What y'all think about changing the leaf springs out to the ones on the new2011 3500s single rear wheel? I was looking at one the other day and there about a good 1/2 in thicker than mine and it looks like it has a transmission cooler that looks twice as big as the one I have. I like the 2011s

 

My dads RCLB single axle 95' 12v cummins used to pull a fifth wheel that weighed in at 24500lbs all the time. Used air lift bags in the rear to fix any sag issues. Thats not near the truck and options your looking into though

 

I always thought the rating were based in part on the weight of the truck. i.e. the heavier the truck the more it could tow and the lighter the truck the lower the rating would be.

 

Yea, the factory says a certain number but these trucks can pull alot more than they say, IMO

 

first off, only tow whats it rated to incase you in a accident... thats a person waiting to sue you....


I think the towing limit is set per brakes and total weight... Take a regular cab 2wd dually diesel... lets say it weights 5000 Now take a crew cab LTZ 4x4 dually... lets say it weights 8000 lbs.. So that means that the regular cab dually will be able to tow 3K more lbs. At least thats the way i understand it. in the brochure and tv ads they show the huge truck towing with a crazy limit... then there is the *** and it will say 2wd regular cab..


As for the trans cooler, if you wanting to upgrade it id do two things.
1) bigger pan They have some pans out for few hundred bucks thats hold 3 quarts and have cooling fins...

2) Bigger trans cooler. I'm going to swap my stock little one out for a larger one as well, but mine is leaking. Im going with the cheap fix mainly because i already have it.. I picked up two big B&M coolers for another project ( race car) and only one would fit.. I got them at advance or auto zone. I think they where $59.99 or $99.99 i dont remember but not very much.. The size is about 3 time the size of factory one.

Ill have to look for the exact park number on mine, but i think this is what i have.

http://www.bmracing.com/PRODUCTS/Uni...TU-11x11x1-1-2


Suspension wise if you tow a lot why not look into those air bags or lief spring helpers.. ON my 2500 burb, of course i only have a hitch but i use a a set up from lows that trasfers the weight with some crazy bar contraption to further up the frame of the suburban

 

it's a little irrelevant to the HD trucks, but two weeks ago, i just used my 99 RCSB 4x4 to pull a 5000lb trailer while hauling right at 1000lb in the bed. stock 156k mi suspension with new bilstein shocks. i'm willing to bet that's a bit over what a half-ton is rated for & i had no problems whatsoever. 5.3 with stock 5spd trans

now if they improved upon that with the new HD trucks, i'd say you might be fine

 

Thanks Kerr, I hear what your sayin but I was really being kinda hypothetical with this. I dont plan on towing more that I think this truck can handle, I dont wanna tear it up or get sued as you mentioned.

I was saying if everything were perfect, flat haul,no traffic,no parts breakage.. how much could they actually pull before either the front of the truck comes off the ground or the tires just spin and what would be some good upgrades to push that number out even further.

My new question is... what tires to use on 20"s for towing? I have been looking at quite a few different tires lately and was wondering what tire some of you use for towing? I have been considering the Nitto terra grapplers, cooper zeon ltz, michelin whatevers... thanks!

 

The reality is if you want any longevity out of your truck your best best is no more then 3/4 of the ratting. This means you aren't pushing the truck to the limit 24/7. If you aren't worried about longevity or just have few times you need to tow heavy then I would say 1.5 of the rating is about the limit. You really want to leave plenty of stopping room and don't look to get out of the hole faster then a snail but a few tows in that area isn't going to make a noticeable difference is the life of the truck.

 

Do every one of your posts have to be idiotic?

Go over to the dieselplace, there are PLENTY of hotshot guys who pull travel trailers and heavy loads all over the US. Hell Merchant Automotive has a dmax with over 700,000 miles on it that they use to tow all their project trucks and its still running strong.

 

Thanx, I dont have a diesel but I will check it out. I'm not tryin to be one of the "hotshots" , just tryin to get the most out of what I have w/o tearin somthin up and was curious as to the physical limitations of these trucks.

700k on a d-max? Has it been rebuilt? Damn....makes me want one even more.