Brought home 31QBS--lots of info!

dbwell00

Member
Hi all,

We took delivery of our new 31QBS today and towed it home. A few observations after our "shakedown" tow...

As you may recall... here's my truck specs from the previous thread: 2003 Chevrolet Silverado Half Ton, Ext. Cab, 2WD, SWB.
5.3L/3.73, factory tow pkg, 144" WB.
GVWR 6200, FAWR 3600, RAWR 3686. GCWR 13000.

It was a windy day in west Michigan today, thus a good day to see how this thing is going to behave. The dealer set up my EAZ-lift round bar hitch (they recommended the 1000 lb bars; I had both 1000 and 750). They set it up with 5 washers to set the angle and put the top of the hitch head level with the top of the shank. Trailer looked pretty level, I measured from the ground to the bottom trim strip and it was 2" or so higher in back (it's a long span!). They set the WD bars to have two links hanging. Also have a Husky RH friction sway control.

After messing around with the Prodigy brake control for a while to make sure it was close and at least able to stop me, I was ready to get on the highway. I tried to stay at 60-65 mph on the 4-lane. I was pretty happy with the tow but there is a lot more beef back there than my little trail-lite!!! Truck downshifted to pull the little hills and stay around 60 in D with the tow/haul switch on. I do understand what people are saying about getting more truck before pulling mountain roads! There was a little sway from time to time, nothing really bad or nerve-racking (I was moved to say "Woo!" a time or two after a particularly strong gust).

I stopped mid-way to weigh my setup on the CAT scale at a truck stop. Here's how all that broke down:

Truck by itself: 5420 lb (3020 front, 2400 rear) With passengers, 3/4 fuel, and some cargo. Pretty much how it may be loaded for camping.
Trailer weight as prepped (full LP, battery, winterized/empty water and tanks, otherwise basically empty): 5800 lb.

This is the axle breakdown for two different WD setups:
2 links hanging: 2940 front, 3100 rear, 5180 trailer.
3 links hanging: 3060 front, 2900 rear, 5240 trailer.

I decided to leave it at 3 links hanging as it added weight to the front as opposed to taking away. Only 500 lb added to the rear axle. I am pretty close to the GVWR of the truck, adding the two axles together--but I have a lot of room in the GCWR and on the trailer axles. I didn't try 4 links (figured it was pretty much optimized). Maybe I should've for a dollar more.

I must say that after going one link tighter on the bars that the whole rig seemed to behave A LOT better! I was totally at ease for the rest of the trip, which was mostly on two-lane 55 mph road. No sway problems whatsoever with oncoming semi trucks.

Boy, weighing the setup a few times has really helped to educate me on how weight distribution works, and what I will need to do to load gear into the trailer to achieve the best, safest setup possible.

After all that, I think this rig is going to work out fine! I backed it into the driveway and found it easier to back than my other trailer (maybe got lucky :))!

Couple more things:
1. I got the CIPA mirror extensions and I'm really glad I did. They're cheap enough and work great.
2. I got about 9.5 mpg on this trip.:(
3. This is a good looking trailer!!!:D

I'll try to get a picture in the daylight tomorrow.
 

irvin56

Well-known member
Hello another 31qbs

Yes nice tt., I have a 2000 chevy also, but I have a 4.8liter instead. Same set up.
I also weighed on three diff links, and did the same. Left the weight on front axle. I also found it a better ride that way.

It pulled fine and load for camping was 12,600lbs. Im maxed out on the combined weight but truck and tt handled okay. I also have a friction flat bar Sway control. The tow/haul mode is great as my last truck didnot have that.

Overall with 35 days and 5 trips on unit it works great for a larger family, we found it was very comfy from our non slide 76 Prowler.
Enjoy, I know we did.
 

dbwell00

Member
Here's some pics

Pics as promised
 

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Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Good looking rig. I think I can see from the side picture that your bars are very close to parallel to the frame of the trailer. I was going to remind you of this in this reply but it looks like you got it right on the money. Travel Safe and enjoy your new toy. Now all you need is an electric tongue jack to help save you set up time. ;)
 
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