So after a couple years (3?) and a major move to our new digs in Sun Valley Idaho.... where it's super cold a lot of the year (requiring indoor storage of the big rig) - I made a couple of changes in "life style". While the trips to and from the tracks in Calif are 1400 mile round trips. The big hassle of finding hotel rooms and places to park etc are gone. I can drive to RENO easily (560 miles). Once there - they have HUGE parking lots with acres of space, AND it's not raining! Why does this matter? Because it got me thinking that I really don't have the same reasons I used to have for the big rig and all it's hassle (they are a LOT of work!).

Rodger Lee (Ironworks) was discussing big rigs with Zane Cullen (Cotati Speed Shop) and I get a phone call... Zane doesn't even say hello when I answer the phone - he just says "I'll take it". LOL.... Well that changed me from "thinking about selling it" to a "I guess I'm selling it". Done.

This kicks off a series of events. I now need a new trailer and something to haul it with. I've done the big ass dually one ton diesels.... they're great when trailering - but basically 99.9% of the time I'm just driving 2 miles in to town for groceries or a latte. I decide this time I'll try a new Chevy 1500 with the 6.2 gas motor and the 8 speed tranny.... Without writing a review --- this thing drives so nice and it's so f'n quiet inside! Just WOW! And the fit and finish is up there with Gwen's Porsche! Not kidding here!

Okay -- now I need a trailer and since we chose the smaller pickup, I'm going to need a lighter trailer. ATC and InTech (all aluminum trailers) are the brands in my sights. I need a 24'r - WHITE to match the P/U.... and I need it in stock so I can get to Thunderhill at the end of April. I find a decked out Intech in Indiana thru RPM Motorsports in Georgia. What a great dealer!! DONE. Delivered. Bought on Monday via email - trailer in my shop on Saturday. It came with the awning - has a generator compartment with slide out with an automatic transfer switch - The thicker .040 skin - has cabinets - ALL LED lighting - A/C - carpet part way up the wall - finished out inside - airline track in the aluminum floor... It's NICE!





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You didn't get the Duramax?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? WTF!!!:catfight: :buttkick:

Lunch is back on!! I've got a customer that has a new crew cab Denali that just sits in the parking garage. White with black leather...such a great looking truck.

Trailer looks nice, what's it weigh?

Same boat as Mario..... No dirty D max, Greg you are aware you could have gotten a 3/4 single rear axle with Denali package :poke:

Yeah because I need a diesel to drive the whopping 2 miles in to town..... Uh - just F no! Been there and done that.

Nice setup Greg! Last June I bought a 2015 LTZ 1500 with the 6.2/8 speed and love it. It’s smoother and quitter than my wife’s 2013 LTZ Tahoe and definitely has more power. She’s used it a few times to run errands and really liked having the extra pssing power. Now we’re looking at a new Yukon Denali since Chevy doesn’t do the 6.2 in a Tahoe/Suburban. The interiors of these trucks have taken a nice leap forward as well.

I can’t comment much on the towing. I’ve used it with a 22’ enclosed but the load was lighter than a car plus race gear. It pulled ok but when the wind picked up I kind of missed my ¾ ton. I have the standard mirrors and they just don’t work with an 8.5’ wide trailer. You’ve got enough experience with this stuff. I’m sure your setup will be more dialed in.

That is a nice trailer

I just bought a 2016 GMC SLT 1500 All terrain 4x4 5.3/8 Speed and was thinking same thing on diesel. The DEF requirement sucks. I have a Diesel car and that UREA system and Calif emmisions have been problems.

It is amazing how quiet these trucks are. The truck rides better than my wives 2015 Yukon Xl Denali with 6.2/8 speed we bought last year. It might be the 22" OE wheels that don't help

Wait, I thought you were BUILDING a truck to do that??? :goggles:

You're to wish you bought the 2500 after the first trip where there's any kind of wind.

I pulled a 24' enclosed Haulmark with my 94' 1/2 ton gas burner all over the southeast following a show car circuit in the late 90's. My friends with their diesels could out pull me, but I still made it there with no problems, except a ring and pinion replacement after a year or so. Greg your new 6.2 will pull fine, and with a good load distributing hitch, the wind won't bother you either.
My 12' silverado 1/2 ton I just picked up with 48k miles rides SO MUCH BETTER than my friends 3/4 tons. It's night and day better ride quality. Nice trailer also!
Most folks today buy diesels because they want one...not because they need one.

I've been pulling my trailers with a gasser for a long time, it works fine Greg.

What's funny though is Greg downsizing his travel rig while I'm upsizing mine...just brought this setup home today to how it all tows with a little weight rearranging.

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Is it race season yet?

Good looking unit you have there congratulations on the purchase

Brought some art home from the shop - thought I'd see how this pulled and if I could turn it around in the turnaround.... NO PROBLEMO! LOL

It will need a load distributing hitch!




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The interior is all decked out in this version. The Intech quality is fantastic! Amazing attention to miters and fit and finish.






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I got a new enclosed today but it is no where near as nice as that. You might rethink that have ton after I send you pics of what happened to a friend on mine yesterday with his half ton, and a borrowed enclosed.

That does look nice inside Greg. Where does the winch go?

She usually stays home....

I think it weighs right at 4600#'s --- so with a 3000# Mustang and a few misc tools etc - it'll be under 9000#

SWEET LANCE!!!


The original thought was that GWEN would go on these trips with me. She's not the least bit interested, mainly because Lillard is there.... LOL

The Mustang has become super reliable -- which was the other reason for the "rig" - so I could haul two track cars.... but frankly - since Sutton got the Mustang squared away - I'm not interested in driving the Lotus - even though the Lotus 2 11 is faster! So why haul it to the track - pay entry fees for it - and there it sits... Only time it gets driven is if Sieg comes down. Well - WTF - I'm not all that interested in supplying a car for someone else to drive - while I maintain it - pay the entry and haul it around... although I always liked Sieg as a team mate.

The new 6.2 is 420 HP and 460 TQ.... that's way more than my parents old big block Ford 3/4 ton gas - and we had a big camper on that. People always had gas motors. Diesels are 'relatively' new. I just didn't want the crappy ride of the bigger trucks for the 3 times a year I tow something. We'll see how this goes - if it sucks - I'll trade it in and buy a diesel 2500.

I don't think you need a diesel if you're only going to tow a few times a year but the 2500 has bigger brakes, E load tires, and suspension better equipped for hauling big trailers. I've probably put 100K miles on my trailer and even with a 2500 it can get sketchy when there's a fair amount of wind. Unless GM has improved the brakes drastically on the 1500's they suck and can barely stop the truck in a panic situation.

:popcorn2: Does anyone have Gwen's email address... :D


We'll see how Mrs SSLance likes going to events with me this year. With both of our schedules being a lot more flexible, and with a place to comfortably stay...the idea is for her and the dogs to travel with me. It worked pretty well at the Optima event at NCM last year. I just need to make sure to do a few family type things on the way to and fro to even out the time.

Being camped in the pits is so much nicer and easier than shuffling back and forth to motels each night. And AC with a fresh sammich and a cold beverage in between runs ain't so shabby either.

Are you going to put an AC unit on the roof of your new trailer? Where is the generator compartment and how big of a Genset are you going to install? Room for a decent size Air Compressor as well?

I really liked being able to stay - watch TV - Sleep in my own bed - shower etc with "the rig". But all of that comes with a price. That price is - prepping it to go - and once you return - upprepping (not a word). Cleaning - making the bed - stocking the frig - unstocking - making sure the water is full - emptying the holding tanks.... loading and unloading three cars.... It's a lot of work that people don't see. What they see is "what a kool rig that is". I'd still be at the track for another hour plus after everyone else had left! Okay - because I'd just roll outside the gate - fire up the BBQ and turn on the TV. I think the way you're going with a nicer living quarters and single car trailer (a car that can be street driven) will be a lot easier than what I was doing.






There is an outside accessible generator compartment with vented doors. It's at the front driver side of the trailer and is sealed off from the trailer interior. Check the interior pics out and you'll see the "L" shape in the cabinets which forms the inside wall of this compartment. It is NOT accessible from the interior. I will add a Honda EU3000iS generator in the generator compartment - which has a slide out "floor" and also an automatic transfer switch to go from shore power over to the genset and vice versa. The trailer has A/C already and the Honda can run it. I have a "pancake" air compressor which is plenty for running tire pressures - the same one I've used for the last 4+ years now.

I had the dealer call Les Schwab tires to come get the truck and put 10 plys on it before I ever left the dealership! It came with "girlie" tires from the factory.

The new Chevy's come with a built in electric trailer brake on the dash.... Yesterday I messed with the settings a bit to get a feel for how the electric brakes on the trailer would work. At "5" you could feel them helping haul down, at "6" they were pulling the truck down. I think they go up to "10".

There's no question that a 2500 (or 3/4 ton) truck would be better for trailering all around... it's just that I don't want to drive it the rest of the time if I don't have to. The 1500 is rated to tow more than what I'm going to be laden at... so hopefully it works well enough that I'm not trading it in May! LOL

Heck just going from the huge Class A we borrowed last year to this setup is night and day different in just about every way. Maneuverability, storage, ease to drive, COST... It's just 6' shorter in length than the diesel pusher but 3' shorter in height and a half foot narrower put it in a range much easier to deal with. Plus it's a gas engine Ford chassis so maintenance and repair is also something I'm a lot more familiar with. Oil change on this cost less than $50 for parts and a half hour in my shop. Oil change on the Class A was over $400.

The bigger plus is we also get to use this as a vacation vehicle not race related. Here it is in it's other mode...set up to tow our new to us Jeep Liberty

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Most of our trips planned for this summer are race related, but we are planning on going to Albuquerque this fall for the hot air balloon festival. We have a spot reserved right on the grounds for three days.

Someone mentioned the crappy trailering mirrors on the Chevy - and they were spot on! My Dodge mirrors flipped up and out for a great view - My Ford electrically extended - another great idea. The CHEVY -- NADA - ZIP - STUPID - NOTHING for trailering mirror! How dumb of them.

Okay - so I'd brought some art home from the "shed" yesterday in the trailer... so it's sitting outside in the turnaround. I was shopping for some kind of trailering mirrors on eTrailer.com and found a slip on mirror that looked to be okay but I needed to check my mirrors to see that they'd fit. Opened my front door to go out to see and here's what else I got to look at! LOL




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I wonder if the towing mirrors off of the 2500 will work? The slip on ones suck, the vibrate so bad you can hardly see out of them.

Talk with the dealer. There's a max trailering package for the 1500 that has wider mirrors. Not sure if the extend out but they have to be way better than the regular mirrors.

You will have more issues with the trailer in a half ton when the trailer is empty and it's all aluminum. Since you not hauling loads and coming back empty you probably fine. My enclosed is a steel frame so it will ride a little better unloaded and my 3500 can careless what I'm pulling. But it rides a lot rougher when empty as my trailer has the super spread axles to cut down on tougue weight with my in bed camper.

I have a new pair of the slip on mirrors I can bring to the track. Maybe you should have bought a truck with trailering mirrors. Mine has em.

The previous generation truck did (GMT900), I just sold a pair to the neighbor for his 1500. They are the same one's on our 2013 2500 Dmax, they pull out manually.

FWIW, I just installed the Corsa cat back on our 2015 1500 with the 6.2 and we've gotten complements on it every time we drive it. Not too loud, but enough to know it isn't stock.

This is the video that sold me.



Fit and finish was excellent, and installation was a breeze.

Nice set up Greg!

Randy

I'm not talking to you any more!:D

Works for me!


LOL


This is one of those decisions that a guy really wrestles with. We all know that the bigger towing capacity of the 3/4 ton, and up, trucks work better... and no question the diesels are "the" towing choice. Having said that.... I live in a tiny little town - and my daily driving is from home to the Starbucks... "Town" consists of about 4 square blocks. Much of the winter - morning temps begin with a minus sign. The thought of firing up a diesel - coasting downhill (my house happens to be the highest spot in the entire valley) in to town - letting it sit for 45 minutes - and heading home.... what a friggin' waste.

If I am heading to Cali to one of the three track events I run per year... and I break down. I'll just call Lillard and he'll come get me. :D

I'll use this truck once or twice - and if it sucks - it'll go on down the road and I'll buy something else. This is about the 60th NEW vehicle I've owned. Apparently I'm not married to any of them.

Randy! That sounds perfect!


I'll tow once or twice to see if I'm keeping this truck - and if I am - I'm ordering that system. THANKS!!!

nice set up Greg (like I would expect any less)
My 2014 GMC 1500 with a 5.3(lt1 base) tows my all steel 26' trailer with my 3800lb C10 in it fine. I don't even have a stabilizer hitch or MANILY TIRES YET. the only issue I have is that it only gets 7-8 mpg and some of the hills in I15 slow it down pretty good. but it actually rides great. if I had planned to tow more often I probably would have done the 6.0 l motor. it probably wouldn't be much different and would use more fuel when not towing.

That's the truck you had when we were in Las Vegas right??


Finally - someone on my side!!! LOL

Wait just a gawl dang minute....you sold the Jeep? Between that and the Bobcat your around town needs seemed to be satisfied. I know you've got a lot going on but, come on man!
When you go to get the mirrors, get the $60k ones that come with a 3/4 ton.:D



Anyone want in on the over under for Gregs next new truck? I say new truck within two major pulls with the cute lil half ton. :poke:

never met the guy but hell ill jump on that lol

Save your energy and come help me load 200 cases of wine in the new trailer this weekend. Finally going to empty the wine storage there and bring it home here.

Hmm, let me check my schedule....yup, I'm available. Shoot me the details as far as when and where and I'll be there. Just an FYI, I don't own a blazer, a tie or shiny shoes.

Maybe we can go truck shopping! :mock: