First 12,000 lbs pull

[gearheadesw]

Rented a little track hoe to do the drain field at my house over the weekend. The '17 2500hd gasser pulled it no problem, admittedly getting like 7 mpg's, but the truck did great, got up to 60 mph fairly quickly and cranked right down the road.

[03 Cobra]

Hello gearheadesw and thanks for the post.  Glad your truck did well.  I have a '15 2500 6.0 and will mostly be towing my 8,500 lb travel trailer but it's good to know how it will do if I have to pull something heavier. 

 

Couple questions for ya if you don't mind...I'm sure you had it in tow/haul but did you use the manual tranny mode to limit the top gear?  Also, what method did you set the gain on the trailer brakes?  I am still playing around with that myself and I'm not sure I have found the best procedure for getting the trailer brake gain dialed in.

 

Thanks and stay safe!

[ewbldavis]

Nice.

 

As far as gain - our TT is about same weight, and I think I have it set at 6.5. I adjusted so I can just barely tell trailer brakes engage. Braking should feel about same as without trailer. No pushing, and trailer isn't dragging truck to a stop.

[gearheadesw]

@03 Cobra, the trailer had the brake master cylinder built into the hitch, all automatic, worked well. All I did was stick it in tow haul and go. Just the 4 pin flat connector, no 7 pin round one, so no gain or electric brake activation, trailer and truck preformed great. But, if you're towing in that weight range, expect some crappy fuel milage.

[03 Cobra]

@ ewbldavis, thanks for the  hint.  I'll try 6.5 next time to see what I think.  I tried the procedure where you start at high gain and back it down until you can't feel the trailer jerking you back anymore (that means you found the middle ground) but I couldn't tell much of a difference from high to low gain.  But at the same time the truck/trailer combo stopped perfectly so I believe everything was working right.  I think I also need to play with it while in a driveway or parking lot when you can do many back to back adjustments.  I mostly was trying to do this while driving (stopping) so I didn't have a lot of frequent chances to play with it.

 

@ gearheadesw, 10-4 on your set up and I feel ya on the mileage.  I knew the truck wasn't going to get great mileage so I don't even complain about it . I love the truck for what it is and don't get too riled up about what it's not.  Of course that's easy to say while gas is $1.25 and I am not driving it anywhere because I am in a stay in your house state (Michigan).

[redwngr]

If the trailer has been sitting (like mine often do) and the brakes have corrosion on them dragging the brake lightly can polish the surfaces back up. If not done in advance, the braking effectiveness will change as the brake surfaces clean up.

 

OM has a procedure for adjusting the gain of the 'integrated trailer brake control'  ITBC.

 

They suggest adjusting it while in the 20-25 mph range, to a setting that does not cause trailer wheel lockup.  

(Of course if heavily loaded the trailer brakes may not be capable of locking the wheels anyway)

 

Change of trailer load and/or change of surface being driven on usually requires adjustment of the trailer gain. 

 

 

 

 

[Black02Silverado]

On 4/13/2020 at 1:37 PM, gearheadesw said:

Rented a little track hoe to do the drain field at my house over the weekend. The '17 2500hd gasser pulled it no problem, admittedly getting like 7 mpg's, but the truck did great, got up to 60 mph fairly quickly and cranked right down the road.

Sweet!

 

Just curious if you have ever had the differential fluid changed.  Towing puts extra load on the gears and making sure that fluid is in good condition does help with them lasting a long time and keeping them cool.

[gearheadesw]

1 hour ago, Black02Silverado said:

Sweet!

 

Just curious if you have ever had the differential fluid changed.  Towing puts extra load on the gears and making sure that fluid is in good condition does help with them lasting a long time and keeping them cool.

 

 

Yes I have, all fluids to Amsoil.

If I'm not mistaken, you're the one that got me my membership going with them, thanks again for that, use them all the time.

For as much as this weighed, I'm fairly impressed how well the gasser pulled it. Now don't get me wrong, nothing like a diesel does, but better then I expected.

[Black02Silverado]

3 hours ago, gearheadesw said:

 

 

Yes I have, all fluids to Amsoil.

If I'm not mistaken, you're the one that got me my membership going with them, thanks again for that, use them all the time.

For as much as this weighed, I'm fairly impressed how well the gasser pulled it. Now don't get me wrong, nothing like a diesel does, but better then I expected.

Now that you mention it I think I did.  Hard to keep up with all the screen names.    Yeah, diesel is the way to go if you do  some serious pulling, but gas will get the job done as well, just not as efficient.

[dozerboy]

Hello gearheadesw and thanks for the post.  Glad your truck did well.  I have a '15 2500 6.0 and will mostly be towing my 8,500 lb travel trailer but it's good to know how it will do if I have to pull something heavier. 
 
Couple questions for ya if you don't mind...I'm sure you had it in tow/haul but did you use the manual tranny mode to limit the top gear?  Also, what method did you set the gain on the trailer brakes?  I am still playing around with that myself and I'm not sure I have found the best procedure for getting the trailer brake gain dialed in.
 
Thanks and stay safe!

I don’t know if it’s right or wrong, but I set mine on a hard packed gravel or dirt parking lot or road. I set them just enough they lock up the tires on that surface. I figure they will be good on pavement then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[03 Cobra]

@ redwngr and dozerboy, thanks for the input!  Good input / suggestions.  I bet there are probably many different ways to get there and in the end all you are looking for is a set up that will stop safely, especially in an emergency situation, without putting undue wear and tear on the truck or trailer components.  I'll experiment the next time I have the trailer on the truck.  Which might be a while if the camping reservations continue to get cancelled.  Not a great year to have a brand new camper!

[ewbldavis]

On 4/14/2020 at 6:44 PM, gearheadesw said:

@03 Cobra, the trailer had the brake master cylinder built into the hitch, all automatic, worked well. All I did was stick it in tow haul and go. Just the 4 pin flat connector, no 7 pin round one, so no gain or electric brake activation, trailer and truck preformed great. But, if you're towing in that weight range, expect some crappy fuel milage.

I'm not in the know on heavy equipment, but I'm surprised that has surge brakes, not electric or hydro over electric.

[gearheadesw]

5 hours ago, ewbldavis said:

I'm not in the know on heavy equipment, but I'm surprised that has surge brakes, not electric or hydro over electric.

 

 

I was very unsure what I was looking at, then saw a master cylinder in the hitch mount hardware connecting to what looked like a brake line..... so I figured it ran off the pressure of the hitch moving forward and backward. Worked well, thought my brakes where doing a super fantastic job, until I asked at the rental counter, they confirmed brakes in the hitch work the trailer brakes.

Edited April 17, 2020 by gearheadesw

[Icutmetl]

A lot of rental trailers are equipped with surge brakes; if they didn’t, it would really limit the amount of people they could rent to. Some people aren’t even aware that trailer brakes are a thing, or how to properly use them, or if their trucks have a controller.

[redwngr]

On 4/17/2020 at 12:15 PM, ewbldavis said:

I'm not in the know on heavy equipment, but I'm surprised that has surge brakes, not electric or hydro over electric.

 

On 4/17/2020 at 5:34 PM, gearheadesw said:

 

 

I was very unsure what I was looking at, then saw a master cylinder in the hitch mount hardware connecting to what looked like a brake line..... so I figured it ran off the pressure of the hitch moving forward and backward. Worked well, thought my brakes where doing a super fantastic job, until I asked at the rental counter, they confirmed brakes in the hitch work the trailer brakes.

Lots of boat trailers have surge brakes as well (if the trailer/boat is large enough to need brakes).