the 2nd time Memorial Day weekend (bought it last October) and then it goes back to the dealer for "major" warranty work!

I can't help you with setting up your wdh but if you google it - there are many videos showing how to!

[Devinmum]

Thank you Nana. I'll go exploring.

[Devinmum]

We have the Fastway e2 Hitch. It has a way to adjust it on the tongue. How do we know whether or not to adjust it, and which way to adjust it?