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RE: 5th wheel hitches
I think he's saying 4" - from 16" to 20". I think it're more like 2", though. Mine runs flipped the other way so the kingpin is a couple inches in front of the ball. I doubt it makes enough of a difference in the torque applied to the trailer frame to matter either way, except maybe in some really rare cases.
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IdaD
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11/12/19 08:51am |
Towing
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RE: 5th wheel clearance
Can you lift the trailer? 4.5" is pretty tight especially if you get a bit off the beaten path.
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IdaD
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11/07/19 07:57am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: What is a 6.0L Chevy engine
It may be a great engine but just don't try towing up a hill. It creeps towing my 7500 lbs. but I don't like to run at 4000 rpm!
Not sure why you would say creeping... I pull 10k with mine up mountain passes and I have zero issues pulling grades. Let it spin to 3800 or 4400 and I can tell u, that hills won’t be an issue.....otherwise dead reliable, best engine gas wise that I have ever owned.
Aren't overpasses considered grades in Florida?
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IdaD
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11/06/19 03:44pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Truck batteries
I replaced the OE batteries on my 2015 CTD a couple of months ago but they were struggling a bit last spring. 4 years seems to be about all I get out of vehicle batteries. But they also see temperatures above 100 and below zero every year and I don't imagine that helps much in longevity.
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IdaD
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11/06/19 11:40am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Tires - too many options
I have Nittos on several pickups EXO (3500) and G2 Grappler (1500). Quality tires. Cooper SST on a 3500, probably wont go back to that tire in that appication, not seeing the mileage, always pulling but still seems like they are disappearing at a rapid rate.
Good to know that some people see value in Michelin pickup tires. I never have. Running up and down the black highway I guess must be their market.
Gonna give Falcon Wild Peak AT a run on my '18 3500 after my Exo's dissappear. Very popular here, reviews are good online and price is good.
I just ordered a set of the Falken's. Wildpeak AT3W. We'll see how they do but they look promising. My KO2s are getting worn down too much for me to want to run them through another winter. Nice tire but they don't hold up well enough on a heavy truck. Supposedly the new DT version wear better but the Falken's were a bit cheaper and I thought I'd give them a shot.
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IdaD
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11/06/19 10:24am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: I take back all the good stuff I've said about Les Schwabs!
Discount Tire has a lot better prices. So does Commercial Tire if you have them in your area - a bit more expensive than Discount Tire but they're more of a full service shop like Schwab. I think Discount is pretty much just a tire shop.
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IdaD
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11/05/19 04:23pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Campground Theft
I lost a generator and Stihl chainsaw while deer hunting a few years ago in the middle of the night and it really ticked me off. I am better about chaining and locking items now. I'm 41 and have been camping and hunting since I was a kid and never had something like that happen. At the end of the day it wasn't a huge deal and I'm honestly glad I didn't hear anything that would have prompted me to grab my pistol and go investigate.
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IdaD
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11/04/19 08:16am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: 5th wheel hitches
I really like my Andersen. I have the steel rail mount version. Light and super easy to install/remove, and really solid feeling towing. One of the things it does really well is handle terrain and allows you to hitch/unhitch when the truck isn't level.
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IdaD
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11/04/19 08:12am |
Towing
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RE: 2012 6.7 Diesel
I think you can get a HPFP failure kit on the 6.7 for about $300. It would still suck to lose the fuel pump but at least it would just mean replacing the fuel pump and not the whole fuel system, and that's where you get into the huge repair bills. I wouldn't own any CP4 equipped diesel unless I was able to put one of those kind of kits on it.
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IdaD
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11/01/19 01:22pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: More campers than parks
I think it might have to do the fact that a lot more people are becoming full-timers. A lot of us have never recovered fully from the great recession. That's a big part of why I became a full timer. I live in a mid-range nice park. It has good amenities and is extremely well maintained. It's not high scale or upend, it's mid-range priced. I've been living here about a year. I think we have about 150 spaces. I have not counted but if I had to take a guess I would say roughly 110 of those are long-term full-time residents. I know we have a waiting list for the month leases that's a year long. We have so many long-term families in here that we actually have a school bus stop inside the park.
I was looking at maybe relocating. I was spitballing a few ideas on job markets and doing some research. I looked at several different cities in a few different states in the northwest. The parks that appear to be similar to what I'm in now had waiting lists for month leases that ran anywhere from 18 to 24 months.
A couple of years ago I was up in Boise. I stayed in a mid to lower end park at the time. It was by far not the worst I've seen but nowhere near as nice as what I have now and significantly cheaper than what I have now. It was not a meth lab / biker kind of place, which I have seen. But it was definitely full of a lot of older trashy units and folks on hard times. Even that park now has a two-year waiting list.
My personal opinion is that a lot of people are finally starting to figure out that modern homes are not worth it especially in uncertain economic times. I did construction when I was young. Most stuff built before the 50s or 60s (before my time) in this country was built with durability in mind. I've got a buddy that's a contractor now. He tells me that modern houses are basically just slapped together and are only designed to last 30 years, basically the life of the mortgage. And as soon as you pay it off it's a falling apart piece of junk and you need another one. One example I love, when I was a kid stucco was done with metal lath and a mixture not dissimilar from concrete in texture and "heaviness". Now so-called stucco is thin-crete sprayed over styrofoam and chicken wire.
Unless you go all high scale / up end your average track home now is built with no more quality than your average RV. And while both are going to fall apart an RV cost a lot less and if taken care of might even actually last as long as the 30-year house. Even if it doesn't I can buy an RV every 10 years for 30 years and still come nowhere near the price of house that is designed to only last 30 years.
With all due respect, that's a whole pile of really misguided opinions. Homes are built far better than RVs, even basic new construction homes, and while many of the components certainly have finite lifetimes, with proper maintenance a home will basically last indefinitely. Home ownership is also a major driver of wealth in the US. In my own case a fairly significant percentage of our household net worth is in the form of home equity, and our current home has appreciated significantly since we bought it about 8 years ago. Show me an RV that'll do that.
As far as full time and part time camper overlap, I'm sure there's some in state parks during the summer. I don't think there are many campers in the type of parks you're describing, though.
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IdaD
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11/01/19 07:01am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: More campers than parks
You're in a very populated area. Go north into Oregon or east into Nevada and you'll find all kinds of wide open spaces to camp in and explore.
Forget about Idaho, though. Nothing to see there but potato fields.
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IdaD
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10/31/19 10:04am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Gm 2500HD GAS VS DIESEL
What often gets overlooked in the gas vs diesel cost of ownership debate is the fact that the diesel variants of HD trucks are...substantially better trucks. I would happily pay a $9000 premium in total ownership cost to get a diesel truck because the performance is so far superior, but happily I don't have to.
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IdaD
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10/30/19 01:31pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Tires - too many options
With the age/miles on your truck, you're still under warranty, I'd go back to the dealer and inquire on warranty replacements.
It may not do any good, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.
OE tires are usually ****. The stock Firestones on my truck didn't even make it to 20k miles. There won't be any warranty coverage available.
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IdaD
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10/30/19 09:51am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford 6.7L 1050 ft lbs TQ at 1,600 rpm, 475 HP at 2,800 rpm
You are going camping. Shirt sleeve weather. Being in the great outdoors.
Shoot. I have been doing it wrong. I use my camper in all kinds of weather. My activities demand it. Hunting seasons etc. do not change just because the weather is bad.
If the weather was always good, I would not need a camper, or even a tent.
It snowed 6" on us last weekend while we were deer hunting. Then it warmed up a bit and we had a mud/snow combo on all the roads until we pulled out on day 5, tags filled. At least it wasn't all that cold this year, lowest morning may have been around 20 degrees. Last year was dry but temps dipped down around 10 most mornings. You know, shirt sleeve weather.
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IdaD
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10/28/19 03:13pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F150 Tire time
Goodyear Wrangler All Terrain with Kevlar works great on mine.
Or do you want the lowest possible price?
Best value
I just put Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLTs on my 2017 1 ton gasser.
I have about 4000 miles on them It was 1000 bucks all the way around. I really like them. It I had it to again they make a step below these that are similar but cheaper I would have went with those.
I'm going to do those or the new KO2 DT tires here in the next month or so. I have the standard KO2 on there now and they just wore too fast but the DT version is supposed to wear better on heavier trucks. Those Coopers look pretty nice though and they're a bit cheaper too. Leaning toward the Coopers at this point. $1000 installed for new diesel truck tires isn't a bad price at all.
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IdaD
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10/26/19 11:54am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Gm 2500HD GAS VS DIESEL
3rd grade math is hard for those guys, evidently.
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IdaD
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10/26/19 11:51am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton
You could easily be close to max payload on a 3/4 ton diesel also as some of the loaded f250s I have seen have a 1700lb payload the same as my 1/2 ton.
Let's do this again, guys!
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IdaD
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10/24/19 01:32pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton
The only thing I'd throw out as an additional note on that spreadsheet is that SB is correct that there are some specific variables depending on where you live and how you do things that may move those numbers a bit. But the bottom line is, for most folks the ownership cost difference of gas versus diesel is not material. The area where there is a very material difference is performance, especially towing.
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IdaD
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10/23/19 03:21pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton
Just wondering.
What are the additional costs associated with a diesel engine vs a gas engine? I am trying to work up a cost benefit analysis.
(yes... I know I am a nerd...)
ShinerBock has a very detailed spreadsheet that breaks it down in in really good detail. You can go find it or maybe he'll see your question and post it. Spoiler alert - the diesel truck is actually a bit cheaper overall. You do have to pay more up front, but provided that's in your financial wheelhouse I'm not sure why you'd want the gas truck unless there are some unusual circumstances involved. Maybe living in an urban area with limited diesel availability, living in the great white north where diesel gelling can be a problem, etc. Absent those situations why not opt for the marginally lower cost coupled with substantially better performance?
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IdaD
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10/23/19 02:47pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton
An HD truck in OP's scenario is a no brainer. It's literally more truck for the same money, and it not only works better for the current trailer but also allows for more flexibility moving forward - and the compromises in moving from a 1/2 ton to a SRW HD are minimal. I think the compromises involved in moving from a SRW HD to a dually are much more significant.
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IdaD
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10/23/19 10:39am |
Tow Vehicles
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