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Bronco car trailers

ntsqd

heratic car camper
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Jan 30, 2005
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Upper SoKA
The TrailBlazer camp trailer has a tongue jack like this: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack/etrailer/TJD-8000.html I'm not sure that it's possible to overkill a tongue jack if one is needed, but sure is easy to underkill one. I like that can pull a pin at the bottom and the landing foot telescopes down. Just have to be careful with that as you can put yourself in a position where you can't lower the tongue far enough and then now what?

Neither of the utility trailers has a tongue jack at all. The CUT started out with one, but it got in the way more than it got used, so deleted. Grandad's came with a stand for the tongue made from the axle housing side piece from a Model T and some angle steel.
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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Yeah, bigger is probably better but this thing is so fast and convenient and never had to muscle the crank at all for the decades I've had this jack. If I ran much heavier loads and had maybe 2K on the tongue that might be a different story but...

Also, never had an issue w/o being able to lower the tongue because the jack plate pulls up all the way to the tongue and therefore if you're in a spot where the jack plate is already in the dirt then just start cranking. Best of both worlds.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
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Upper SoKA
The guy who built the new frame for that trailer is big into Stout because his background is working in the oil fields. Deck hands are just slightly more adept at screwing something up or using it wrongly than a newly minted Private, so everything is built really, really stout. Plus, the original owner whom he built it for was not mechanically inclined, but did own a satellite phone. If it broke BFE somewhere he was going to get a call to come fix it, and he didn't want to to have to do that.

What I've done to myself is to drop the landing foot and lift it off a coupler that is pretty high, and then not be able to lower it enough to get it on a lower coupler. I've learned to wind it down a bit before lowering the foot. That leaves me some up travel in the event that its needed.
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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This is the jack I use on the single axle hauler, it folds out of the way since it is usually near the camper door. Swivel jack.

Everything else has one or two of These. don’t much care what is loaded on the trailer you can unhook it lol
These things are animal jacks! :) My daughter has one on her gooseneck horse trailer... easy cranking for sure!
 

.94 OR

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Since it appears the topics are starting to get random, what minimum weight is anyone interested in towing before trailer brakes are needed?
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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Trailer related... sounds good to me.

I think it is so dependent on the tow vehicle. Bronco we used to tow 2-2,500# but I've towed other EB's on trailers with my Bronco over mtn passes on the freeway... wouldn't do it again but this was 40 yrs ago. 1/2 the traffic & didn't know better. :)

New 1/2 ton compared to a '70's half ton there is no comparison for braking ability either.
I used to haul boats with F250's from the manufacturer to our marina with '70's F250's & there is no comparison btw the handling & general towing ability btw older & newer trucks.

New trucks are SOOO much better tow vehicles than older ones.

Tongue length, tongue weight, haul vehicle bed length all factor in also.

I don't have any issues hauling the same weight as what the truck weighs w/o brakes on the trailer. City traffic might & speed factor in...

Wa has regulations for axle weight & when brakes are required.
 

Yeller

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2001 pounds is where it becomes a requirement for brakes in most areas, so be seen a few at 3501, but feel that is pushing it.

Now, I have pulled my single axle with no brakes behind my bus and not cared at all, but it’s like pulling a lawn mower behind an f150, it don’t care lol. Doesn’t make it right but I didn’t feel unsafe over the next 1500 miles getting home. Nice being 10,000 pounds under GVW for just the vehicle, including the trailer😎
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
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Newer trucks simply have better brakes, Transplant them onto an older truck and I'd expect it to be just as adept at towing.
There is that "Tow/Haul" mode thing. Must everything be like a video game? When they offer a switch to make the vehicle radar & laser invisible, then I'll be interested.
Build the old truck to tow on today's roads and I can't imagine that you'd be giving up much to a new truck.

At one time KA's no-brakes trailer weight limit was 1500 lbs because flat towing the DB was treading on thin ice. It was in the 1200-1500 zone by estimation. HF's scales wouldn't weigh it, too light. No idea if that is still correct or not.
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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Brakes, suspension, load carrying capacity, gear splits are so much closer for shifting down with 6,8 & 10 spd tranny's, anti-lock brakes, tow/haul mode for braking down those multi-mile 6-10% grades... they all add up to make what I feel is a lot more than just a braking capacity issue/retrofitting newer brakes on an older truck. Maybe I'm off but it's a package deal that that makes them so much more capable.
 

ntsqd

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That's just a question of how much you're willing to give up vs. how much work you're willing to put into an old truck. We're already starting to put the 6, 8, & 10's in other vehicles. Older trucks are likely going to need a rebuild or a re-power. Existing transmissions don't always work well with a new power-plant, so go with a total power-train transplant.

I think that Yeller is on to something though, move into the older MDT field for a tow rig.
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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Or "simply" put an old cab on a newer chassis. Pretty much what it works out to be...

I can't get the projects done I've got going on now. :)


A good example of that is the last 2 hours I've spent trying to download a new file into my laptop and into my ECU and since it's not coming up on my screen the same as all the dozens of other files I've always downloaded, i'm hesitant to just start clicking buttons and totally screw stuff up... TIME SUCK & major frustration since you go to the manufacturer to look up
what hopefully will be the right answers and you don't get them... so you wallow around for another 3 hrs, get it figured out then a month later. When you do the same thing over again, the software has changed and you need to spend all that time again. I'm trying to relearn how to do. What should be the same steps...

Anybody run into this besides me?
 

.94 OR

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I got a new drone for work last month. Drive 3 hours one way to use it. By the time I got there the software had updated and it wouldn't fly the project I had built. I used a different program and put the bird in the air and took some pictures anyway. 6 hours of windshield time, granted I did some other stuff along the way, but still a mood killer.
 

Yeller

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Computer tech is the bane of my existence. Relieving as much of that as I can in my daily life. My laptop has had a 30 minute up date every day this week
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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Frustrating as can be when instructions were written for a product and are out-dated EVERY few weeks or months and there aren't ANY updated instructions available. Holley's site (as an example) doesn't even have the correct wiring diagrams for their main harnesses and most ANYTHING Ford related on their website. I called and asked Holley Tech about this and they said, "yeah, we're a couple years behind"... kid ya not... :( Just one example of thousands I'm sure..
 

ssray

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It is surprising sometimes. I found a PDF copy of the full factory service manual for my 04 Rubi on a JxxP forum and when studying the turn signal schematic discovered an error in the wiring where a couple of wires were turned around.
I've been following HP Tuners new CORE ECU as the features it offers are fairly extensive and many capabilities and room for expansion. Ive noticed a mistake on a connector list which was easy to spot such as two pins that were labeled identically. They do have a catagory list for cross reference so that could help with double checks.
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

Contributor
Just a Bronco driver for over 50 yrs!
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It is surprising sometimes. I found a PDF copy of the full factory service manual for my 04 Rubi on a JxxP forum and when studying the turn signal schematic discovered an error in the wiring where a couple of wires were turned around.
I've been following HP Tuners new CORE ECU as the features it offers are fairly extensive and many capabilities and room for expansion. Ive noticed a mistake on a connector list which was easy to spot such as two pins that were labeled identically. They do have a catagory list for cross reference so that could help with double checks.
Yup! I was going nuts trying to figure out how to wire up wasted spark wiring connections & no one, like no one at Holley Tech had a clue. I tried the sponsored on line Holley forums & even Danny C who seems to be able to answer any Holley Q's didn't reply as he did on several other Q's I had.
This big Corp in particular gets to a "good enough" point & then don't care about the smaller percentage of customers who aren't making them enough money & we see that in simple things like wiring diagrams on their sites that aren't accurate.

Maybe they should treat their websites like wikipedia and let users correct the inaccuracies??
 

ssray

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Yup! I was going nuts trying to figure out how to wire up wasted spark wiring connections & no one, like no one at Holley Tech had a clue
Wow...that would involve 4 pins and a different configuration within the ECU, but I would expect that to be a primary function they would know. 😯
This big Corp in particular gets to a "good enough" point & then don't care
And on that thought I just ran across similar and the AI encroachment on CS. Was looking at some items on Speedway Motors website and had a NVU gage set on special pop up (yup, been looking at them online) for a hard to believe price. Lots of inconsistencies in the main ad and picture and what the detailed specs said. A search on NVUs site couldn't bring up the part number so I did a online request for Info stating I couldn't get the part number to come up and the price seemed too good to be possible. Got a fast response saying it might be an open box or such item. We have that item should you want one. Ok, ??? I cant pull that number up, cant enter the number directly to get it to the cart to check the price. Searching for the vehicle and gage style doesn't get me to anything with that part number or price.😵‍💫 Trying a quick net search with the NVU part number finds a couple hits for a boost gage, one of them the exact price of Speedways 6 gage set ad. Can't find that gage on on the NVU site to confirm though.😵‍💫 Decide to give Speedway a call anyway to see what they say. Get a nice pleasant voice right away, oh crap, its AI. Aww what the heck... I explain that the specs aren't anywhere close to the listing or the pic. AI AL says the specs are wrong but the ad is correct. I then mention I notice 60-PSI-guage in the link for the ad. There was an awnser for that as well but I'd had enough. Do you suppose AL would of been hurt if Id asked for a real human person? 😵‍💫😡😂
 
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nvrstuk

nvrstuk

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Just a Bronco driver for over 50 yrs!
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Those pins were plug & play but the sequence for the wasted spark coils for firing sequence I think (been more than a week lol) was the issue.

AI hears that from me all the time... "I want a human"...
 
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