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Old 08-11-2013, 02:23 PM   #21
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be nice to know the year of said truck. 145K is small potatoes for diesel engine.
1996. Found on eBay and happened to be local, so I was able to inspect pretty well before bidding. I had a 95 F350 dually, bought new, and it was a great truck for the many miles it pulled horses and a 5ver. I would have liked a 5 speed manual, like the old one, but the auto seems solid and so far so good.
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Old 08-11-2013, 04:40 PM   #22
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nice
i was looking on craigslist and see a 95 7.3L with 253K for $7500 so your deal was a DEAL..

1995 Ford F-250 7.3L Turbo Diesel



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1996. Found on eBay and happened to be local, so I was able to inspect pretty well before bidding. I had a 95 F350 dually, bought new, and it was a great truck for the many miles it pulled horses and a 5ver. I would have liked a 5 speed manual, like the old one, but the auto seems solid and so far so good.
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Old 08-12-2013, 07:32 AM   #23
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The most expensive accessory for my Airstream continues to be the 2012 Doge Ram 2500HD truck.
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Old 08-23-2013, 10:39 AM   #24
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First post, and thought I would weigh in(no pun intended) on this discussion. I have a 13 2500 with the Cummins and an 11 1500 with the 5.7 hemi. Towed with both. I believe the 2500 is a much safter towing platform:


With my particular airstream, the tongue weight is getting pretty close to the max for most half ton pickups. I do have a weight distribution hitch, but I prefer when towing over mountain passes to have more truck than needed, vs the alternative.

The exhaust braking on my truck is fantastic(the best of the big three), and I towed over Snoqualmie, Lookout and the 4th of July passes without using the brakes on my truck or my trailer. The Cummins also provides excellent torque and you won't see a big loss of horsepower and torque to the wheel in high altitude(Colorado passes anyone? ).
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Old 08-27-2013, 05:00 PM   #25
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Sorry I have been so long getting back to this.

I like the coil springs in the 1500 Dodges, with some fifth wheels they are a little soft as they are on leaf sprung trucks but there are several aftermarket heavy duty springs available if necessary. If you get the side storage in the Dodge I think there is also a little less chassis flex, this is my perception not something I have been able to measure.

I think most of the bugs have been worked out of Air Suspension now. My 9 year old Jag has never had an issue and like that it still rides and handles today the same as it did new. We have a lot of customers with Air ride Mercedes and none have had an issue.

Air suspension can be tricky to ajust the torsion bars properly because you cannot measure it very easily also the suspension reacts much quicker to small ajustments. Where we might adjust with a 1/2" bolt with springs we may use a 5/16" bolt in the links with Air. On the Jag where I am never towing the same trailer twice I measure the tire temps after 30-60 minutes of towing and that tells me if I have the weight evenly balanced. The backs should be 10-20 degrees warmer than the fronts.

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Old 08-27-2013, 06:12 PM   #26
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I had a conversation with Andrew T. at Alumapalooza regarding towing with my 2012 Infiniti QX56 AWD - it has 4 wheel independent suspension with the auto level adjust. as well as another augmentation that minimizes body roll, etc. It has been a VERY satisfactory tow vehicle for the 12,000 miles I've had it. Unfortunately, what finally motivated the move to a 2014 RAM 4x4 with the Cummins was SPACE. Just not enough room in the Infiniti to haul two Honda 2000's plus all the other gear I haul AND the two dogs. The other factor was RAM putting coil springs in the 2500's this year, which -- from what I have read -- make a huge difference in this truck. It should arrive in 3-4 weeks, and I'll provide results of the first road test. Oh, and it's silver -- gosh, figure that!
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Old 08-27-2013, 11:32 PM   #27
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Question

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...coil springs in the 1500 Dodges...little less chassis flex
Hi Andrew,

Is the chassis flex caused by the coil springs vs. leaf?
Or the Dodge's frame (is it a C-Channel frame or a box frame)?

Thanks,
Jake
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Old 08-28-2013, 11:38 AM   #28
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Hi Jake

All pickups have chassis flex that increases gradually as the truck ages. It is easy to assume that the big truck frame would be completely ridgid but in actuality it can flex a great deal. The body because of its much larger surface area is much stronger. A GM pick up regularcab flexes a lot but the Suburban on the identical chassis has very little flex by comparison. A good solid unit body vehicle such as a Touareg for example will flex even less. Also the long the vehicle is the more it will flex if the structure is the same. So a Tahoe will tend to be tighter than a Suburban for example.

When toiwng with a pickup if you know what you are looking for you can feel the flex in the chassis translate into a surge in the ride. This is less than it used to be but still there. I think the sotrage boxes on the Dodge may strenghten the box thereby reducing some of the flex.

Next time you are driving beside (riding as a passenger) a flat bed transport trailer you will notice it flexes a great deal when it hits dips in the road even though the frame is 24" deep. Then look at an enclosed transport trailer. It hardley flexes at all with no frame rails.

This video from ford illustrates it very well. Also note how the front tires which are independent suspension stay on the road and on coarse so much better than the live axle rear suspensions do.




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Old 08-29-2013, 09:38 AM   #29
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Thanks Andrew! That's a great test video. I would like to see the new Dodge 1500 with the coil and air bag performance. And the new Chevy has done a lot of upgrades to their frame too.
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Old 08-29-2013, 11:20 AM   #30
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It is a great video to illustrate what happens I am not sure that it is a great way to compare trucks. Bumps half the size with the trucks going twice as fast would be more realistic but darn hard to see.

You'll notice the test was done at 28 MPH which is a rather random speed when you think about it. Things like the inherent frequency of the chassis etc can affect the result. So maybe the frequency of the Ford frame is pretty good at 28 MPH and others look better at 33.

Having said that Ithink the F150 has a very solid frame just not a strong as unit body vehicle, not that it would be easy to make a unit body 8' pickup box. The one that amazes me is how solid the mustang convertible we tow with is. It looks like a fraction of the F150's steel underneath it yet it flexes very little.

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Old 08-29-2013, 11:34 AM   #31
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All vehicles flex.....................
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Old 08-29-2013, 12:02 PM   #32
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All vehicles flex.....................
Or else they crack.
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Old 08-30-2013, 04:16 PM   #33
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New to all this always have been an RV guy. Retiring and we are looking for our Airstream now. Have 05 Dodge 1500 with Hemi. Will this work with 27 or 28 foot? Have trailer brakes and thought about beefing up rear suspension - better off just getting 2500? Just wondering welcome all ideas.
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Old 08-30-2013, 05:01 PM   #34
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Your Dodge will nicely handle any Airstream. You only need to beef up the rear spings if you are going to tow a slide-out modle or are carrying something heavy in the box. If you have 17" wheels 245/70R x 17" Load Range "D" Yokohama Geolanders will improve performance mileage and handling with a slight ride penalty. These tires are rated to carry 65 PSI but 45 is what you want for towing 35 is fine solo.

If you have the original shocks they are done installing Munro Sens A Tracs would be a good idea. Or Bilsteins if your feeling flush.

We would set that up with an Eaz-Lift Elite model 1400 pound weight distribution system with 2 Fridction bars. Prodigy or Direct Link Brake Control.

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