Curt Hitch initial setup questions.

[OC455]

OK, long and short of it.....unable to make it to the CAT scale due to time constraints. Sucks....but went to the local recycling center.

Gross weight of truck and camper together with WD as I had it set initially: 12,000 lbs.

Gross weight of truck loaded w/o camper: 6480 lbs. Front axle: 3480 lbs. Rear axle: 3000 lbs.

Weight of camper: 5520 lbs.

Weight of truck front axle with camper attached w/ WD: 3320 lbs.
I should have drove the truck onto the scale and got the gross weight of the truck with the camper attached w/ WD. Wasn't thinking quick enough. Not enough weight distribution added from the way the truck felt and drove (porpoising and hitching back & forth when hitting bumps).

Went to a parking lot that I know is flat and level. Checked everything out and re-leveling the camper, I had the hitch head too high from where the camper was level. Corrected the hitch head height. (Used a longer drop shank). Re-set the hitch to the last position (Position #5 for the TruTrack).

Hooked the weight distribution bars up. (I also measured front and rear bumper height).

The front bumper dropped 3/8's of an inch and the rear bumper dropped 1/2 of an inch. Drove the truck around the block. Only felt minor porpoising when hitting some of the larger bumps and then it settled down. No other hitching back and forth....all with 7psi of air in the Timber Grove air springs. I didn't have an air pump or compressor to air up the Timber Groves with me.

I'm thinking with the way I have it set now, I shouldn't have a problem with it. It felt much more gooder. Might put 10psi of air in the Timber Groves just to see if it reduces or dampens the minor porpoising still there.

Overall I think I have it where it needs to be.

 

[OC455]

Also as a side note, I checked transmission temperature while I was going about. Trans temp was showing 195 degrees with an ambient air temp being 68 degrees. When I unhitched, I was checking the temp, and it varied between 177 to 183 degrees with the same ambient air temps depending on if I was accelerating or cruising. I was waiting to pickup #2 child from school and sitting at idle in the parking lot of the school, trans temp was at 185 degrees.

 

[OC455]

I am going to get the Air Lift WirelessOne. I like the idea of having it. Saving for it now.

Got my Nitto G2's mounted and balanced today as well. XL rated. They seem to firm up the ride and aren't noisy like I thought they would be. Quiet actually.

 

[OC455]

Well, made the trip out to Lake George N.Y. from the home port. Got going and it felt ok, but, still off. Stopped at a rest stop and checked the air in the Timber Groves....20psi. Dropped it down to about 15psi. Got going again and it was so much better.

Rode smooth and handled well. The 18 wheelers that passed me, no push or drift felt.

At 65 mph I was averaging 16mpg.

Then I made the mistake of following the nav on the truck....it took me o some back roads the truck and trailer shouldn't have been.

One road I was coming down a hill that had switch backs that at best 10mph without a trailer. Driving skill tested Ram navigation....thanks....ugh.

 

[OC455]

As far as overall gas mileage, it was pretty dire because of where the nav took me..

 

[OC455]

Oh...and the other thing I like....the campsite I'm at, I see more Rams than any other truck...lol

 

[GsRAM]

Nice oc! Glad you got it ironed out. Good stuff. I also see a lot of ram trucks at the cg . A lot of Chevy and ford too. Competition is good. All of the big 3 build good trucks these days really. I don' care for the Japanese trucks at all personally.

 

[GsRAM]

As far as overall gas mileage, it was pretty dire because of where the nav took me..

Yep. Been there and done that! I had my Garmin once take me up the side of a mountain with my tt. Road was asphalt but very bumpy, windy and extremely steep. I think I was flat on the floor in first gear in m 2000 expedition Eddie Bauer with the 5.4 which made decent power. Now I pre plan my routes with maps and use the Garmin as a general guide but don't follow it 100% anymore. Going to MB one year it took me off 95 through some crappy business district which cost me about a half hour! Not good. So I learned some lessons about GPS units over the years. They are good and helpful but you still need maps. At least I do.

 

[OC455]

I should have known better following the nav and just gone the way we went before. Some of those roads were about as wide as goat paths....lol.

The Ram did good. Plenty of power when I had to get it moving and up hill was not an issue. Couple of times I had to use the passing lane on the 90 a few times then some wise guy decided he wanted to pass on the inside lane didn't make me happy.

Goat paths and hills with switch backs was a challenge. Got to the bottom of the one hill and could smell the brakes pretty good on the truck.

 

[OC455]

On the way back home, made it just fine. Gas mileage was horrible. Fighting a West wind and the majority of it up hill. It stayed in 6th and 7th gear the majority of the way home. 65mph.

Didn't get any better than 8.5mpg according to the trip odometer. Transmission temps only got to 204 degrees on the long hills when it dropped into 5th gear. Average temp was 195 degrees.

I discovered a small air leak on the T-fitting leading to the passenger side rear Timber Grove air spring. Gave it a snug up and no more air leak. It was so very slight it was hard to notice.

I mounted the Air Lift WirelessOne compressor and manifold and ran the power. I did this just before the trip out, but didn't get the air line run to the back, so I will get that done in the next few days.

Good times. Thanks everyone for the advice and how to get this stuff done.

 

[dan212]

This makes me totally nuts. The Nav is a passenger Nav and not suitable for a truck. In New York State, I must have commercial plates because of weight and I am prohibited from many roads. But that stupid useless Nav sends me everywhere I shouldn't be. So I use my Garmin 580 Truck nav attached with a suction cup to my dash. And this doesn't have to be. I know because I called Navitech which makes the 8.4 screen. They sent me to Harmon-Becker who actually makes the OEM hardware. From there I followed the trail to.. Yup, you guessed it - Garmin. I talked to the engineer who actually put together the software. He was very specific. Chrysler only asks for passenger Nav and puts only passenger Nav in its trucks no matter how big they are. And its not like. Garmin couldn't supply the right Nav software. The guy at Garmin was kind of irritated.

As am I....

Then I made the mistake of following the nav on the truck....it took me o some back roads the truck and trailer shouldn't have been.

One road I was coming down a hill that had switch backs that at best 10mph without a trailer. Driving skill tested Ram navigation....thanks....ugh.

 

[OC455]

Yeah, won't trust the Nav on the Ram for those reasons. I don't want to be traveling a back road and run into any problems with a trailer in tow.