First tow with Truck, 5th-wheel and 5-Star Tuning

[1ViciousGSX]

Went to Talladega this past weekend for the race. Finally got a chance to put my truck, 5th-wheel and 5-Star Tuning to the test.

Did good, truck handled it very well for a V10 gasser. Except for one hill on a back country road, 1st gear, gas pedal to the floor and barely maintained my speed. If I had to guess, it was probably somewhere between 8-12% grade. Lucky for me it was a short hill. I now know why that little section of road went to 4 lane at the bottom of the hill and back to 2 lane at the top, LOL. Otherwise on flat ground I could use overdrive and cruise at 65mph @ 1800-1900rpm. If I started to go up and down small interstate inclines I could just turn overdrive off and cruise 65mph @ 2400-2600rpm and do just fine.

Decided to have it weighed at a CAT Scale.

Truck and trailer (half tank of gas):
Steering axle 3620 lb
Drive axle 5820 lb
Trailer axle 11,080 lb
GCVW 20,520 lb

Went and weighed the truck separately (full tank of gas):
Steering axle 3610 lb
Drive axle 3540 lb
GCVW 7340 lb

So that means the trailer weighed roughly 13,360 lbs. Now keep in mind I had 60 gallons of fresh water on board the trailer which is close to 500 lbs. Next time I'll go empty and get it filled once I'm at the track. Fresh water trucks come around and will fill you up for $25.00, no matter how big your tank is.

Amazingly the truck only drops about an inch with the 2280 lb hitch weight. Never once touched the helper spring. As a note: I had fire wood stacked about half way up the front bed panel all the way across and a small BBQ pit. Maybe 100 lbs worth. This stayed the same for both weightings.

5-Star's 93 Octane Tow tune did great. Nice longer/higher than usual shift points to get the rig rolling and keep the V10 in it's sweet spot. No gear hunting at all. Just controlled/timed down shifting out of overdrive as needed. For the most part, if there was a lot of up and down action on interstate inclines/overpasses I just turned overdrive off to make it easier on the truck.

Overall great weekend, except for a little rain.

[KathyandDave]

Nice rig! I have driven the V-10 - it's a sweetheart. Do you plan to level the Monty?

[1ViciousGSX]

quote:Originally posted by KathyandDave

Nice rig! I have driven the V-10 - it's a sweetheart. Do you plan to level the Monty?

Thanks.

Yes, the previous owner raised it one hole location on the pin mount/arm to help clear his side tool boxes on his truck (he still bent a box though). I'm gonna bring it back down. I also had 60 gallons of fresh water in the rear of the camper which also brought the rear down a little.

[Tom S.]

I don't know if one hole is going to level it. You may need to go more or adjust the hitch (if you can).

[1ViciousGSX]

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

I don't know if one hole is going to level it. You may need to go more or adjust the hitch (if you can).

I can do both if needed.

BTW, what is the acceptable clearance between the bed rails of the truck and the bottom of the camper?

[Art-n-Marge]

Mike, Great testimonial!

BTW - I calculate your Gross Trailer weight at 13360 (Wheels + pin = "11080" + "2280" (5820-3540)).

Going by your numbers the pin weight of the RV is 2280 (assuming when you weighed your TV solo you still had the hitch installed). That's VERY GOOD at about 17%. What about your RAWR? With your dually you should easily be able to support the pin weight. With an 11200 GVWR the RAWR is probably over 6000, therefore well within your actual Rear Axle weight of 5820.

Your GCWR is over by 3,520lbs (based on your signature for the TV that states a GCWR of 17000)! As a start you definitely want to keep minimal or no fresh water to lighten the load. The other things affecting the ability to tow heavier are the 3.73 differential and the V10 torque. Diesel torques are much greater but maybe the 5-Star helps to compensate. A 4.x differential would have given higher weight ratings as well.

But now you know where you stand and knowledge is key! Thanks for sharing. Nice pictures, too!

[1ViciousGSX]

quote:Originally posted by Art-n-Marge

Mike, Great testimonial!

BTW - I calculate your Gross Trailer weight at 13360 (Wheels + pin = "11080" + "2280" (5820-3540)).

Going by your numbers the pin weight of the RV is 2280 (assuming when you weighed your TV solo you still had the hitch installed). That's VERY GOOD at about 17%. What about your RAWR? With your dually you should easily be able to support the pin weight. With an 11200 GVWR the RAWR is probably over 6000, therefore well within your actual Rear Axle weight of 5820.

Your GCWR is over by 3,520lbs (based on your signature for the TV that states a GCWR of 17000)! As a start you definitely want to keep minimal or no fresh water to lighten the load. The other things affecting the ability to tow heavier are the 3.73 differential and the V10 torque. Diesel torques are much greater but maybe the 5-Star helps to compensate. A 4.x differential would have given higher weight ratings as well.

But now you know where you stand and knowledge is key! Thanks for sharing. Nice pictures, too!

Thanks and corrected the post.

Yes, everything with the truck stayed the same except for about 1/2 tank of fuel.

The only thing with the truck that gets it up the the 20,000 GCWR from Ford is the rear diff ratio.
3:73 = 17,000 lb GCWR
4:30 = 20,000 lb GCWR

As a note: I had fire wood stacked about half way up the front bed panel all the way across and a small BBQ pit. Maybe 100 lbs worth. This stayed the same for both weightings.

[Tom S.]

When we bought ours, the RV tech said 5" to 6" spacing between truck and trailer.

[1ViciousGSX]

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

When we bought ours, the RV tech said 5" to 6" spacing between truck and trailer.

.

Doesn't seem like much. What about uneven surfaces? I would think that might be too close for comfort.

[1ViciousGSX]

To answer the GAWR for the pin weight, spec shows:
Max payload: 5510 lb
GAWR for the rear axle: 8250 lb

So I'm OK on both of those.

[Art-n-Marge]

6" clearance is pretty much the standard clearance distance between the bottom of the 5er at the hitch and the truck bed sides.

I was climbing out of a pretty severe angled soft dirt campground onto its main hardened dirt road and was surprised they did not hit and I came out at an angle too. But now I try not to do that and don't chance it. The only problem I had was losing traction in the soft dirt, but popping in 4WD solved that problem pretty quick.

[KathyandDave]

The side-to-side tilt of the trailer relative to the truck bed is determined by the side-to-side pivot between the hitch plate and the hitch frame, which usually allows only a few degrees each way.