Cargo trailer + truck advice

[user 22017]

So I should stop babying my truck on hills? I even turn off the air and heat . But we have quite a few steep hills in daily driving here.

 

[NctryBen]

Carla… don’t baby to much unless you do see a problem. I’m guessing your truck will be great with your trailer…
Malamute… I have almost the exact experience with the same 80’s trucks…
I agree that engine, and drive train determine more then 1/2 or 3/4 ton trucks. But payload could be the factor on that. I would definitely go 250/2500 for those reasons with a good utility trailer. Tandem axle will not always be beneficial but you’d have to determine your need for weight. Single axle is easier on tires as a tandem has one axle kinda dragging… I personally would either way watch your tires closely and put on new tires before they wear very low. That last bit of rubber goes fast…but whatever the OP buys they need to stay within their limits for load and such. A lot of good options out there. I was able to go non commercial in my 350 dually when I quit commercial hauling. I mainly got tired of DOT requirements of driving. But did learn the importance of maintaining a sound vehicle. I’ll be hitting 650,000 miles this summer as I’m finally going to be looking for a different truck…
And one other consideration on axles… many toll roads charge a good chunk more for that extra axle… just a thought.

 

[rruff]

But we have quite a few steep hills in daily driving here.

If you are still living in IL Carla, I'm calling BS on that! IL is the flattest state in the country....... but if you live around Shawnee, there might be a few hills.

Pulling that big trailer you have up a mountain pass, would be another thing entirely.

 

[jasper]

One reason I like a van or truck camper for exploring is the ability to turn around at a blocked road or dead end. Backing a trailer a long distance on a narrow road isn't much fun, especially a short, single axle trailer. They are rather twitchy when backing.

A single-axle trailer can be unhooked, and even with a heavy tongue weight, stuff inside can be moved to the rear, or rocks or other items added to the rear to lighten tongue weight. A single-axle trailer is much easier to swing around in place.

Having a caster wheel stashed to exchange in place of the jack bottom pad is a plus.

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^you would have to have a really small light weight trailer, heck I’ve been run over by my little utility trailer. Weight is the enemy off road. You are better off walking or having alternative means to get places as back country breakdowns without alternate ways to get help can be deadly, just saying.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Maybe Chuck Norris could lift and swing my single axle trailer around on a narrow, rutted forest trail, by hand, but I sure can't!

One advantage to a small single axle trailer with a fairly high ground clearance is that (given sufficient space around me) I can back it up over a trailside berm or down into a shallow ditch, if needed, and with a sequence of forward and backward, short movements, I can get it turned around using my 4WD pickup.

But of course the primary objective is to not get into that situation in the first place!

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^lifting it and moving it isn’t near as difficult as stopping it!

 

[Malamute]

So I should stop babying my truck on hills? I even turn off the air and heat . But we have quite a few steep hills in daily driving here.

I wouldnt worry about it unless the temp starts going up much on a long grade. in the mountains a long grade can be many miles long. If you have an automatic transmission, a transmission temp gauge is helpful. When i traveled with the Winnbeago, if the trans temp started climbing much on an long uphill pull Id stop and let it idle a few minutes to cool off, pointed into a breeze if possible. I was pulling a trailer with my Nissan pickup on it. The Winnbago had a 360 dodge/chrysler motor i think. It pulled fine, just not at full cruising speed on big grades.

In this instance, the trans or motor overheating, its best to let it run at idle to cool off rather than shutting it off. It will help cool it to run with no load.

Id agree on there being very few places in Illinois that would cause much concern unless very heavily loaded, then watch the motor and trans temp gauges.

The epic move of a buddy with my F-250 with 460 motor was from Sedona Az to Pagosa Springs Colorado. There was a scale near his place, so I knew exactly what the gross weight was. I ran 70 mph all the way in hot temps with AC running full blast all the way across the rez and including in the mountains. No problems with that particular rig. The truck had a 620 lb utility shell I built and we had the largest Uhaul trailer available, all loaded to the gills.

Turning off the heat wont help if under a load, its not using any engine power, its just a small fan using engine coolant run through a small radiator to use the warm temp engine coolant. AC does use a compressor, but unless the engine temp starts rising dramatically or Im seriously losing power to forge up a long grade with a big load I dont turn mine off.

 

[user 22017]

If you are still living in IL Carla, I'm calling BS on that! IL is the flattest state in the country....... but if you live around Shawnee, there might be a few hills.

Pulling that big trailer you have up a mountain pass, would be another thing entirely.

Illinois has tons of steep hills along the Mississippi, Rock and Illinois Rivers. Maybe the Ohio River, too. And, of course, Shawnee Forest area.

i've driven to Massachusetts many times through the Poconos and to San Diego and San Francisco. So I know what is considered steep.

Mostly I wanted to know if it helps my OLD truck to kill the air on steep hills.

 

[bullfrog !]

I still cut off the AC and turn on the heater because most my life I’ve driven old about worn out vehicles that would overheat if I didn’t. In fact a lot of times I didn’t run the AC at all as I couldn’t afford the price for the extra fuel to run it. Everything wears out and costs money if you use it excessively. A lot of new vehicles automatically cut off the AC when the computer senses you want or need more power. I sort of like controlling my vehicle instead of letting a computer do it for me but would much rather my wife get mad at the computer for making her sweat than yelling at me! Lol!!!

 

[NctryBen]

Illinois has tons of steep hills along the Mississippi, Rock and Illinois Rivers. Maybe the Ohio River, too. And, of course, Shawnee Forest area.

i've driven to Massachusetts many times through the Poconos and to San Diego and San Francisco. So I know what is considered steep.

Mostly I wanted to know if it helps my OLD truck to kill the air on steep hills.

Just watch your gauges… know where normal operations are. Typically it’s not an issue unless your adding something like hot weather… then it’s how hot, how steep and what are you pulling for weight… if you need to turn off ac with no load, you need to do something about that. Possibly plugged radiator or ports in your block. If you haven’t flushed your system, that’s a good place to start. When my fan is always running hard I know something needs attention. Sometimes it’s as simple as a thermostat that won’t open or open enough. But if you have to turn off your ac under normal conditions, you need to find out why…

 

[user 22017]

Just watch your gauges… know where normal operations are. Typically it’s not an issue unless your adding something like hot weather… then it’s how hot, how steep and what are you pulling for weight… if you need to turn off ac with no load, you need to do something about that. Possibly plugged radiator or ports in your block. If you haven’t flushed your system, that’s a good place to start. When my fan is always running hard I know something needs attention. Sometimes it’s as simple as a thermostat that won’t open or open enough. But if you have to turn off your ac under normal conditions, you need to find out why…

I don't need to. I just do it because the truck is old .

 

[wayne49]

So I should stop babying my truck on hills? I even turn off the air and heat . But we have quite a few steep hills in daily driving here.

Yes on the A/C off.

When it's hot, such as crossing from Delta, Utah to Ely, Nevada in July/August, using max interior heat will help keep the engine from going nuclear hot on long, steep uphill runs. Opening the windows will help to feel a bit cooler. Watch the temp gauge as you go.

 

[towboater]

I don't need to. I just do it because the truck is old .

Good idea on shutting down A/C when the temp goes up above normal since the condenser sits in front of the radiator and the
cooling system has to overcome the additional heat being drawn thru the radiator from the hot condenser. I also shut off radio on steep grades so I can hear the clutch fan kick on. If the fan then stays on I know the cooling system is working hard to get the job done.
Best wishes

 

[Malamute]

I don't need to. I just do it because the truck is old .

How many miles are on it? Thats probably more of a thing than age alone.

Before the transmission came apart, (probably from extended hard use) my 95 Suburban was my main driver with 250-275K miles. I ran the AC on Maximum Arctic Blast setting full time when it was hot out. I probably should have put a larger transmission cooler on it, as I used it to haul firewood and building materials over mountain passes with a 16' flatbed trailer loaded with a couple cords worth of wood. Uphill and downhill speeds were around 25 mph because of length of grade, 5 miles or so, elevation, up to around 9000 to 12,000 ft, and gearing down going downhill to help limit speed and not cook the brakes. So long as the engine temp didnt rise to unhappy levels the AC stayed on. I dont recall ever needing to shut it off in the 95 or the 93 Suburban I used before it. Summer temps run into the 90s and to 100 or so off and on through summer.

My uphill speeds are always at a level the engine can comfortably pull without screaming and the pedal stomped to the floor as some seem to do. Downhill speeds were in a range I could deal with a runaway if the trans or brakes failed. Hauling a load of materials for a guy for a project once, he asked if I was going to go this slow ALL THE WAY DOWN? Yep.

 

[user 22017]

How many miles are on it? Thats probably more of a thing than age alone.

Before the transmission came apart, (probably from extended hard use) my 95 Suburban was my main driver with 250-275K miles. I ran the AC on Maximum Arctic Blast setting full time when it was hot out. I probably should have put a larger transmission cooler on it, as I used it to haul firewood and building materials over mountain passes with a 16' flatbed trailer loaded with a couple cords worth of wood. Uphill and downhill speeds were around 25 mph because of length of grade, 5 miles or so, elevation, up to around 9000 to 12,000 ft, and gearing down going downhill to help limit speed and not cook the brakes. So long as the engine temp didnt rise to unhappy levels the AC stayed on. I dont recall ever needing to shut it off in the 95 or the 93 Suburban I used before it. Summer temps run into the 90s and to 100 or so off and on through summer.

My uphill speeds are always at a level the engine can comfortably pull without screaming and the pedal stomped to the floor as some seem to do. Downhill speeds were in a range I could deal with a runaway if the trans or brakes failed. Hauling a load of materials for a guy for a project once, he asked if I was going to go this slow ALL THE WAY DOWN? Yep.

It's about to hit 104,000. It had 93,000 when I bought it . Edit: it is a 1995

 

[Malamute]

It's about to hit 104,000. It had 93,000 when I bought it . Edit: it is a 1995

Thats not much for mileage. I dont recall how long its been since I owned something with so few miles on it. I wouldnt worry about its age or miles for some time. I think the last 4 or 5 vehicles Ive bought had 175K or so on them, and I drove the heck out of them for years each, putting another 75-100K on them.

If taken care of reasonably well 200k is about expected if not quite a bit more before major things start happening, then its a question of doing the required stuff to keep them going, which ive done for the most part, until they get too many large ticket items to deal with. One lady I know with a Toyota truck said she was at around 365k and still drives it long distances without concern.

The transmission blew up in the 95, I HAD to be halfway across the country immediately so I got a rental to get there and eventually got another vehicle while away. The transmission from the otherwise unused but basically runs 93 will be swapped into the 95, it will live again. I think it may become my camping and offroading exploration rig. Probably some mild lift, winch, suspension upgrade, clean all the mouse poop out, and forge onward. If anything else major happens I still have the parts reservoir of the 93 to draw from. With only 275 K it should be good for a few more years.

 

[user 22017]

Thats not much for mileage. I dont recall how long its been since I owned something with so few miles on it. I wouldnt worry about its age or miles for some time. I think the last 4 or 5 vehicles Ive bought had 175K or so on them, and I drove the heck out of them for years each, putting another 75-100K on them.

If taken care of reasonably well 200k is about expected if not quite a bit more before major things start happening, then its a question of doing the required stuff to keep them going, which ive done for the most part, until they get too many large ticket items to deal with. One lady I know with a Toyota truck said she was at around 365k and still drives it long distances without concern.

I follow a couple on YouTube who have the same truck as mine. They drove it from Canada to the most southern point in S. America. Over 500k miles on it now.

 

[Malamute]

Ive discovered Matts Offroad Recovery youtube channel. (hugely fun to watch) They interact with a couple other people doing similar stuff like Fab Rats and Trail Mater. They all have several specially built offroad rigs and pretty much all run stock junkyard motors. If one goes bad for some reason, like Rory (Trail mater) ran through water and locked up a motor in his offroad wrecker and severely damaged it, they go get another motor from some wreck or junked vehicle, put it in and go with maybe some slight parts swapping and modifications. Matts rigs are pretty shiny and pretty, the others are more rat rigs, which pretty well helped me decide to get the 95 going with whatever parts I can scavenge from the 93, and maybe an axle swap for heavier duty axles later. Toms (from Matts crew) truck Dig Dug also helped be in that regard.

 

[rruff]

Mostly I wanted to know if it helps my OLD truck to kill the air on steep hills.

Only if the cooling system is unable to work properly (ie it overheats). What hills there are in IL are short, which means it doesn't take long to get to the top, and the risk of overheating is nil, unless you were already at the edge. It's very different from climbing a steep grade that lasts for miles.