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Old 03-04-2009, 08:19 AM   #5
Gemstone
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Boydton, VA
Posts: 443
Welcome, and congratulations for asking questions before you buy.

As I've said before, opinions are like noses, everyone has one....and IMO, you are looking at too much trailer for your truck.

That said, I feel I can qualify that statement...as one who started out with a 3500 Dodge, without an exhaust brake. I felt that the Dodge was the best thing since sliced bread, more HP and torque that I would ever need. Kinda like my first computer...what could I ever put on it to fill up the 10 meg hard drive...wow, where are PC's now ?
But as we move along in life, we tend to accumulate "things", regardless of how diligent we hare about excess weight.
Our ES TK3 topped out at 16540 pounds right off of the lot...add the stuff we packed in for our fulltime lifestyle, and I'd bet we were over 19K.
Well, we did OK towing from Indiana to AZ, until we descended into the Salt River Canyon. The 6 speed would not hold the speed down, and by the time we got to the bottom of the canyon, we could not stop....no brakes. Just happy to be able to report that we were able to negotiate the hairpin turns on the way to the bottom ! This resulted in the installation of the exhaust brake, which is what I now consider as a "must have" feature for 3500 series trucks with the 6 speed at least.

As we grew into our fulltime lifestyle, I grew more uncomfortable with the capabilities of the Dodge...an added performance chip increased mileage, HP and torque, but even with the exhaust brake, I was still not comfortable with it's ability to stop.

The Dodge has been retired and now pulls our "garage". Our home is now pulled and stopped with our Kenworth. I have more torque and brakes than I'll ever need in most circumstances, and coupled with a 3 stage Jake brake, I should be able to descend all grades, barely using the service brakes on the truck and trailer. The best part is that the KW will outlast me, and cost less to outfit than the modified Dodge.

If we were to start out new, knowing what we now know, we would bypass the LDT class (3500's), the MDT class of Freightliners or Internationals (too costly) and go straight to the very cost effective HDT class (KW's Petes, Volvo's, etc.). How does $12K sound for serviceable HDT's on the used market today ?

Again, IMO, if you are set on buying that trailer, I'd re-think using your current truck. Spend some time researching HDT's...look at pricing on e-bay, look at pricing on Truck Paper, read the MDT and HDT threads on the escapees website....then make a well informed decision on what to use as a tow vehicle.

Good Luck

Regards
Gemstone
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