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RE: 3/4 ton diesel limits on fifth wheel
I have both a truck camper and a fifth wheel. I always get a kick out of pin weight discussions on the fifth wheel forum. TC guys routinely carry 1-2000 lbs or more over the weight rating of their trucks. One can debate where it is advisable, but I don't think you can even find a less than 2500lb truck camper. The rule in truck campers is stay within the tire ratings. On a typical diesel that would give you a good 3000 lbs pin weight or more before you needed to be concerned. That covers the vast majority of fifth wheels.
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Ponderosa
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03/13/10 11:54am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Black water tank too large?
Yeah, don't skip on the flush water. I learned my lesson the hard way on this. It is better to have to dump more often than to try to clean up a "pile" blocking the toilet. What a mess! I still have nightmares about it.
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Ponderosa
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03/13/10 11:44am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: handling a fifth wheel
Pay attention to the TIRES and where they are going. You still have to watch out for that tree, of course. The fifth wheel seems to react slowly and it can be hard to notice until things are out of line. It seems you have to turn harder and then correct sooner. I find that backing-by-tire helps me a lot.
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Ponderosa
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03/10/10 11:43am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Cougar slide out bike rack
Does anyone know a weight rating for the rack on the Cougars? A friend has a 24 footer and was wondering about hauling his 4 KW genset there or maybe some firewood.My Cougar one is 200 lbs - says so on the rack itself, but it won't hold that much. I put an 80 lb generator on it and it busted the welds on both the brackets that hold the slide (Oklahoma I40 stretch - a bit of an extreme, but still). One bracket fell off completely. Fortunately I noticed before I lost my genny. I also put a little stubby hitch receiver on top of the bumper part of it and tow my aluminum boat (tongue is very light). That works OK.
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Ponderosa
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03/02/10 06:56pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Help with 15 tires and wheels?
I've had Transmaster 15 E's for a couple years with no problems. I busted one on a curb on my last trip and replaced it with a Goodyear Marathon. That tire was made in USA, but it is only available up to D load range in a 15.
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Ponderosa
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02/27/10 05:06pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Fivers - why no handbrake??
And I thought the USA/Canada were the only ones with 5vers?
The 1947 Highway Palace made in South Australia. 5th wheelers never took off in Australia until very recently, where they were reintroduced in the late 1990's.
Love that name Highway Palace. Too bad it won't fit on a vanity plate.
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Ponderosa
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02/22/10 10:28am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 03-07 Dodge Cummins 5.9L Fuel Efficiency Survey
Interesting to note the differences btwn the newer model and ULSD vs the older trucks and LSD. Seems they are getting worse mileage with newer than the older.
Just an observation. When I was running the 12v Cummins and full horse trailer, I got 14mpg; with the 05 and same rig it was 11 and from my friends who have the 6.7's and the new fuel it's worse yet. I don't think the EPA is your friend, rather causing you to use more fuel for the same distance travelled.I had a 97 Cummins and it got 25% better mileage than my 04. But the new one has a lot more ooomph too! I would have been happy with less HP and more MPG, but the brands got into a marketing war over engine specs and MPG lost.
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Ponderosa
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01/24/10 05:14pm |
Truck Campers
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How long is your double (triple) tow setup?
Most places that allow this limit it to 65 feet which is a little tight with all but the shortest fifth wheels. So I suspect, many are over that length. For those who have measured, how long are you bumper to bumper when towing whatever behind your fifth wheel? And have you ever been checked or cited for length violations?
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Ponderosa
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01/24/10 08:39am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 03-07 Dodge Cummins 5.9L Fuel Efficiency Survey
12-13 over several trips AZ-OK and back (6500 foot elevation changes). I go about 65-70 mph and have 4.10 gears on my dually. Like others, the 2K rev mark seems to be a major inflection point in the mileage curve. On mine, that is right at 65. Into the wind I drop below 10.
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Ponderosa
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01/24/10 08:04am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Cab over with 5er rails
I don't have rails but I do have centering guides, so kind of the same issue. I chose to glue the foam to the bottom of the camper, that way theres nothing to move or even think about, do the work once and forget about it.
If you look close I have three separate pieces of foam.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c68/spottt_/DSC04919Small.jpgThat's very clever!
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Ponderosa
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01/08/10 03:54pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: New truck report. WOW!
B-n-B
The whole point I was making, and that I stand by, is that ALL the big 3 have come a long ways with their diesel engines. Who cares what went into the design or what race the engineers were or any of that?
All you have to do is climb into a new Dodge, Chevy or Ford and stuff your foot into it. The power is amazing compared to each of their old engines from years gone by. Only exception would be the Cummins. It was always a brutally strong engine, if you could get around the confounded racket it made. That was my whole point. I did not ask for or try to get into a big discussion about who worked on the things. Who cares?
All I know is that I have owned one of the infamous GM 5.7 diesels in an 81 Cutlass and also the 6.5 TD in a 97 GM dually. Both engines were absolute garbage. They were not worth the powder to blow them to bits. Come to think of it, the 5.7 blew itself to bits . . . . .
So when I abandon the 6.5 TD junk and climb into a Duramax, I'm going to scream Yahoo! GM finally has a diesel worth raving about.I don't think the newer Cummins engines are an improvement necessarily. While I understand the need for emissions control, there never was any real need to produce pickup diesels with 300+ horsepower. My 1997 "old" Cummins was fine in that regard and it got 30% better mileage. The recent HP wars the big three had just cost us in complexity, reliability and, especially, economy.
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Ponderosa
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07/23/09 07:54am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Porta-Bote
But is it really as easy to assemble as the video shows it to be?Haven't seen the video. I have 12 footer than I have not used in years but remember that it does take some wrestling with it to get the first seat in.
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Ponderosa
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07/21/09 08:31am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Mice droppings in heating vents and hantavirus question
If you can be sure the mice are gone, then wait a week and do the cleanup - bleach, soap and water - use gloves. The virus dies off after a few days per CDC site. Also, there have been 19 total CASES in Idaho since SNV was identified with 6 deaths - not 19 deaths in the last year. It's a pretty rare disease. I am sure many, many people in Idaho have mice in their homes, RVs, etc and don't know about it and never get sick. Still, once you know, you should take proper precautions to safely eliminate them. They carry more than Hanta too.
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Ponderosa
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07/15/09 08:21am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Generator shed load then shutdown
I had a similar problem with the Generac generator in our '03 Lance 1121. The Generac is an inverter type generator and the inverter is mounted in a small compartment inside the camper in a metal enclosure that is fan cooled. If the inverter overheats after running for a while, the system will dump the load and shut down the generator.
The inverter in our Lance was in a compartment that is part of the step into the dinette slide out. The two vents in the compartment were cut in at the bottom of the compartment and wouldn't allow adequate cooling and the inverter would oveheat. One vent should have been at the bottom and the other should have been at the top of the compartment to allow natural circulation. I didn't want to cut another hole in the compartment so I made a sheet metal baffle to force the ventilation created by the inverter cooling fan to flow into and out of the compartment. Since the installation of the baffle, I've never had that problem again.
BillSame problem with my old Lance. The venting of the inverter compartment basically just recirculated hot air. I think I read your post way back when about the problem along with pics of your fix. Anyway, I modified it to vent outside and the problem went away.
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Ponderosa
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07/12/09 03:09pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: helping with backing in
Ladies feel honored you're only a spotter and not the driver. Last trip out I was relaxing at our campsite when a big 5er came through and stopped a few sites down. Guy jumped out preceded to direct driver with all kinds of signals and driver had to try several times to get it just perfect. When it was just to his spec's driver's door opened and out popped a tiny little female.That's my method - let the wife do it. She is more patient, takes things more slowly, and does not get flustered if she looks incompetent in front of others.
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Ponderosa
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07/12/09 08:39am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Rear tire pressure for a dually
As Luke said, go by the door jam. Often the manual in the glove box covers a number of other trucks, but the door jam is the data for THAT truck. I have never had a problem going with those pressures.
Usually a dually tends to wear tires crisp and square when put in the duall position, not in the center, and not on the outside. When you rotate them, always keep the pairs together. The fronts go the the right rear, the right rears goes to the left rear, and the left rears to to the fronts.The door gives one value - pressure at maximum load. The truck is not at maximum load when towing my setup. Tire dealer says uses load/inflation tables, but consider that it is the MINIMUM pressure required. He says add 10 psi to that.
My rear tires do not wear square at all. The center was gone on the last set while the edges still had serviceable tread. They were in better shape than the fronts though. I don't rotate them because of the inside/outside hassle. The old set was directional and the Michelins I have now have OWL on one side. I do run around empty most of the time.
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Ponderosa
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06/19/09 05:53pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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Rear tire pressure for a dually
According to my load-inflation tables in the glovebox, I should be running around 40psi in my rear tires with my 5th hooked up. I figure 3300 lbs rear unloaded plus 2000 more for the hitch weight being very generous (brochure has it quite a bit less). That makes it about 1325 lbs per tire and that number is supported at around 40 psi. That sounds low. I rarely use my fifth wheel, but do have problems with my rear tires wearing in the center even with my camper. What have you all found gives good wear?
Also, when loading, is is better to front load the weight or back load? Obviously, I have a lot of cushion on the truck tires for putting it on the bed.
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Ponderosa
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06/19/09 02:49pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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Overloading - Am I nuts?
Planning a 3-4 week trip so I have to take it all along - me, DW, 12 yo girl, medium dog, small dog and a cat! - in my Lance 1055. All things are possible, I guess, but it does seem crowded. I have the option of using my 5th Wheel but I hate towing that monstrosity and dealing with parking, turning, fueling etc. I'd like to take my boat too and I can double tow it, but that makes matters even worse. Also the TC has a genny and I can keep the animals in there regardless of temps, at stops, visiting things, etc. The 5th is of course much roomier. So I am having a tough time deciding.
Anyone have experience/advice with this kind of overloading?
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Ponderosa
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06/17/09 03:46pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Quick question for the battery wizzes
So you're sitting up there in Happy Jack where there's no other person within a hundred miles with a dead, kapoot battery wishing you had bought a new one because no other battery in Arizona has ever lasted five years.
Is that your question.. :h :BLOL, yeah that's about it. It wouldn't be the first time my cheap side got the better of me!
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Ponderosa
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06/06/09 10:24am |
Truck Campers
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Quick question for the battery wizzes
I left my cargo light on for a week and my batts are reading 5.1 volts. Are they toast or will they come back to life and be serviceable with a charge? They are five years old - nothing short of a miracle in AZ desert, so it may be time anyway.
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Ponderosa
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06/06/09 10:03am |
Truck Campers
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