not to mention the slugs. almost as many snail trails outside the camper as inside . . . . . .[sm=happy046.gif]

 

good lord.....don't know if I should shut the computer off and go to church...or if I should light a cigarette


note to self and other members....never buy a used trailer from shorty

 

most of it was on the walls - rum, beer and wine makes for an extremely interesting weekend.[sm=drooldude.gif]

now i'm gonna go have a smoke, this conversation got my memory in full gear . . . . . . .

 

i new i was going to get flamed for this post but just to let everyone know about the pulling power, by the was given the choice between my 40k hummer or my 250k boat the boat wins everytime[8D]

 

also i've never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the house

 

Hey Hawaii dude, don't let it bug you. The H3 isn't rated as a heavy hauler but they get those numbers not from it's ability but from some strange formula. The tranny you have is the same one that's in a Yukon and I know it's a puller. It's wide enough to see around the trailer so it's not like that's a big deal either. It is pretty short, that may cause problems on a windy day, you get the old tail wagging the dog syndrome. Now for the important part...The I-5 is a dog and it's mated to the tranny with it's shift points. The H3 is rated at 4,500 Lbs (6,000 Alpha). What drops the weight is the fact that it's a heavy truck. When they figure trailer weight capacity they figure 1- Weight of the vehicle. 2- Fully loaded vehicle with 4 adults. 3- What's left the trailer can have and that's not much.

I wouldn't use it to pull much more than an ultralight camper or a pop-up myself but I would not hesitate to do as you did in a pinch. Just remember to keep the shifter in (3), Drive is Over Drive. If you're pulling anything and it starts shifting too much go to the next gear down. Third in the Auto tranny is 1:1 so it's OK to drive all day in 3rd.

I know this rambles, I must have forgotten my medicine :-( but you get the point.
Good luck

 

agreed RJ...but I disagree with only towing an ultralight camper with it...as you mentioned in your post...the truck is more than capable of towing a good sized load. The most important thing, as you know, in trailer towing is load distibution..if your getting dog wagging from your trailer then your load needs to be moved more over the rear axle(s) and farther from the tongue (most of the time) with proper load distribution a 4 banger could pull 5000 lbs..... especially if it has the tq numbers of the I5...might not be a racing motor but the TQ numbers are there...what makes it a great off road rig also makes it ideal for towing. Granted I have a tranny cooler installed on mine because I do tow a 22'boat (almost 30 feet from hitch to prop) from NJ to Georgia/Florida/Maine/Alabama....I have made all these trips straight through...the motor was never shut off except for fuel and never got the tranny temp anywhere near a dangerous level.

 

Sounds like you'd be the man that knows towing then IK. I have not towed anything larger than my lawn trailer and an 800 Lb tractor. Even with thatI noticed at freeway speeds it was constantly looking to bail out of 4th gear back to 1:1. I also need to look into the tranny cooler too like you have. Maybe you can post some pics of yours someday. Florida is brutal on transmissions and I had one on my Explorer, need one on the H3 too.

 

givin a situation like that,id have done the same thing.as far as being the brightest bulb in the house,go get some of those new energy effecient ones,my wife used to tell me i wasnt the brightest bulb in the house,and i told her that i was brighter then the one that was dime,so i bought some and now she is right

 

I didn't know you could tow 8000 lbs with a I5. That's incredible to me. I know my 5-speed is rated 1000 lbs less then the automatic for some reason. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Maybe It's clutch slippage or something. I towed my moving trailors that were loaded and that thing didn't even act like it was hauling anything.

I'm easily amused