Guys That Tow

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Worstenemy453

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Apr 2, 2011
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So I'm about to start a new towing venture working for someone else and need a truck.

Will be starting with a 36-38' enclosed gooseneck and then after a year or so will go up to a 40'-45' enclosed.

Roughly 10k-15k weight in the trailers, not counting the trailer.

Need a good truck. Was thinking about a 7.3 but am considering a 6.0 or a cummins.
My only requirements are
- Auto Only
- No Regular cabs
- Must be long bed.

My main concern is it needs to be reliable without nickel and diming me on the road. Truck will have built trans regardless.

Curious as to what you guys would do. Also curious on fuel mileage loaded this much for the respective trucks.
 
If you're going to build the trans anyway, I'd say cummins. 2 less injectors to buy when they go out (which they will).

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I don't want a VE pump truck and don't want something as old as a 12v so that leaves me common rail.
 
If I were doing a CR, I'd do an '07-'09 Q/C longbed with a deleted 6.7.
If I were doing something older, nothing beats a 12 valve for sheer reliability, so a 1998 Q/C longbed is the pinnacle, but a 1995-'97 E/C would be good, as well.

Plan on having to put in built autos, regardless of what you choose.

Above all, if it looks like it needs parts at home, stay home and fix it, or have it fixed.
A seemingly minor problem at base, turns into a major headache on the shoulder.

I think a sound investment, even though it'll look like you're clinging to the past, is taking a 12 valve truck and going stem to stern, replacing any wear item with new, pull the engine, rebuild/reseal it, add more efficient injectors and turbo.

For the chassis, change out all of the greasable wear items, such as u-jonts, ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm and don't forget the A-arm bushings on a 2WD.

Go through the brakes, pads, rotors, drums and any related hardware, like brake hardware and park cables.
For the rear (and front) axle pull the carrier, inspect and replace the bearings, do the same for the inner and outer hubs when you're doing brakes.

Get up to speed on the electrical and it's intricacies.
While you're at it, replace and repair anything you know is problematic, bulbs, relays, sockets, fuses, brake controller, anything that can age or wear, because I can GUARANTEE that you WILL have a roadside lesson on this item.

Mark.
 
I know you didn't ask this but that's too much weight to reliability tow with 3500(especially with a older chassis design). 5500 min, prefer single axle semi if you're really going to be putting on the miles. You'll be 25000lbs min trailer plus the truck weight.
 
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Cummins610 said:
I know you didn't ask this but that's too much weight to reliability tow with 3500(especially with a older chassis design). 5500 min, prefer single axle semi if you're really going to be putting on the miles. You'll be 25000lbs min trailer plus the truck weight.
Click to expand...

this

my 12 valve 2500 is on the bump stops with a bobcat 863 with a backhoe attachment on it, on a 3800 lb 20 +5 dovetail single wheel..

im right at the weight limit with that, and my 12 valves suspension DOES NOT like it at all..

my 3500 fares only a little bit better, and tows the weight comfortably... but that's still what you will have in your trailers as weight.. or close to it, and about 6000 lbs or so more for enclosed trailer?

I see no other option but a 4500, 5500 or single axle semi for daily towing.. even a 1 ton will tow this just fine occasionally... but if its gonna be your bread and butter.. id just do it once and right..

besides a basic medium duty is cheaper than a new pickup nowadays anyways...and will tow much longer and more reliably imho
 
Triple 8k axle trailer? Or. Singles 10/12k axles?
This trailer was 22,000lbs.. My truck has dynoed ~400hp at the tires you know its there had plenty of HP to drag is ~68mph from Columbus Ohio to dodge city Ks..

I currently plate/legal gross 36,000lbs that makes for a ~29,000lb trailer behind the truck. With easy 6,000lb of pin weight on the trucks rear axlr

19.5/17.5 tires are your friend when towing like this. I bought some 19.5 with 8-6.5 steel from junk yard had them bored and painted for less than 1000.00. The 225/70/19.5 last 50-75% long at 20-30.00 more than 16/17lt tires.. Same with 17.5 tires.. Mark Nixon hit the maintance squarely on the head..

I swapped to big truck fuel filters that I can find at truck stops plus I get 60-70k then vs 10k out of oem
 
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I wouldn't want a 4 spd auto pulling that weight all the time. I'd go with a 06-10 Duramax or 07-up dodge. That's just me.


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Mark Nixon said:
...Get up to speed on the electrical and it's intricacies.
While you're at it, replace and repair anything you know is problematic, bulbs, relays, sockets, fuses, brake controller, anything that can age or wear, because I can GUARANTEE that you WILL have a roadside lesson on this item.

Mark.
Click to expand...

This is a little long, but I thought I might share it, anyway. :pop:

Despite my best efforts, electrical gremlins did hit me on this last trip.
I hooked to a trailer I bought from a member in VA and all seemed fine, brakes worked, lights worked, everything copacetic.
I get an hour and a half out, pull into a truck stop to fuel, waiting for a lane to clear, go to pull ahead and the brakes on the trailer are locked hard!
Look at the controller and it shows "not connected", yet the brakes are solid.
I go out and unplug the trailer, the brakes release, so I eliminated the breakaway system as a fault.
Mess with the plug a bit, get correct connectivity and all is well...or so I thought.

So I drive the truck a few miles, brakes lock and the connectivity light goes out, get out mess with the connector and plug pigtail and the problem goes away...except that there is a random and intermittent application of the brakes, though the overall performance of the brakes appears normal.

Pull off for the night, wake up, roll 1/2 mile down the road and the brakes totally lock and no amount of quick wiggling and twisting will fix the issue, so I unplug the connector and scoot 3 miles to another exit that had a large turnaround/parking area to trouble shoot.

I'm checking fuses and re-checking connections, swap the brake relays and fuses out and come to the conclusion that it HAS to be in the tail harness to the plug, so I unwrap it, which it's all double taped, to find that the blue wire for the brakes is corroded and burned through.
I'd JUST redid this back in February right before I did the last Houston trip and it was without a doubt a good and solid job, but here I was, sidelined with a corroded-through wire, in a double wrapped harness that had (apparently) not been sealed up perfectly tight, so it got saltwater into a hole in the insulation.
It literally EXPLODED the insulation, where the saltwater had gotten into the small hole.

Most of the time an electrical problem will resurface at, or near, a repaired area.
It almost never fails.

Mark.
 
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