New Tow Rig

[Dunleavy2004]

Picked up a new tow rig a couple weeks ago. 2007 classic with the duramax/allison. Love the truck. Drives great, tows great. Just made a 2200 mile trip towing my 12k fifth wheel behind it and it was great. So far changes have been some load range E BFG all terrain 285/75s, a prodigy brake controller, 5th wheel hitch, tool box, air lift air bags and some camo truck seat covers.

 

[83ZZ502_Jimmy]

Congrats! Looks great

John

 

[rjfguitar]

Ha, those seats are pretty wild.

 

[supersize75k5]

dont look at my pics..

once in a while I wish I had of got the d-max in my 07 classic, not ever owning a oil burner before though, and the whole new fuel and changes for the year made me real nervous I dont think I could work with a huge hitch in my truck and I hardly ever tow.

give me a couple months and mine shall be a solid axel 4x4 with coils


nice truck, its the one I should have bought

how come you bought the classic 07 vs new?

 

[gmc4cw]

how come you bought the classic 07 vs new?

I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say, price and availability. the diesel new body styles are just starting to show up on lots. the classics are almost all emissions exempt too. The only difference between a classic and new body style diesels are the body and emissions. the frame, suspension, trans, everything is the same.

 

[Dunleavy2004]

Emmisions, price and availability were all part of it. Plus i have not gotten to where i like the new body style yet.

Supersize75k5, i had a 6 liter gasser in my last truck, loved the truck, but needed to be able to pull my fifth wheel and after getting this d-max, i cant imagine ever going back. I have been watching your work truck thread, what kind of leveling kit did you use? I turned up the torsion bars, but a leveling kit would be nice. That hitch comes right out and just the rails that it sits on stay in there, so when im not towing my trailer its an open bed. And just like you, it took me less than a week to chop up that air dam on mine too. Had to fit those 285s. Unfortunatly, i dont think ill ever be SASing mine. Keep up the good work on yours, i have been watching for a while, its a great looking truck.

 

[supersize75k5]

for the leveling kit, after talking to a few people on a couple chevy boards, I discovered that the newer hd's have more thread engagement, or longer threads on the adjustment bolts than the older torsion bars set ups.

I adjusted mine about 2.5 turns, and only every once in a while did I hit my tire while boucing around on a trail or urban driving.

I can say the cranking the t-bars will make for a harsh ride real quick, I would do the leveling kit with the ford keys and add the bilstien shocks. the shocks are what made the ride very very nice. the part # is all over google for what shocks to get witht he leveling kit and they run about 200-250 for the set of shocks

with a load on it when you tow will you really want a leveling kit? I assume it mostly to clear the tires?

 

[Dunleavy2004]

yeah, its just to clear the tires, i dont want the truck to be lifted. i installed airbags in the back, so when i put load on it i can level it back out to about normal ride height. i think i would just rather have it leveled than cranking the torsion bars so that the ride around town might be a little nicer. thanks for the info, ill look into the ford keys and the shocks.

 

[gmc4cw]

ford keys and leveling kits do the same thing as cranking the factory bar. they put more preload on the torsion bar. a ford key or leveling kit(they are the same thing) just lets you crank the bars further then stock.

The bilstiens will improve the ride but there are only two ways to get more height. drop brackets that move everything down(true lift kit) or crank the bars.