RE: Equal-i-zer question
Greasing the heavy friction surfaces--the ball and the hitch head, socket interfaces--will help, as others have suggested. I think most of the noise comes from the "L" bracket/spring bar area. I found greasing these was too messy, so now I just rub some ski wax on the brackets. Seems to help and doesn't make a mess.
TC
RE: Bumpy ride with a pop-up
Our Coleman Cheyenne (about 3,000lbs.) was miserable to tow with my truck because it bucked and kicked on anything but a smooth surface. In contrast, our 11,400 GVW Arctic Fox is much smoother. The Coleman behaved better behind our Honda Odyssey. I guess the Honda's soft suspension was more compatible with the buckboard springs on the popup. A WD hitch might help, but remember, they work both ways; you're also putting some of the truck's weight on the trailer.
TC
RE: Interstate 70 west of Denver
Your engine will be gasping like a fish out of water, especially at 11,000+ feet over the highest pass, but you have good equipment and will do fine. Don't ride your brakes going down. Gear down and make the engine do the work.
TC
RE: TT Tires
You probably find more Fifth Wheelers using LT tires because more of them come with 16" wheels. As someone mentioned, it is very hard to find LT tires in 15" sizes. Because my trailer is heavy, when I started having tire issues, I switched to 16" wheels and LT tires so I could get a higher load range and a greater variety (and availability) of tires. An unexpected added bonus is that my trailer tows even better than before.
TC
RE: Differential Lube for 03 Chevy 2500HD?
I've used both Mobil 1 75W-90 and Redline 75W-140, which I run now, in the rear. I have Redlin 75W-90 in the front. Both brands, among others are excellent.
TC
RE: Blown steer tire myth?
I believe Campinfan has it right. When a tire “explodes” it experiences a sudden RELEASE of pressure. That event can propel bits and pieces, including split rims, at high velocities in all directions with terrible force, but to lift the front of a TV there would have to be a sudden expansion of air volume, which would require a rapid infusion of energy that isn’t there.
TC
RE: And yet Another Tire Question
Discount Tire happily sold me LT tires for my trailer and the manager there said that he used them on his horse trailers and sold many of them to others for the same purpose. The sidewalls on the LT tires (I also went up in wheel size from 15” to 16” so I could run LTs) are visibly stiffer than the tires they replaced. They do not roll over excessively even in near jack knife turns and on those occasions when I’ve had to run over some hard edges, like low curbs, they don’t collapse the way the STs did. The trailer, always very stable, is now even more so, even in tricky mountain towing. ST tire may be theoretically superior because they were designed specifically for trailer use, but much depends on how well they are manufactured and I am not confident, based on my own experience that what we are getting is all that wholesome. They are also not easy to find, which is decidedly not the case with good quality LT tires.
TC
RE: Generator help
A friend has a generator on his Nash 22 something-or-other. Very neat, enclosed, installation. Runs on propane. Control panel is inside trailer.
TC
RE: Newer chevy 2500 - New Shocks make a diffrence?
When I first bought my truck (new) I was disappointed that the shocks already felt worn out. Nevertheless, I waited to replace them with Bilsteins for 12k miles. When I backed out of the driveway for the first time with the new shocks I realized I had waited 12,000 miles too long. Unless GM has upgraded their HD shocks considerably since '03 I'd recommend you replace them (all four, per Ken) now.
TC
RE: Silverado rear axle lube
I believe it is considered a life-lube and never needs changing, just periodic checks. Nevertheless, I changed mine at about 10,000 miles, though I didn’t remove the diff. cover, and found the same crud Capt Skup was talking about. I changed it again about a year later; no crud this time. GM’s approved lube is very expensive. I’m sure it’s very good, but I don’t know anyone who uses it. Most seem to favor Mobil 1 synthetic. I now run Redline 75W-140 syn gear lube. 86k trouble free miles.
TC
RE: TV Tires
Don’t let a single bad review of the Michelin’s scare you off. There may be explanations other than the tires for the problems that reviewer experienced. I’ve towed my TT, which should be much twitchier, under similar conditions with no issues at all. As is apparent from this thread, you will find many, many more satisfied customers than not.
TC
RE: Pulling in Tow/Haul?
I use TH whenever I tow anything. I learned while towing a light load up a long grade in the mountains that the trany will run cooler that way. When we had our our Coleman Cheyenne I never bothered with TH. On one such occasion while climbing up a long grade heading for Kings Canyon for no other reason than curiosity I hit the TH button. Immediately, the trans downshifted, the TC locked and the net rpm dropped. It turns out that while I thought I was just loafing along in what seemed a comfortable gear, the truck was actually working harder than it needed to. It seemed to be rolling along fine, but the TC was not locked and the trany was building heat as a result. When I switched to TH the trans temp fell abruptly. Ever since, when something is coupled to the ball, I don’t care what it is, I have the TH engaged.
TC
RE: Diesel & 4X4
A funny thing about 4WD is that you don’t need it when you don’t need it. You only need it when you do. Now, for those who have a fixed limits beyond which they won’t go, or can command of the elements, this won’t pose much of a problem, but for those of us whose frontal lobes never fully developed, or those on whom chance does not always smile, 4WD offers another option for confronting high traction situations in low traction conditions. For those of you who have never needed it and never will, fine, this recommendation is not for you. It’s for those wild-eyed thrill seekers who have been, or might be enchanted by a grassy meadow or a rugged pasture: get it. If it turns out that you never need it you can always write recommendations to counter morons like me. If, on the other hand, it turns out that you do, well, welcome to the fraternity.
TC
RE: Classic HD2500 front end sway problem...
I think Woodrow is on the right track. When you inflate the bags to “level” the rig after setting up the WD hitch you are taking weight off the front axle and putting it back on the rear. Did you say you had tried towing with your air bags empty? If not try setting up your WD hitch as if you had no air bags at all and see how it tows. If it still wanders around I would bet it’s the tires. Your truck is too young to have any wear issues in the front end. I have no air bags, a very heavy tongue trailer, but skinny, stock-sized tires, and no front end issues at all. Good luck.
TC
RE: Bedliners & covers
The foam used in a BedRug is closed cell. The fuzzy part is probably polypropylene, neither absorb water. I used it for several months in the Winter, where it was exposed to heavy rains and routine truck washing, before installing my shell. No problems at all.
TC
RE: Bedliners & covers
I’m going to go against the grain and suggest that unless you intend to use the bed for hard work a BedRug liner might be just what you’re looking for. It is a soft, foam backed, water proof, and stain resistant liner that is very durable for all but really heavy work and it is very easy on the body, should you find yourself crawling around back there. It’s also easy on the things you carry. Most of the stuff I carry around is in the nature of furniture or sound equipment. It is great for that. But I’ve hauled more substantial items as well. I have a shell on my truck, but you don’t have to cover it. After five years the liner still looks and feels new.
TC
RE: What is the worst trailer manufacturer?
There are no shortcuts to the answer. It’s a question that probably can’t be answered except by ploughing through the nearly endless threads where quality is discussed. No one, not even those who have owned many RVs from different manufacturers, can offer a valid global assessment of a given company’s products. They can only draw from and share accounts of their own experiences with that example, which necessarily excludes the thousands of other examples also produced by the same company. So, you have to read, read, read, until you glean a sense of the collective experience of this very well informed forum with a particular manufacturer.
TC
RE: lubricating hitch and equalizers
Actually, most of the sway reducing friction comes from the interface between the upper surfaces of the spring bar sockets and the underside of the hitch head, not the “L” bracket/spring bar contact points, which you can lube or not, as you choose. I always grease the socket/hitch head contact area, but I don’t grease the “L” brackets because of the mess the grease makes. These I rub with ski wax, which seems to help with the noise.
TC
RE: TT vs. Fifth Wheel
TTs are cramped? At the recent Strawberry Music Festival we had 12 people in ours for breakfast Sunday morning. We didn’t even realize there were that many until someone counted. A couple of people were standing, but that as from lack of seats, not room. If you want to compare a cramped TT to a large 5ver you can, but it doesn’t advance the quest for information very far.
TC
