Don't feel bad. I did the same thing back in 2002. I couldn't keep a auto tranny in either of my 4x4 Dodge duallies pulling a big LQ trailer....... I love the Duramax. You will love the difference. My GMC 4x4 crewcab dually went 70K miles before it needed tires and is still on the original brakes at 95K. That Allison tranny is the next best thing since sliced bread.

We also have a Sportchassis M2 we got in 05 to pull the big trailers but if I am going anywhere that I think I may need 4WD, I leave the M2 at home and use the GMC dually. It is very capable of pulling the load. My favorite LQ trailer has electric/hydraulic brakes so that combined with the Allison makes for very good braking. Obviously not as good as the M2 would give me because there IS a big difference between the trucks.

I only have had one problem with my tranny. Since my dually is not a daily driver and sets weeks at a time without being started. We have to let the tranny fluid warm up a while in the winter before we engage the tow/haul feature or it will default to 3rd gear. Usually, about 5 to 10 minutes is sufficient. It can easily be reset just by turning it off and restarting it. Next time we need a tranny service, we are going to have them put in a colder climate rated fluid. This was never a problem when we lived in MD but after the Tranny service was done here in AR, it took a while to figure out what the heck was causing it to default.

Enjoy your Duramax, you will love it!

This is the 1st I've heard of it, although I'm sure there is more information out there somewhere in the forum. My wife really likes (prefers) the Dodge to the others we've looked at.  We're leaning towards the 2500 with the diesel... would a 2500 have the same bed height issue you had with yours? 

BTW - Good luck with the GMC - Among the 2500's I actually prefer the GM (Chevy/GMC) over the Dodge.  As a side note, I was amazed how much less expensive the Dodge's were when compared to Ford or Chevy (comparing new).

The difference at the top of the tailgate was 5" from the Dodge to this GMC. Yes the 2500's have the same problem when compared to other 2500's. I still believe the Dodge's are the best looking trucks out there, but my truck has to work and I shouldn't have to adjust anything to make it do so.

As far as the price goes I could have bought a new Dodge for far less than the GMC. Somewhere in the nieghborhood of $3,500 equally equiped trucks.

All that being said I'm starting to get used to this GMC, second full day, it's growing on me.

You may miss the power of the cummins? Trust me; it's still there and depending on the year you're comparing it to there's MORE.

The duramax was from what i understood to be the power house of the diesel gang for the last 5 years or so.

Either way, enjoy your truck, I know i just love mine! (07 Crew Cab 4x4 Sierra LT Dually). we bought a exiss 310 event living quarter trailer and there's not a hill to this day that makes me nervous :)  You'll also like the grade braking feature; after having it I cant live w/out it....

I considered this option heavily, priced more than one. Also looked at a complete air bag setup removing the rear springs completely. But if I put a flat bed on my truck and adjust the trailers down so they tow right, now I have a bunch of trailers that only I can tow. Not such a bad idea, except my mother-in-law likes to borrow a couple of them from time to time and the couplers would be to short for her truck. To late now for any of those options new GMC/Duramax in the driveway.

But if I put a flat bed on my truck and adjust the trailers down so they tow right, now I have a bunch of trailers that only I can tow.

That's generally the excuse I use for NOT lending out my stuff.  It drives my father in law nuts that I don't have (on purpose) a ball on the bumper/reciever hitch of my truck so he has to use his new truck to tow his trailer.  It's not like he doesn't have a truck, he just doesn't want to get it dirty/scratched.

BUUUwaaaaa!!

I love it that your F.I.L. does the same thing.  I just hate to be an a$$hat, but they need to use their own vehicles. ( did you ever notice the gas tank is never refilled either?) I have lite grey upholstery, and my relatives have sticky fingered kids with food, or no manners, ( read wild indians!),  in the truck all the time too. Soooo... they don't get to use my truck.

Sorry I pissed you and Al Gore off on the bedliner. Plastic bedliners have to be the dumbest thing the auto makers have ever come up with beside the grille/headlight combo on the Chevy's. $3500 well spent so far, and I aint paying nobody to adjust the hieght of a pick-up that is suposed to be built for towing.

I posted above about the truck worked fine when I had the large(14' aprrox 14,000lbs.) LQ trailer, I sold it on this site, the wheels on that trailer were towards the rear so it squatted the truck down. Now I have a 32' Fifth Wheel "only" weighs 9,800lbs and it didn't make the truck squat enough to be able to tow it, had the hitch on the trailer adjusted up as far as possible(4" from tailgate to trailer) Couldn't even park it due to small decline from the road to my drive, the tailgate hit the trailer. I had to unhook it and take the tractor and park the trailer. After measuring everything multiple times the only way the truck was going to pull that trailer was to let it run downhill, or adjust the trucks rear suspension. I did look at removing the plates under the spring stack, that would have gained 1 5/8" at the rear axle and 1 3/4" at the tailgate, that was not enough. I looked into removing the whole rear suspension($2,500) to go with an airbag 4-link type setup. That's when $3,500 for a new truck didn't look so bad. By the way when did "weenie 16" wheels" dictate the load rating, I thought load ratings were determined by the tire, not the wheel.

I did get an aftermarket exhaust brake put on after burning out my brakes in the Rockies last year.

I didn't know you could do that.  Did the dealer have to do that? What did it run, if you don't mind.....

Tailgate was bent on mine when I traded it in, I had covered it with a tailgate protector just barely noticable.

After looking at GM and Ford, I went to the Dodge dealer.  This married father of 2.5 and owner of 4 horses with a pregnant wife in college fulltime elected to save $5000 and buy the Dodge with a 6 speed manual transmission.

I got a Ram 3500 dually, diesel, nav, jake brake, and many other options for $35k brand spanking new.  The nav and jake brake were about $3600 worth of options, alone.  Could have walked out of there for about $32k without those options.  ZERO problems with the truck, rattle-free, accelerates my 10,000 pound horse trailer uphill in overdrive, and spins the wheels in 2nd gear with 6000 pounds of empty horse trailer on the gooseneck hitch.

With 9,000 miles on the clock I've been getting about 20-22mpg unloaded at 70mph, 12-14 with the trailer and 2 horses in tow.

(Sorry, tired of the Dodge bashing on this site tonite!!)

Originally written by tncwgrl on 2007-02-20 11:09 AM

Hello all. Just reading about the tallness of the rear-end of the Dodge.  I just traded my 02 Ford 250 automatic single rear axle, 4X4 for an 03 Dodge 6 speed manual 4X4 dually.  I haven't gotten to pull yet as I have to get a new ball for the bed.  So here I am reading about this problem and I am concerned.  I have several places to and from my place that could be a potential problem to go over - would hate to mess up my pretty new (to me) truck through my own ignorance!

I almost changed my '06 order to 4x4, but then canceled all thoughts of that.  Glad I did!  On uneven surfaces my '06 Dodge 3500 4x2 bed rails will come close to touching the trailer.  I know a 4x4 would touch.  You'll have to be careful, go slow, and PAY ATTENTION, which is something ANYONE TOWING A TRAILER SHOULD ALWAYS BE DOING ANYWAY.

No doubt my 4x2 Dodge is too high.  Ford probably is, too, as I know for a fact my Ram sits lower than my '91 Ford did and lower than the new Fords do.

GM sells trucks that sit low...  Never liked that... but it is where trucks really need to be if you're ever pulling gooseneck on unlevel ground.

Actually is you are towing regular...then you need to lose the box and get something like this...

http://www.hillsboroindustries.com/Support/AluminumTruckBedsManual.pdf

then you don't worry about catching the sides...

Actually, I do tow regular. They need to build a truck that is functional, Not me.

That is what the Dodge C&C is for......you then add the flatbed...combined cost installed is less that the Dodge 3500 Pickup...

Only have had to do it once thus far...and it was cheaper...

THE TRUCK IS NOT TOO HIGH IF IT IS FACTORY LEVEL. THE TRAILER IS TOO LOW. PUT DIFFERENT SHACKLES ON YOUR TRAILER SHOULD BE LESS THAN 100 DOLLARS AND THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE A LOWRIDER TO PULL YOUR TRAILER.

The trailers are right where they need to be for the horses to safely load. The older trucks were made at the right height for this, todays trucks are too high. Look at a 2001 and a 2002 dodge 2500 pickups and you will see a big difference in height. A "lowrider" truck is completely different and would be WAY to low, the trailer would ride nose down.

And unless they say 4x4 in the post, most people are talking about the height of the bed sides, not the height of the actual truck.  The difference between the two trucks above was almost 5 inches.  That leaves no room to keep the trailer level and not crunch the tailgate/bed sides.

I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT I AM NOT TRYING TO BE A JERK. THAT BEING SAID IF YOU CAN NOT PULL YOUR TRAILER WITH A NEW FACTORY 4X4 TRUCK YOU NEED TO FIX YOUR TRAILER OR BUY A NEW ONE. YOU SEE PEOPLE EVERY TIME YOU TURN ARROUN WITH NEW TRUCKS 2X4 AND 4X4 OF ALL BRANDS PULLING ALL TYPES OF TRAILERS. ON THE "SAFE LOADING THING" I AM ONLY GUESSING THAT THE TRAILER SITS TOO LOW IF ALL THE BRAND NEW TRUCKS ARE TOO HIGH WHICH THEIR NOT FOR ALL THE TRAILERS I HAVE BEEN ARROUND. AND IF THE HORSE CAN'T SAFELY LOAD IN A TRAILER THATS 3 INCHES HIGHER I WOULD BE SCARED TO DEATH TO GET ON HIS BACK.

I don't think you are a jerk, I do think you are yelling at me. Let me explain this tall truck stuff so everyone can get it.

1. I had a 14' shortwall LQ trailer 29' on the floor. Very Heavy, when I lowered it onto the truck(2004 Dodge 4 door dually 4x4) the truck squated down and rode level, I had to adjust the neck in the trailer but it rode fairly level also. I was not concerned with overloading the rear axle with that setup.

2. I sold the above trailer and bought a 6' shortwall 21' on the floor trailer, same brand. I also bought a 32' Fifth wheel camper. New horse trailer is not very heavy, truck don't squat, trailer runs downhill, truck runs downhill the other way. I was now worried about overloading the rear axle on trailer. Now enter the Fifth wheel, axles on it more toward the center, hardly any weight on the truck(bad), adjusted neck completely up, trailer still running downhill, truck running down hill the other way. SOLD TRUCK.

3. Bought Duramax GMC 4x4 Single rear wheel, tailgate height 5" lower, everything tows level again. I'm happy. Say what ever you want to say the above is not an endorsment or a knock on anybody's stuff, just a real world deal. I still think the Dodge had more power, to bad it was not built to tow fifth wheel/gooseneck type trailers that don't have alot of pin wieght.

My horse ability to walk has nothing to do with his ability to step into or out of a trailer that is knee high to him.  He could probally do it, but I am not going to make him. 

 And you are completely missing the point.  I am not talking abut the height of the truck.  If you take a measuring tape to the INSIDE of the truck bed on a older truck and a newer truck you will see that the sides OF THE BED are higher and causing a cleareance problem.  I am not going to modify my truck or trailer.   My trailer is paid off so I bought a truck that would fit it. 

"YOU SEE PEOPLE EVERY TIME YOU TURN ARROUN WITH NEW TRUCKS 2X4 AND 4X4 OF ALL BRANDS PULLING ALL TYPES OF TRAILERS."

Maybe you do, but they either have dented tailgates or to much weight on its rear axel. 

no i did not realize i was yelling. in tn when people start out saying i am sorry and end with glad everything worked out that is being nice not yelling. if no caps has some hidden meaning i give up.

I talking about a 1998 20 ft, 4 horse slant with stock sides and a dressing room.  Very basic trailer, nothing fancy.  Truck manufactures are not thinking about what people do with their trucks before making "improvements" on them. 

We bought a 5th wheel camper last year that was to heavy for my truck so my husband wanted to buy me a new one.  Because  of the clearance issues I got a 02 model instead because of the bed height.   I just couldn't see spending all that money for a truck I would have to modify (more money) to make it work.

Been out of state for awhile, so not sure if this has came up...but while truckin along I stoped to offer assistance to 3 Gm trucks one a newer top kick ? anyway the big one.There was the same problem with all,kinda sounded like the time Ford had a problem with o rings around injectors.They sounded like they had a bad knock and smoked bad.Helped get them a tow but never found out what happened.

So if you have a duramax it may be worth keeping an eye out or an ear.I have a 2006 F350 works good with My gn trailer.Thanks for the different oponions.good trailerin.