09 Bighorn 3670RL Tire lug nut size?

[Trillium]

Did a search on the forum for socket size to check torque on tire lug nuts. Found a post which said 13/16 so bought a deep thin wall 13/16 socket and got to trailer today only to find that the socket was too small.

So either I need a larger socket or the lug nuts have plastic caps on which have to be removed to torque the lug nuts?

Can someone with a 09 Bighorn 3670Rl help me out with the proper size socket that I need to purchase to check the torque on our trailer wheels?

At this time I am thinking it must be 7/8 ?

 

[pmmjarrett]

Most every trailer made uses a 3/4", 13/16" or a 7/8" socket for the lug nuts. Only use the 7/8" on the bigger units like yours.

Those are the three I carry for torquing the lugnuts before and during my trips. 13/16" is the most common one I use.

 

[mrcomer]

pmmjarrett,
Nice having you here on the forum. I see you have been very active here lately. Also nice to hear things from your perspective as a transporter.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[pmmjarrett]

Thank you. Taking a day off and killing some time so I can legally run 1800 more miles up to Grande Prairie Alberta by monday afternoon.

Leaning and sharing is what a forum is all about. Good, Bad or Ugly, I learn something new every day. Gotta watch what I say as it's not my place to state an opinion of the products I transport and some other things.

I won't hesitate to stop somebody I see pulling out of a dealership with their first RV hooked up incorrectly, because nobody bothered to teach them how to hook up properly. Usually dragging chains behind a 1/2 ton pickup with no weight distributing hitch, everybody in the front seat grinning ear to ear, the very happy salesman waving as he's running into the building to count his commision check and an entry level trailer are the first clues.

I like RVing too so what better way to guage a company, the dealerships and their products than to join their forum and share and learn, visit the dealerships, get a chance to "test drive" their trailers, speak with company reps like Jim and see what's really going on.

Gotta spend my money wisely, these trailers have an MSRP of as much or more than what I paid for my 1800 sf ranch home on 1.44 acres out in the country which is a little hard to swallow...... And even harder to convince the wife of why I Neeeeeeeeed one with a 42" LCD TV in the back.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Trillium, do you have the Aluminum Wheel Option? Ours has the series06 wheels and uses a 13/16 socket but I had to grind down the O.D. of the socket to get it to fit in the nut hole. The torque for the aluminum wheels should be 120# A thin wall socket may break at that much torque so I would suggest an impact socket. IF your LUG nuts are exposed and you can use a 4 way lug wrench, that would be a good choice.

 

[Trillium]

To pmmjarrett and Ray LeTourneau;
Thankyou for your replies, we were gone camping for the last four days. Booked off work Friday and Monday, Tuesday was off work for the Canada Holliday. We returned late Tuesday evening.

I returned the 13/16 socket and purchased the 7/8 socket.

Torqued the wheels on Friday before leaving on our camping trip and found a few loose lug nuts.

I think I will purchase a 3 or 6 inch extension as the torque wrench was too close to the trailer making me keep the wrench turning only below the trailer wall.

Ray LeTourneau, I do have the aluminum wheel option and did purchase a deep thin wall socket. If the socket does break, I can return it for a free replacement. I'm not sure if the impact socket will fit in the space between the nut and the wheel?

 

[pmmjarrett]

You're welcome. Checking trailer lug nuts before and during each trip is a definate must do.

I use a 3/8" x 6" extension.

I don't have any problems breaking 3/8" thin wall sockets at 90 - 120 ft lbs on trailers..... or even when using them on my Craftsman professional Impact wrench at up to 650 ft lbs breaking loose rusty stuff(yep I'm a dangerous man in my shop LOL) I use almost strictly Craftsman tools and have for over 25 years.

 

[HOSS]

pmmjarrett, what qualifications are needed to become a transporter, besides having a truck to pull them with. I ask because I am retired and would like to do something like this. Any info would be great.

Thanks, HOSS

 

[pmmjarrett]

pmmjarrett, what qualifications are needed to become a transporter, besides having a truck to pull them with. I ask because I am retired and would like to do something like this. Any info would be great.

Thanks, HOSS

Discipline to not blow your all your money on the road. This business isn't about how much you make as it is about how much you keep, every penny counts here. Pass DOT physical, pass drug screen, experience pulling trailers, clean criminal record preffered as half the freight runs to Canada, I'm in New Brunswick right now on my way to Nova Scotia. I am in Canada more than I am at home. Some companies require class A CDL, some will take without. Without a CDL you are limited to trailers that don't put your combination over 26,000 GCWR.

For instance if you have a Dodge like mine with a GVW of 11,500 lbs you can pull a trailer with a GVW of up to 14,500 lbs. My old F350 had a GVW of 13,000 so the most I could carry before I had a CDL was a trailer with a GVW of 13,000 or less.

January is about the best time to get into the business but things are very uncertain right now as the RV industry took a big hit with the economy and many companies are going out of business.

If you do try it you best have a truck that gets 10+ mpg pulling big fifth wheels and at least 20 mpg empty... 15mpg avg as half of your miles are unloaded.... That's hand calculated, don't lie to yourself here, it'll put you out of business faster than you went into business. One reason I am running a Dodge now, it is saving me over $500 a week in fuel over my 2006 Ford.

PM me your phone # & I'll call you when I get back into the states in a few days and it's easy for me to miss a post like this as I don't read every one.

Mike