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