Hey guys. My wife and I have found a great local company that rents 2015 travel trailers so instead of buying we will most likely rent for our travel/camping adventures.

 

Although I've towed plenty before, I've never towed a travel trailer and with that, not entirely sure of neccesary things I should bring. 

 

For you more salty travel trailer guys, what are things you can't leave without when towing? Any sort of check list or things you've found helpful in the beginning of your towing days to stay organized and bring what was needed?

 

I try to be as prepared as possible, especially with the family involved, so I look forward to all of your insight!

15 minutes ago, notlimah said:

Mainly suspension type stuff.

 

I have a clunk in my front end somewhere that I THINK is my control arm bushings, so getting those swapped out. Also want to look at getting leveling coils and bilsteins valved for the trucks front and rear and lastly a shackle flip, but I'm not 100% sure how that really affects towing capacity.

 

Either way, the truck did fine as is, but it could be better I think. The truck sat pretty level, but that was with a weight distribution hitch. Had I towed without it, there would've been some serious rake.

 

The clunk is more than likely the track bar.  Check for all steering component excessive movement by having someone turn the wheel back and forth (engine not running) while you peer around for things moving.

 

Bilsteins are supposed to be great shocks.  I like my Rancho 9000's but everyone has their own opinion.  Just stay away from cheap shocks because over time they cant stand up to the weight of the Cummins.

 

Leveling coils.....?  I'm not sure what you mean but you're probably referring to airbags?  If so, I'll point out that my Timbrens are amazing, and they're half the cost of airbags which may or may not need future maintenance.  As mentioned, if you dont have factory overload springs or you have front spring leveling spacers then your truck will want to appear as its squatting under a load.

 

I dont know enough about shackle flips to advise about towing heavy with them but I have to say that I'd certainly be very leery and want to know EVERYTHING about the pro's and con's before lessening the trucks overall capacity.  I do hear they can increase ride quality but I dont think my truck rides that hard and.....its a truck which hauls a lot of weight.

 

If you have a WD hitch then it should ride at least perfectly level.  If not then the WD hitch isnt set up correctly and not removing the correct amount of weight off the tongue.  WD hitches remove weight from the rear axle by transfering it to the front axle and the trailers axles so that all axles share the load.

33 minutes ago, dripley said:

Does your truck have the overload springs in the rear? Mine sits level 6k on the rear axle but I do have the springs. 

 

Are overloads on the top or bottom of the normal leaf spring 'packet?'

 

21 minutes ago, KATOOM said:

 

The clunk is more than likely the track bar.  Check for all steering component excessive movement by having someone turn the wheel back and forth (engine not running) while you peer around for things moving.

 

Bilsteins are supposed to be great shocks.  I like my Rancho 9000's but everyone has their own opinion.  Just stay away from cheap shocks because over time they cant stand up to the weight of the Cummins.

 

Leveling coils.....?  I'm not sure what you mean but you're probably referring to airbags?  If so, I'll point out that my Timbrens are amazing, and they're half the cost of airbags which may or may not need future maintenance.  As mentioned, if you dont have factory overload springs or you have front spring leveling spacers then your truck will want to appear as its squatting under a load.

 

I dont know enough about shackle flips to advise about towing heavy with them but I have to say that I'd certainly be very leery and want to know EVERYTHING about the pro's and con's before lessening the trucks overall capacity.  I do hear they can increase ride quality but I dont think my truck rides that hard and.....its a truck which hauls a lot of weight.

 

If you have a WD hitch then it should ride at least perfectly level.  If not then the WD hitch isnt set up correctly and not removing the correct amount of weight off the tongue.  WD hitches remove weight from the rear axle by transfering it to the front axle and the trailers axles so that all axles share the load.

 

I have DORs track bar, so I can't imagine that's loose at all but I'll get under there and tighten things up to see if that helps at all. Only reason I thought control arms is because of when the noise happens it's right as I'm moving over a bump or something in a forward/backward direction, not left to right which would affect my track bar.

 

As far as bilsteins, I planned on getting the 5100s that are specifically valved for the 2500/3500 trucks so hopefully that will help with longevity.

 

The leveling coils would be for up front by Thuren which I'd couple with the bilsteins. Only reason I'm thinking keeping the the leveling up front is because I still have 315s. Ideally I'd like to go down to at least 285s because then I could take out the 2in level spacer and run stock. The truck did sit level with the WD hitch so things were fine there, but I still would prefer to either get rid of the front leveling spacer or run a proper leveling kit up front.

 

According to DORs website, they say you don't loose any weight carrying capability, but like you said, I don't know everything about them yet, so I'm still leary on going that route.

 

At least, I plan on Bilsteins front/rear and if I can swing it, getting rid of my front 2in spacer OR at least swapping that out with a 1in spacer if I need the room to clear the big 315s.

I cant remember if the DOR track bar uses a regular heim fitting but if it does then just know that even through they're stronger than bushings, they wear out surprisingly quick and are not the desired fitting for track bars for that very reason.  Check out some forums where people talk about how fast their heim fittings wear.  I think this is where Johnny Joints came from.

 

And yes, the track bar will clunk on bumps because as the suspension travels up and down the side to side load on the track bar is what causes the links to wear out.

Ok, I'm wondering then if my bolt that holds the track bar on the axle side could be worn a bit because the track bar has less then 5000 miles on it so I'd be hard pressed to believe the heim is worn already. On the frame side it uses a johnny joint.

Also, should I jack the truck up before turning the wheel? Or does the weight need to be on the components to expose the thud?

With the weight on the truck, engine off, and someone wiggling the steering wheel back and forth enough to place a force on the steering components, look for any movement.

The overload spring sets on top off the spring pack. It has a good bit more arch to it and bears on stops mounted to the outside of the frame rails. It is separate of the spring pack. Mine came with the camper package which the overloads were part of. I guess I am not familiar with everything your truck has such as leveling spacers for the bigger tires and such. 

Edited August 8, 20168 yr by dripley

Alright @dripley here's what mine leaf springs look like. 

 

I assume that top leaf is my overload spring? 

 

The 'spacer' is just a 2in block that sits on top of the coil up front. I would take them out if I could fit these tires with stock suspension.

Thats them. I know when I hook up and load with the 5th wheel mine sits level and I was surprised that the travel trailer you hauled made you look a little squatted. The leveling spacers upfront explains it though. I have none and thats why mine sits level. When I put the 5th wheel on it goes to the overload springs enough to engage them then stops. Since yours is level unloaded it makes it look squatted but it is not due to to much weight just your ride height with the spacers. The pic is mine with about 6k on the rear axle. i am also riding on smaller tires than you so I understand why you have the spacers.

I also have the camper package like @dripley without a leveling kit and it sits level when loaded. 

Thanks guys. Having been on here long enough, I wouldn't of put these tires on myself, the PO did and they still have a ton of tread so I'm just going to have to deal with it for now until it's time for new tires.

I would not worry about the squat you had either. It is not from being overloaded unless you put all the furnishing and a few sand bags in the nose of that trailer.

I did have a 3-500 hundred pounds in the bed of extra camping gear, generator, dog, chairs, all that stuff so it definitely added to the rear end squat. But ideally I'm wanting to get the suspension, lift wise, back to stock to avoid any of these issues in the future.

I would run them and get all the life out of them I could unless you get new tires and hope to sell them for an amount to help cover the new tires. 

Yea I looked into discount tires 'trade-in' thing they do but it seems like they give you pawn star offers. Someone said they had a brand new set of 5, stock tires, M/T type and they offered 400 bucks. So I'll just run these until it's time for new ones then go smaller from there.

About to become a member of the travel trailer crowd. Gonna be delivered tomorrow morning.  2008 Jayco 25' with a slide out.  Will leave on 1st trip on Friday. 

Awesome man! Don't forget to post pics! 

@notlimah does your truck not have the wheel well liners in back? It doesn't look like it in the pic above. Did you take them out or did you get it that way? I'm just curious because I've though about removing mine to prevent dirt and salt getting stuck up there....same with my factory front mudflaps....

Will take more later. Believe it or not trailer is setting level in photo

2 hours ago, leathermaneod said:

@notlimah does your truck not have the wheel well liners in back? It doesn't look like it in the pic above. Did you take them out or did you get it that way? I'm just curious because I've though about removing mine to prevent dirt and salt getting stuck up there....same with my factory front mudflaps....

I know you did not direct the question to me but the 02"s did not come with the inner fender liner. Might be true for a couple years earlier too, not sure.

@leathermaneod Like dripley said, no wheel well liners for me, but that's how the truck came so oh well. Only reason I'd want something back there would be to prevent debris hitting my FASS but so far it hasn't been an issue.