towing with my lowered crew cab

[Supercharged111]

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Thanks for all the replys. I will weld and box to strengthen the c notch and changing my rear bags to the airlift 5000. And pray for the best. Back in the 80’s and 90’s these lowered crew cabs were everywhere and all the hot rod shops had them and towed huge trailers with them. I wished i could buy a duramax dually but i love my OBS crew and its never leaving lol. I cant afford a late model duramax and a toy hauler . Sucks to be poor lol. This is my truck

What wheels are those? They look good so they're probably discontinued.

 

[letitsnow]

The aerodynamics of an enclosed trailer vs a open trailer are what I think you're talking about right?

Yes. Our frames look like they were designed to flex, and when pulling my camper at 75 mph down a bumpy road, with a 20 mph cross wind, things are moving around! Scary. I try not to think about it...

Adding the c notch changes what the frame was designed to do. Probably never going to be a problem, especially with a 5th wheel hitch. Not sure that I would pull a heavy trailer with the bumper though.

OP - that truck looks awesome! If I were to see you driving that truck, pulling a camper - I'd think that you are RICH!!!

 

[618 Syndicate]

If that scares you......never drive big trucks lol.

I think we've all contributed valuable information to the op, from each our different perspectives and levels of experience.

And yes, his truck looks outstanding!

 

[618 Syndicate]

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Thanks for all the replys. I will weld and box to strengthen the c notch and changing my rear bags to the airlift 5000. And pray for the best. Back in the 80’s and 90’s these lowered crew cabs were everywhere and all the hot rod shops had them and towed huge trailers with them. I wished i could buy a duramax dually but i love my OBS crew and its never leaving lol. I cant afford a late model duramax and a toy hauler . Sucks to be poor lol. This is my truck

I've been driving lowered duallys since back then too. My first was a 95 cclbd with a 6.5 that I bought in 96. Not new, but less than 5k miles on it.
They're like that one toxic broad ya just keep going back to....

 

[BowtieJC]

Thanks for all the replys . The obs trucks have always bern my favorite. I had a new ex cab in 93 and lowered and c notched it . Wish i still Had it too lol if you seen me pulling a fifth wheel with this truck I wouldnt be rich im poor or i would keep big blue where it stays in the garage and hsve a 2018 duramax cclb dually lol

 

[thinger2]

Heaviest I've personally towed was another crew cab long bed 400 dually with a 6.5 on a 22 foot car trailer, but I don't know what that weighed exactly. I've seen others tow 2 and 3 car gooseneck trailers, but I can't speak to their frame mods.


Can you elaborate on the idea of the notch being a hinge point? The idea that a notch weakens the frame is common, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. Seems to me that if you bolt and weld a notch in place it would be stronger than the rest of the frame, and less likely to fail.

Its all about loading and how how that load transfers through a structure.
Imagine if you had a 14 foot piece of 4x4 square steel tube.
We could support it on both ends while ten of us stood on it and it might deflect a 1/4 inch maybe.
Because we are applying a concentrated load but the structure transfers that load to the ends of the tube.
The top of that tube we are standing on tries to squeeze itself together.
The bottom of that tube is trying to pull apart.
The sidewall of that tube transfers that load away from the failure point and keeps that tube from failing because of its form

Think about a 1/4 thick piece of 4 inch flatbar that is 14 feet long.
If we lay it flat on some blocks.
I can sit my ass on it and bend it.
I can step on it and bend it.
Take that same flatbar and restrain it in a verticle position so it cant deflect and your whole family can stand on it and wont deflect.
A C notch changes the load from being mostly a linear load to a load that transfers through a hard welded corner or change of angle.
And then all of that linear characteristic and strengh and ability to tranfer a load is done.
Metal structes do not carry their properties through welds.
And the weld is the weak point.
And the heat affected zone adjacent to the weld.
Box the frame way past the C notch and weld it up.
Its all about getting the loads transfered away from your notch.
Not about keeping them on and loading the notch.
You want that "energy" and "work" to have a place to transfer down the frame so it doesnt point load at the notch or the welds.
Plate it over the c notch and past it fore and aft and weld it.
Weld the frame box to the notch.
Then figure out how to weld that new frame to the truck.

 

[618 Syndicate]

A good explanation, but the notch is bolted, welded, thicker, and flanged. I'm starting to think that many of our friends have never actually seen a notch, as it seems commonly misunderstood. Not invalidating your engineering expertise, but if they're so poorly designed as you and a couple of other guys seem to think, wouldn't failure stories be common? I've never, ever heard of a properly designed aftermarket c-notch failing because of towing something within the vehicle's towing capacity, and I've been towing with notched, slammed trucks for 25 years. Anyone else ever heard of this happening?

 

[1ton-o-fun]

E=mc squared, the square root of pie is pudding... enough of the brainy stuff. -

That's a purdy truh-k!

Ok! Time in!

 

[Supercharged111]

A good explanation, but the notch is bolted, welded, thicker, and flanged. I'm starting to think that many of our friends have never actually seen a notch, as it seems commonly misunderstood. Not invalidating your engineering expertise, but if they're so poorly designed as you and a couple of other guys seem to think, wouldn't failure stories be common? I've never, ever heard of a properly designed aftermarket c-notch failing because of towing something within the vehicle's towing capacity, and I've been towing with notched, slammed trucks for 25 years. Anyone else ever heard of this happening?

I think part of the reason they catch so much flack is because it isn't super common for folks who notch to tow. That said, I can think of a couple off hand who do.

 

[618 Syndicate]

I think part of the reason they catch so much flack is because it isn't super common for folks who notch to tow. That said, I can think of a couple off hand who do.

I agree with you most don't tow, but I get tired of folks who think a dropped truck can't. Not suggesting that this is the case with members here by any means, but people I run into IRL frequently say all sorts of dumb ****.