From: <jsm@hardynet.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 5:59 PM
> You can see that you will be over without the weight distributing
> setup. And you will be real close with one.
Yepper. Glad you brought that up. Dang, I'm starting to think this is
stuff I should have known *before* buying a trailer. Guess that's what I
get for going with an impulse buy.
> Do you know what your GCWR
> is? That would be the maximum gross combined weight of both units
> without exceeding the max for either unit.
According to the owner's manual, it's 9500 lbs. If we spring for the 3.9:1
gears, it bumps it up to 10,500 lbs.
> Quite a few people believe that you should not tow over 75% of max
> rating just to have a safety margin in case something happens.
I thought DC's lawyers made them include the safety margin in to their
ratings to begin with. I mean, this is something they're putting in print,
telling the mass public "yes, go ahead and tow this much, because your truck
is capable of doing so." Yeah, there are all kinds of disclaimers, but it
still seems like they'd be opening themselves up for lawsuits if it wasn't
really safe to follow the ratings they've published. I know several people
on this list have said that they've loaded the bed past the published
payload ratings without too much trouble. Not that I advocate that sort of
thing, mind you.
> That unfortunately would be in a perfect world. While the V6 may be
> able to pull it it will really put a strain on it. Hope there are no
> hills in your travel plans. I pulled an enclosed motorcycle trailer
> behind my 97 V6 auto 3.55.
Well, mine is a 5 speed, with the 3.9:1 gears. Hopefully that'll make a
difference. I know it's going to be an "interesting" experience, but I
think it's up to the task.
> the best I could get on flat land was 12 mpg.
I have no illusions of getting good gas mileage. :-)
> That's why I bought a Ram 2500 diesel. <g>
Speaking of "in a perfect world"... :-)
Thanks for all the suggestions.
-- Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Toronto, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, blackDidn't you read the disclaimer? http://www.they.com/disclaimer
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