Moving my Pilot House

[sams50b2d]

I've had my Pilot House at my parent's place in central MN since '95. Dad will be retiring this year and the truck has to finally move out (no more free storage) I am exploring my options as to how to get it to northern CA where I live.

I have a 2-axle flat bed trailer that could handle the job but I don't know if my 1/2 ton Yukon will pull it all that way. With TSA's new screening, the family and I will be driving anyway so this option seems the best to me - just don't know for sure about my towing vehicle.

The truck is a 1950 1-ton with 9' box. I'm assuming it weighs less than 5,000 lbs - don't know fore sure. Towing capacity for my Yukon is 8,000 lbs, 600 lbs tongue weight. Any ideas on my plan or other options for transportation?

Thank you.

[jmooner3]

I have a 2001 Yukon 5.3 that pulled mine on a tandem trailer no problem at all. It was my 50 1 ton, 9' box was not on the truck nor was the front sheet metal but all the rest was intact. The truck can't weigh any more than 3K... I pull a 6000# boat with the same rig and the truck was definitely lighter. The trailer that you use will make the difference... Does the trailer have surge or electric brakes? How you load the truck will change how it trailers too. There are formulas for figuring out the right tongue weight, I think it is a percentage of the total weight... How you load the truck on the trailer will set up your tongue weight. I shuffled the truck back and forth till the rear spring "squat" in my yukon looked right. If you are going a long haul, it's worth a thorough check of the trailer, bearings good, tires good, etc. Avoid any issues en'route.

Good luck and happy hauling.

[JBNeal]

The Blue Bomber ('02 Ram CTD) had plenty of power hauling the '52 flatbed from OKC to Waco, but I had loaded it a shade too far forward in the li'l red trailer. The drive home was an adventure, as it was pitch black dark, and the nose was floating on the bouncy parts of the road...LOTS of understeer, had to keep my speed below 60 on I-35. I would have readjusted the load a tad further to the rear of the trailer, but I was afraid the old dually would have fallen off and I had no way to get it back up on the planks in the middle of the night.

The Yukon should have ample power; verify you have adequate braking, reduce your speed, and you shouldn't have any problems with transport (weather permitting).

[Frank Ollian]

I've moved three B1D pick ups using a 3/4 ton van and U-Haul car trailers, worked great but the van was pretty stiffly sprung. I would think a softly sprung 1/2 ton loaded with a family and gear would be pushing it. Thats a long tow. Maybe with an equalizing hitch.

[41/53dodges]

we used my father's ? 03' yukon to haul mine the 250 miles home, down the freeway with no problems, 75MPH with 11MPG! mine is a 1/2 tonner, though, weighs 3600 by the book. you should have no problems!

[DollyDodge]

We moved mine with a pickup and a dump trailer, it just barely fit in the trailer.

[MarkAubuchon]

have hauled my 48 1/2 ton dodge as well as my 47 Plymouth Sedan with my 02 Ford F150 2wd from St. Louis to DC and back. Only tip I would offer, is make sure your trailer has good tires, trailer brakes and load the truck so you don't have too much tongue weight on the tow vehicle. At least in Missouri, when you go thru or by a weight station they will check to see how you have it secured to the trailer. Good luck, try and not stop at every gas station you see. I too got about 11mpg

[greg g]

Pulled my studebaker pickup on a Uhaul trailer with my brother's Honda Pilot (v6) Didn't go coast to coast but it got the job done on the interstates. I would echo the other folks regarding brakes and tiedowns. On thing I would recommend, most folks take their downs basically straight back to the learest tie down point. Probably OK for short hops but for long runs, it is better to "X" them and go to the tiedown on the opposite side of the trailer. This will keep the load from shifting from side to side as well as securing to the trailer. Remember to select tie down points on the truck that are uneffected by suspension movement, ie the lowest part of the running gear and not the frame.

And as Mark said your tongue weight should be between 250 and 350 lbs. Also air up the rear truck tires to help elimnate sway. and do try to go 75 like the rest of the nuts out there.

One other thing, Keep the cruise control off if it even hints at rain.

[sams50b2d]

Sounds like good advice. The Yukon has the 6.0 gas engine and auto-ride leveling in the rear and my trailer has electric brakes on one axle. Would a weight distributing hitch be beneficial? I'm not set up with that right now but could look into it.

[greg g]

You should be able to position the truck on the trailer so that a leveler shouldn't be necessary, especially with the ride leveling. How much other stuff will be in the truck??

You can use a bathroom scale to find the correct point for the truck on the trailer.

After the trucke is loaded, find a wood block or something aproximating the height of the scale. then put that at one end of a plank and the scale at the other. then lower the trailer jack onto the plank, and disconnect the trailer from the truck.

the scale will read aproximately 1/2 of the tongue weight give or take difference incurred by the distance from the jack to the hitch point. Double the reading to get the tongue weight, then inch the load as needed along the trailer to get it in that 200 to 300pound point. then strap her down.

If you are going to haul stuff in the Dodge make sure its loaded before you balance the trailer. Usualy sway is induced from having too little tongue weight. Too much and you loose steering and stability from the front end of the towing vehicle.

[austinsailor]

It doesn't take much movement of the truck on the trailer to make a big effect on how it pulls. A couple inches forward or back can really affect handling, so make small adjustments until you get it right. Once you get it right, it'll be like a very heavy load, but not affect you steering very much at all.

Braking, however, is another story. If you get it steering quite nicely, you can get lulled into forgetting just how much you have behind you until you get into a panic situation. So, keep your distance and use you engine for baking as much as possible.

I pull with a one ton Dodge diesel dually, run 70 - 75 with 30,000 lbs gross, sometimes more. You'll have to be a bit more careful.

[Bob_Koch]

inquiring minds want to know. What part of Northern CA? There's a lot of us out here.

When you get back from MN just trailer your truck straight to Tim's BBQ in Clements next month. We'd all love to meet you, and your truck. Family wewlcome, too.

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I've had my Pilot House at my parent's place in central MN since '95. Dad will be retiring this year and the truck has to finally move out (no more free storage) I am exploring my options as to how to get it to northern CA where I live.

I have a 2-axle flat bed trailer that could handle the job but I don't know if my 1/2 ton Yukon will pull it all that way. With TSA's new screening, the family and I will be driving anyway so this option seems the best to me - just don't know for sure about my towing vehicle.

The truck is a 1950 1-ton with 9' box. I'm assuming it weighs less than 5,000 lbs - don't know fore sure. Towing capacity for my Yukon is 8,000 lbs, 600 lbs tongue weight. Any ideas on my plan or other options for transportation?

Thank you.

[Monkey Truck]

Here's the trailer I used. I only had to travel about 150 miles and it worked great.

[William Davey]

I realize this is a long post, but these are lessons I learned towing boats (5-6,000lbs) from California to New York several times with a half-ton Ford.

I agree with several posts pointing to the need for really good brakes on the trailer. Electric brakes on both axles would be minimum and use a quality electric brake controller in the truck. Three kinds of controllers: 1) Time controller is triggered by the brake light switch - the longer you push on the brake pedal, the more current goes to the trailer brakes - NOT recommended; 2) triggered by inertia - the harder the truck decelerates, the more current goes to the trailer BETER; 3) connected to your truck's brake lines - more pressure in the brake lines, more current to the trailer BEST, but not widely available and more expensive.

Drivng suggestions:

1)My guess is the old Dodge weighs at least 4,000lbs (my 55 half-ton weighs 3,400), the trailer weighs about 2,000lbs. The towed load outweighs your tow vehicle by at least 1,000lbs. You really have to plan ahead for stops, passing, hills turns etc.

2) Slow down - gas mileage will improve, stress levels will decrease, wear and tear will be less. This is especially important on hills where transmission temperature climbs very rapidly if you try too hard to hold your speed. My Ford had a transmission temperature gauge and I couldn't believe how fast temps went up when I pushed hard and how fast the temp dropped back to normal when I slowed down and downshifted.

3) In addition to not towing with the cruise control engaged, pay close attention to how often the transmission shifts into and out of overdrive. If the trans is hunting back and forth, tremendous heat is building and failure can occur in just a few hours.

4) Find your truck's "happy spot". Hold a steady speed and see whether the gas pedal must be pressed down further to hold that speed in Drive or Overrdrive. The gear that requires less throttle (even if the revs are higher) is allowing your engine to work more efficiently.

With all the warnings above, I still think you'll be OK, just take it easy and pay attention to what your tow vehicle is telling you.

[4852dodge]

Very well said. I tow a 20 ft car trailer and a 26 ft enclosed car hauler. You could not put it any better.

[Big50Dodge]

I realize this is a long post, but these are lessons I learned towing boats (5-6,000lbs) from California to New York several times with a half-ton Ford.

I agree with several posts pointing to the need for really good brakes on the trailer. Electric brakes on both axles would be minimum and use a quality electric brake controller in the truck. Three kinds of controllers: 1) Time controller is triggered by the brake light switch - the longer you push on the brake pedal, the more current goes to the trailer brakes - NOT recommended; 2) triggered by inertia - the harder the truck decelerates, the more current goes to the trailer BETER; 3) connected to your truck's brake lines - more pressure in the brake lines, more current to the trailer BEST, but not widely available and more expensive.

Drivng suggestions:

1)My guess is the old Dodge weighs at least 4,000lbs (my 55 half-ton weighs 3,400), the trailer weighs about 2,000lbs. The towed load outweighs your tow vehicle by at least 1,000lbs. You really have to plan ahead for stops, passing, hills turns etc.

2) Slow down - gas mileage will improve, stress levels will decrease, wear and tear will be less. This is especially important on hills where transmission temperature climbs very rapidly if you try too hard to hold your speed. My Ford had a transmission temperature gauge and I couldn't believe how fast temps went up when I pushed hard and how fast the temp dropped back to normal when I slowed down and downshifted.

3) In addition to not towing with the cruise control engaged, pay close attention to how often the transmission shifts into and out of overdrive. If the trans is hunting back and forth, tremendous heat is building and failure can occur in just a few hours.

4) Find your truck's "happy spot". Hold a steady speed and see whether the gas pedal must be pressed down further to hold that speed in Drive or Overrdrive. The gear that requires less throttle (even if the revs are higher) is allowing your engine to work more efficiently.

With all the warnings above, I still think you'll be OK, just take it easy and pay attention to what your tow vehicle is telling you.

I tow a 8800# camper frequently (13,000 miles in 2010) and a flatbed trailer with various cars, trucks and my Massey 1429 tractor with. Not so many miles with the flatbed. Very well said - I agree. You did miss one item.

Sorry, small story - when I went to Chicago area to pick up mu 50 B2F, I had a 1990 3/4 Chevy. Tow rating was about 8700# on that vehicle - plenty to tow my 2700# empty flatbed & my B2F. I did NOT however have the proper tow equipment to attache the truck to the trailer. First time I hit the brakes with the truck on the trailer, the trailer brakes locked, pitched the nose of the trailer down and lifted the nose of the chevy right off the ground. My wife was way less than happy. I didn't have load leveler bars on my tow hitch. You need to have the RIGHT equipment. I figured the heavy duty trailer would be fine... nope !

Now I tow with a '05 F250 Diesel rated at 12.5K on a hitch or 13.3K with a 5th wheel. I'm plenty happy dragging 9300# (Flatbed & my Massey) any where with my load level bars on the trailer. The '05 has the built in trailer brake controller and that has worked flawlessly so far. There are plenty of things I could poke at with the Chevy or my Ford - Even my brother in laws 2001 Dodge 2500. Not here however.

Tow safe.

[sams50b2d]

Just outside of Susanville - an hour north of Reno. We won't be making this trip until August or September so we'll have to do it next year.

inquiring minds want to know. What part of Northern CA? There's a lot of us out here.

When you get back from MN just trailer your truck straight to Tim's BBQ in Clements next month. We'd all love to meet you, and your truck. Family wewlcome, too.

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[sams50b2d]

Thanks for all of the help. I do a lot of driving for a living but not a lot of towing. I'm looking forward to a safe trip.

[Don Coatney]

Thanks for all of the help. I do a lot of driving for a living but not a lot of towing. I'm looking forward to a safe trip.

If the blue pictured truck is your truck why do you need to trailer it? Why not drive it cross country?

[sams50b2d]

It would be a s l o w drive. It goes about 45 to 50 top speed. No seatbelts which means no kids to keep me company. Fuel to drive both vehicles would be similar to fuel to tow it. Wear and tear. Etc...

[Reg Evans]

If the blue pictured truck is your truck why do you need to trailer it? Why not drive it cross country?

I'm assuming he wants to move faster than about 50 mph.

How about a tow dolly. The whole load would weigh at least 1500 lbs less. Just remove the drive shaft on the Pilot House.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Reg Evans

[ChrisCoccia]

I have towed my 48 B1D a lot with my wife's Yukon XL, no trouble at all. The biggest thing I have towed with it was one of those small tracked excavators. It pulled that just fine but it was a bit of a challenge on braking.

Nice looking truck!

[Jim Gaspard]

Reg, I have a tow dolly that I planned to use instead of a trailer, but I never considered removing the driveshaft. Does it matter how far you are hauling? I would think putting the transmission in neutral when towing would put no more wear on the rear axle than driving in gear.

[Merle Coggins]

Reg, I have a tow dolly that I planned to use instead of a trailer, but I never considered removing the driveshaft. Does it matter how far you are hauling? I would think putting the transmission in neutral when towing would put no more wear on the rear axle than driving in gear.

It's not the axle that you have to worry about, it's the trans. If you spin the transmission main shaft from the rear it won't get proper lubrication. Disconnect the driveshaft for any tows over a few miles.

Merle

[JBNeal]

I was told by a tow truck driver that the transmission could bounce into gear and do damage to the motor...minutes later, this same tow truck driver nearly slammed my 1 ton into a light pole, so take that with a grain of salt.