I just purchase a fifth wheel camper that I pick up next Friday. :) I have some experience towing just not this heavy. The dry weight of the trailer is around 8500lbs with GVWR of 11,000. The dry weight on the hitch is around 1400lbs and I figure I've got around 1800lbs until I meet my truck's GVWR. The camper is 33' long and 8' wide. I have the power extending towing mirrors, I hate them for normal driving (blind spots), but how do they work for towing?
Any advise for towing or specific maintenance issues that can be provided would be greatly appreciated.:cool:
Thanks

Change your shocks to the Billsteins and install the airsprings as well. You'll love the feel of the ride and love how the airsprings handle the loads. The shocks are definately needed. The air springs, whether Air Lift or Firestone, are the one thing that I would never run without anymore. I had them back in 97, Air Lift, on my Tahoe and now I have them on my 2500HD. My leaf springs are singing relief to me. I carry about 2k lbs in my bed of my truck all the time now. The air springs I installed add about 5k of overload and was only $235 for them from www.performanceproducts4trucks.com .


As far as maintenance goes, I would be servicing the rear diff, and tranny more often with towing.

According to most of the posts here you will need a preditor. Personally, I think the D'max has a lot of power. Personally I think the best suggestions I can give you is change the oil to full synthetic after the truck has about 5k on it. I have heard recomendations that the Allison should get a deep pan as well. Guess I would tow it basically as is until I had some experience with the truck/trailer combination and then decide what if any modifications you might want to install. I doubt that you will do much unless you are a power freak.

If you haven't towed a gooseneck or a fifthwheel much watch your turns these trailers will cheat on the turns. The trailer axels will cut a shorter radius on tighter turns. It is easy to forget and run over curbs or worse. The mirrors are OK for towing, certainly better than the ones that don't extend. I agree with you about the blind spots when not towing, there is a large blind spot off the right rear quarter. Happy towing.

Ok so I know this is gonna sound dumb, but I am getting ready to tow a 4,000lb load and had a couple questions. Do you lock out the overdrive on the tranny or could I tow in OD but in Tow/Haul mode? Also what should I expect my Mileage to drop to, right now I get 17mpg @ 70mph.

The owners manual says that on the Allison you can leave it in O/D if you want to. I find with heavy towing it dosen't search up and down like the other trannys. I agree with getting the Bilstien shocks. You don't need a tuner for just 11,000 lbs., this engine/tranny combo is fantastic stock. Go get a 3 inch stick-on swivel adjustable convex mirror from the local auto store and put it on the bottom inside protion of your right mirror. Point it all the way down and to the right and it will let you see the white lines and curbs when you turn. It is a big help.

Forgot, Most heavy towing I get 10-11 MPG. I have not towed anything as light as 4K yet.

I'd change the rear diff fluid to 75W-140.

I think the manual says no load for the first 500 miles for the rear end.

Any overloading or overheating will cause the oil to break down and the ring gear and pinion will fail.* A ring gear and pinion installation, especially a high numeric ratio with new bearings, can cause an excessive heat build up in the rear end and cause softening of the gear teeth and bearings if a break-in is not performed.
Break-in Procedure -*
Drive the vehicle 10 miles at a normal speed, let cool for one (1) hour and then repeat* entire process again.

Congrats on the 5th wheel. I had a 2001 2500HD ext cab short box last year with the LB7 and the allison. We purchased a 12,500 5th and the truck pulled it without ANY mods just fine. Up and down the hills of kentucky and would still blow by the semi's. If you have a short bed you need to be EXTRA careful of the cab clearance to the nose of the trailer when turining sharp corners or trying to manuver your trailer. They can hit. You will have to have a sliding hitch. I installed a pullrite auto slider and that is the trick. I also upgraded the mirrors to the cipa 10" sliding mirrors. They have a great field of vision. We upgraded to new 2004 crew cab dooley (more room for the kid gear) and i think the new power mirrors are total-:t They are very short in height compared to a ford or dodge or even the cipa aftermarket mirrors and not as easy to see out of. As soon as cipa comes out with a replacment mirror for the newer GM,s the power mirrors are going on e-bay. Sometimes GM is not the sharpest crayon in the box on the finer details. Front license plate brackets are a good example. You will however enjoy the rig. Good luck

Thanks for the replys. Very useful information, as always. To be honest, when my wife and I were originally looking for a camp trailer, my idea was a much smaller trailer, but the chance to get a heavy load behind the D/A swayed the decision to the larger trailer that my wire was lobbying for :p: . I think I'm looking more forward to the towing than actually getting the trailer.....
I dont plan to modify the performance any, but the mirrors and airbags sound like good towing modifications to me.
Thanks Again:ro)

I Pulled A 32ft 5th Wheel From The Upper Penninsula Of Mi. To Alcoa Tn. I Traded It In On A 38ft 5th Wheel There And Pulled It To Eustis Fl. I Agree With Most Except My Truck Is Stock Crew With A Short Bed, My Advice Is Tighten Your Lugs On The Trailer At 1mile,5miles,25miles,100.miles And At Each Time You Do A New Pull. You Will Hear Alot Of Good Advice From This Page But Remember Some People Exagerate,you May Be Able To Pull 70s&80s But You Don"t Have Any More Breaking Than An Empty Truck And Nothing Like The Big Trucks. I Find Many People Over Drive While Pulling And Can"t Stop When They Need To And You Do Not Corner Like A Vet With Or With Out A Trailer ! So Think Ahead Drive Smart And Safe And You Will Love Camping And Your Truck As Much As I Do