Maxing out payload with Slide in Camper?

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HotWheelsBurban

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@88GMCtruck had a build thread on a travel trailer that he totally rebuilt over the course of several years. It was very interesting! The biggest thing you have to watch for on used RV s is water damage. #2 is electrical problems, #3 is do the gas/propane system and appliances work well. My family has been living in a 40' gooseneck toy hauler for a year and a half now, and it's been a learning experience. It's like an old car or truck, you have to budget for unplanned expenses.
If you do get to look at that trailer close, check to be sure none of the walls move. You'd be surprised how often that happens....
The guy we got our trailer from had several that he looked at before he located this one. Two got sold out from under him, and he could move the wall by the door on a few more.
 

Stumpy

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Is an SAE standard the actual difference between the new trucks?

My buddy used to give me lip about his stupid 2018 Ram 1500 having almost the same tow rating as my 1 ton dually. (9500lbs IIRC)
All the manufacturers went to a standardized method for determining tow ratings, around 2019 or 2020. The max tow on a K2xx truck was something like 21,000lbs. Since the redo, now you can get 36,000lbs, with essentially the same Duramax/trans as the last gen trucks. GM were heavily under rating their trucks for years, if not decades.
 

stutaeng

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Is an SAE standard the actual difference between the new trucks?

My buddy used to give me lip about his stupid 2018 Ram 1500 having almost the same tow rating as my 1 ton dually. (9500lbs IIRC)

Yes, that's correct. At some point (maybe late 2010s?) the manufacturers started using the standard. Presumably so that they all used the same criteria to come up with towing ratings.

There was a thread some time time ago about a guy that towed somewhere around the 9,500 lb with his GMT400 dually and then with his Ram 1500. IIRC, the old truck towed better! Tell your buddy to go hook up the 9,500 lb trailer and see how it does driving around for a day.

My brother has a 2013 Ram 2500 with the 5.7. I think he said his towing capacity is like 13,000 lbs. He told me he once towed round 10,000 lbs and it seemed his truck was like, "No Mas!" LOL.

The consensus nowadays seems that you need to size your truck such that your intended towing load is 75% of the truck's rated capacity. If you ask me, that seems pretty foolish, but that's what they say.

I bought a 06 2500 Suburban last year. The guy had just bought a Denali 2020 1500 and didn't need it anymore. He's a car enthusiast has a C6 Corvette, several F bodies, as well as some 70s muscles cars. Very nice personal collection. He used the suburban for towing across the country. Anyways, I went back to his place months later because the DMV office wanted some other signature on the title. He said he regretted selling his Suburban. He said his Denali's front suspension is way too soft for towing his car. We talked a bit, and what I gathered is the newer 1500 trucks are meant for ridding around the city unloaded. They are more suited for comfort. Good thing they still make 2500/3500 trucks!


@Stumpy I agree the 6 speeds are pretty good also. Not so much on the 8 speeds!
 

Supercharged111

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Yes, that's correct. At some point (maybe late 2010s?) the manufacturers started using the standard. Presumably so that they all used the same criteria to come up with towing ratings.

There was a thread some time time ago about a guy that towed somewhere around the 9,500 lb with his GMT400 dually and then with his Ram 1500. IIRC, the old truck towed better! Tell your buddy to go hook up the 9,500 lb trailer and see how it does driving around for a day.

My brother has a 2013 Ram 2500 with the 5.7. I think he said his towing capacity is like 13,000 lbs. He told me he once towed round 10,000 lbs and it seemed his truck was like, "No Mas!" LOL.

The consensus nowadays seems that you need to size your truck such that your intended towing load is 75% of the truck's rated capacity. If you ask me, that seems pretty foolish, but that's what they say.

I bought a 06 2500 Suburban last year. The guy had just bought a Denali 2020 1500 and didn't need it anymore. He's a car enthusiast has a C6 Corvette, several F bodies, as well as some 70s muscles cars. Very nice personal collection. He used the suburban for towing across the country. Anyways, I went back to his place months later because the DMV office wanted some other signature on the title. He said he regretted selling his Suburban. He said his Denali's front suspension is way too soft for towing his car. We talked a bit, and what I gathered is the newer 1500 trucks are meant for ridding around the city unloaded. They are more suited for comfort. Good thing they still make 2500/3500 trucks!


@Stumpy I agree the 6 speeds are pretty good also. Not so much on the 8 speeds!

Strangely I hear nothing but praise for the 10 speeds. I figured it'd be annoying with it shifting all the time. I have yet to drive one myself.
 

thinger2

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Sorry to sidetrack this thread, but I (think I) want to get into the camping scene. Man is it ever expensive! There's a 18'-20' 5th wheel I pass to/from my house. The homeowner had lots of toys that I'm guessing were mid to late '80s or early '90s. He passed away and his now middle aged son lives there. -Well, exists there. Grass mowed once a month, can't tell if any cars come or go... this camper looks a little weathered on the outside, but no dents, rotten floor sagging down, no caulked leaks... it's just sitting there on a gravel spot, not being used for the 8 years I've been driving by.
Do I dare ask about it? Can a capable handyman "remodel" these?
Again, sorry to derail. And no offense will be taken if this post is ignored (I'm on my 3rd marriage, I can take it).
First thing to do is find out who made it.
The build quality on RVs varies all over the place. Same goes for boats.
Same goes for EIFS houses.
When an rv sits outside with no maintenence, the sun cooks all of the sealent on the roof.
Vents, A/C units, roof seams etc..
When that sealant dries out, rainwater leaks into the core and delaminates the plywood or if it has a foam core, it just crumbles.
They kind of rot from the top down.
The water gets in through the top but it has noplace to go so it just sits there and rots the wood
Sometimes it is only the slide out that rots because of seal failure.
That you can repair.
If the roof or sides are rotted, it aint worth the effort.
The next thing to look at is the braking system and all of its wiring.
And all of the other wiring too
My brother in law is in the middle of trying to rebuild a 30 foot wildnerness from the mid 90s and somebody re wired the brakes on it with 14 ga romex and wire nuts and just left it all hanging loose.
The other major issue he ran into is that all of the propane systems and appliances have failed one after another.
And that gets really expensive.
That is because he has been running it off of a bulk tank in the yard and the pressure regulater failed.
Probably from overfilling the tank.
Apparently you should never fill a tank all the way in order to avoid this.
Something about head pressure
When that happens the tank will send a gooey nasty oiled up crud that looks like pancake syrup through the entire system.
And you really cant clean that out.
You can try, but that crud is in all the appliances so they just keep failing.
before you buy it, do some serious homework.
It might be a good deal.
But it might be garbage.
A cheap RV can be just as bad as a cheap boat and maybe worse.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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Yes, RV propane bottles are only filled to 80%, for that reason as well as to allow for expansion in warmer conditions. We have two 20 pound bottles in our trailer; it usually costs between $20 and $25 to get one filled. Since the park is close to 2 major highways, there's several places fairly close to get propane.
 

1ton-o-fun

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First thing to do is find out who made it.
The build quality on RVs varies all over the place. Same goes for boats.
Same goes for EIFS houses.
When an rv sits outside with no maintenence, the sun cooks all of the sealent on the roof.
Vents, A/C units, roof seams etc..
When that sealant dries out, rainwater leaks into the core and delaminates the plywood or if it has a foam core, it just crumbles.
They kind of rot from the top down.
The water gets in through the top but it has noplace to go so it just sits there and rots the wood
Sometimes it is only the slide out that rots because of seal failure.
That you can repair.
If the roof or sides are rotted, it aint worth the effort.
The next thing to look at is the braking system and all of its wiring.
And all of the other wiring too
My brother in law is in the middle of trying to rebuild a 30 foot wildnerness from the mid 90s and somebody re wired the brakes on it with 14 ga romex and wire nuts and just left it all hanging loose.
The other major issue he ran into is that all of the propane systems and appliances have failed one after another.
And that gets really expensive.
That is because he has been running it off of a bulk tank in the yard and the pressure regulater failed.
Probably from overfilling the tank.
Apparently you should never fill a tank all the way in order to avoid this.
Something about head pressure
When that happens the tank will send a gooey nasty oiled up crud that looks like pancake syrup through the entire system.
And you really cant clean that out.
You can try, but that crud is in all the appliances so they just keep failing.
before you buy it, do some serious homework.
It might be a good deal.
But it might be garbage.
A cheap RV can be just as bad as a cheap boat and maybe worse.

Thanks very much for the reply. It's tempting, but I think I'll have my hands full with the truck and the Crown Vic. I'm too old to have a bunch of projects but nothing finished. I'm going to bow out of my camper pipe dreams.
 

Carlaisle

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It was my understanding the 4600 is for stock height and 5100 are a little longer to allow for the longer travel of the lift?

I tried to run those Bilsteins on a one ton. They were completely incapable of controlling it when loaded, as in legitimately unsafe. Threw them away and replaced them with a pair of Monroe 34985, which handle like a champ.
 
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