Dr1ft3r

Maybe a Westin winch tray? That's about the only option I've seen for my truck that doesn't require a bumper change. However, I haven't looked very hard since I'm having a Ranch Hand Legend with the grille guard installed in about 2 weeks. I'm just going to use a receiver cradle for the winch. Then cut and crimp my own 4/0 quick connect cables for the front and rear receivers on the truck. Then I can pull out the winch when I need it and have the ability to winch on the front or the rear of the truck.

I have a 2023 6.6L gas engine. But I've only had it for 2 months. So I don't have enough time with it to be of much help. I haven't noticed any major loss of oil in the 6,000 miles I've put on my truck so far.

I'm certainly no expert on this subject and this is the first I've heard about a lawsuit over oil consumption of the 6.6L gas engine. That being said, the 6.6L engine is a direct injection engine. In my experience with DI engines they all consume oil as some of the oil passes through the PCV system. The amount of oil that passes through the system appears to be directly related to how hard the engine is being run. Some people opt to use aftermarket catch cans to collect the oil and reduce valve deposits. Whether or not the catch can is actually needed has been a topic of discussion for many years on many forums for many vehicles.

I have a few funnels like the one below. They are much better than the funnel which come with the truck. They are longer and the mouth is wider. They cost more than $1 but far less than $20. As for getting fuel out of the tank by siphon, I also have one of these Flow Joe pumps. I have never used it for that purpose, I use it to transfer fuel from portable cans into tanks. But they claim the stiff white tube can be used to get past the "ball" in the the fill tube on vehicles.

True. But if someone really wants your gas they'll just pop a hole in the gas tank with a screwdriver and put a gas can under the hole. Personally, I'd rather they siphoned it out.

Contrary to popular belief, the world does not revolve around California and the maximum speed limit for towing is over 65 mph for most of the country. Next time you should do a Google search... But thanks for hijacking a thread about weight distribution hitches and crying about the dangers of towing over speeds of 65 mph, even though it is perfectly legal to tow at faster speeds than that in almost every state. I'm done posting about the subject of towing speeds. If you aren't happy with the current laws then write a letter to the governments of those states. I don't care about your opinion on the matter. Good day.

I get it. I'm just saying that I'm pretty sure that's why the holes were there. As for functionality, I use mine as a handle to pull the tailgate open since there's no place to grip the tailgate with my cover on top unless I open the cover first. The weather seal on the tailgate from the cover prevents the tailgate from opening on it's own.

I'm pretty sure the holes are meant to allow water to drain out in the event the truck is sitting for a long time after it was filled with rainwater.

This was back in the 1970s and 1980s. The national highway speed limits were 55 in the 70s, then they were raised to 65 in the 80s. Nowadays speed limits are as high as 85. If they’re traveling at 55 mph on these highways they are creating a more dangerous situation than traveling at the speed rating of modern trailer tires. I can guarantee that someone is going to run into the back of their trailer if they are traveling at 55 before they blow a tire at 80. Which is why modern trailer tires are being built for higher speeds, as are modern trailers. This guy is likely very old, or taking advice from someone very old. Times change, so does technology.

I can't speak for the camera you linked. But on my last travel trailer I was using a 3 wireless camera system from Haloview. I had a rear camera and a camera on each side of my trailer. It worked decent most of the time. But sometimes I would get interference and lose signal. Usually on the rear camera since it was the farthest from the monitor. They also sold a signal booster to install on the trailer for longer trailers. My trailer was 23', which was under the recommended length of 33'. So I didn't use the booster. This time I will be using the wired camera. I feel it will perform better and I also want the transparent trailer function. I do not see any mention of the transparent trailer function with the wireless camera you linked. Oh, and in order to power the cameras when tied into the trailer lights, the parking lights or headlights of the tow vehicle have to be turned on. Daytime running lights will not send power to the trailer lights.

Exactly! These aren't 1 axle utility trailers that will have a catastrophic failure on the rare chance that 1 tire blows out. What are the chances that 2 tires on the same side of a trailer will fail at the same time? Heck, from the way this guy worries he shouldn't even be driving his truck out of fear that one of those tires will have a blowout. The chances are about the same. The speed limits where I live are 80 mph. So when I was doing 80 I wasn't speeding either. Yes, tire brands do matter when it comes to reliability.

The Goodyear Endurance tires are great too. I have those on my small utility trailer. The trailer came with some off brand cheap tires that have a lot of bad reviews for failing with very few miles. I replaced those cheap tires with the Endurance tires almost immediately. I bought new rims too and kept the cheap tires with the rims for spare tires. Oh, and I remembered the Winnebago has Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires, which are also Q rated. I will only buy Goodyear or Michelin when it comes to tires.

The tires on the Winnebago were a Q rated Goodyear light truck tire. I don't recall the exact type, but they are rated for 99 mph and are less than a year old with very low miles. The tires on the new toy hauler are Goodyear G614 RST tires, which are one of the best tires you can get. 14-ply and rated for 75 mph. Being brand new and used in 30 degree temp while not even being close to their weight limit I had zero concerns about testing the trailer at 80 mph speeds. FWIW, I've been driving for 30 years and have yet to have a blowout. I never let my tires get old.

The GVWR of the trailer is 12,995#. The dry weight is 8,525#, according to the manufacturer. So, in theory 4,470# could be added to the back if no other weight were added elsewhere (not realistic). The tongue weight would need to be at least 1,300# in that case and it would be far less than that if all of that weight was added to the rear only. The TW would likely even be negative in that case. The TW was a bit more than I estimated based on the manufacturer's posted weight. It was actually 1,700# dry, which makes more sense mathematically based on the height difference between both trailers (1" drop for 510# and 3.5" drop for 1,700#). So I was towing at about 18%-19% TW when mostly dry. I will be adding the most weight that I can add to achieve the best TW. Since my ATV alone will not be enough weight (700#) I will find other heavy items to store in the rear with it. Based on lever action and the placement of the axles I'm estimating that 1000# in the rear will remove about 350# at the tongue. If I could put that 1000# all exactly on the rear edge of the trailer it would be more like 500#. But that weight is going to be distributed over several feet of the rear end, which places the weight closer to the axles as it moves away from the rear, which means less lever action on the tongue. The game is finding the most optimum loadout. As was mentioned from another commenter, using a WDH can transfer load from the rear axle to the remaining axles. I may need to go this route if I want to get off of the overloads for a better ride. But I want to try to lighten the TW with load distribution tactics first. Since I will be heading back out of state tomorrow for work it will be some time before I get to continue this game. The trailer will likely sit until mid-summer.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. The tires on both trailers are rated for 75+ mph, but I was mostly travelling at 70 mph. I went up to 80 mph now and then to test how the trailer was handling in extreme conditions. It was also cold outside. If you knew anything about tires you would know that those speed ratings are for hot weather. Tires fail from heat. But hey, I'll let you know when I'm on the road so I don't have to pass you.

I travelled 300 miles today each way on a trip to get my new trailer. I dropped off the smaller Winnebago Micro Minnie and picked up the larger Outdoors RV Trail Series toy hauler. I used the new B&W hitch I bought last week to tow both trailers. They were both dry. The Micro Minnie weighs in at 4,400# GVWR and 510# hitch weight (not including the B&W). The rear of my truck dropped about 1" after hitching up the trailer. Driving with this trailer wasn't much different than driving without it. I had to drive through wind and snow. I had zero sway issues and no noticeable impact to steering or breaking. I was travelling between 75 and 80 mph after I got out of the snow (about 60 mph in the snow when there weren't any vehicles slowing me down). I haven't weighed the toy hauler yet, but I plan to weigh the hitch tomorrow. According to the manufacturer it should weigh 8,525# GVWR and 1,310# hitch weight. This is certainly without the 2 lead acid batteries that were added to my tongue. I also received a shopping cart of free stuff with the purchase of my trailer which I placed in the front cargo hatch. I estimate the hitch weight to be closer to 1,500# since I did not have anything loaded in the rear of the trailer to relieve some of the tongue weight. The rear of my truck dropped 3.5" after hitching up the trailer. I had clear roads for the 300 mile return trip home, but it was very windy in some areas. I encountered a little bit of sway due to the wind and there were times when the front end of the truck felt light, such as when going up a mountain at high rpm. I was travelling between 70 and 80 mph. The hitch weight will not normally be so high on this trailer as I will always have weight in the back which will lighten the hitch load. So this was likely my worst case scenario. A WDH would be wasted money on my light trailer, IMO. It would have been helpful with my heavy trailer. But it was still certainly not required. The ride was rougher though with a hitch weight that high. I'll have to see what my wet GVWR comes out to. I'm guessing 10,500#-11,000# which means I can possibly get away with a hitch weight of 1,100# or less. If I'm not content with the ride at that weight then I may consider a WDH just for the ride quality which would come from shifting the hitch weight off of the rear axle. I will weigh my hitch tomorrow so I know what the actual weight is. Today I was in a rush to get back home before dark, so I didn't weigh anything.

While a WDH can help lessen adverse effects while towing, it's the load distribution in the trailer that is going to have the greatest effect on how the trailer handles. Which is why it's important to always know the weight of the trailer and the weight of the tongue. Too much tongue weight can lift the front wheels off of the ground which can result in loss of steering control and braking ability. Too little tongue weight can result in severe sway. I stumbled on this video while trying to find the hard numbers for maximum tongue weight on our trucks.

Let us know how you like it! I'm maybe getting a 24TRX. If not I will get a 27 or a 29. But I'm definitely getting one of them. I decided to go with this B&W hitch. I try to buy American made when I can. It's a little cheaper than that Curt, but it was still on the pricy side.

I don't think I'm getting that Curt Rebellion anyway. With the new trailer I'm likely buying I will need a rise since the hitch height appears to be around 29"-30", which is well above the hitch receiver on my truck and that Rebellion cannot be used upside down to give a rise. I may get the hitch you bought. I'm still looking. I know that I don't want aluminum though.

One reason being that I go completely off road a lot. I would have to disconnect the hitch every time I wanted to leave the road as it would put a lot of strain on the frame of the trailer when I drive over such uneven terrain. Another reason is that I don't like having to constantly load and unload such a heavy hitch from my truck. It's not the kind of hitch I would drive around with when not towing. Lastly, it takes longer to hook up and unhook a WDH than a standard hitch. Then when unhooked, I have to find a place to store the WDH, usually in the passthrough storage in the front of the camper, which takes up storage space. A WDH isn't completely necessary to overcome adverse conditions. It just makes it easier. I don't like getting too comfortable because complacency when towing is what usually leads to people getting into trouble while towing, IMO. I bought a 1-ton truck because I want some towing capacity buffer and I don't want to use a WDH unless required by law or manufacturer (some states require WDH if using less than a certain size truck and the trailer is over a certain weight). By towing capacity buffer I mean GVWR. More weight means a trailer of a given size will have less impact on the tow vehicle. A 1-ton truck has a higher GVWR and a higher curb weight to give it a head start on total weight. The wheelbase of the tow vehicle is another factor, longer is better since it means it will take more weight on the hitch to lift the front wheels off of the ground. There's really no advantage here over a 2500 since they are the same wheelbase for the given cab and bed sizes, at least with GM. As an example: I have a Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108FBS that I towed with a SUV and a WDH was required for a trailer of that weight (~5500# wet weight and ~600# tongue weight). This truck tows that trailer better with no WDH than my SUV tows it with the WDH. This truck doesn't hardly know it's there. It's all relative. There are pros and cons with each tow method. Do what makes you happy.

I'm usually in places where I don't have to worry about theft if I actually lock it up. People here leave their vehicles running while they are in Walmart (older vehicles requiring actual keys). Anyway, I've always got stuff with me that would appeal to thieves, but I lock them up. My ATV is with me right now.

If you get a good one that is hardened it will still take a few minutes and will be throwing sparks like the 4th of July. They better be wearing ski masks too or else they'll be on camera, lol.

I can remember a turbo diesel 350 keeping up with my 2007 350z from 60 to 135 in South Florida about 15 years ago. After that they quit and I kept the pedal mashed until I hit the limiter at 160 mph. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a stock truck. This was out in the swampland on I-75, commonly called Alligator Alley. The last few times I went through Miami on my way to Key West about 3 years ago 100 mph was the norm around there. I travel the country a lot and Florida is like the wild west when it comes to speeding. I got stopped doing 100 in a 70 in South Carolina and the cop was threatening to take me to jail. I was used to Florida where I could get a ticket for 113 in a 65 and the cop would just hand me a ticket no questions asked. I no longer live in Florida though. I sold my house last year to some people from New York. They paid cash. There's way too many people in Florida now for my taste. I'm retiring in Montana, but living in Idaho right now. But I'm in Nebraska on a job at the moment... I travel a lot.

I thought about getting one of these since with my next trailer I'm going to have to check my tongue weights often due to variables with my load shifting, mainly due to consumable liquids (at least until I've used it long enough to know how they affect my weight). They are certainly useful and I'm sure you will enjoy having it. But I personally still want the Curt hitch I mentioned earlier in the thread. I believe it will provide a smoother pull. I also will likely leave it locked in the receiver all of the time. Since It wouldn't make sense to buy both hitches, I'll buy a portable scale like the one below instead. It all comes down to preference.

Thanks for this info! It jibes with what I already believed about the capabilities of the conventional hitch, but I couldn't find any info confirming that belief. So I was at the mercy of the only info available, the door sticker. The sticker states to refer to the owner's manual for more info but there was no helpful info as far as hitch capacity.