I cant ride in silence for long, the voices in my head really start to get to me. Or i will start singing hits from the 90's. Like dont go chasing water falls, or ace of base, ganster paradise the classics
truck towing pictures...
- Thread starter malibu795
- Start date
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thanks, its not bad but that's not to say it isn't great either.. mines 2012 26+4 tandem 8ks.
had several issues at the beginning. for ~$7,000.00 I wouldn't have a problem towing my sled, drag truck around during the season, or around the farm work. running hotshot, in a continuous duty fashion (2000+ miles a week) it wouldn't be my first trailer again.
Kaufman proprietary spec'd out a 8k axle from lippert. a heavy wall (5/16") 3" tube std 8k bearings and a std 7k brake(12x2), instead of using std 8k brake of 12.25x3.375. to make matters worse you can only get said hub/drum from either lippert or kaufman.. I eventually bent both axles that came with the trailer.. I went to appalachain trailers which sell std 8k axles dust cap to dust cap with springs for 600.00 each with std 8k brakes, which I have, while not on propose, overloaded them up to 25,000lbs on the trailer axles and they are not bent.. and lasted twice as far.
mind you dexter wants ~1200 for each axle spec'd the same... only down side grease hubs every ~10,000 miles which is about every 5 weeks.. another problem which could have been related to a new sales rep... I asked for a lowered couplet with gussest, my pin/ball height is 31-32" vs 36" most of the newer trucks are. which resulted in having to have the tube fully extended making the trailer to buck f/r like a std farm wagon. which lead to ripping the welds at the bottom of the neck.
the fixed it under warrentee cut the old one off welded a new one on and dropped it 6" with gussets. I then add 2 3/4" bolts to clamp it since the jam bolts never stayed tight. since I put the bolts in the coupler I have had 0 f/r bucking
another issue I had that was resolved under warrentee was some frame cracking.. the sub frame is built separately then welded on to the main beam. which is all good an fine... problem is they weld the subframe in suspension/hanging under the trailer, and weld it on the outer lips with couple dozen 5" welds.. so the trailer ride on the welds vs face of the I beam. I could fit a .040" cut off wheel in the gap.
this was their "fix" .375"x5" plate. 2 26' long sticks welded in suspension/hanging with diamond fish plate inside and out at each rip area plus grind and welded up the rips. there was places I could see the other frame between the I beam and 3/8" plate....
not too mention it was ~11lbs a foot * 56' that was welded on... wasn't happy about losing ~600lbs in cargo capacity.. though I got some ~4000.00 worth or parts and labor at the cost of 2 days sitting for free...
plate was a cheap lazy fix IMO. I eventually cut everything off.. minus the stuff between the subframe and I beam +2" front and rear of the sub frame and 6" of it that was welded to the neck area.
I bought 2x2x.25 square tubing ~5.1lb per foot, I used the 2" lip as a base cut 2 18' sticks, placed two 2x.375 plate along the I beam and laid the tubing ontop and welded it in compression vs hanging as depicted in the picture.
as to how the bridge works.. I have place 8,000lbs dead center between pin and tandems with no discernable flex/bow in the deck. before in original OEM setup 6,000lbs in same spot would bow the trailer~.5" down.
another thing I noticed before the bridge the deck would bounce up and down while going down the road, you would feel a bump as each axle group then reverberations as the shock way went through the deck.
with bridge I would say 90% of the reverb is eliminated along with added torsional stiffness.
like I said its not a "bad" trailer but its not "great" either. welding the neck upwards vs downward and components in compression vs suspension would have eliminated a lot of issues they had to fix.
a bridge "should" be available as an options AFAIK none of their trailers have that option they didn't at the time I ordered mine.
my next trailer I plan/dream on getting is a 25+5 Crossman aluminum trailer.. and they are about ~10k more than a similar spec steel trailer but some 3,000-4,000lbs lighter.
gatormade and PJs are stupidly overbuilt and heavy, big tex and load max are built on par.. one of those 4 would get the nod if I went with steel trailer..
which that trailer is going to be a
25+5 fold flat ramps, popup dove, 12k axles single aluminum 235/70/17.5 tires, EOH disc brakes, air ride with lift axle. with air being self contained and be able to take supply air from tow vehicle. and said trailer WILL have adjustable suspension for alignment reasons.
for an almost 3yo trailer that is pushing 200,000 miles on it.. outside spring eye bushings, equalizers, brake magnets all which are wear items. I have put 2 new axles under it, and ~$250.00 worth of steel and replaced 2 deck boards, couple lights that corroded due to no die electric grease, its has been rather touble free..
as for the neck and frame ripped with less than 40,000 miles on it I bought it in march '12 they did the repair work in june/july time frame of that year.
paint quality sucks, though they don't put a good quality paint on it to begin with...
with that novel stated... what have you had problems with?
My thoughts exactly. The 1st thing I was really disappointed with was the paint/quality of paint. I did haul some hay in the 1st winter I had it and even with oversized mudflaps I quickly began to see the paint deteriorate in front big time.
I really bought it to haul my LMM to the pulls. I live on Long Island and either have to take a ferry, or cross some gnarly bridges/roads to get to the events. I decided to go "overkill" on the trailer to hopefully keep myself out of major breakdowns and issues but I still managed to break it lol.
I had begun to notice the trailer wouldn't track as well as it used to and the tires starting to wear funny. I had a few more events to go(still in the 1st year of owning the trailer) and on the way home I had a bearing fail. Seeing it was under warranty, I brought it to a local shop they found all the bushing were wiped out essentially causing the bearing to work harder than it should.
Bearing had failed and took out the spindle. Kaufman had then sent me a brand new axle to replace it.
They were concerned I was overloading the trailer and thought I was abusing it. Meanwhile I primarily used it for just hauling around my puller which I would weigh in around ~8000#. In fact I had taken it across the scales not to long before this all happened, and the trailer had only 13k iirc(and trailer has two 10k axles). I am unsure if the Cross Bronx and other neighboring roadways just took a toll on it?
Braking also seems to be "unpredictable"? I have used my LMM, LB7 and now my LML and just seems sometimes it will toss you through the windshield while other times I have to stand on the pedal? Had the P3? controller in my LB7 and the other two were the GM controller. Both same feeling? I manually adjusted them, no luck? I plan on taking it apart this winter and see if I can find any worn parts?
I don't use it much in the winter so I have had a few seals on the caps dry up from sitting. Other than that, for what I paid for it I suppose I can't talk. If I was to do it over again, I really like the Load Trail trailers.
Anyhow, here are a few pics.
When I 1st picked it up from them.
Then we went right from Kaufman in NC to KY to pick up RichLMM's new puller at the time.
Off to the 1st pull with the trailer with my roommate's LBZ towing me.
Towing with my old LB7.
On the ferry, headed to a pull in Maine. I'm sure not many, if any pull trucks have gone on ferries to get to hooks lol.
1st time using the LML to tow. Really a pleasure to tow with.
Seeing I sold my pull truck, now I really only use it to haul my antique tractors every so often and a wobble wheel roller to events. Don't need such a big trailer but figured I own it now so why not use it lol. Put a 12k winch on it and works really well for pulling the roller up and down. Comes in handy having the winch on there.
Really is interesting reading the things all you guys have done to improve your trailers and what what you guys use them for. Thanks for posting all the pics! :thumb::thumb:
Your silver truck was really good looking. You say the lml is alot better to tow with? Just more stable? And that trailer looks really nice its ashame they all have problems lol
Our lml is absolutely amazing to pull with. The heavier the better it seems, they are smooth and the power just seems endless. I used to love my lbz for towing and thought it couldnt get any better, but the lml proved wrong.
Thanks! And yeah, for what ever the case the LML just seems more comfortable towing vs the older chassis. I often think about tuning it etc but it does everything I ask it to do. I towed my friends LBZ 12 hours to Rudy's and it towed super smooth. Even he couldn't believe at the ride and I don't have air bags. I was a little nervous seeing I that was going to be the most weight I towed with it(probably was around 9k with extra weights and tires) and wasn't sure how the truck was gonna handle it. This truck would run circles around my tuned LB7(although I miss that truck
)Like Adam said, I am happy with my purchase for the money. However if I was to start over, not sure if Kaufman would be my 1st choice. These trailers certainly have their place!
I guess since I've only towed with a LB7 Duramax [tuned of course] I don't know what I'm missing compared to a LBZ or LML. At the time of purchase I couldn't justify two, three, four, or even five times the price for a truck that could do the same "job" as the LB7. However the LBZ had the best style and motor in my eyes, just couldn't justify the coin. However it does meet my expectations in the MPG department, which is one reason I bought the LB7.
It isn't my only tow vehicle. I've done most of my towing with the old mechanical Cummins and there is a clear difference between that and the LB7, both in good ways and bad. The Cummins is currently under the knife to correct it's most outstanding flaw, and rid itself of the agonizing 47RE in favor of a G56.
I suppose I should post some towing pictures, lol.
And one for those closet 6BT fans...
The LMM was tunned to "lugg"each gear better. I tuned my lb7 in similar fashion. Where factory and most tuners tune on the top end. Where it's likely to down shift then up shift again. My lb7 would 5 to 4 shift a lot soon then my LMM does
I haven't adjust shift point on my LMM.. Engine will pull down to 55-58 and 75% throttle and some 20psi in boost, in 5th which is 1500-1600rpm before it down shifts to 4th
I haven't adjust shift point on my LMM.. Engine will pull down to 55-58 and 75% throttle and some 20psi in boost, in 5th which is 1500-1600rpm before it down shifts to 4th
I can only compare the LB7 to the 12v Cummins, wish I could compare it to other Duramax motors, but I haven't done enough towing with anything else to give a truthful analysis. The only thing that seemed to limit the Cummins was EGT's and so long as you didn't get it under the turbos too far it felt like it could pull a house up a hill. Granted the Cummins makes nearly twice the power and more than 2x the boost, so I would expect such an outcome. Most of my towing with it was out west from 4,000ft to 10,000ft above sea level, and I know that the DA was much higher than that. Towing at higher DA's really seems to test a trucks abilities, especially when you add in desert heat of the southwest.
Couldn't tell you..still no EGTs guages.. Yet Though almost 70,000 miles and nothing has blown up.. And I'm more worried about oil temps than EGTs
I'm assuming you're already there and back east at this point? If you pass through Wichita hit me up and we could meet up for food.
I'm just south of Kansas City 15-20 minutes if you're close by KC send me a message.
Yellowchevy
Yellowchevy