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What's Your TT Set-up?


freestoneangler

Truck Choice  

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  1. 1. What do you pull with?



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I have a Forest River Stealth 2515 toy hauler. Pull it with a Chevy 2500 DMax. Did 7K miles over 4 weeks several months ago. Love the exhaust brake. At about 9.5K, the truck still went up any hill at whatever speed you wanted. Averaged over the trip about 13 mpg, although I think it would have been better as I found a sticky brake piston when I got home.

 

Mark

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy that you have joined us.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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  • 3 months later...

I have a Dodge Ram 5500 6.7L Cummins Diesel with a utility body and have been towing a 2015 Excel/Peterson 33IKE TT that weighed 15,500 lbs. loaded and was 12' high. I used an equalizer hitch and it towed like a dream. They delivered it from Kansas to the Florida Keys with a Dodge 3500 and their driver said it was the best towing trailer he ever towed. I just got my New Horizons 36' custom built TT that is 13'2" high and weighs 24,000 lbs. loaded. I have only towed it 500 miles so far, but it tows great. It has 3 axles instead of two and feels heavier on the start out of the hole, but I seem to get the same mileage as the Excel at least on flat land Florida. I did upgrade my hitch to the Torklift Magnum 30K for the heavier TT. Handling wise, I don't see any reason to have a 5er. I have towed both and if you can back up, you can back up. You can just tear up the tires and rims a little easier with a 5er by making sharper turns.

fnMLSAUl.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Hello. New member here. We purchased a 2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali 4x4 diesel. Wanted to make sure we had what we needed for our Arctic Fox 22G trailer. 

I saw mention of the Nissan Titan XD in this thread and that was a consideration but pretty serious problems with the XD right out of the gate led us away from the Nissan. Too bad because we are long time Nissan owners and would have liked to remain so.

Anyway, picked the GMC based on longevity reviews and comfort. It tows our 22G like it's not even back there and is a quiet and comfortable truck for long days in the saddle. 

_DSC5971_00001_00001.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 7:29 AM, Hammster said:

Hello. New member here. We purchased a 2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali 4x4 diesel. Wanted to make sure we had what we needed for our Arctic Fox 22G trailer. 

I saw mention of the Nissan Titan XD in this thread and that was a consideration but pretty serious problems with the XD right out of the gate led us away from the Nissan. Too bad because we are long time Nissan owners and would have liked to remain so.

Anyway, picked the GMC based on longevity reviews and comfort. It tows our 22G like it's not even back there and is a quiet and comfortable truck for long days in the saddle. 

_DSC5971_00001_00001.jpg

Nice looking set-up!  We're still toying with the idea of upgrading out truck and the Duramax/Allison keeps catching my eye. 

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I wanted to come back to this. We attended the Northwood RV rally in La Grande Oregon a couple of weeks ago. Now that is the place to check out Northwood trailers and campers! 59 units represented. 

In regards to the Nissan Titan XD, one couple had one and they were towing an Arctic Fox 25W or 25Y, don't recall exactly, and were happy with both the vehicle and its ability to tow the trailer. Going in to that area of Oregon requires driving through mountain passes. So, uphill,  downhill, twisty, etc. He was quite happy with his setup.

 

In regards to toy haulers and winter camping. Northwoods RVs are true 4 season rigs (well, as close to 4 season as possible). They use higher density foam insulation throughout, double pane windows, insulated and heated holding tanks (fed from the furnace ducting). The Desert Fox would be the line you'd look at for that. The 21SW sounds like what you are thinking of getting. 

Note that these trailers are on the high end price wise but most dealers will negotiate with you. We got about $3K off of their price on our 22G and they also threw a few things in no charge. 

 

And, yes to EXHAUST BRAKES! Best. Thing. Ever.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, our current truck does pull the TT along well enough, but it knows it's there going up long grades.  In tow/haul mode, the 4 speed does OK and will downshift while coming down grade to assist with speed control.  We're still thinking we'd like a roomier rear cab (crew cab vs. quad cab), interior feature upgrades (heater seats), and the much loved exhaust brake. 

On paper, the 2012 and later 6.7L CTD horsepower and torque increase significantly over the 2006 5.9L.  Also the newer turbo design is said to provide much better power from start of acceleration.  I've been hoping to hear from anyone who has owned and towed with both.  Also considering Chevy/GMC or Ford, but tend to like the Dodge interiors a bit better.

Until that change happens, here's the current rig.

 

IMG_7866.JPG.6bb5de9e62660e6f202a260f34b87385.JPG

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We tow our 23.5' Oliver travel trailer with a Toyota Tundra 5.7L 4X4. It's a fine rig combination. The Ollie weighs in at 4950 pounds ready to camp with empty water tanks. The GVW on the Ollie is 7000 pounds. Most dual axle Ollies have 3500 pound axles, but Oliver built a few 5200 pound dual axles Ollies during 2015, ours was one of them. Installed Dexter EZ flex suspension system with wet pins and bronze bushings. Ollies have shock absorber/leaf spring suspension system. It also came equipped with 16" light truck radial tires. The Ollie has very good towing manners!

IMG_0160-L.jpg

 

Bill

Oliver TT

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  • 2 months later...
On ‎9‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 8:22 AM, rbertalotto said:

20' Forest River Grey Wolf toy hauler / 2006 Dodge 2500 diesel 4x4. Trailer when fully loaded is 7000#. Absolutely no issues pulling with this truck. Last 300 mile trip at 15mpg

Is that calculated mpg?  My 2006 5.9L, stock as the day is long, was only able to get 11.9 with no wind and 9.8 with 20+ mph head winds.  This with a StarCraft 245DS that probably weighed around 6200#.  Empty, the best I get on the highway at 65 mph is 18.5 mpg.  I keep hearing of folks with the 5.9L getting these amazing numbers - did you have anything done to the truck (exhaust system, tuner, etc.)?

 

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  • 5 months later...

We feel in the towable world a travel trailer is best for our needs...rjttMIYl.jpg

 

2001 Freightliner Century, 500hp Series 60, Gen 2 autoshift, 3.42 singled rear locker.

2004 Keystone Sprinter 299RLS (TT)

2 & 4 Wheelers!

2013 Polaris Ranger 800 midsize LE

Our motto "4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul!"

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8 hours ago, CDR said:

We feel in the towable world a travel trailer is best for our needs...

I'm not sure that I have ever seen a setup like yours before. Heavy trucks aren't common outside of the fiver community. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Kirk,

That's true, but for our use (I use my HDT like a big pickup) it works rather well and we can just about bring everything we need. 😁

Curt

2001 Freightliner Century, 500hp Series 60, Gen 2 autoshift, 3.42 singled rear locker.

2004 Keystone Sprinter 299RLS (TT)

2 & 4 Wheelers!

2013 Polaris Ranger 800 midsize LE

Our motto "4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul!"

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We pull a 2010 Coachman Freedom Express 280RLS with both a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD 12 valve, a five speed NV4500 manual, and a 2006 Volvo VNL 780.

The decision what to use is whether we are bringing the Jeep along to do offroading or not.

The pickup up pulls the TT well, but down hills in the mountains with no Jake brake is less than comforting.

The Volvo is by far the best tug, uphill, downhill, makes no difference.  Set the Jake built into the head on the first setting, and set the cruise at 65, the truck will maintain that speed uphill and downhill.

The Freedom Express is an Adult camper.  Rear living room with double recliners and a very large rear window for great viewing of the new places we like to go every year.  The TT has a single slide and is quite light. I suspect around 7000 lbs when we head out.

The 3/4 ton Dodge in 98  was rated to pull more weight than the 1 ton version, due to everything being the same except the two extra tires.

Arvey current.jpg

2006 Volvo VNL 780, " Arvey"  Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

2010 Forest River Coachman Freedom Express 280RLS

Jackalopee

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Curt, I like it! I tow with more than needed also since we now part-time it. We upgraded from towing our 4000# travel trailer with an SUV to towing with a 3/4 ton, diesel truck but the two of you really bested me! 

 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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  • 1 month later...

I have a 2015 Dodge SB 1500, Hemi, 8 speed tranny, 4x. Towing a 2017 25’ Coachmen Freedom Express. Doesn’t even feel like it’s back there. Just traded up from a Coachmen 17x Nano Hybrid. I like the Coachmen because of the Azdel construction. Cosmetic things I can repair. So far I’m extremely happy with the set up. The trailer is still small enough to get into some campgrounds but large enough for one person and and one of my adult children (when they want to go lol)

5826AECD-F2B8-4AE1-A923-8AAB7C91259F.jpeg

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7 hours ago, Travelergal68 said:

I have a 2015 Dodge SB 1500, Hemi, 8 speed tranny, 4x. Towing a 2017 25’ Coachmen Freedom Express. 

Welcome to the Escapee forums! Join in with any forum or any subject.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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