What about those of us who tow to the water? Lets see your tow rigs.

Chevy 1500HD with the 6.0ltr and heavy duty trans with my 268DA Sundancer in tow.
100_1447.jpg
 
Here's my 1998 Exploder XLT with a 5.0L and my 1989 Reinell 191-XLR. I've owned the truck since new but just bought the boat 2 years ago to take down to our place in AZ.

A PA280215.jpg
((I deleted the photo I originally posted from Photobucket. Here's one I took a few weeks ago when we were headed to Lake Pleasant, north of Phoenix, for a day on the water))
I towed it down there a couple of weeks ago. 1220 miles in 2 days, and ran into snow, rain, 55mph sidewinds and 16 degree temps. The truck rolled over 100,000 miles while on the way back and it did a great job of towing. I set the cruise at 60 on the way down but slowed down on the long grades.

On the way back here after dropping off the boat I left Surprise, AZ (NW side of Phoenix) at 0500 and pulled into Ontario, OR , 982 miles later at 7:10 p.m. Including all stops for gas, food & drain my radiator I averaged 78 mph for the day's drive. Not bad for a 13 year old truck with 100 clicks on the odo.
 
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2006 GMC Sierra 2500 6.6 DURAMAX. Funny thing is my boat stays in the water....i just cant help my self with big loud trucks!


truckandboat.jpg

By soup0027 at 2011-04-01
 
Just brought my 240DA home from Maine. Trailer was converted from Drum to Disc on all four wheels. Backing up I need to block the actuator so as not to brake the wheels. Does anyone know how difficult it is to insall a by pass so as backing up is not a problem? Any information will be appreciated. I have a Load Rite Trailer with now Kodiac disc brakes. The trailer is a 2003 with a 8000 pound capacity. Brakes are great, just backing up is not an automatic without blocking the actuator......
Thanks.....:smt100
 
I had electric brakes on my old boat trailer. Never had a problem backing up. You may have them turned up too high. Be careful not to have them set too strong. They can get very very hot. I had mine steam off a few times when I backed the boat in the water.

Another option is to simply unplug the trailer wiring when backing up.
 
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ysidive said:
Just brought my 240DA home from Maine. Trailer was converted from Drum to Disc on all four wheels. Backing up I need to block the actuator so as not to brake the wheels. Does anyone know how difficult it is to insall a by pass so as backing up is not a problem? Any information will be appreciated. I have a Load Rite Trailer with now Kodiac disc brakes. The trailer is a 2003 with a 8000 pound capacity. Brakes are great, just backing up is not an automatic without blocking the actuator......
Thanks.....:smt100
Click to expand...

It's very simple. I just installed one myself. If you park on mostly flat surfaces all you need is a normally open reverse lockout solenoid. Simple in/out deal with a wire or two coming out of it.

At the master cylinder, remove the brake line and install the solenoid. You may need an adapter to make the right connection. Wire a single wire unit to your reverse lights on your tow vehicle. If a two wire unit, wire the other to ground. When you reverse the truck, the solenoid prevents fluid from travelling to the brakes, preventing them from activating. Without the solenoid, the push on the coupler/actuator will cause the brakes to activate.

btw, I just replaced the entire brake system on my trailer (Kodiak brakes also). I got the Titan brand solenoid at http://www.etrailer.com for $19.95 I think.

Tom
 
ysidive said:
Just brought my 240DA home from Maine. Trailer was converted from Drum to Disc on all four wheels. Backing up I need to block the actuator so as not to brake the wheels. Does anyone know how difficult it is to insall a by pass so as backing up is not a problem? Any information will be appreciated. I have a Load Rite Trailer with now Kodiac disc brakes. The trailer is a 2003 with a 8000 pound capacity. Brakes are great, just backing up is not an automatic without blocking the actuator......
Thanks.....:smt100
Click to expand...
I take it that you have hydraulic surge disc brakes. I would hope that when the conversion was done they would have put the bypass in place. Do you have a 5 wire trailer plug or 4 wire? You need 5 wire plug and then get 5 wire plug for tow vehicle, the extra wire is wired to the backup lights so when you put in reverse the brake bypass works. Probably the hardest part of installing the bypass, if you don't have one, would be getting inside the tongue to mount it.
 
Just got a pic of my new (2004) Chevrolet 2500HD Duramax 4x4 towing our new (purchased last October) 2003 280DA for the very first time.

The boat was delivered on it's trailer and splashed by the towing company. We took it to our boat lift where she has stayed up until this past weekend. Finally finished the rebuild of the trailer and brought her home. Now for some maintenance and upgrades and she'll be back in the water for the rest of the season!

Truck pulled her home great. Only trouble was barely making it into the driveway between the ditches. :smt001

Tom

TruckWithBoat_sm.jpg
 
Gunn said:
Just got a pic of my new (2004) Chevrolet 2500HD Duramax 4x4 towing our new (purchased last October) 2003 280DA for the very first time.

The boat was delivered on it's trailer and splashed by the towing company. We took it to our boat lift where she has stayed up until this past weekend. Finally finished the rebuild of the trailer and brought her home. Now for some maintenance and upgrades and she'll be back in the water for the rest of the season!

Truck pulled her home great. Only trouble was barely making it into the driveway between the ditches. :smt001

Tom

TruckWithBoat_sm.jpg
Click to expand...

Awesome rig!
 
Hers's my latest. 2001 260 DA pulled with a Tundra 5.7

First in California where I bought it.

DSC_2860.jpg


and now back in my driveway 2800 km and two days later

DSC_2865.jpg
 
Here's my setup, I bought the Durango this winter, & it pulls like a dream!
I normally use my WD hitch when pulling any distance, this photo was shot just after I installed the new jackstand.

One thing about this trailer: it has 6"x2" rails, so any accessories that attach to the rails cost more $$ - the cheapest guides I've found so far cost $345!

DSCF7342a.JPG
 
Wired2Cruze said:
Here's my setup, I bought the Durango this winter, & it pulls like a dream!
I normally use my WD hitch when pulling any distance, this photo was shot just after I installed the new jackstand.

One thing about this trailer: it has 6"x2" rails, so any accessories that attach to the rails cost more $$ - the cheapest guides I've found so far cost $345!

View attachment 20685
Click to expand...

Just go buy a standard set of guides, swing by the hardware store and get longer bolts, redrill the mount plates to match the 2" frame and mount the standard guides.
 
Midway: I thought about doing that, and then took it a step further when I realized I could make my own for a fraction of the cost to get what I wanted. :smt115
 
Yes that is even better.
 
So here we are in 2011. This is my new to me Denali 4X4. The Windstar finally gave up. She's not new but has all the bells and whistles. Tow package and 6.0 Vortex to boot. Anyone else update this year?
yukon denali.jpg.
 
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