Community Forums

LOTSOHP · 05-28-2009, 08:59 AM

WOW, what a great Forum. I am about to join the 5th wheel club I guess. I have a couple questions if you all can help as I am a newbie. I am about to purchase a 09 Raptor but am a little hesitant, Quality, Weight, ride, are among some questions I have. Does anyone else make a similar Toy Hauler with torsion axles? I need at least a 14 ft. cargo area and as much living quarters as possible. Are the leaf sprung axles better or something? I know with car trailers they all went away from leafs many years ago due to breakage. The other question is I am towing with a GMC 2500HD crew cab long bed single rear wheels Duramax W/ Allison 6 speed. I have been reading the forum and I think I am within the weights but has anyone really towed something this size with a 2500 HD. I think I have plenty of power to pull but maybe not enough truck for the weight. Truck GVWR 9200, GAWR frt 4800, GAWR rear 6084, Curb Wt. 6141. Trailer empty Hitch wt. 3060, Dry wt. 12825, cargo wt 3675, GTW 18000. I believe my Trucks GCVW is 22000. If I dont have enough truck can I add a leaf or air bags or anything else to help, or do I just flat out need more truck to do this? Thanks for any help.

RustyJC · 05-28-2009, 09:31 AM

First, seeing that this is your first post, welcome to iRV2.com!

It's great to have you join us.

Rather than comment on your proposed combination, I'd suggest reading THIS WRITEUP by iRV2.com member Ken Lenger. At the bottom is a link to an Excel spreadsheet where you can enter your tow vehicle and trailer information to see how the weights shake out.

Rusty

Roam America · 05-28-2009, 01:06 PM

Thank's Rusty. I've been searching for the link to Ken's write up for a long time.

FatDog · 05-29-2009, 04:06 PM

welcome!
I'm curious about your preference for torsion. I have seen a lot of leafs in 'haulers and more torsions in smaller trailers like boats.
I suspect the torsion would allow the trailer to sit lower to the ground but then again the terrain I see has a lot of people flipping their trailer axles to gain a little height.
I'd love to hear your pro/cons on the torsions. I have two trailers - 1 w/torsion and 1 w/leafs.

And I'll bet you find that a 2500 yanking a 39'r loaded w/14' of sand buggy (?) w/tools,beer,gear down the road is going to give that GCWR-spreadsheet a real strong run for the money.

Real real strong!

But don't get weight/brake discouraged right off the bat, i want to talk torsion first.

Vette Racer · 05-29-2009, 11:38 PM

I thought about quoting FD's comments but decided I'd post another instead. I pull a WW 3705 which is basically a 38 ft rig and fully loaded with Jeep inside weighs 12,500 on the axles with about 3200 pin weight. My 3500 Chevy thinks thats about all it wants with the edge juice and all. I normally pull with the edge box set in level 3 and tow/haul set for level 2. In the roads out west where you will find grades unlike most around the central part of the country I would not want to take this rig. Hope that answers some of your questions. I was in Utah once and plan on having another tow vehicle when I go back. Good luck with your rig.

LOTSOHP · 05-30-2009, 07:38 AM

Thanks for the help, I knew I was on the edge with this truck. I used the spread sheet and came up with 3400 lbs left for cargo but I was -500 lbs on the pin. The 370 horse Duramax pulls hard but I dont think the truck will handle the weight well. I did the calculations without anything in the cargo area which I guess would take pin weight off the truck when loaded, but I am not putting much back there, we race a Jr. dragster with alot of ballast and it weighs 500 lbs along with a golf cart that weighs 750. Then I have tools and spare parts, chairs, canopy, etc. etc. I guess cargo would come to about 2000 or 2500 lbs. Most race tracks we go to out here are on the east coast and are flat tows except for bristol, thats the hard one into the mountains. I was hoping I could get by with this truck till winter and swap for a Dually then as funds are tight.

LOTSOHP · 05-30-2009, 07:50 AM

Fatdog, Thanks, I have always preferred the ride of torsions and they make them in 6000 and 7000 pound ratings. I dont have the experience like you guys but with car trailers they are smoothe riding and nothing really to break. I know what you mean about the ground clearance and camping which I guess these toy haulers are tailored more toward off roaders and camping, I was just asking to see if someone had something geared more for our neeeds. The KZ trailers offer a heavier duty ramp door and beaver tail which is better for us but the KZ's are way more expensive for basically the same thing I think. We really fit in somewhere between a Car Trailer with living quarters and the toy haulers, Car trailers just dont have enough living quarters, we have a large family with the inlaws and other relatives that show up at the track and need the room. Any upgrades I can make to these leaf spring shakle deals on this raptor? or am I just worrying too much? Thanks

FatDog · 05-30-2009, 10:47 AM

LotsoHP
You have an interesting setup, and generally flat terrain to go with it.

My loaded trailer with torsion is half the weight of the larger trailer I had w/ leafs so it isn't a straight comparison ... but I was wondering if the smoother ride of a torsion would actually give enough suspension for a heavy trailer? But then again sometimes I think the leafs gave too much bouncing to the 14K pound trailer. Nobody ever packs any dishes in the back of a leaf suspension heavy trailer.
The torsions i'm sure are engineered to perform, but they have only one pivot point for each side of the axle and the leafs have two.

Good luck with your setup and this years racing.

LOTSOHP · 05-30-2009, 09:12 PM

Well we just bought the Raptor and are picking it up Monday, I left the truck to get the hitch installed and we will see how it rides heading home. I would like to hit some scales to see how everything weighs out fresh from the dealer and after I get it loaded next week I will hit the scales again for a good real world comparison. I was mistaken on the Raptor not having a heavy duty ramp door and beaver tail, all the Keystone toy haulers have them now that I have seen. I am going to put the Jr dragster in it under the beds and hook the front of the chassis to the bottom of the beds frame work, then lift it with the power bed lift, should work pretty neat. I will put the golf cart next to it and tie everything down. I will post after we race next week and let you all know how it goes. Thanks again for all the help.

FatDog · 05-31-2009, 10:19 AM

Holy moly, good job!
Shoot some pics of your rig ASAP and post here,
And i want to see that jr-drag being lifted by the bed lift. Thats a good idea.
And what is a jr-drag running for power .. 600cc or something like that? I want to see a pic of that fire breathing beast as well. I had some mini-sprints a handful of years back w/ 600c. I got tired of everyone cheating with their engine configuration, expecially me, but the problem was the young rich kids had daddies' bucks to throw at new and wild engines and i had to crawl thru the motorcycle wrecking yards stealing old parts for mine. Just didn't seem fair.