Hey guys, I'm new to the site and glad I found it. Most I've come accross so far were for lift and show (not a bad thing, just not what I need). Here's my situation. I'm hauling a few race karts around in a used Haulmark Edge trailer I picked up a few months ago. Its 24ft with 18" extra height. Rated for 10,000, its about 4500 empty and about 7000 with my load. Its been behind moms daily driver, a 2005 Yukon Denail XL AWD with Autoride suspension, rated for about 8500. It does OK, but only about 45mph up grade. The Autoride helps with leveling but it does porpoise a bit over bumps and the back end is a little mushy. Trans gets a little warm too up grade. It likes to move around on me a bit when the semi's are going by and keeps your attenion in high cross winds up the Cajon pass in CA. I've got a 12500 Reese hitch and weight distribution setup. However, I do NOT have a friction sway control device..yet. I'm considering a truck, but before I do...will friction sway control dramatically improve the towing confidence? Are there suspension helps for the Denali to improve the situation? Seems I'll need a tranny cooler too. In thinking about a truck, is the SRW truck a big step up for towing confidence over the Denali? Or is DRW a must have. Short bed vs. long bed. 2x4 vs 4x4 when towing. Will I need weight distributing hitch AND friction sway control with a SRW or DRW? Independent front suspension a must have? Is 250/2500 or 350/3500 adviseable or even 450? Is there such thing as too much truck with a load like this? What mods should I expect in terms of exhaust, coolers, controllers, etc. to hold a solid 65 mph up grade? What suspension upgrades should be considered, springs, swaybar, air bags etc. for towing confidence. Also, what size/make wheels and tires make for the best towing package. What are the best tires for the 15" on the trailer. I'm considering new and used. Any advice in terms of the ideal setup, new and/or used would be appreciated. On the used side any advice on what to look for or stay away from in terms of specific engine series would also be appreciated. Also considering the longevity of any particular platform given EPA regs. In my initial review of the site it would seem a Cummins powerplant, an Allison transmission and Ford body package would meet a lot of ideals for a truck but it doesnt really exist unless you go the repower route. Thanks in advance for your input on a towing with confidence setup for this application.
I am unfamilair with a Denali's rear suspension. Is it coil or leaf sprung? Why do you think you need to hold 65mph on a hill? IIRC, A Denali is more like a 5/8 ton really, it's slightly heavier duty than a GM 1/2ton truck or Suburban, but still falls short of a 3/4ton. If you aren't in the snow and ice, the Denali should be just fine. Flying over a pass at 65mph is nice, but not neccessary. How warm are your trans temps pulling these hills? I've got two 27ft Interstate enclosed trailers, 102" wide, 96" tall or so, about 6,500lbs, and my 3/4t diesel laughs at it. We've pulled with a 1/2t Suburban and the little 350 Vortec had to work in the mountains, but it's really enough power. We had to install a Roadmaster active suspension to help kill the vertical sway, and that is what I'd reccommend if your Denali has leaf springs in the rear. It WILL make a big difference. No, you don't need IFS, infact..... GM is about the only application where you'd find IFS in any kind of weight class. Get into higher rated rigs, and they are all beam axle in both 2 and 4wd. I prefer a solid axle, it feels to have less sway.
I have towed a 7000lbs haulmark with a denali xl. I've also towed the same trailer and lots of other stuff with my 2500. Here's my notes on what you can improve to help out. For the porposing it sounds like the weight distributing system is set too light. Hook it up power off (so the autoride won't kick in) and you should be close to level. Mushyness, what tires do you have, I upgraded to LT E-rated when it was needed. Big help. The P rated sucked. Sway, a friction control will help, mine didn't need it but I'm pulling a 20ft trailer instead. Power, I noticed that it struggled too, just let off, don't push the uphills. You'll get there. I threw it in tow mode and let it go, if the trans temp went up I slowed down. For the new truck. If this is all you are looking at more than a 2500 is overkill, but the biggest advantage you'll get is the engine, and that's only if you get a diesel. As someone mentioned the denali is like a 5/8 ton and can handle this load if setup right, you just won't race up the hills.
I tow 24' open trailers with my truck. I would suggest at least a 2500 Cummins. Fuel mileage will be great and the power will be there for sure. I wouldn't bother with a Ford/Cummins unless you just love the Ford. Trust me, the Powerstroke cannot match the Cummins in any area. Horsepower, torque and fuel mileage all go to the Cummins.
i like the ford,the powerstrokes always hit peak torque between 1800- 2100rpm.i find that when im in od on the highway,im just under 2000rpm.therfore when im towing im always right in my torque curve,the power is always there.whereas the cummins hit there peak around 1600rpm iirc,i dont know the dodge trannys but im pretty sure you can run highway speeds at those rpms,so when your drivin a cummins on the highway,your way past your torque curve already just cruisin,i beleive its pretty much the same with the dmax.my opinions may be wrong but thats the way i see it.powerstrokes for life!!!!!
The Cummins power curve is basically 1600 to redline, and the PSD is, like you mentioned, in the 1800rpm range to redline. Basically, what that means is when you are cruising in OD and have to slow down for some reason, us Dodge guys can just lay into the throttle and build speed back up, and a PSD would have to drop a gear.
the powerstrokes torque curve ,well this is on my truck keep in mind,my torque builds and hits it peak about 1800,then it stays there till about 2100,then it starts fallin,it drops below 400ft lb about 2500,but thats were the hp picks up and starts climbing.i think the newer psd is similar.i just dont see the cummins holding its peak tq from 1600-redline,i would say maybe 1600-2000 and thats stretching it out,in my opinion,so when the cummins is dropping,the psd is still at its peak,so it seems like unless you tow 60 and below,the psd is the better choice for highway,but like i said before im not familiar with the dodge trans,or its tq curve,i just know about where it starts.waytogo
All of the different diesel engines over the years are going to pull the best, or the strongest anyway, in the upperish RPM range. If you are heavy, you likely would have to run the engine's RPM's up fairly well to build good HP with hi torque to pull a hill. There would be basically no difference between a PSD and Cummins cruising at 70mph at 2000rpm's on both trucks, pulling a trailer. Both are going to be in their torque curve, and will pull strong. The difference where the CUmmins has an advantage (like in my typical towing circumstance) is two lane highways through mountains, foot hills, and flat land. Combined with California traffic, and I don't even want to count how many times I slow down from 60-65mph down to 45-50mph and back up to 60+, for some minivan that needs to jam on the brakes at every crossroad to read the flippin' sign, or the ski'ers that are scared to death driving in the mountains and ride the brake.... Oh...sorry...gettting a little off track..:doah: rotfl Anyway, I probably spend more time between 1500 and 1,800RPM than I like to admit. But, when I can pass it's 3rd gear and 2500RPM, I can accelerate past cars pulling my 4 place sled trailer faster than most of them can do in their vans and sedans.opcorn:
well,either way there both good engines,ive never driven a cummins,i would like to but it hasnt happened yet,plus your truck is an auto and isnt stock.my truck is a 5 speed and stock with larger tires.im sure you would leave me in the dust towing,how much of an effect do think 35in tires has on my stock truck.ive got a 3.55 gear which isnt to good for towing unless you got alot of power right.the larger tires is prolly like dropping my gear to like a 3.14 or something.whichcan prolly make any load feel like you have double.whats your opinion on that,if i made any sense at all.
I can definantly see what you are saying as far as running in the torque band of the motors. But, you have to remember that even though you build peak torque at that 1800rpm or so, it's at limited horsepower. The torque band stays fairly the same as you rev higher, but as RPM's increase HP goes up, giving you more usable torque that develops faster. Horsepower is only a measurement of how fast you can build your usable torque. Our peak HP is never achieved until the high 2K RPM range on both of our engines. This is why our engines feel great pulling a load at 1800RPM or so, they will hold hills at that RPM, but your acceleration is not going to be as fast compared to if you dropped down to 4th gear and revved the motor up some and built more HP to apply the torque faster. I wouldn't think your 35's would make a huge difference, probably makes pulling hills in 4th gear pretty good. I would think though, that stock 31's would have a slight acceleration gain on you getting that trailer moving. If it was me I'd go with an Edge Evolution or some type of chip to offset those 35's, and then some!waytogo
ive been thinking about goin to 33's,i bought the truck with 35's and i just dont see a need for them other then showin off,id rather turn my truck into a towing monster then a off road beast.so you suggest a tuner for my truck,will i get the full effect from one considering everything is stock,id like to be able to compete with the newer trucks in the towing game,maybe not the brand new ones but newer like yours and older super dutys.can i achieve this without injectors.
A 1/2 ton pickup should be plenty with what you are towing. Especially with th weight dist. hitch. I tow an 8 1/2 x 28ft Pace American regularly with my Ram 1500 with no problem.
Fuel mileage must suck though. Well at least you have a V-nose trailer. If it had a flat front you wouldn't pass a gas station.
