Does it Matter if You Like Your Tow Rig?

In reply to NickD:

I had a shop bleed it with a Tech II after I got fed up with it. It's marginally better, but they basically said "these always suck, this is normal".

Good towing pads help. As do 4 wheel discs. One thing my F350 does is stop really well- way better than my Dodge ever did. Hawk HP pads all around.

Hmm... If they're sliding calipers, there's probably some flex in the slide pin bushings by design, which prevents a rock solid pedal. Braided soft lines might firm it up a little. If the pedal effort to stop the thing isn't all that high and you can live with some increase, swapping in a master cylinder with a bigger bore will reduce the pedal travel and make it feel firmer, at the expense of needing to push harder to stop.

Also, yes, the hawk HP superduty pads are great. They're a little dull when it's cold out for the first stop, but when they're warm, they STOP.

rslifkin wrote: Also, yes, the hawk HP superduty pads are great. They're a little dull when it's cold out for the first stop, but when they're warm, they STOP.

I towed a double car hauler with 2 cars on it home one time and realized when I got home that the trailer brake controller had flaked out. The 4 discs and Hawk HP pads had been doing all of the stopping of the rig. No fade, no drama, just stop.

You didn't have to go down any Colorado mountain passes, I'm guessing. They can get a little squirrely if all the braking is happening ahead of the hitch.

As for stereo - satellite radio and audiobooks. Makes all the difference. The fun part about satellite is that you can listen to the BBC or CBC for a change :) And a quiet cab is better than a big stereo - you'll be more rested at the end of the day. If my Dodge wasn't so quiet to start with (you would not believe how quiet the 2010+ trucks are), I'd be making mods to add soundproofing.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: In reply to NickD: I had a shop bleed it with a Tech II after I got fed up with it. It's marginally better, but they basically said "these always suck, this is normal".

Is it hydroboost? Because, yeah, hydroboost always feels janky

Huckleberry wrote: In reply to PseudoSport: You can buy my '04 2500HD Duramax and save me the hassle of putting it on ebay. Runs great. Well maintained. 145k. Driver window won't go down. Power door lock button on driver door won't work either. Seat heater sometimes comes on when going over bumps. It needs a new door switch assembly. Otherwise... nice. I'm sick of trucks and race cars, project cars, trailers... all of it. I'm liquidating the fleet.

Have you posted an ad on here?

Huckleberry wrote: In reply to PseudoSport: You can buy my '04 2500HD Duramax and save me the hassle of putting it on ebay. Runs great. Well maintained. 145k. Driver window won't go down. Power door lock button on driver door won't work either. Seat heater sometimes comes on when going over bumps. It needs a new door switch assembly. Otherwise... nice. I'm sick of trucks and race cars, project cars, trailers... all of it. I'm liquidating the fleet.

Long bed? 4WD?

Most of my concerns when towing have been safety related. I'm of the opinion that towing SHOULD be stressful to some extent, but if i had to pick what was going to make me uncomfortable, id much rather it be the seats than the stability under hard braking or the tendency to lock up the tires (ironically, i sold a 1975 ford pickup because the lack of ABS made me feel that it was worthless as a tow vehicle vs newer options i had that were all smaller vehicles).

I guess if i was upgrading out of a vehicle that could basically do the job to begin with, i'd be upgrading to something with towing-tailored stability control and a nice integrated trailer brake controller, and it would end up being nicer because it would be newer.

The boss owns a current Tundra with towing stability control and a brake controller. He bought it after wadding up an earlier Tundra and an Airstream thanks to a tank slapper. I own a 2010 Dodge 2500 crew cab with the short bed. The Toyota is terrifying by comparison. Electronics will only get you so far.

If it was me, I'd look into the next body style (2001-6). They made a helluva leap in drivabilty, handling, braking and driver comforts and to be honest, they're now in the same price ranges as the one you have. Father picked up an 01 with 130k miles for $2500. no rust, runs strong and is 10X the 99 he had before (which has since been sold).

For us, we both love our tow pig/vacation hauler/pretty truck. IT does everything we ask and does it with style.

Keith Tanner wrote: The boss owns a current Tundra with towing stability control and a brake controller. He bought it after wadding up an earlier Tundra and an Airstream thanks to a tank slapper. I own a 2010 Dodge 2500 crew cab with the short bed. The Toyota is terrifying by comparison. Electronics will only get you so far.

And this is why, IMO, any big enclosed car hauler or other long, high-windage trailer should be in gooseneck form, not as a bumper pull. Yeah, that means 3/4 ton or bigger and long bed, but the stability difference is well worth it.

I like ours, though I could do with a bit more power sometimes. Overall though it tows well, is quiet and comfortable, reliable, with modern features and a ton of interior space. I wouldn't tow a big enclosed trailer with it, but for a rally car on an open deck trailer and all our gear, it's good.

Helps that it's my wife's kid hauler, so I don't have the issue of having to have a cheap "extra" vehicle sitting around like you do, though.

IDK, you can find Sequoias like ours all day for $10k or under these days. The 4.7 V8 doesn't blow you away, but it's bulletproof and does just fine. And the seats, stereo (aftermarket), lighting, ride, and interior silence and pretty good brakes are all plusses.

That said, everyone loves your tow rig cosmetically!

Maybe you'd enjoy towing more if you had your own trailer with electric brakes though - aren't you using Uhaul right now, or am I remembering incorrectly?

First, hopefully you won't lose your but on it. Is it worth selling. That's a big one I think.
Second, figure out what you want. It's not worth shedding this to get something else if your gonna have the same issue occur. That can be a dangerous slope.

It sounds like you are in a position that 1 may be a good spot. The second part is a bigger issue. I want to like whatever I have. If I dont, well it's not worth it. My wife's DD was once a issue of lowest cost and get it done. I felt my soul being drawn out and generally tortured when driving. Yes it functioned, it never let us down, but by God that Saab 9000 with 300k+ miles was just as good and fun and got better mpg than the corolla we had.

Yea, I don't like to settle. If I had to get something for real cheap so be it, but give yourself time to know what you want and then get it.

Very informative discussion.

We bought an 05 Durango about five years ago. Wife wanted something bigger than our Pacifica for hauling offspring. I saw this as a chance to find something that could serve as an occasional tow vehicle and large parts hauler.

I didn't really care for it when we looked at it, but I wasn't going to be DDing so what evs.

I now loathe that thing. It will be leaving our family in the next few months. And this time it will be something I like, and I will DD it. Something with a bed will be a must, better seats and less noisy to start with.

I have had a lot of different trucks. The Duramax crew was probably most capable. Gooseneck is soooooooo much better if you have weight. But we absolutely love the simplest which is our 86 F250 regular cab 6 cyl.

If you can afford a different tow vehicle, go wild. If you can't, you better keep those big boy pants on.

There's a reason why my tow beast is just a tow and work beast. Rugged trucks aren't fun to drive. Buy a cheap, reliable one.

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

Let's equate to tools.

You need a hammer.

You bought the cheapest hammer that would do the job.

The job only needs to be done occasionally.

The hammer that you own, even though it's a cheap tool, does that job every time adequately.

You start to eye hump the newest h beam, dead blow, shockproof handle hammer. Because it makes you grin to look at it and fondle it.

It's still a berkeleying hammer. Just ten times the price, that doesn't really do the every couple of months job any better. It doesn't make it quicker, easier, or cheaper. As a matter of fact, it makes the job more expensive due to the cost of the nifty hammer.

Am I making sense?

If the end game is go racing, keep the Tahoe and leave it the berkeley alone. Fix what brakes and go racing.

FWIW, our back up tow beasr, yeah I know, and wide's DD is a 1500 suburban. Not bad except size. I'm going to get her a little run about for daily use and decide what to do with the 'burban. But if you're hauling around 5k or less, its a good choice.

rslifkin wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: The boss owns a current Tundra with towing stability control and a brake controller. He bought it after wadding up an earlier Tundra and an Airstream thanks to a tank slapper. I own a 2010 Dodge 2500 crew cab with the short bed. The Toyota is terrifying by comparison. Electronics will only get you so far.

And this is why, IMO, any big enclosed car hauler or other long, high-windage trailer should be in gooseneck form, not as a bumper pull. Yeah, that means 3/4 ton or bigger and long bed, but the stability difference is well worth it.

I'm comparing like to like - bumper pull on both trucks. The biggest difference is that the boss loves his load equalizers while I just put more air in the airbags.

In a big windstorm on Kansas, I was rock steady with a two-car 28' bumper pull trailer while he was all over the road with a 20' single car. He was bragging that the Toyota sway control was working away to keep him steady, my truck didn't need it. I eventually passed him and left him white-knuckling down the road 20 mph slower.

He bought another Tundra after the first one got destroyed while towing because of how the airbags in the roof deployed. Me, I would have bought a truck that didn't have the accident in the first place...

You just need to make a list of priorities. Mine goes something like, Reliable, Capable, Comfortable, Legal (will pass a roadside inspection). From there on it makes little difference. I towed my IT car for years with a rusty 318 powered Dakota. Moved up to a 10 year old 4.8 Silverado 5 years ago. Neither one ever caused me a moments concern from handling or braking with the weight I was carrying. I would never spend money on pretty wheels or lowering kits or any of that junk for a tow beast. The customising money gets spent on better tires and new wearing parts.

In reply to Huckleberry:

You've got mail.

With regards to the hammer analogy - if a cheap hammer makes your hands hurt by the end of the day, and a good hammer doesn't, you should have the good hammer. Otherwise your ability to work will suffer.

On those long tows, a nicer tow rig can make all the difference to driver alertness. Pretty wheels don't matter, but vehicle stability, noise level and ease of driving make a big difference at the end of the day.

i wont disagree with that kieth. I didn't read anything about that end from the OP, so I ASSUMED he was fine with it, it was just boring as berk.

the analogy was written more to talk myself out of buying a cheap 5 series BMW to replace my Subaru daily than for this thread, but it was applicably here too.

Michael