SHHHHH Marky dont tell all my secrets.....Lookin to try to get somemore hookups. LOL Write me I have some good news!!

As for generators, my parents have one of the higher end Yamaha's and it has been fantastic. 5 years and 0 problems.

 

Someone sent me this link, for me with no kids and reading about your trailer weight its looking alot nicer.

http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/out/#

 

My husband and I are looking to buy a 1998 26' dunes, we would be towing with a 2002 Dodge 1500 4 door short bed 4x4 w/5.9 and factory trailer pkg. I checked optins list for truck and it has a 3.90 rear end. We aren't looking to be going up in the mountains just towing around the nice and flat midwest. We will forgo the water till we get where we are going but 1000 lbs of harley in the trailer in the trailer is necessary. Ant ideas on if this set up will work at all for us....would be nice to know before our used trailer turns into a new truck.

 

Might be a little too late, but that pinging sound was a recall on the Durango's. Me and my wife had one and it had the exact problem. At the time I worked for Dodge, so i got the durangus right on in. I was told it was a recal with the (if i remember right) the programing. Hope it might help some of you other durangus owners.

 

My pinging was a result of one of the main bearings broken loose causing incomplete combustion causing the oxygen sensor to try to compensate the fuel-injection / electronic ignition. Finally, the engine failed and got a new one under the extended warranty.

As for your truck (HarleyBarbie) as long as you don't plan on pulling it over any mountain passes I think you will be fine. I suggest installing air-bags in the trucks suspension (did it on my Excursion this weekend.) The air bags will help for load leveling.

You may want a heavy duty tranny cooler and I think at a minimum I would chip your engine, put on a less restrictive exhaust and a K&N air filter with an open box kit. (Get a Summit Racing Catalog.) (Probably $1500 for these goodies.)

If you still find you don't have enough power, you can get a supercharger kit from Summit racing and you will be fine after that. ($2700)

If you have larger tires on your truck you have just lost the advantage of the gears. You may want to replace your rear-end gear to a lower gear. This should help quite a bit. (I think this only costs a couple hundred $).

 

Watch those computer power chips. Some are NOT for towing. They advance your timing to the point where pinging is unavoidable. A 3:92 gear isn't to bad as long as you never get a tire over 33's. I have a K&N & Gibson single out exhaust on my 5.9L. It helped some. As for the stock dodges pinging.... I went to a cooler T-stat (180° vs 195°) & a step colder plug. Pinging is almost 100% gone. They just run the 5.2's & 5.9's way to hot & lean to meet emissions requirements. You can adjust your TV cable too to hold the gear a little longer, 1/8" makes a difference. Why Dodge can't make a good tranny I'll never know. My brother has a new HEMI. It feels like my 5.9. The tranny is always way behind it & it's a 6 speed auto!

 

Adding the power to help pull close to maximum weight is all fun and games but just remember, once you have it moving you still have to STOP. 1/2 ton brakes suck!!!!! BEWARE
Nothing worse that skidding through an intersection when the light suddenly turns red.
Trailer brakes help but they will not stop you in a panic situation. I suggest a test pull before purchasing a trailer if at all possable, you will be glad you did.

 

JSsDS,
Very true. Kinda like IH Scouts. Got a dump truck motor, but in a Jeep sized frame.
I do believe though that the 02 brakes are 4 wheels disc biggest in class as compared to my 2000's drum brakes in rear, though the fronts are 4 piston.... drum brakes are crappy though.

 

lesson learned......

The trailer needs to be matched to the tractor......simply put......anything less is unsafe to the you and others.

Everyone has made some great points..

 

heres one thing that no one plans or thinks about til things go south. Insurance companies are reconstructing alot of rv accidents and determining if a contributing factor to the accident is due to overloading the tow vehicle, or overloading the trailer, or combinations of both. if they can determine gross negligence they can (and will) denie the claim.
think about the investment you have in your tow rig, trailer and toys and not to mention your family. you can put all the accessories you want on your truck to make it tow better but it won't change the GVWR of you vehicle and if you overload it, and wreck. it could cost you dearly not to mention if, God forbid someone else is innocently involved in the accident with you.
Just my .02 but do your research before you go out and buy, so it doesn't end up costing you down the road.