Hard at work.
06-03-2012, 02:58 PM
#1
Hard at work.
I am sure I am not the only one that gets a solid sense of satisfaction when ever I put my truck to work. Especially when I have a friend who now has is second D-Max and I don't think he has ever hooked it to a trailer. I bought a truck to use it and at least occasionally abuse it. A month or two ago I had to pull my friends rented mini-ex because his F-150 wouldn't go faster then 35 with it hooked up and the hitch was on the ground due to the tong weight.
The trailer and mini-ex should tip the scale around 10,000-12,000 lbs. She sure was heavy but the bags and modified hitch did there job without issue. Truck sat level as it should and rode grate!
Then again last weekend my aunt and uncle got angry and pulled out of there camp grounds of 27+ years. Pulled the camper back to town last Sunday night and took it out to there new camp ground this morning. She wasn't as heavy and the mini-ex and the Tahoe pulled it down the hi-way at 60 with no problems.
For those of you who haven't seen the power of airbags and do any bit of towing you should look into them! Regardless if you are adding helper bags or fully bagging the rear of your truck it makes towing and hauling so much nicer easier and safer! As you load the rear of the truck and if it sags it dramatically throws off you alignment and can cause plenty of control issues.
Here is a pic of a company 2012 F-150 Eco-boost we put air bags on with 2450 sitting on the far back of the bed.
The trailer and mini-ex should tip the scale around 10,000-12,000 lbs. She sure was heavy but the bags and modified hitch did there job without issue. Truck sat level as it should and rode grate!
Then again last weekend my aunt and uncle got angry and pulled out of there camp grounds of 27+ years. Pulled the camper back to town last Sunday night and took it out to there new camp ground this morning. She wasn't as heavy and the mini-ex and the Tahoe pulled it down the hi-way at 60 with no problems.
For those of you who haven't seen the power of airbags and do any bit of towing you should look into them! Regardless if you are adding helper bags or fully bagging the rear of your truck it makes towing and hauling so much nicer easier and safer! As you load the rear of the truck and if it sags it dramatically throws off you alignment and can cause plenty of control issues.
Here is a pic of a company 2012 F-150 Eco-boost we put air bags on with 2450 sitting on the far back of the bed.
06-03-2012, 08:02 PM
#3
Over drive. For pulling the camper. It didn't shift out much at all. Only for the big over passes.
I have a roll pan so I had to cut the factory brackets off and flip the main tube so that it would fit the hold behind my roll pan. I used most of the factory bracket so the two rear most holes were still functional and then added a 6" tab that goes forward with a third bolt.
I have always had much more confidence in my fabricating and welding skills then many members on here but I must admit when I threw 10,000+ on the hitch and started hitting bumps I was a bit nervous. I had plenty of lighter loads on the hitch already but when you double the amount of weight it makes a big difference. I inspected it again last night just to make sure everything still looked 100% and it did. No better way to make sure your welds are going to hold then putting more then the factory recommended!
Along the same lines people flipped out when I talked about bagging the rear of my Tahoe. Again it has performed flawlessly including the extra heavy loads.
I have a roll pan so I had to cut the factory brackets off and flip the main tube so that it would fit the hold behind my roll pan. I used most of the factory bracket so the two rear most holes were still functional and then added a 6" tab that goes forward with a third bolt.
I have always had much more confidence in my fabricating and welding skills then many members on here but I must admit when I threw 10,000+ on the hitch and started hitting bumps I was a bit nervous. I had plenty of lighter loads on the hitch already but when you double the amount of weight it makes a big difference. I inspected it again last night just to make sure everything still looked 100% and it did. No better way to make sure your welds are going to hold then putting more then the factory recommended!
Along the same lines people flipped out when I talked about bagging the rear of my Tahoe. Again it has performed flawlessly including the extra heavy loads.
Last edited by custm2500; 06-03-2012 at 08:10 PM.
06-04-2012, 06:11 AM
#6
It is suprising how quickly you can fill a shortbed when hauling stuff. We have mostly long beds in the company but a few times we bought short beds for one reason or another. Those guys always come up short of room when hauling tires and other crap.
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06-05-2012, 02:58 PM
#8
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Ive hauled 16k with a reese hitch and it bent the frame.
Since then ive added airbags and a classV hitch, when i bolted the new hitch up it straightened the frame. Plus tied into the bumper with 8 bolts total vs 4 with the old hitch, so now im ready to tow
Right after i add in some frame support back there.
Since then ive added airbags and a classV hitch, when i bolted the new hitch up it straightened the frame. Plus tied into the bumper with 8 bolts total vs 4 with the old hitch, so now im ready to tow
Right after i add in some frame support back there.
06-05-2012, 05:24 PM
#9
I would say you have me by a few thousand pounds! Was that a 1500 that you pulled the 16,000 with? 5.3 or 6.0? I have got to imagine she didn't want to move much at all. That mini-ex wasn't too bad but she wasn't going anywhere fast for sure!
