fej

Hello,

I picked up a NEW 06 2500hd dura/alli crew cab a few weeks back. I am heading out for my first 80 mile each way towing trip and I want to double check that I have everything in place.

I have been told by a very experienced guy (towed all over the states) that the 2500 crew will not need a load leveling hitch. (He has an 04, same rig). I have a 3 1/4" drop hitch that puts me really square with the 18' open trailer (steel). Ball is a 6,000lb model. Trailer will only have the car, plus about 100lbs of tools on it. Rest will be in the back of the truck (tires, jack, easy up, cooler etc). I have 4 ratcheting tie downs (3300lb model each).

Brake controller (prodigy) shows up today and I will get that wired up tonight.

Anything else I am missing? Your help is much appreciated.

Also curious how everyone straps down their vettes ..

Thanks in advance

Fej

wallyman424

with an 18' open you won't need a LL hitch at all. Especially with that 2500 Diesel.

Prodigy is a great brake controller.

Do you have your T hooks to go from the strap to the factory tie down locations? Just cross the straps front and rear, and youre good to go.

FasterIsBetter

Sounds like you've got everything you need. An 18' open trailer is no problem for your truck.

You're going to get a variety of opinions on how to strap it. On my open trailer, I run the fronts straight back to the wheels, and cross the rears. I use straps through the wheels, but some folks use the T-hooks into the holes under the body where the lifting pucks go. Some people also go through the A-frames in the rear rather than around the wheels, but the rears should be crossed.

Make sure that you test your brakes after you get the car loaded. You don't want to have the brakes up too high, or you will find yourself locking up the wheels if you hit the brake pedal a little too hard. And of course, make sure the lights are working also, brake lights, etc. Check the tire pressure on the trailer too. I keep mine at 45 lbs. on my 18' open trailer.

It's a good idea to have a piece of plywood to put your trailer jack wheel on at the track when you unload. I always lower the wheel and raise the tongue a bit when loading/unloading, to keep the trailer from jumping. And if you plan on disconnecting the trailer, be sure you have some wheel chocks. I have locking bolts that go through the hole in the hitch to secure the insert/ball, and also through the latch on the tongue, for parking overnight or if I disconnect and leave the trailer. May not stop a determined thief, but might make them go bother someone else's trailer/hitch.

And, lastly, if you have a spare tire for the trailer, remember to take along a jack that will work on the trailer (I have a racing jack for the car that will work with the trailer) and the right size lug wrench.

Hope that helps. Enjoy the trip!



p.s. If you are not used to trailering, it's easy to forget that you have a trailer back there. Be careful changing lanes on the highway and going around corners, especially making right turns. Find a nice, big, empty parking lot somewhere and practice backing up. You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

AU N EGL

Racer86

Your rig sounds good, Don't forget to check All the tire pressures. I have towed for 40 years, and the best tip I can give you is: Trailers are easy to get to 60-70 miles per hour,,,, Its stopping them. That is where the real problems start. DON'T ever Tailgate anything when towing. Also, when you park it,(motels) have a plan to get it out, as other people's cars will block your exit. They don't understand the problems that trailers have.
Make sure you have the correct tongue weight after you load the car onto the trailer. If the trailer has sway, move the car forward on the trailer to get more tongue weight. Your loaded trailer weight sounds like it may be around 5500-6000 lbs, so figure 600 lbs on the hitch tongue weight. Check your straps after 50 miles on the road. Also, check your wheel lug nuts and keep them torqued to spec. Trailer wheels get large side loads when making sharp turns, and the wheel lug nuts can get loose. Leo's look for level trailer/ trucks with all the lights working. They like that.

John Shiels

cross your straps front and rear. Check the rating of your hitch although the truck may not need the LL hitch it may not be legal for the weight. My Dooley doesn't need LLH but it is illegal over 5-6,000 lb. without a LLH. Make sure your ratchet are locked when they are closed. You also need 3-4 turns on the ratchet to prevent loosing of the straps. Make sure you have a set of warning triangles in case you break down to place on the highway they are real cheap.. Also a flashlight for work at night. You may not need a LLH but a 2500 will benefit in handling from it especially in avoidance maneuvers.

0Randy@DRM

Congrats on your new rig. If you plan on keeping the setup for a long time. Get two spare trailer tires!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Randy

Racer86

I'l bet Randy found out about carrying 2 spare tires the same way I did.
First tire blows out, and the second one gets all the weight and it blows out also. :o

c4cruiser

What is the Class rating of the hitch itself? GM, for whatever reason, typically installs Class III hitches on its pickups and many of those trucks can easily tow well in excesss of the Class III rating of 5000lbs.

For example, my 99 Silverado Z71 with the 5.3L motor and 4.10 gears is rated to tow 7800lbs. The factory-installed Class III hitch is rated at 5000lbs without a weight distributing hitch. Add that, and the towed weight goes to 10,000 lbs for the hitch.

Keep an eye on the total weight of the cargo going into the truck. When you add in the tongue weight (10-15% of the total towed weight) it doesn't take long to get to the truck maximum cargo capacity. Once you add in tools, tires, equipment, the wife and/or girlfriend, the dog and whatever else, that max cargo weight comes up quick.

You might think about adding a pair of airbags to the rear. Air-Lift and Firestone has some good airbags that wil add another 500lbs of load capacity. If notheing else, they work great for leveling everything out.

Two trailer spare tires can be a big help. Have a large breaker bar with the correct socket and an extension. Having a small 12v air compressor helps to keep tires inflated properly. Get a pair of wheel chocks for the trailer tires. I always chock the trailer wheels when loading or unloading my car.

I set the parking brake on the truck but I tend not to leave the tranny in park. You can snap the parking pawl easily if the parking brake doesn't hold firmly.

Check the bearing on the trailer axles and grease every year. Cary an extra set of bearings, races, a seal, and a small can of the proper bearing grease. Extra bulbs for the trailer lights, too.

davidfarmer

At Load Leveling hitch is ALWAYS nice on a tag trailer. It will help your rear tires last longer, keep things more stable when the big-rigs go by, and generally make the entire experience better.

T-hooks in the frame is the only way to Tow a C5/C6 vette IMHO

bcstonic

I agree with David, T-Hooks. Also make sure you everything you need to change tires(truck/trailer) on the side of a dark muddy road.

WNeal

One other thing I would suggest if you get a chance, one of these guys gave me this advice prior to my first tow.

Take it outsomewhere where you can practice some medium to hard braking with the trailer and car behind you. Just work up to it but you don't want the first time to be the real time.

I recently had a situation where I had to break hard, I mean standing on them due to a guy in front doing some dumb stuff. It came up all the sudden and I was glad I had done it before.

Practice with different settings on your brake controller. I have mine brake just a hair before the truck brakes kick in and I think that is why everything stayed straight in the above situation. JMHO but certainly practice with a few things.

fej

Thanks for all of the advice guys I am putting together the remaining tools, and race accessories tonight. Unfortunately I am only going to get in the Sunday runs as my triathlon training this week has been skipped due to work issues. Gotta get my saturday 25 mile bike and 10k run in.

I do have one spare trailer tire, looks like I have to go get another. I forgot to mention that it is a dual axle trailer. I need to double check my hitch as well for the rating. Looks like I have a little more money to spend heh.

K found the T hooks, any quick place to pick them up? I have several friends in this run group that just tie to the A arms front and rear (maybe that is a no-no)

Fej

wurk_truk

hooks

click HERE

0Randy@DRM

About everything that could go wrong on a tow, has happened to me. The worst was having no spare, 100 miles from anything. Not that big of a deal right, nope -37 below is cold with some wind too I love when the tire wraps around the axle.
Carry a extra strap is always a good idea too. I used a strap to pull the axle up off the ground, to make into a Walmart parking lot. I got a tire and mounted using the truck rolling over the bead and starting fluid. After this night, I got a light weight jack

Randy

c4cruiser

One nice thing about the Prodigy controller is that you can adjust it (3 different settings) for weight ranges. Once you make the initial adjustment, then you can select other braking levels. I don't have room for my trailer at home so I have to haul it back and forth from a RV storage facility. Multiple settings on the controller allows me to adjust the braking force on the trailer when towing it empty.

You DON'T want to use the A-arms for tying the car down. Use the T-hooks by inserting them into the slots on the underside of the car where the jacking pucks go.and cross the straps on both ends. These slots are what the truckers use to tie the car down to the transport rigs as the new cars are delivered to dealers.

Another hady gadget to have with you is one of those small battery jumper packs. I got one at Costco and it has enough power to start a DuraMax motor. It also has a bright LED light for working in the dark, a small air compressor that will inflate tires, and a 12v power port that you can use to power small 12v accesories. Cost me about $50 at Costco and well worth the money for what it does.

C66 Racing

Lots of good advice above, particularly on the class of tow hitch, the rating of your ball receiver and ball itself (most on the market are 6000 lb *****), as well as the load capacity of the truck (vice the tow capacity).

I towed an 18' open air trailer with an F350 for years without a LLH without problem, but this year upgraded to a GMC 3500 HD dually with a class V hitch, ball receiver and ball.

Like most others above, I cross my straps front and rear to the factory tie down spots using t-hooks. My trailer has d-rings at the front and rear corners and it is very easy to install the straps when the car is up on the trailer.

A suggestion for you is to mark the side of the trailer somehow (I used an SCCA decal) when you get the car where you want it. I put my decal directly under the front wheel center so my spotter could tell me when the car was in the right spot.

I also found that with my lowered T1 car, I needed two cheater ramps (2x12s cut to about 18" long) to get the nose of the car up before the front tires got onto the actual trailer ramps).

earthman01

When you find the correct front wheel position for your trailer you can make a wheel-stop out of 2" angle iron and you will always stop in the right place and won't need a spotter. If you have tandem wheels (2 on each side) put a wheel ramp in the truck. If you get a flat (and eventually you will) you can put the ramp behind or in front of the good tire and use the ramp to raise the trailer, no jack required. Its fast and safe.

Solo2GS

Does a load leveling hitch help with side to side sway? Every know and then I will get on a rutty road and get some sway that is disturbing in which I slow down until it goes away. Its unnerving. Whats the solution for this?

I have a 24' enclosed trailer & 2006 Ford F250 Diesel.

Solo2GS

I have these.


Grade 70
$5.95

Found them here

They seem to work very well with straps that have snap hooks. Ones without the link are $3.95