RE: How is your driving record?
Driving record? Is this under humor?
Well it certainly should be! I cannot believe all this people treating this seriously. This is a no win question. If you really have piles of tickets, then that really isn't very good. On the other hand, if you have never had a ticket, and you're a guy, then you must be a really dull person. ( I think it's ok for ladies not to get tickets!) ;)
Wow, what a blanket statement for someone to make that probably knows hardly anyone in here. I had all the excitement I wanted in Viet Nam.
I "tamed down" quite a bit after that little experience, started taking life a little more seriously...Got married young, just turned 20 and 11 months later, we had our first of three children...guess you either grow up, or you don't....dull person??, glad my wife, three children and 4 grandchildren don't think so, and come to think of it, that's all that really matters anyway..(whine over:B)
RE: Friends from the "OOP'S" thread.
We're home!!! Decided to come home today instead of wating until tomorrow morning. A beautiful day to drive home and winterize the 5er. It's all done...We ate breakfest this morning, waited till all the slides were dry, loaded up everything, got home, unloaded everything, winterized and all before 2:30....Need to wash a few clothes and "all will be well", cept' I go back to work Sunday night. We have a LONG Christmas break though. Last day we work in Dec. is either Dec. 19 or Dec. 20, then we don't go back to work until Jan 4.
That will be my, let's see how many things you can knock off the honey do list while your off time.
Hope all of you are feeling well and hope your all having a great day. It's 61 degrees here right now and just awesome outside...
catch y'all later.
RE: How is your driving record?
Mr Bob Smith.. In reply to your Pm's. I know how Old I am and take that into consideration( I am 73) and Mr Smith feels I am more of a risk that he is pulling grossly over weight. In those 58 years of driving I have had some speeding tickets..when I was much younger...none since I got old. We do have CDL and drive commerical and drove a school bus for 8 years after retirement up to last year. We have been pulling Rv's for over 25 years without a violation of any kind.Thank..you for reminding me how old I am.. I keep forgetting.
Hey, I got a PM from Bob also, guess he wanted to know if those who preach not towing WELL over one's trucks rated limits, if they are half way decent drivers...So far, looks like we are....
Doggone, and I just thought Bob wanted to be "buddies":B...oh well.
RE: How is your driving record?
Been driving since 1966, no tickets, no accidents. Have been pulled over a couple of times and given a "warning", last time I had one of those was 1997...I love my insurance rates....they are awesomely cheap for three vehicles and a 5er...I want to keep it that way, THAT's motivation enough...oh, when towing sig. 5er..I usally run 55-62 mph,(if speed limit is higher, I "might" go 62, of course if it's lower, I obey the speed limit).
RE: Single Axle or Dually
Dually gives a far more stable ride than does a SRW when towing a heavier 5er, especially when towing up and down mountainous, curvy roads. Also if the pinweight of your 5er is 2500# or more, believe the dually will handle the weight better.
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
Your correct, it isn't ALL dependent upon weight, I agree with your post 100% Frank, BUT...If your towing weight within your trucks towing limits and capabilities, said truck would probably be much easier to MANEUVER in an emergency situation than if it was being pushed around by a 5er that put the truck not only over it's GVWR & RAWR, but 1500#-6000# over its GCWR...this overloaded truck probably would be hard to handle even if NOT in an emergency situation, but if going downhill too fast or going into a sharp curve too fast, but as was stated some time back, none of this is probably going to make one bit of difference to those that are towing well over their trucks limits, they'll just keep doing it and probably will go as far as to recommend that others do it also...oh well.........
RE: Friends from the "OOP'S" thread.
If it's DW, it's dear wife, if it's DH, it's Dear Husband/Doesn't Help.:B We live in cul-de-sac, a little over 3/4's of an acre fenced in. The dogs usually have the run of it. When we're camping..they get an "urge" to just run...of course they can't...so when they start getting a little rambunctious,(sp), we take them for walks...the longer we're camping, the more often we need to walk them and it's a great way to work off the Thanksgiving goodies we ate.
I LOVE "left over" day....especially when it's "left overs" from Thanksgiving day........
Have fun looking around at the RV store...sounds like a good idea.
RE: Friends from the "OOP'S" thread.
I'm with Jon, no way, no how do I go out on this "Black Friday" and get caught in all the traffic....but the DW did....she's tougher than I am...I'll wait till a few day's before Christmas when businesses are BEGGING for someone to buy their goods, then maybe, just maybe, I might venture out to see what can be had.........or not...
Beautiful sunny day here, though a bit windy and as of right now, the temp. is only 49 degrees...suppose to get up near 60, but this wind will probably keep it feeling cooler than that.
gotta "walk the dogs"....y'all have a great day, take care out there and I'll drop back in later......
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
SO if B Smith goes out and registers his truck to a higher GVWR ,he is LEGAL and good to go according to the authorities Right??As long as you are within your axel and tire ratings its not a big deal,add on an exhaust brake,some people on here would have a hernia 200 lbs over GVW or 500 lbs over GCWR, We used to haul logs on truck/trailers rated for 74000 lb GCWR/permited to 140000 lbs in the winter,hard on the equipment,hundreds of thousnds of miles,don,t remember anyone getting killed.
OK, it's obvious you just stepped into this post. If you were to go back and read some of these post, including mine, you'd see there is no one saying anything to anyone if someone is towing a measly 200# over there GVWR,(which would more than likely, put them well under their gross rear axle weight). Nor is 500# over one's GCWR going to cause a hernia...guess that was suppose to be funny??
If the GCWR on my truck is 23,500# and I go out and get the truck licensed to tow 30,000#, yes, I'm "legal" to a certain point, but does purchasing that license all of a sudden make that truck that is rated with a GCWR of 23,500 become "CAPABLE" of safely towing that kind of weight??? Did it "all of a sudden" become a 4500/450?? Just because you purchase a license to carry more weight doesn't mean that your truck is now capable of doing it...again, just takes some common sense...
Never said anyone would be killed, but I do know of one instance where someone was. I don't understand why people have a problem with others trying to help some be safe. Well, I do understand it. When I was told I was overweight towing a 3 slide 37' 5er with my 2500HD, I too, became quite obnoxious with others who "judged" me. I may have even made fun of them and called them a few names...BUT, unlike some in here, I started doing research so that I could PROVE to them just how dumb they were...guess who the dummy was??? Yeah, me...I'm just man enough to admit it and after the 2500HD was pushed around a couple of times by a 5er with very good brakes on it, I kinda realized that some of these people actually knew what they were talking about. I too took the offensive and told how I did it and never had any issues, though, a few times it got "kind of" hairy.
All that aside, glad you hauled all those logs around probably in some sort of a HDH, and no one was hurt....still doesn't justify, again, if you had read the other post, that some in here are towing 17,500#, 18,000# and even 22,000# 5er's with a 1 ton dually like mine. Best case scenario is that the 17,500# load is "only about" 1500# over the trucks GCWR and the 22,000# 5er puts the trucks GCWR of 23,500# over by approx. 6,000#....now if you think that an exhaust brake and a license to tow close to 30,000# with a truck that only has a GCWR of 23,500 makes it all "legal" and there are no safety issues, than good for you....as for me and a lot of others on these forums, most don't think it is very wise, nor safe...so IF THERE WERE TO BE AN ACCIDENT, at least you can feel good in knowing that the truck IS licensed to pull much more weight than what it's rated at, so no big deal about anything else that "might" happen because of an overloaded condition...
you did add "as long as your within your rear axle and tire limits".
Again, you need to re-read some of the post..no one said anything to anyone if the didn't exceed there RAWR, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that an 18,000# (that's LOADED per one of the posters), and another said his was 22,000# LOADED...I KNOW the RAWR has been exceeded because I KNOW the 3500 Dually and what it's capable of and I KNOW the pinweights of a lot of these 5er's..again, it just takes a little research.
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
It didn't matter earlier. And it doesn't matter now when the change occured. I think it was on the 2006 model.
Redardless of when--it happend.
And obviously--marketing was in favor--or it wouldn't have happened.
Same with the number crunchers. If they had excessive power train warranty claims using a 22K GCWR. They wouldn't have incresed it to 23.5K.
I purchased an 05 3500 Dually in late 04', it's GCWR was 23,500#. I came "within a hair" of purchasing one in 03', but ended up with the 2500HD, in 03' the GCWR of a 2500 was 22,000#, the 3500 Dually, again, in 03' was 23,500#..so it's been a while, but what do I know?
If one is going to tow 1500# or more over the GCWR of 23,500#, what difference does it make?? Hey, maybe they'll just go ahead and raise it up to 25,000#..you know, for marketing purposes and again, nothing will change...........yeah, right....there is no justification for towing WAY over one's GVWR, RAWR and GCWR, no matter how badly one want's to try to justify it.
They may not have had excessive power train warranty claims, possibly due to the fact that most people towed within their vechicles rated towing limits and capabilities. It's just simple math, common sense and some safety sprinkled into the forumula on matching up a TV and a TT or 5er
RE: Coachman RV
As stated above, Coachmen is now owned/built by Forest River. The Wyoming replaced the Coachmen Somerset Dreamcatcher...not a bad looking 5er.
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
And you have proof of this?
FastEagle
Proof of what? The change to 23,500? Google it
As I stated earlier, and you can "goole it"...the 23,500# GCVW for a GMC/Chevy 3500 Dually HAS BEEN that amount for AT LEAST 5 years..again, nothing that happened overnight. Marketing or not..I'd say they closed the safety margin by some if and when they raised it..and I'll say it again, how much weight can you add to the listed GVWR, The RAWR and The GCWR before it becomes unsafe??? A 1,000#, 2,000#...6,000#???? What happened to common sense and wanting to be safe???
I think what FastEagle was talking about was "proof of no more excessive warranty service", not the 23,500#...that one is kind of obvious...it's also obvious that with a 17,500#, or an 18,000# and definitely a 22,000# 5er that ALL of these would put the 3500 dually WELL over it's GCVW by, at the least, (17,500# 5er + 7500# for the dually, and that's light for a CC/LB/dually)...=25,000# which puts one over the GCWR by 1500#....and that's with just the 17,500# loaded 5er. Can you imagine towing a 22,000# 5er which one op. has admitted doing with a 3500 dually???? Running at almost 30,000#, that's only three + tons over ones GCWR...now THAT's safe.........:R
RE: Friends from the "OOP'S" thread.
Good to see you back in here....we have leftovers,(my favorite) and we used the fancy paper plates...the one's you throw away after you eat:B
Hope all of you are having a great day and hope your all well. Catch ya later.
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
Bruce, X2 on all that you've said. What normally is said on these boards, as you can attest to, when brakes are mentioned is that, "the truck brakes take care of the truck, and the brakes on the 5er brake the 5er"...that's all well and good if everything is working perfectly. When you've taken, (similar to your example), an 8,000# truck and put a 17,500# 5er, or as one poster has stated, THEY tow a 22,500# 5er with a 3500 Dually and are proud to admit it...I can't even imagine being on I26 going down the mountain from NC into TN and wondering "what if" there is brake fade or brake failure with THAT kind of weight pushing a truck around that is outweighed by the 5er by at least twice it's weight. I don't get it. Safety and common sense have been "tossed out the window". If someone is going to buy one of these heavy 5er's, I don't understand why they don't follow through with the research and get "THE TRUCK" to pull it with, one that has the capabilities to handle that kind of weight.
I will say one thing, all of this talk probably will not change anyones mind. Those who are towing well over their trucks
capabilities will probably continue to do so because, well, there really is no "good" excuse...they'll just have to learn by doing and hopefully no one will be hurt if and when something happens. Like I stated earlier, that family that was from Michigan that wrecked on I40 while in the Asheville area, towing a rather long TT with a Durango probably never thought anything would happen to them either, now they've lost a son and a daughter is going through a long healing process. No one plans on an accident, but if something comes up where I'm going to have to make an emergency maneuver or an emergency stop, I certainly hope that I'm within my trucks towing capabilities as opposed to being so grossly overweight that there will be nothing I can do to avoid getting out of a bad situation because my truck is going to be pushed around by a 5er that should be behind a MDT or a HDH.
RE: Friends from the "OOP'S" thread.
Shun, enjoy them young uns' while they're still at home, seems like yesterday my "little girl" was 6 yrs. old, now her little girl, (our granddaughter, Miss. Amber), will be 6 in June...time fly's whether your having fun or not....
I can smell that turkey now and there is a pumpkin pie in the oven...nothing like the smells of "The" Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays.......................
RE: Friends from the "OOP'S" thread.
...On a follow up to yesterday's post...I've come to the conclusion that yellow disc is the sun...It's out again today, a beautiful sunny, Carolina blue sky, though only 50 degrees right now, it's suppose to get up to 60. Hey, we're just glad it isn't raining. Hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Big Lots this morning, son they have some good deals and some great looking tools. Just wanted to go out and buy a newspaper...bougth the dogsa chew toy.
Turkey is on, and I plan on watching a few football games, maybe a basketball game, eat some turkey, take a nap...you know, all the thanksgiving traditional things I've tried to observe through the years.:B
Y'all have a good 'un....I'll drop back in later.......
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
We were towing our trailer at 13,000 pounds with or F350. Brakes went out on the trailer (shorted Magnet wire) when I came into a panic stop on the highway in Tennesee. Traveling at 55MPH, a blind curve, stopped traffic, no warning. It was going to be a big mess. ABS was screaming. Fortunately, the trailer brakes did engage at the last second. Next chance we got we pulled of to get trailer brakes fixed. Not a good feeling.
And you were well under your trucks towing limits...what if you had been towing a 5er that was 2,000# over your trucks GCWR as some are in here? Maybe everything would have been fine, but I don't think I would want to find out, especially in an emergency stop...glad it worked out ok for you.
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
I figure the design engineers of the trucks know more about them than I or you do.
Exactly, that's why Chevy increased the GCVW from 22K to 23.5K without changing anything on the truck-------because that's what the marketing guys wanted.
And their warrantly claims weren't excessive.
OK, and this proves what??? GCWR on the 3500 Dually has been 23,500#
for at least 5 yrs. now, it wasn't changed "overnight"....Also, IF I'm towing a 17,500# 5er, or, as an earlier poster stated that they towed a 22,000# 5er with their 3500...BOTH will STILL be over even the 23,500# GCWR rating, unless your 1 ton CC dually doesn't weigh as much as most of them do, which, at the very LEAST would be 7500#, thus putting the 17,500# 5er plus the 7500# CC/Dually at a total combined weight of 25,000#, which is 1500# over the "new" GCWR you speak of on the 3500HD, so does it need to increased again?? Where does safety start figuring in here??
On edit, I have no idea what your towing, or towing with, it's nowhere in your sig, just allusions that you have a 3500 and your towing a (loaded) 17,500# 5er with said truck, if all this is wrong, then I apologize, if not, then I don't think your being safe, just my opinion and not worth very much at that, so it really shouldn't mean a whole lot to you anyway.
RE: Is a GMC 3500 enough for a 18,500# Teton
I have a fifth wheel that that weighs over 17K. Have pulled it more than 100K miles with 3500's. No problem.
Are you telling the OP
that it is safe to pull that much overweight because you are doing it????
Well, for me it has been safe. Six years, over 100K miles--no problems.
If you know of any actual experiences of having problems towing a heavy trailer with a 3500---feel free to post it.
Actual experiences, guess not. I know how my 5er feels when towing it in the mountains and can't imagine it weighing another one and a half tons. Most mine has ever weighed has been 15,000#, normally around 14,500-14,750 or so...Your talking about adding another 2,500 plus pounds to that. I don't know..I know how it reacts now and it does well, but I do know it's back there pulling some of the mountains that I tow up..AND down....can't imagine yet another 2500# added to the 5er, now mind you, I know it could TOW it, but why "push the limit's and take chances??...just doesn't sound safe. I don't care how many miles you've towed it. Why do you think the trucks manufacturer sets guidelines when it comes to towing?? yeah, most in here know that there are built in safety measures...truck manufacturer doesn't want sued in case their truck fails while towing something and it results in injury to persons in the truck, causes personal property damage or there is a breakdown of equipment. BUT...at what point are even THOSE safety factors exceeded?? Do YOU know what they are?? I don't. I'm not going to be the guinea pig in that experiment. I'm not going to gamble and take the chance of towing well over the gross rear axle weight, let alone the recommended GVWR and then exceed the trucks GCWR...I figure the design engineers of the trucks know more about them than I or you do. If you want to abuse your truck and take chances, that's your perogative, again, I'm not a gambler, I'm not a risk taker,( Well, once, when I volunteered into the military in 71' and spent some time in a war...learned by doing:B). I don't understand why some would come on here and say "it's ok", or "everyone else does It", or "I've been doing it for years, you'll be ok"....I'm not going to accept the responsibility of recommending someone do something that ISN'T even recommended by the manufacturer of the truck...just doesn't make any sense. All it takes is some simple math to figure out how to match up a TV with a 5er or a TT. I would also include in the forumula safety and family.
It only takes one mistake to make one possibly regret decisions they made about towing combo's.
Have no clue if weight was involved in this accident, though that was speculated by the NC State Troopers, but this past summer a Dodge Durango towing a very long TT hit a guard rail when making a passing maneuver, they were from Michigan and the accident killed the mans son. I saw the Durango and the TT, never heard anything else about charges being filed or anything else on it...look it up. It happened on I40 in or near Asheville. Son was killed, daughter in serious condition. Again, it only takes one little mistake by me, or by someone else...I will do everything within my power to be towing at 55-60 mph or slower,(depending on posted speed limit) and I will try to have my weights within my trucks limits...."just in case", because you just never know when something might happen...towing 2500# or more over my trucks recommended towing capacities I don't think would be a good thing in an emergency maneuver or emergency stop...yeah, I know, the brakes on the trailer brake the trailer...whatever...if your trying to slow down with 2500# or more of trailer weight pushing your truck around, just don't think it's going to help matters any in a "split second" decison making an emergency maneuver or emergency stop...
RE: Jayco Mattress
The mattress in this 5er is actually quite comfortable, but we went to a Sam's Club and purchased a 3" thick memory foam mattress topper and it was SOOOOOOOO awesomely comfortable that we also purchased one for our bed at home. Great sleep, no aches in the morning,(hey, I'm almost 60), one of the cheaper best investments I've made in a long time. Kingsize 3" thick memory foam was $129....It's great!!
