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Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:54 pm
by sverbus
I recently saw an episode on Trucks, where they put an electric fan on an 01 Dodge Ram 5.7l in place of the clutch fan and ended up getting over 20mpg on highway. That's pretty decent. My question is, I have an 06 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4, with the 4.7l aluminum head motor and it's got a clutch fan as well for the primary radiator. There is a secondary radiator for the AC I think that uses an electric fan off to the side of the primary. How would I know what CFM electric fan to use on my ram to get rid of the mechanical?

Also, any other tips that anyone has discovered that helps with MPG and power? Because I'd have to think getting rid of the mechanical on my truck, just like on my Nova, will net some HP gain as well.

I also just bought a 24' enclosed trailer that is an older model and the trailer itself is 3500lbs. I'm going ot use sway control hitch and torsion bars. My question is this...would I see a hauling stability increase by going to a set of Rancho 5000 shocks or something? That way I can stiffin them up when I'm hauling and such?

Also I'm going ot put a front end leveling kit on this ram as they always sit like a 2wheel drive from the factory. Do you think that will screw up the hauling or help it by leveling out the truck?

Thanks for the help guys..

Scott

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:32 pm
by spib
I would put firestone 5000 lb air bags on your truck, the only way to go when haulin heavy loads
and a 1/2 ton truck pulling a 24ft tag is already on the light side, when bags are empty , truck is normal but put 80lbs of air in bags and truck will handle the heavy tongue weight a lot better

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:30 pm
by Speedster
agree with spib. Bag the rear.
my pace with car tools and spares is heavy and i tow with a dodge dually diesel.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:06 pm
by John_Heard
By the time you pack the car, generator, nitrous bottles, fuel, tools, etc. that little 24' trailer will be tipping the scales at 9000 lbs :shock:

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:16 pm
by spib
John_Heard wrote:By the time you pack the car, generator, nitrous bottles, fuel, tools, etc. that little 24' trailer will be tipping the scales at 9000 lbs :shock:
my 99 haulmark I used to have weighed 4500 empty :shock:

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:12 am
by sverbus
Firestone 5000's eh? I'll look into that...Anyone got a used set for sale by any chance? :)

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:02 pm
by Moparious Maximus
You might be surprised at what your rig weighs when all loaded up, I say you are probably under powered and under trucked.

The big thing we found when looking a MPG is keep your speed down, you will get alot better mileage pulling at 55 or 60, than 75mph. But we seem to always be late and in a hurry.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 2:34 pm
by 427belair
I have towed a 24' trailer with a '97 1/2 ton chevy for years, including trips from Montana out to Washington and Oregon to race. Even going over the passes it would pull the hills at 55 mph with out running it hard, just give yourself plenty of room to stop. It isnt by any means the ideal towing set up but it works for us poor folks that cant buy a diesel. The air bags do make a ton of difference.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 4:36 pm
by John_Heard
Moparious Maximus wrote:The big thing we found when looking a MPG is keep your speed down, you will get alot better mileage pulling at 55 or 60, than 75mph. But we seem to always be late and in a hurry.
That'll help with tire problems too. Biggest issue with overloaded trailers is towing at high speed when it's hot.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 6:31 pm
by sverbus
The questions I had about the power and MPG were more geared towards when the truck isn't hauling...I'm very cool with taking my time when hauling. I don't think the dodge will struggle that much with it, and yes the bags will help alot I'm sure.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:14 am
by sverbus
Thought I'd update you all on what I did to the truck and how it reacted. I did purchase a Reese load balancing hitch with the 1000lbs stabilizer bars and such. That made a big difference. Still need the anti-sway bar installed from receiver to tongue of trailer, but it definitely hauled good.

To help with the "heaviness" of the trailer, I installed a set of SuperSprings and WOW did they make a difference. before I had them installed, the truck was sagging in the rear with just the trailer. Once I had them installed, and the trailer loaded with the car, the rear of the truck was level.

These things installed super easy and actually raised the rear of the truck about 1.5"

With my Ram I had to use the installation kit, so that was another $80 but some trucks don't need that.

Truck is a bit underpowered, but I already knew that! Spent alot of time in 2nd gear on the hills...but I wasn't in a hurry. :smt004

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:04 am
by HPDRIFTER
Try moving the load in your trailer forward a bit before spending the $$$ on an anti-sway bar.
You might not need it with a little more tongue weight.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:50 pm
by evil16v
Again I'm a little late to the party.

Here is a cut and paste and link to something i posted a long time ago about 7 posts down the second page.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1529&hilit=towing&start=15

I know you can't/ won't go right out an buy a 3/4 ton even if you have the cash to dump. but this is just something to think about.
Last year I saw the affects of a poorly balanced trailer on a for crew cab Ford. My best friend wrapped it around a telephone pole.... actually he knocked it down. He totaled the truck, totaled the trailer, Scared the shit out of the kids and wife. It all got taken care of.. nobody was hurt. But then he get's to feel about 2" tall every time he thinks about it.


I'm still a newbie here, was reading through some of these old posts and would like to add to this.

I was a 1/2 ton guy for years(and still am to a point) I got a deal on a 24' enclosed pace, and thought my my 1/2 ton suburban would be light for it but all right. I thought " the flat bed weighs 2k even, how much more could some walls an a roof weight? not that much...surely"
WRONG.
I bought it and picked it up with my K1500 suburban with tow package/3.73's with load levelers/sway control on the trailer. pulled fine from Topeka to Lawrence. thought it was kinda heavy though. cleaned it up and put some tires on it(previous owners had 'P' series tires on it :shock: ) and weighed it. I thought it would weigh about 3300. LOL. It IS 4300lbs absolutely empty!! Lets do some math:

Burban with 1/8 tank gas: 5680

Burban with 1/8 tank gas
hooked to trailer: 6100

trailer by itself miss'n some
plywood inside hitched to
burban: 4300

that's about 420 or 10% tongue weight. I havn't weighted the gs or tools but i'm assuming about 4200 for tools/gs. then 175 lb generator. That gives me a total of about 8700 with a tongue of about 870 to 900lbs. add that to the suburban and that gets me a suburban weighing 6550 without me in it and no gas. a full tank will weigh 220 more. i weight 220. that makes the burban weigh 6990...just shy of 7k.

Burban specs: 6500lb tow rating by the manual with 3.73's that it has.
7300lb gvwr.


As you can see that is very marginal. A few accessories bolted on, here and there... and then bring some extra tires and wheels... come home with just about anything from the swap meet and your overweight.

What does overweight mean? you probably won't get pulled over or weighed.... BUT.... If what if some dumb a$$ pulls out in front of you? You know... the same type that come out of the wood work every dang time you hookup. You hit him/her. The cops find your stopping distance to be a factor... then they weigh you.... your over. Will your insurance company pay for damages and injuries? Not a chance. They are out to make a buck, and if there is a loophole for not paying a claim, you can bet your a$$ they will use it. You will be holding the bag.

I know you guys just love to hear sermons, but I got the same treatment when i was trying to pull the big enclosed with a half ton. I am glad I listened. I now have a 3/4 ton Suburban and it is STABLE, just judging from the one time i have pulled with it so far. this will be a way less stressful ride and legal too. It has an HONEST 10k tow rating, and 8600 gvwr(this was limited by a GM/ cafe/tax thing... could have been way more)

BTW... how many of your 1/2 tons have brakes like this (13"x3 1/2"). and a 4" stack of leafs... and bellowed air bags? :D

Bought this rig needing TLC for 2000 and put about 700 in it so far... mostly maint stuff.

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:16 pm
by sverbus
Yes, I agree that my 1500 Dodge isn't ideal for hauling this kind of setup, but it's all I got for now and I'm finally even on equity in a truck and so I can't possibly get another truck :)

A normal 3hr drive to my dad's shop in PA took me well over 5hr's on Saturday of this past weekend. I know that the truck isn't the best haul rig for this combo as I said above, SO I took my good ol time and never went above 60-65mph. I also gave myself TONS of room behind ANY vehicle in front of me.

I also don't plan on pulling the car more than 3 or 4 times a summer, and that's only 45min's to the track. This trip to PA won't happen again for a while after we get the car back together and get it back here to Columbus.

In a few years, I do hope to get a diesel and a 3/4 ton...so we'll see :)

Plus I absolutely LOVE my metallic black Big Horn! :bling:

Re: Dodge's and 24' enclosed trailer issue's

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:32 pm
by evil16v
sverbus wrote:Yes, I agree that my 1500 Dodge isn't ideal for hauling this kind of setup, but it's all I got for now and I'm finally even on equity in a truck and so I can't possibly get another truck :)

A normal 3hr drive to my dad's shop in PA took me well over 5hr's on Saturday of this past weekend. I know that the truck isn't the best haul rig for this combo as I said above, SO I took my good ol time and never went above 60-65mph. I also gave myself TONS of room behind ANY vehicle in front of me.

I also don't plan on pulling the car more than 3 or 4 times a summer, and that's only 45min's to the track. This trip to PA won't happen again for a while after we get the car back together and get it back here to Columbus.

In a few years, I do hope to get a diesel and a 3/4 ton...so we'll see :)

Plus I absolutely LOVE my metallic black Big Horn! :bling:
I understand. I ain't trying to bust your nuts. :nutkick: just something I put out there from time to time. The weight distribution bars, anti sway, and just slowing down will help big time.