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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Hrm, where have all the old fashioned pickup gun racks gone?
A length of 1" x 1/8" flat steel, a few tools and a welder and you can make your own for next to nothin. :)
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/10/08 08:34pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Gear Change 1997 GMC Yukon
Contact Precision Gear, Richmond Gear, Reider Racing, or Randy's Ring & Pinion. You should be able to find a 4.56 gear set for your axles. 4.56 is available for most truck axles. Dig deeper than what the sales staff are telling you. Those gears are out there.
I changed my F350 from 3.55 to 4.56 and I absolutely love it! :) Your results may vary.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/07/08 04:36pm |
Towing
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RE: Big 3 rear axle #'s
All of those axles are fine for their pickup truck applications. You're not going to be able to load more weight in the truck than those axles are rated for. The lightest axle mentioned is the Visteon 10.50" used in the Fords, which is rated 9750 lbs. You'd have to be loading well over 6000 lbs of cargo in the bed to overload that axle. Not likely to happen in a truck with a pickup bed on it. My truck is carrying 3500 lbs of equipment in the bed. I don't see where I could possibly have enough room in there to stuff another 3000 lbs in it.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/07/08 04:24pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F350 or F450
Dana S-110, the axle itself is rated 13,500 lbs by Dana, has been for several years now. Ford rates the rear end of the truck for all the components of the truck, so Ford's rating will often be different than that of the axle manufacturer. The Dana 80 is rated 11,000 by Dana, even though Ford may only rate the truck for 9,350, or whatever the number is.
An example is my truck, Visteon rates the axle for 6250, Ford rates the rear of the truck for 6084. The limiting factor is the tires. Ford rates the dually version of my truck for 7500, while Visteon rates that axle for 8250. The limiting factor is the springs.
When I talked about Dana 80's in F450's, I was talking about F450 chassis/cabs over the years '99 to present. Many F450's over the years have had Dana 80's in them, and many have had Dana S-110's in them too.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/06/08 10:07pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: good use of space
I like it! :)
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/06/08 09:38pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Shrink wrap a camper for storage????
Interesting idea...
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/05/08 10:19pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: I need advice on building my own toy hauler
Plan looks good. 2 things I would do-
-turn the bed around so the head is at the front so the one person doesn't have to climb over the other to get in and out of the bed. This is why truck campers with a north/south overcab bed arrangement have become so much more popular than the old east/west bed arrangement.
-move the kitchen to the rear of the living area so more weight is carried by the trailer axles and less by the truck axle. If you place the kitchen sink near the bathroom, it will be easier to plumb and use only one tank for grey water. With the kitchen and bath sharing the rear half of the living area, the front 'living room' half with the lounge/dinette will be more open feeling as it can use the full width of the trailer.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/05/08 09:09pm |
Toy Haulers
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RE: TV shocks
If your truck has factory sway bars, you can help them be more effective by changing out the factory rubber bushings for stiffer polyurethane bushings. I did this on my truck and it made a big difference in stability with the camper loaded on the truck and the upgrade only cost me about $25 per axle. I used bushing kits from Energy Suspension, purchased through the local off road supply shop. They install easily too.
You can see the rear sway bar and the red polyurethane bushings in this pic. I did the same to the front sway bar too.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/0608081059a.jpg?t=1223261280
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/05/08 08:45pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F350 or F450
F450's use the Dana 80 rear axle, rated at 11,000 lbs (same axle as in the F350 DRW diesels) and also the Dana S-110 rear axle, rated 13,500 lbs (which also goes in the F550). What criteria Ford uses to determine which axle the truck gets, I don't know, but I see F450's with both axles.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/05/08 08:40pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Changing Gears
I have an 06 WW FK1900 and pull it with an 06 Tundra 4x4 DC with an equilizer WD hitch/firestone airbags/updraded shocks. I added a level kit to raise the front end up just enough to add BFG 285s D rated. I have 3 question: 1) is it possible to change the rear differential gears in my tundra to make it tow better and bring back the stock feel with the bigger tires?
2) Do you think I need to make this change with the rig I pull?
3) Do I need or should I get any other modifications to my Tundra to help it pull better and work a little less on those long trips to Glamis?
I have the tow package with the tranny cooler but no guage to tell if it's getting hot.
Thanks for all,
Jon
1- Yes, it is possible. I did it on my truck. Changed both axles from 3.55 to 4.56 and put in a locking differential in the rear axle at the same times. Best modification I have made to the truck so far. Take the truck to any local axle and driveline shop and they can make the change for you.
2- With an upgrade from stock size tires to 285's with small gas engine in a truck used for towing, changing to lower gears is almost a necessity to get back the power lost from the larger tires. I went from stock size 31.5" tires to 33" tires (285's) and the gear change made all the world of difference in the towing power of the truck. Very worthwhile investment!
3- I would do lower ratio gears, a locking rear differential, E-rated rear tires and heavier rear springs (and I did exactly that too, check the info in my sig) for the use you are describing.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/05/08 07:40pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Exteme TC'ing in a dually?
Give it a try. You already own the truck, so go have fun with it!
If you want to do realy 'extreme' off-road camping, tow a Jeep, Bronco, Scout, Samurai, etc behind the dually. Leave the truck and camper at the campsite and take the Jeep (or whatever) on the tough trails. Or, leave the truck and camper at home and take a Jeep and a tent! :)
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/05/08 07:27pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: recomend a slide in for a 2007 GMC 2500HD shortbox
Six Pac makes reasonably priced fully contained campers that won't overload your truck.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 08:01pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Weight Distrubuting hitch with heavy payload in truck
Set up the rear suspension of the truck (the springs) to handle the payload carried in the truck. If this means adding extra leaf springs, air bags, or other suspension add-ons, then so be it.
Buy the weight distributing hitch bars appropriate for the trailer's tongue weight. Set up the hitch with the truck and trailer both loaded.
With the truck suspension fully able to carry the payload in the bed and the weight distributing hitch fully able to distribute the weight of the trailer tongue, the truck and trailer will both be set up properly and should tow very well.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 07:55pm |
Towing
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RE: How do they know...
I change the oil every 2000 to 3000 miles. Have been doing this on all my vehicles over the years. I don't buy into this 5000 or 10000 miles baloney. The longer you run dirty oil in your engine, the sooner you will be paying for a rebuild. Change it often and use good oil.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 07:45pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: shocks
Bilsteins and Ranchos for me!
I have both on my truck. :)
Front-
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/0608081107.jpg?t=1223084265
Rear-
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn7/desertrider33/0608081058a.jpg?t=1223084293
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 07:36pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F350 or F450
I agree. The Dodge 4500/5500 cab/chassis would be my choice, with my own home made work body on it. :)
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 07:34pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Another Tire ?
My old GM dually's stock tire size was 235/85-16. The previous owner had put 265/75-16's on the front wheels. The wheels were either 6" or 6.5" wide, don't remember which. The sidewalls of the 265's were too far tucked in and the frontend liked to wander, even with full pressure. I changed them for 235's and the truck handled better. The stock rims were too skinny for the 265 tires. Not saying your experience will be the same. That was my experience with it.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 06:05pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Truck Bed Storage?
I saw a Royal bed like that on a late model Chevy last weekend. Looked sharp. The owner said he bought the truck used with the bed already on it. I don't know what year the truck was. He was using it as a mobile RV service truck.
I thought Redding made beds similar to that too?
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 05:54pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: FORD F550 S/DUTY 2001 7.3
I would leave the gears alone and just put taller tires on it. Going to 245's instead of the stock 225's would probly be enough to raise the ratio some without taking away too much from the braking performance. Any bigger than 245's and you would need to buy wider wheels too, but the 245's might fit on the stock wheels.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 01:08pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Truck Bed Storage?
Take a look at what Dodge did to the Ram 1500 for 2009. Scroll down to picture 13. Not much use with a camper on, even if you had one on a 1500, but it's nice to see manufacturers moving in this direction.
That new storage area is very cool. The greatest lacking on pickups is storage for even minimum basic survival items and that’s a great answer. I like seeing the innovative thinking also.I like that idea. I also like the lower rear storage box the Nissan Titan's have on their truck beds. Ford had that idea way back in the 70's with the lower bed side tool box on some of their long bed pickups. Too bad they quit doing that.
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SoCalDesertRider
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10/03/08 12:59pm |
Truck Campers
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