i use a heavy rubber tire chalk on my garage floor to help park my car where i want it. soon as the tire makes contact with the chalk i'm where i want to be and the chalk doesn't move.
2003 GMC Sierra 2500HD cc/sb
2003 Eagle Cap 800 lite
the toys:
99 trans am 30th anniversary
79 trans am black se
88 chevy blazer (trail ready)
You could always do what my wifes grandpa use to do. He would hang a tennis ball from the ceiling of the garage. When it hit the windshield, he knew when to stop.
Quote: However, with only 6 inches to spare, I believe it will be a very challenging task to get the PU in the garage without hitting the wall some time.
That is about what I have also. I cannot walk between the garage door and the rear of the truck when it is inside the garage. I use the ball on a string trick mentioned above and it works great! Hang the ball so it hits the windshield right in front of the drivers face.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch
2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD
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Yep, I hang fishing bobbers from the ceiling with fishing line for the wifes trailblazer and my 1500 ext pickup.
It's not so much so I don't hit the front, but more so I know I am far enough forward to have walking room behind the truck w/o having to open the garage door. Even then it's a squeeze.
I have received some very useful inputs from all of you. I think it is now up to me to go to the next step including visiting car dealerships to see some of the TVs and conduct actual test drives (may be even bringing one into my garage for a parking trial), and seeing a number of TTs in person to compare features and floor plans with my family. We will then be in a good position to assess the various trade-offs and decide on what makes sense for us.
Just for the record...
My current "garage" where the truck is parked is 30' x 40' w/9' overhead door. No problems getting in in there.
Since the weather has warmed slightly the past few days, I've had to move the truck to the attached garage at the house. Yard is too soft to be driving over and would tear up the sod pretty quick.
I managed to get the truck in with about an inch to spare on either end. Truck is a crew cab Ford F250, w/short box. The standard size overhead door lets the truck in with a few inches to spare, but the radio antenna does hit. Garage in question is only 20' deep.
Best advice is to back in. You can use the side mirrors, get it close to the wall so that other cars don't ding it up, and get real close to the back wall.
I too came up through the 1/2 ton towing vehicles, and am very happy with the 3/4 ton. My TT is 32ft and it behaves very well back there under pretty much any circumstance. After moving up through towing systems including friction sway, dual cam, and now the Hensley, would never go back the other way. If you can locate an affordable 3/4 ton to tow with, go with it over the 1/2. Ride quality unloaded is a little harder, but really smooths out with the load.
Aaron
A Brown
Dimondale, MI
2004 Ford F-250 SD XLT, Crew Cab,
6.0L PSD, Auto, 3:73, 4x4, FX4
Just an update for everyone. We brought home a 2008 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab with the 6L engine, 4.10 axle Max Towing package this afternoon. It has the integrated brake controller as well.
We were originally planning to wait for next May till the lease on our current LR3 expires. However, we thought that the current GM incentive program was just too good to pass up. We got a nice truck and an excellent deal, saved more than $10,000 off the MSRP. While this TV does not have the towing capability of a 2500, it should satisfy our needs fine.
I was also able to get it into the garage with less than a couple inches to spare at either end.
Again, I appreciate all your input in helping me decide on the TV.
S.K. wrote: John and Les, great information and advice. Thanks much!
Les, your point on the panic stopping capability is something that I had not even thought about before. This is definitely a very crucial criterion. How does one assess that without actually towing the actual combo? How would you consider the stopping capability of the Silverado 1500 with max towing for towing the 31E? Would a Silverado 2500 HD stop better that a 1500?
S.K.
All things designed and engineered is not for the good days when just
about anything 'can' do it, but for that bad/worse day out there when
you either have the right sized and correctly setup. There will be no
time to go back to the store for bigger/better or to re-setup.
As others have stated before in other threads....I've never heard any
one complain about having too much truck...just not enough truck...
Stopping...analogous to dropping a volleyball over a glass table and
have a 150lb person catch and stop it before it hits. Then take a 16lb
bowling ball and which will have a better chance in stopping it...the
150lb person or the 220lb person (of course both in good physical
condition).
I recommend getting the bigger truck.
-Ben Picture of my rig
1996 GMC SLT Suburban 3/4 ton K3500/7.4L/4:1/+150Kmiles orig owner...
1980 Chevy Silverado C10/long bed/"BUILT" 5.7L/3:73/1 ton helper springs/+329Kmiles, bought it from dad...
1998 Mazda B2500 (1/2 ton) pickup, 2nd owner...
Praise Dyno Brake equiped and all have "nose bleed" braking!
Previous trucks/offroaders: 40's Jeep restored in mid 60's / 69 DuneBuggy (approx +1K lb: VW pan/200hpCorvair: eng, cam, dual carb'w velocity stacks'n 18" runners, 4spd transaxle) made myself from ground up / 1970 Toyota FJ40 / 1973 K5 Blazer (2dr Tahoe, 1 ton axles front/rear, +255K miles when sold it)...
Sold the boat (looking for another): Trophy with twin 150's...
51 cylinders in household, what's yours?...
I gotta say, with either TV a shorter trailer, say 27 ft, 31 ft total makes more sense. you are within weights but the pendulum effect of a rear kitchen is asking for trouble. As long as nothing breaks, its not the weight but the inertial effects of a heavy tail which will wag the tv and have you off the road wondering what happened. IMO you need a heavier tv with a long wb for a 33 foot trailer.
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