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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Tow truck ideas / advice
What "just not right" though? Can you be specific about the issue? Maybe someone here has a suggestion.
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mkirsch
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09/29/23 11:34am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tow truck ideas / advice
Unfortunately there are no "secret trucks" that ticks off all your boxes, but nobody else knows about so you can snap it up cheap.
That's really what you're looking for us to tell you about here... If only there were such a thing, but every corner's been thoroughly searched, and there are no such secret special trucks, no "dogs" on the market that don't deserve to be.
All you can do is shop, and keep shopping until you find the right deal on something that meets your needs. Many 1500 series trucks will pull your trailer, but if you're filling those three rows in the old Excursion with growing kids, a 1500 pickup isn't going to have the seating capacity you need.
Really in this day and age there is no direct replacement for an Excursion. The market for "3/4 ton" SUVs was such that all the manufacturers dropped them. Passenger capacity and payload capacity has been relegated to 1 ton vans, but vans aren't "cool" so very few people consider them a viable option.
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mkirsch
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09/29/23 09:32am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ram 2500 6.4 gas Towing 5th wheel.
I'd think they'd have more of an impact on bumper towing than 5th wheel towing, if they had any impact at all.
They still produce the 2500 with coil springs right? They've been making them since what, 2008? That pretty much says it right there. If the coil springs were a problem, they would have stopped producing them long ago.
Any perceived "problems" with the coil springs were well-discussed BEFORE the trucks were available for purchase. Lots of fretting and hand-wringing over nothing.
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mkirsch
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09/22/23 07:22am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Truck was totaled, looking at GM 6.6 Gasser
Oh and idk why anyone would carry UIM on a vehicle they’re carrying collision coverage on. It’s a sham, unless you’re not even willing to bet your deductible against the cost of UIM and the odds.
Pretty sure it's mandatory in NY state.
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mkirsch
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09/22/23 07:15am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Truck was totaled, looking at GM 6.6 Gasser
...and before you squawk about all those body panels being replaced rather than pounded out by the body shop, remember the body shop charges well in excess of $100 an hour for labor.
I am not sure I understand, why would someone not want new ones unless they were paying out of pocket and trying to save money? No way would I want repaired ones, the best decision was to total it. I wasn't thrilled when they mentioned complete frame swap. I was surprised at how pricey the headlights were!
That was the main complaint about the aluminum body Ford F150s: Can't body work the panels back into shape, only replace.
Of course you'd want new body panels! You ALWAYS want new body panels. Even these guys that complain about not being able to "fix" Ford body panels would DEMAND new panels for their F150 if theirs got wrecked.
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mkirsch
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09/22/23 07:13am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Truck was totaled, looking at GM 6.6 Gasser
...and before you squawk about all those body panels being replaced rather than pounded out by the body shop, remember the body shop charges well in excess of $100 an hour for labor.
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mkirsch
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09/21/23 08:04am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 2024 F150 Reveal
It's however they define the claim. Or maybe it's just trademarked now and it doesn't really matter...
Seems like this tired old argument gets dredged up every time someone posts Ford's F150 tagline. You know what would be refreshing? People refusing to take the bait.
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mkirsch
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09/13/23 09:47am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: batteries dead
So are you saying you DROVE it 10 miles and back, and the batteries were dead?
OR
You are saying you left, drove 10 miles, and came back to where it was stored, and the batteries were dead?
There is no way the batteries went dead in that amount of time without starting a fire. They had to have been very nearly dead. I agree that they had to have been dead or nearly so when you started out, AND your alternator is not working.
The alternator may not have fully charged the batteries in 10 miles out-and-back but for sure you wouldn't have lost any ground.
That or the batteries are just fine but have become disconnected from the vehicle due to a bad ground or other bad connection.
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mkirsch
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09/11/23 06:59am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Help! Lance 850 isn’t getting power from truck battery
Flipped the switch, it worked. Flipped the switch again, and it didn't work...
I would suspect the switch.
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mkirsch
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09/11/23 06:45am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Beach Roamer Campers
Another pipe dream "coming soon" BS operation... If you can't put units on dealer lots, you should not be advertising. People see something and want it NOW. If you can't at least facilitate SOME sales, get some units out there in the hands of the general public, NOBODY is going to place an order for "spring 2024."
Businesses that operate on pipe dreams and empty promises rarely succeed.
"Prices start at $17.500" but the least expensive model they list is $40,000... What does the $17.500 buy you, a door?
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mkirsch
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09/06/23 09:35am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ford files trademark for F200 pickup.
...because Ford has NEVER had a failed vehicle ever before in its 100+ year history...
Edsel. Pinto. Bronco II. Those are just off the top of my head.
Frankly I'm surprised they didn't already own the trademark to F-(all numbers).
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mkirsch
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09/06/23 05:48am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Towing
Mkirsch, you’re getting too practical again….
I'm sorry. I'll try harder next time.
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mkirsch
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09/01/23 12:06pm |
Towing
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RE: How bad is it really? TC on a Ram 2500 w/coils.
No no no no no... You of all people should know that if you put any sort of load in a pickup with coil springs that it is instantly going to flop over on its top, catch fire, and explode, wiping out a square mile of the nearest civilization even if you're 1000 miles from nowhere.
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mkirsch
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09/01/23 12:04pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Towing
Why the secrets? Toy hauler make and model is secret. SxS make and model is secret.
At least with the make and model of the TH, we could see what the manufacturer thinks the empty tongue weight is, which would help some with the advice.
The toy hauler manufacturer should also provide some guidance on cargo capacity for the toybox area, but again, since that's such a closely guarded secret, that's something else we're left guessing at.
Reality is probably closer to Grit Dog's comment, and the SxS just fits in the trailer with very little wiggle room. So it boils down to you haul it or you don't.
Load up and see what happens. It's going to be obvious sitting in the driveway that it's not going to work, and if not there, it will be obvious within a few miles of home. It's not going to feel "just fine" until you're 1000 miles from home, then suddenly become a problem.
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mkirsch
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08/31/23 06:32am |
Towing
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RE: 2024 Chevy HD DRW and SRW Fuel Economy Test
And at the end of the day it actually matters, why?
You drive the speed and style that you drive and unless you’re already drivin miss daisy, you drive slower if you want to use less fuel. And you drive faster if you don’t care and want to get there sooner.
Because you want to know if driving miss daisy is saving you enough money to make the extra time, aggravation, and road rage incidents worth it. If it's only saving you $10/month, stomp on the skinny pedal and keep up with traffic.
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mkirsch
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08/30/23 07:48am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: hauling capability
In 2015 there should be a yellow sticker on the driver's door post stating the payload capacity of the truck as built.
The reality is, folks usually have a hard time finding what they want and staying within the truck's "rated" hauling capability. Seems no matter how big of a truck they have, they always fall in love with the bigger camper.
This is where you start picking and choosing which ratings to acknowledge and which to ignore. First one to ignore is GVWR. If you read further on your truck's weight ratings sticker(s) there will be ratings for each axle with a certain size tire at a certain PSI. Those combined front and rear axle ratings usually add up to around 2000lbs more than the GVWR of the truck in a 350/3500 SRW.
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mkirsch
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08/24/23 10:06am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 1991 Lance 900 11.3’ weight
Thanks @big_jeff. Ya I found that as well. I did notice they vary slightly year to year (1993 2698lbs std cab and 2838lbs ext cab) every year. Lance has the 1993 and 1995 brochures but nothing before 1993. You’d think they would have kept some kind of documentation on their own camper designs pre 1993. Maybe a disgruntled employee walked off with it :)
Who says they didn't? Just because they didn't make it available on the internet, doesn't mean they don't have the information.
Even if they didn't they're not obligated to have it. How many 1991 campers are still out there, and not rotted into the ground by now? Not many. Not much reason or incentive to keep such information around taking up space cluttering up the office.
We've got 20 year old computers in our data centers that have less technical information available on them than your 30-odd year old truck camper.
At least you can find data on models made a couple of years later and extrapolate. Given campers tend to get heavier year over year, you have a good educated guess as to the advertised dry weight of your camper based on what later models only a couple years later weighed.
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mkirsch
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08/23/23 10:49am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Truck in front of the camper
Having had a lawn service for 39 years I found out that getting a truck big enough to handle anything I wanted to do with it plus what I didn't know I wanted to do with it was a lesson learned. I've decided that a 3500 of some sort with either a Chevy 6.0 or 8.1 is a good choice. The Allison is good as I've had them w/ the Duramax. A Dodge w/ a Cummins is a good choice but I've found that Dodges seem to rust too much. I've had a Ford 6.0 and don't like all the things that can go wrong w/ the engine. Diesel vs gas isn't such a big issue when carrying a heavy load. With the price difference between diesel and gas they end up about equal. Thanks for the input.
I've had a 2002 Chevy 3500 with the 8.1L and Allison since about 2010. Started out with 38000 miles on it, have 58000 on it now. Only run it April through October. It's my "toy" that can tow or haul just about anything I need it to.
I also have a 2015 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0L and 6-speed from my Dad. There is no comparison. The '02 will run circles around the newer truck any day, any time, any load, any trailer.
8.1L's produce a lot of heat and do use oil, up to a quart every 1000 miles. Mobil 1 5W30 seems to hold up the best.
The problem is they're getting long in the tooth. It's not like you can just walk on to any dealer lot and get a nice low mileage example. More likely you're going to find something that's got a bajillion miles on it, rusty, clapped out. You're not going to find one like mine just every day, and unless you wave a LOT of $100 bills in front of my face, it's not for sale.
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mkirsch
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08/22/23 06:54am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Air conditioner for my 11 foot truck camper?
Our windows are crank-out jalousies with attached interior screens so using a window is out of the question: we do not want to remove the whole window unit for a retro. The issue of draining the moisture from the A/C won't work with the window. Perhaps a bucket with a cover that has been cut for a hole to fit the drain hose. This works for us to drain gray water out to an enclosed bucket when necessary. We also have a portable dehumidifier but it is ineffective.
Modern portable ACs don't need to be drained very often if at all. The moisture is vaporized and sent out the exhaust tube.
I drained mine a sum total of TWICE in all the years I owned it.
You do you, though.
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mkirsch
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08/21/23 01:28pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ford F-250 Hitch compatibilty
IMHO etrailer does their homework and the information they provide can be trusted. You can also never go wrong with Reese (Cequent) products. I got the Reese Titan for my 2002 Chevy almost 14 years ago now and it was a perfect fit, has "YES" capacity...
Etrailer has a draw-tite (also Cequent) 2-1/2" hitch that looks and mounts very much like my Reese Titan.
Not a huge market out there for receivers for 21-year-old pickups anymore, so your choices are pretty limited. I would fork over the $403.24 and not look back, except to hitch up.
I just don't know where you'd go to find a good used take-off anyway. Nobody takes them off. You could be months or years looking.
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mkirsch
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08/18/23 07:29am |
Towing
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