Got the new camper hooked up... First pull!

[EMD_DRIVER]

About 6pm this evening, I decided it was time to get the weight distributing hitch setup for the 93..

We set Kitty's up at the dealer, since mine hadn't arrived yet. Once it was setup, the mandatory road test began.

I could vividly tell the camper was behind me, but I just needed to get the feel of 7,500lbs behind the truck. I also watched my pyro like a hawk, the whole trip home. I put about ten miles on it, which included interstate and two-lane country roads. Everything was fine, until I got it home...

Since we live on a hill, there is no choice but to back the trailer up the hill to it's spot. I was about 15 feet from getting the camper spotted, when a cloud of smoke came out from under the truck. It was the unmistakable smell of clutch disk overheating. I stopped and gave it a chance to cool down. I decided not to make another attempt. I ended up letting Kitty put it away, with her truck...

It probably would have been much better, if the ZF 5 didn't have such a tall reverse gear.

My next attempt, will be done in 4-low. The hill we have to shove it up, is probably between 3 and 4 percent, if not a bit more..

Anyway, here's a pic of the rig... Ain't it pretty?!?!?!

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It was 8pm when the pic was taken.. Not much sun light. I'll get a better pic later..

 

[Russ]

Oh ya 4 low is the only way to back up a trailer. Looks good Gary, It even looks like the truck has some weight on it. I see alot of people take too much weight off of the truck. They were built to haul the weight.

 

[69oiler]

lookin good mr kott-ter

4 low is your friend.

i bet that WD hitch smooths the ride out nicely.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Sweet looking rig. The lighting is fine. Running lights always say, "let's go!"

 

[reklund]

Thats a damn fine looking 2 tone brown truck!

 

[RLDSL]

Are you sure that was your clutch making the smoke, or was it your dual mass flywheel giving up the ghost?

 

[david85]

Once you move a trailer in 4 low, you'll never go back.

The danger of over loading the transmission is true for the ZF as well as the E4OD. If you have a transfer case, use it and you can see the difference.

Every transmission I've seen always seems to have way too tall a ratio in reverse. If anything reverse should match the 1st gear ratio, but thats just my opinion.

 

[hesutton]

Don't feel bad Gary, the reverse on the T19 is also too tall in my opinion as well. I'm sure the fact that I have 3.55's and 37 inch tires doesn't help either. But, I'll keep the 4 low tip in my pocket for next time.

Heath

 

[bobracing]

Not only is low range good for backing up, but try it on Forest Service roads too. This will take a lot of stress of the engine going up hill but also allow for slower controlled decents without smoking the brakes.

 

[Kanyonkitty]

OK, here is a better picture of the new to us 33 footer, the 24 footer that we had in KY is now sitting on the dealers lot for sale. Hopefully we'll have enuff room in this monster.

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Notice the nice level ground I have to deal with, and the regular trailer parking spot is worse, but Gary is working on leveling it up.

And here is a link to interior photos:
http://s396.photobucket.com/albums/pp42/kanyonkitty/03 Sunline T320 SR/

 

[GRU]

i just bought bought my first camper the other night. getting ready to leave out on our first trip as a family in about half an hour actually! what i got was an old '82 coachman 24 ft. thought about picking up a bigger one but didnt want to drag such a heavy beast all over the country. still need to be able to afford to travel! how heavy is that and how does she tow?? the WD hitch is a marvelous invention for sure...

 

[LCAM-01XA]

That's one real nice camper! But methinks Gary needs to do something about his rear springs cause now truck looks "slightly" overloaded

 

[RLDSL]

What gets me is the gas burner version of the zf has a lower reverse gear than the diesel version It nuts. That's how I smoked my dual mass flywheel, trying to get my car hauler out onto the road one day zigging back and forth uphill in reverse. Got the flywheel too hot and smoked the overload protection device ( once you do that , the flywheel is done)

Got a SMF in it now

I don't have a 4x4, but have the next best thing now, with that Brownie I just installed in there, I've got that extra low range that does the same trick. It's a real joy manuvering heavy trailers, just let out the clutch and let the thing walk

 

[RLDSL]

i just bought bought my first camper the other night. getting ready to leave out on our first trip as a family in about half an hour actually! what i got was an old '82 coachman 24 ft. thought about picking up a bigger one but didnt want to drag such a heavy beast all over the country. still need to be able to afford to travel! how heavy is that and how does she tow?? the WD hitch is a marvelous invention for sure...

Only way to know for sure is to run it across a scale. an 82 24footer is not going to be a lightweight, but your truck will certainly handle it without a fuss.
I pull an 86, 28 ft King of the Road and that thing weighs around 10k, and sometimes i pull a 8 foot utility trailer behind it loaded down with kids bikes and my mobility scooter and such.Once you get to about 6-7k behind you, the things pretty much don't careabout the rest after that. It just slows you down a little more.

 

[91f2504x4]

What gets me is the gas burner version of the zf has a lower reverse gear than the diesel version It nuts. That's how I smoked my dual mass flywheel, trying to get my car hauler out onto the road one day zigging back and forth uphill in reverse. Got the flywheel too hot and smoked the overload protection device ( once you do that , the flywheel is done)

Got a SMF in it now

I don't have a 4x4, but have the next best thing now, with that Brownie I just installed in there, I've got that extra low range that does the same trick. It's a real joy manuvering heavy trailers, just let out the clutch and let the thing walk

The ZF S5-47 has a lower reverse as well;

The ZF S5-42 thats in our trucks has a reverse ratio of 3.79 while the
ZF S5-47 has a reverse ratio of 4.66

and the gas version of either is 5.24