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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
What is the payload capacity of said truck?
Trailer Specs
Hitch Weight 663 lbs
GVWR 9463 lbs
Dry Weight 5777 lbs
Cargo Capacity 3212 lbs
Vehicle Specs
4WD:
Double Cab, 5.8 V8
9600 lbs / 4354 kgs – 5.3L (3.42 axle)
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GaryS1953
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05/19/23 01:36pm |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Empty weight is irrelevant and payload often runs out before tow rating.
Swing by a CAT scale and find out what the real weights are (loaded as if you are going on a trip). Take 3 measurements (after the first, you can do re-weighs for like $3, so probably $20-25 total).
- Fully hooked up with the WDH connected.
- Hooked up but disconnect the WDH bars.
- Just the truck.
With this info, you can determine the actual weight of the trailer and the actual hitch weight. Then you can determine the hitch weight and if the truck is overloaded.
On the door of the truck are stickers that provide overall and per axle payload ratings.
It might be that the trucks rear suspension is overloaded or it could be the opposite and the hitch weight is too low. If it's too low, airbags won't help.
I may get to a cat scale, but in the meantime could you elaborate? What is meant by "hitch weight is too low"? Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/19/23 12:35pm |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Need to have the hitch properly setup, you are not transferring enough weight to the steer axle. Air bags will not help, might even make it worse.Do you mean there is too much weight in the back of the truck, lifting the front wheels? That's kind of how it felt. My hitch has different adjustments and it's set one from the top.
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GaryS1953
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05/19/23 12:32pm |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
The trailer tongue weight may be too high.
Air bag will help quite a bit. Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/19/23 12:29pm |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Could be the installing dealer didn't hook the hitch up correctly and you do't have enough tension on the bars; it has happened many times before. New friction hitches like yours are paint on paint and wearing in could help with the anti-sway.
Air bags might help with the bouncing, but they may have a tendency to lighten the front end of your truck. First thing I would do is measure your wheel wells, front and rear, to the ground, and make sure the measurements are close to the same with the trailer hooked up and the spring bars installed. Could be you will have to adjust your hitch head to add more tension to the bars.
You should weigh your trailer. You might find it is far more than 5,777 pounds, and is nearing the zone where your truck is insufficient. Make sure your tires are aired to the max and your truck's shocks are good. There is plenty of stuff to check before spending money.
I can empathize, my wife told me the same thing with a poor riding fifth wheel.The hitch dealer did the install himself, and he had a ton of great reviews. He did a lot of measuring, front and rear of trailer as well as front and rear of the truck, several times and make several different adjustments. It certainly seemed like he knew what he was doing. I checked my trailer tires this morning and they were all about 65 PSI, and they are rated at MAX 80, but I'm not sure if that's cold. I added 5 lbs to put them at 70 ps1. Truck tires were 34 front and 32 rear. Specs call for 35 cold, so I brought them up to that. Could that little bit have made a significant difference?
Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/19/23 12:29pm |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Not enough hitch weight? That is typical of the issues you mentioned in my experience.
MartyI'm not sure what you mean. Could you elaborate? Here are the specs for the trailer:
Trailer Specs
Hitch Weight 663 lbs
GVWR 9463 lbs
Dry Weight 5777 lbs
Cargo Capacity 3212 lbs
Vehicle Specs
4WD:
Double Cab, 5.8 V8
9600 lbs / 4354 kgs – 5.3L (3.42 axle)
Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/19/23 12:20pm |
Towing
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Will Air bags make a big difference?
So we've had a 21'5th wheel for 16 years, and love it, but it's getting long in the tooth, and it's a little small, so we bought a 2012 Shasta Revere BH, 27', 31' with the hitch. We took it on our first trip this past week and had a real problem with the truck bucking up and down and also swaying. It's 5777 dry weight, and our Chevy is a half-ton, rated up to 9400 lbs. Anyway, we made it to our destination, but I felt so uncomfortable driving it do the swaying and shaking. The camper came with an old equalizing hitch, but not sway bars, the owner said he had never felt he needed them. I called a local hitch place and had them install a Curt hitch with integrated sway control, and thought we were all set. It DID help a little with the sway but didn't seem to help much with the bucking. Any little bump we went over the truck bucked up and down and, and the steering wheel felt like the truck was over loaded. I called the hitch dealer back and he said I probably need to have airbags or something else done to strengthen the suspension. My question, would that make a huge difference? My wife says she can't ride in this truck if we can't solve this problem as the bucking and vibration makes her sick. Mind you, we've been across country several times with the 5th wheel. We had occasional bucking with that, but only when we went over severe bumps like a bad bridge transit for example. I've got $700 invested in the hitch, with little to show for it, and the airbag would cost about $1000. Well worth it, if it works, but not if it only makes a little difference. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/18/23 08:49pm |
Towing
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Solar Panel Mounts
Hi All - So my new (to me) camper has Diflex 2 roof. Could I put those drill free plastic mounts on this kind of roof, and should I? I'd rather not put holes in the roof if I can avoid it. What is the consensus on those glue on mounts? Do they hold up well?
https://www.amazon.com/Spartan-Power-Drill-Trailers-Skoolies/dp/B0B43VGFQZ/ref=sr_1_11?crid=24IIFRUYY96GR&keywords=solar%2Bpanel%2Bmounts%2Bfor%2Brv%2Broof&qid=1683585001&sprefix=Solar%2BPanel%2Bmounts%2B%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-11&th=1
Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 04:32pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New to me used camper questions and thoughts
Sounds like you have the know how and ability to hi grade the good parts you added. And that’s the right choice imo. Sounds like the parts are worth what the camper is (roughly) and that you could use some/all on the new one. You can still sell a fully functional camper by swapping converters or whatever.
It’s just money and if you have the ability to save yourself some of that, it’s rarely the wrong choice.
Like selling vehicles with mods. Rarely if ever does it pay to leave expensive mods on if your can otherwise capitalize off of them.
Recent case in point, traded our old truck/camper for a much newer truck. Value wise the newer truck itself was the right deal in itself. But the guy had easy $10-15k in mods on it.
No one cared. And I have sold a couple of the parts on it I didn’t want for good money and would totally be money ahead if I sold it tomorrow, by stripping it back down to bone stock, throwing a cheap set of takeoff wheels on it and selling the (desirable) parts separately.
I think I'm with you on this and will go ahead and try to replace all the boards with the Dinosaur boards. My only concern is the converter. I spent a long afternoon replacing the factory converter with the PD converter, not really knowing what I was doing. Somehow it all worked:), but our old 96 camper has relatively simple wiring, and I'm concerned this one may as a much newer unit with more electronic systems may be a little more complex. Any thoughts? Thanks!
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 12:07pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New to me used camper questions and thoughts
Swap out all the upgrades. They are worth more than what you could sell the trailer for.
STRONGLY CONCUR!
However, I would carefully inspect and test the old solar panels for wear and tear. If flexible panels they could be near end of service and not worth reinstalling.
That's kind of what I'm thinking. In fact I just finished removing the panels. These are hard aluminum frame panels and seem to be in great shape. I'll replace all the cabling and MC4 connectors. Thanks for the advice!
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 12:02pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New to me used camper questions and thoughts
Swap out all the upgrades. They are worth more than what you could sell the trailer for.
That's kind of what I'm thinking. In fact I just finished removing the panels. Thanks for the advice
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 11:59am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New to me used camper questions and thoughts
Sounds like you have the know how and ability to hi grade the good parts you added. And that’s the right choice imo. Sounds like the parts are worth what the camper is (roughly) and that you could use some/all on the new one. You can still sell a fully functional camper by swapping converters or whatever.
It’s just money and if you have the ability to save yourself some of that, it’s rarely the wrong choice.
Like selling vehicles with mods. Rarely if ever does it pay to leave expensive mods on if your can otherwise capitalize off of them.
Recent case in point, traded our old truck/camper for a much newer truck. Value wise the newer truck itself was the right deal in itself. But the guy had easy $10-15k in mods on it.
No one cared. And I have sold a couple of the parts on it I didn’t want for good money and would totally be money ahead if I sold it tomorrow, by stripping it back down to bone stock, throwing a cheap set of takeoff wheels on it and selling the (desirable) parts separately.
That's kind of what I'm thinking. In fact I just finished removing the panels. Thanks for the advice
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 11:59am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New to me used camper questions and thoughts
Take the panels and other equipment. You can remove the panel from the brackets and leave the brackets behind if you want to keep the roof weather tight. If you plan to junk it or sell it real cheap, take it all and Dicor the roof, screw the screws back in and Dicor over that. Whether tight again!
That's kind of what I'm thinking. In fact I just finished removing the panels. Thanks for the advice
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 11:58am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: New to me used camper questions and thoughts
At this point, with the market the way it is.... your 500 watts of Solar is worth more than your 27 year old trailer. Take what you want off of it and take it to the scrap yard.
That may sound rude. It is not intended to. If anybody is looking to buy a 27 year old trailer, the custom mods you have done, swapping circuit boards etc., would leave them totally confused and lost if they ever tried to repair anything.That's kind of what I'm thinking. In fact I just finished removing the panels. Thanks for the advice
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GaryS1953
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05/08/23 11:57am |
General RVing Issues
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New to me used camper questions and thoughts
Hi All - So I've been keeping our 27 year old camper together with chewing gum and bailing wire, but we finally decided it wasn't going to last as long as we want to keep on camping, so we bought a new to us 2012 Shasta Revere BK. It's been stored inside every winter, and looks like new both inside and out, only one owner. We gave deposit today and are picking it up on Tuesday.
Now I'm trying to decide whether to remove things like the solar panels and charge controller from the old and put it on the new, or just buy new and install. These panels are only about 6 years old, but I think it would be a job getting them off as I bolted them down and then have used both dicor lap sealant and eternabond tape on the mounts. That roof is aluminum, and the new roof is Diflex (not exactly sure what that is, but I don't want to put holes in it). If I do use those panels how should I mount them on the new roof. I'm thinking of the mounts that just glue down to the roof, but I'm not sure how well they would hold in wind on the highway. Thoughts? My wife thinks I should leave the panels on the old camper so we could sell it for more, but I think it's probably only worth about $1500 to $2000 and the solar would make very little difference if any.
The other thing is I've replaced all the circuit boards for the furnace, fridge, and hot water heater with with Dinosaur boards, and the new one has the original factory ones. Should I swap them out? I installed a Progressive Dynamics Converter 2or 3 years ago. Again should I swap that out?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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GaryS1953
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05/07/23 06:49pm |
General RVing Issues
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