Just Purchased 38FL - Page 2

atom ant · 06-20-2015, 06:20 PM

Wow, those FL are definitely heavy in the butt. We are over your gross (17,222) yet I don't have near that on our axles (12,900 total). On the RL it all goes to the pin.

Did you have water? Looks like you have pretty much maxxed out those 7K axles.

rob_fla · 06-20-2015, 07:03 PM

Yep AA, I was surprised, not so much at the overall weight but how much is on the Axles and how much is on the Pin.
I thought the Pin Weight was going be in the 3,500 lb. range.
We are right at the axle rating, (Hope Lippert designed some margin

)
The only good thing is our left to right weight is almost the same which is unusual on most RVs.
We do not carry much water in the fresh water tank, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 at most.
An of course we do not have a generator up front either.
Again on a Rear Living, the bedroom and bathroom is up front, all we have up front is two couches and our Theater Seating unit, not much weight up there.
I guess we will see how it tows tomorrow going to Sarasota FL with the MorRyde Suspension I installed and some truck mods I made last week.

Shane Wood · 06-20-2015, 07:16 PM

Rob
What kind of mods did you do to your truck.
I have a new 3500 drw denali on order. I am having airbags installed 2 gallon air tank and 200 psi compressor installed that can run up to 6 different air lines. 24k curt hitch pace Edwards electric to tonneau cover and to many other things to lost

travelin' texans · 06-20-2015, 07:31 PM

Rob, curious also on truck mods. If too many mods you won't know which helped the most?

rob_fla · 06-20-2015, 10:25 PM

LOL, too many mods, only so much time here where I have family with shops and equipment to help.
I believe one of our problems since day one with our FL has been not enough Pin Weight for our GMC 3500HD.
Not putting enough weight on the trucks overload springs, if it was another brand, it would go ahead and squat right on down on them.
Our previous 5th Wheel had about 3,800 lbs. pin weight and no problems traveling coast to coast when entering or exiting bridges and ramps with uneven approaches or exits.
On our current Redwood 38FL and only about 3,000 lbs. pin weight the truck does quite a bounce I believe from coming off the overload springs and then bouncing back down on them.
The mod I am trying it a shackle lowering kit that lowered the truck about 1 1/2" and puts me right at the overloads.
I saw this mod done at the Rally we were at in NC during Memorial Day week on a 2012 Chevy 3500HD with a 5th Wheel that had a lighter Pin Weight and the guy loved the mod.
Installed the shackles last week, truck seems to ride the same without the 5er.
Sits more level too, still a little up in the back but much easer to get to the bed.
I will know more tomorrow when we hitch up our FL and head down I-10 & I-75 to Sarasota FL (about 300 miles)
The installation was a bit of a challenge due to tight clearances but me and my BIL got them in, sure hope it works out, do not want to put the old ones back on

(I saved the old shackles in case this mod does not work)

rob_fla · 06-20-2015, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane Wood

Rob
What kind of mods did you do to your truck.
I have a new 3500 drw denali on order. I am having airbags installed 2 gallon air tank and 200 psi compressor installed that can run up to 6 different air lines. 24k curt hitch pace Edwards electric to tonneau cover and to many other things to lost

Shane I do not think Air Bags will do me any good, with our Redwood hitched up, our GMC 3500HD is still high in the rear.
To use Air Bags I would have to put a set of "Blue Oval" springs on our GMC.

Love the Curt 24Q Hitch but it does take some practice hitching and unhitching.
I have found taking the weight completely off the Curt Hitch causes the hitch to re-latch when trying to pull the truck out, I have to leave some weight on the hitch and it works fine.
Same thing connecting, have to make sure there is weight on the hitch to get it to latch.

Shane Wood · 06-20-2015, 11:27 PM

Rob
Just move the DW shoes and purses up front when travelling and that will give you the pin weight you need to smoothin her out

superduty glampers · 06-20-2015, 11:43 PM

So a weekender with a 3/4 ton with the high payload package (slide in camper or fifth wheel package) can tow a FLwith empty tanks and no genarator and not be overloaded like everyone keeps saying on here?

rob_fla · 06-21-2015, 12:17 AM

I posted our 2014 38FL real weight numbers on this thread.
Consider we are Fulltimers, have a stackable Washer Dryer and no Generator and the 38FL is a little longer / heaver than the 36FL.
If the numbers work for you, you are good to go

travelin' texans · 06-21-2015, 03:47 AM

Rob, I installed the Timbren bump stops & helped considerably as they make contact before the overloads do, but I have plenty of pin weight. Mine sets perfectly level when hooked to RW. I would be interested in the truck shackle mod. It's just hard to improve perfect though. You know we are gonna catch hell for this!!

rob_fla · 06-21-2015, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelin' texans

You know we are gonna catch hell for this!!

Yep I know, I hear the Blue Ovals rounding up the wagons now !!!

Shane Wood · 06-21-2015, 04:55 AM

Funny part is the GM owners have to take springs out and the other 2 have to add them

atom ant · 06-21-2015, 03:38 PM

Na, us blue ovals fell asleep a long time ago. If we tried to follow all the GM concerns for making them drivable, we would never had time to just enjoy our Fords

I do know that if I could go back to a 3,000 lb pin weight, the LAST thing I would be driving is a dually.

Shane Wood · 06-21-2015, 04:01 PM

Brad
If we could figure a way to move the DW ' stuff out of the closet and put it behind the couch we could pull these with a half ton. Be down to 1000 lb pin weight