Realistic towing capacity, 1991 B250
#11
07-15-2014, 10:11 PM
Man, the hitch was a real hassle in the end. I put about 8 hours into the hitch install not including about an hour and a half for the wiring...it took about 5 hours to pull the trunk out, notch it, and rough everything in together. I burned a silly amount of time trying to get the new bumper strap bolts installed and had to stick with the original bolts in the end. The original bolts had a nice tapered point to them to get them started but the new ones did not...I must have R/Rd every bolt for those straps a dozen times before I got them all in.
I like to pride myself in doing most of my work quick enough that I could make money off of it but things didn't work out so well this time. If you have a Roadtrek with a trunk getting a step bumper would be the best route if you are not after a high towing capacity.
Steve
I like to pride myself in doing most of my work quick enough that I could make money off of it but things didn't work out so well this time. If you have a Roadtrek with a trunk getting a step bumper would be the best route if you are not after a high towing capacity.
Steve
#12
07-16-2014, 02:51 AM
I havent seen the Roadtrek trunk accessory but imagine it would be difficult to cut around.
A step bumper will only get you to class II which is pretty useless IMO.
I installed this in 35 minutes but yeah, those damn straps were a PITA to line up and get threads started. The trick is to leave every other bolt loose, bolt the top strap bolts in finger tight, and then align the bottom strap bolts, and finally go back and torque all bolts to spec.
http://amzn.com/B000E243K2
The nice surprise was the Dodge factory trailer wiring connector included in as part of the factory harness. Just plug and go.
http://amzn.com/B0016KH0Q0
A step bumper will only get you to class II which is pretty useless IMO.
I installed this in 35 minutes but yeah, those damn straps were a PITA to line up and get threads started. The trick is to leave every other bolt loose, bolt the top strap bolts in finger tight, and then align the bottom strap bolts, and finally go back and torque all bolts to spec.
http://amzn.com/B000E243K2
The nice surprise was the Dodge factory trailer wiring connector included in as part of the factory harness. Just plug and go.
http://amzn.com/B0016KH0Q0
#13
07-16-2014, 06:24 AM
Amateur
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Maine
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a 2000 Ram Van 1500, Mark III conversion. It weighs in at 5710, 2 adults and full tank of gas. It is the 5.2 with 4:10 gears, tranny cooler, Firestone air bags.
I towed a U-haul tandem car trailer with Mustang on board from Florida to Maine with no issues. It towed great and hardly knew it was behind me. I figured it must weigh in at about the same weight as the van. That said, the gas mileage was terrible. The trailer did have a hydraulic brake and I was impressed with the operation of it. That could have saved you the cost of a brake controller. Good luck with your endeavor and be safe.
I towed a U-haul tandem car trailer with Mustang on board from Florida to Maine with no issues. It towed great and hardly knew it was behind me. I figured it must weigh in at about the same weight as the van. That said, the gas mileage was terrible. The trailer did have a hydraulic brake and I was impressed with the operation of it. That could have saved you the cost of a brake controller. Good luck with your endeavor and be safe.
#14
08-12-2014, 12:02 AM
Well, I made the 2400 mile trip this weekend and things went well. I rented the car carrier from u-haul due to having roadside assistance as opposed to beg/borrowing/stealing something of unknown condition.
I removed as much as I could from the van for the trip and hit the scales at 2880/3802/1980# front to rear without the car onboard. That is 8662# total and illegal for GVW so I did not weigh in again. The car should have weighed 2500 to 3000 # so the GCVW was also illegal at 11,162 to 11,662#. The thing to note here is that the van has "newer" heavy springs and the trailer has some monster brakes on it. I only smoked the brakes on the van once and that was stopping unloaded where there isn't enough load to engage the trailer brakes.
Surprisingly, the van handled the weight extremely well and I took the I-81 from the border down to NC through some hilly country. The trailer did not push the van around and I managed about 11 MPG loaded where unloaded is usually about 15 MPG. There was one ridiculously long grade coming up out of NC which was over 7 miles long and if it were not for the transmission cooler, cold temperatures, and the rain I would not have gotten up it. I needed all of the cooling I could get on that one, I hit the peak at about 30 MPH after about 100 up/downshifts. There was another long grade in PA around the 100 mile marker which was bad but I was prepared for it and got out OK but it claimed a bunch of other engines/transmissions based on the number of people pulled over on it.
If I could change anything other than having a B350 instead of a B250 it would be the location of the O/D button. Reaching through the steering wheel in the dark and groping around for it while losing speed is no fun.
Another baffling item is the choice of a 1 7/8" through 2" ball by u-haul. Obtaining a 10,000# 2" ball and 2" drawbar is not that easy.
Cheers, Steve
I removed as much as I could from the van for the trip and hit the scales at 2880/3802/1980# front to rear without the car onboard. That is 8662# total and illegal for GVW so I did not weigh in again. The car should have weighed 2500 to 3000 # so the GCVW was also illegal at 11,162 to 11,662#. The thing to note here is that the van has "newer" heavy springs and the trailer has some monster brakes on it. I only smoked the brakes on the van once and that was stopping unloaded where there isn't enough load to engage the trailer brakes.
Surprisingly, the van handled the weight extremely well and I took the I-81 from the border down to NC through some hilly country. The trailer did not push the van around and I managed about 11 MPG loaded where unloaded is usually about 15 MPG. There was one ridiculously long grade coming up out of NC which was over 7 miles long and if it were not for the transmission cooler, cold temperatures, and the rain I would not have gotten up it. I needed all of the cooling I could get on that one, I hit the peak at about 30 MPH after about 100 up/downshifts. There was another long grade in PA around the 100 mile marker which was bad but I was prepared for it and got out OK but it claimed a bunch of other engines/transmissions based on the number of people pulled over on it.
If I could change anything other than having a B350 instead of a B250 it would be the location of the O/D button. Reaching through the steering wheel in the dark and groping around for it while losing speed is no fun.
Another baffling item is the choice of a 1 7/8" through 2" ball by u-haul. Obtaining a 10,000# 2" ball and 2" drawbar is not that easy.
Cheers, Steve
#16
08-16-2014, 08:02 PM
Yeah, overall it was good but there wasn't much going on other than driving and sleeping. I would like to do it again with the wife next year. If you follow this link you will be able to see a couple shots from NC:
http://forums.aaca.org/showthread.ph...=1#post1329408
http://forums.aaca.org/showthread.ph...=1#post1329408