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Newbie: Bed Length - Towing a GN with a 2500 - short bed or long bed?

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Old 10-29-2009, 07:17 PM
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Default Newbie: Bed Length - Towing a GN with a 2500 - short bed or long bed?

Hely folks I own a small vintage car restoration/ dealership in San Francisco and am going to buy a truck( either Dodge 06+ or a Chevy/gmc 06+) 2500 or 3500 single rear wheel. There are several for sale but some are short beds. Is there a problem towing a gooseneck trailer with a shortbed?

The trailer will be a two car hauler but many times I will only have one car loaded. I will primarily be running up and down from LA to SF as well as locally. Not getting a dually because I will be using the truck around town and parking this thing in my warehouse also.


Thanks in advance
 
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Old 10-29-2009, 07:24 PM
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A gooseneck will work fine, RV campers are a problem because of the front overhang. Welcome to the site. Let's see some of your work.
 
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Old 10-29-2009, 07:28 PM
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AHHH! Someone told me a short bed will actually get better gas mileage due to wind resistance and shorter drivetrain?

my site is Classic Cars West if you want to see what types of vehicles Ill be hauling around...
 
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Old 10-29-2009, 07:55 PM
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I can't tell you with any amount of fact that they will or won't get better mileage but I can tell you that the longer the distance from the steering axle to the center of the main load bearing axle on your trailer the easier it will be to maneuver a trailer. This means that a long bed will be easier to back the trailer with. Probably not enough to matter considering the length of trailer your talkin here though.

Generally speaking long beds are considered favorable for towing and work trucks and short beds for around town daily drivers.
 
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Old 10-29-2009, 08:14 PM
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Generally speaking long beds are considered favorable for towing and work trucks and short beds for around town daily drivers.[/QUOTE]

why else would a longbed be favorable for towing? Would it more stable on the freeway? Safer?
 
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Old 10-30-2009, 12:10 AM
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Welcome to DB's You have some beautiful cars on your website.
 
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Old 10-30-2009, 12:18 AM
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Originally Posted by drzaeis
Generally speaking long beds are considered favorable for towing and work trucks and short beds for around town daily drivers.
why else would a longbed be favorable for towing? Would it more stable on the freeway? Safer?[/QUOTE]

In emergency situations long beds are always more favorable. I had one short bed in my life and it ended up totaled. I hit a washboard section of gravel road and the rear end was in front of me before i even knew something was wrong. The longer the wheel base the more apt the rear end is to stay behind you. This is true of any vehicle, the reason drag cars all have extended wheel bases.
 
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Old 10-30-2009, 08:49 AM
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If you're hauling a low deck trailer with two cars on it you should be fine with either a long bed or short bed truck. The wheelbase is what makes the difference not the bed length. A crew cab shortbed truck may have the same wheelbase length as a single cab longbed. I agree that the longer wheelbase truck will be a bit more stable. It seems to me that it makes a bigger and bigger difference the closer you are pushing to the upper end of the weight limit for the tow rig. You put an old straight 8 buick on there with an old pickup truck and you could be getting up there in weight.

I've got an 06 dodge 2500 quad cab longbed and a buddy has the same truck in a short bed, both trucks have comfortably pulled his 32 foot gooseneck trailer with two fourwheel drive rigs on them.

BTW, I love that 73 big block Vette
 
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Old 10-30-2009, 12:04 PM
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It is just a fact, like I said in the first few posts, any of these trucks he's talkin about will suit his needs just fine with a very minimal difference between them.
 
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Old 10-30-2009, 08:08 PM
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Awesome info. Definiteley going with a low deck 2 car trailer so either way Ill just find the best deal available short or long.

Thanks everyone!!!
 



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