Okay, my turn:
1996 short bed, regular cab, stock suspension, V8, auto, 3.5 axle,
regular differential.
Boat: 1989 Glastron 19' cuddy with big 170 (4-cyl) I/O. The boat and
trailer are about 3,000 pounds by themselves. The cuddy was packed with
'light stuff'; bedrolls, clothes, etc. The cockpit had the bulky crap;
lawn chairs, butane tank, tent bag, etc. Skis, pull toys, and fishing
junk were placed where ever they would fit.
Bed: Has a hard tonneau cover. Packed it as full as possible for one week
at the lake: food, drinks, water, gear.
Hitch: New DrawTite Class III frame mounted hitch.
Was it fun? Nope. Leaving the driveway, there was all of one inch of
suspension travel left. It actually didn't ride as bad as it sounds.
There was one point over a newer concrete section (thumpa-thumpa-thumpa)
that the frequency was just right to pound the bump stops pretty bad.
Performance: Exceptional. Turned overdrive off, set cruise control to 60
MPH and the stock 215/70s put 2850 on the tach. Got 11.15 miles per
gallon versus 15-16 in-town, unloaded. Slithered up the boat ramp without
embarrassing me, either.
Now to do something about those springs! The safty chains on the trailer
had to be wrapped around the hitch to keep from dragging. The drive home
was much nicer as the all the food/ice/beer was gone -- probably had 2
1/2 inches of travel above the bump stops. Cool stance, though!
Bob Allen, Kansas City
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