Hams955

Spread doubles are the way to go. Honestly 3 axles would have been overkill for the amount of weight I'm actually pulling.

If I had configured it to haul two cars I would have certainly gone triple axle.

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

It's a wonderful trailer and I have enjoyed it immensely so far!

- Chris.

Hams955

The doubles are 7500# axles so it has plenty of carrying capacity. The tires are upgraded 17.5" that are F code load index. They have plenty of capacity in the event of a blowout.

Just in case however:



I love the hidden floor winch. I have since stopped driving the car into the trailer. I use the wireless remote to pull the car into the trailer while I walk next to it and guide it in. Have the wireless winch makes loading the car by myself a breeze. I wanted to have a setup that I could run 100% by myself.

The truck has a camera for the bed so I can easily line up the goose to the hitch. The powered landing gear makes dropping the goose onto the truck super easy.

Having the air ride system in the ram is pretty amazing too. The trailer, fully laden, drops the truck about 12". The air system detects the load and levels the truck within a matter of seconds. The ride quality under tow is pretty awesome.

Overall I am extremely happy!

- Chris.

monochrom3

I got his sloppy-seconds 28' trailer as a result of this project, so everyone be on the lookout for when it goes up for sale

It's truly an art piece and makes the wait time between sessions go by easily

spg993tt

great setup! congrats and enjoy in the best of health!!!
question for you and the other tow-gurus up here...curious why you went with the mega cab? been looking at a 3500 and seems like most recommend the crew cab long bed. wheelbase/length is apparently the same, difference being the extra **** ein the cab vs that extra 18 inches or so in the bed.
i thought most recommended long beds for big trailers like that?
is it a tapered nose on that thing thuse you get away with the shorter bed? or a sliding offset hitch?

curious how you went and why? and what others think?
facing similar dilemma.

Tim Webb

Thought I saw this trailer in front of me leaving Road America on Sunday evening from the WeatherTech International Challenge.

Was that you?

Coochas

I went crew cab long bed so I wouldn't have to go tapered nose. I also wanted the extra bed room to install my 50 gallon tank.

Only downside of either set up is they have the turning radius of a battleship.

Hams955

First off, Thank you! And thanks to all who have left positive feedback. I could not be happier with Intech.

To answer your question... I think the Mega Dually comes to a matter of preference. The Mega Dually uses the 6' bed configuration instead of the 8' bed configuration. It is a shorter overall length from the crew cab dually.

I use my dually as an occasional commuter truck as well as my tow truck. Therefore, the shorter overall length is really helpful in driving it in an urban environment. Secondly, the mega dually interior cab space is really generous when compared to the crew cab. Where this becomes really handy is on my long haul trips. We fold the rear seats down completely to make a flat space to sleep. The mega cab configuration gives us so much more room to spread out. We make a bed using a full size inflatable bed with blankets, pillows, etc. The result is a bed area that one can actually sleep comfortably. My crew chief and I team drive the tow rig to and from our race events and we split up 4 hour driving stints. The mega cab really gives us the room to spread out and rest when not driving.

As for towing capacity - the 3500 class DRW is identical between configurations and honestly no difference. With that to say - my particular truck is spec'ed with the upgraded Aisin transmission which is an absolute BEAST, and the optional auto-level air ride system. The air ride system is an absolute game changer on the Ram and I am frankly shocked no other manufacturers have adopted it yet. When you connect the goose to the ball, the trailer will drop my truck almost a full foot fully loaded. Once the air ride system detects the weight it raises the truck back up to perfectly level ride height within about 3 seconds. It's crazy to watch how fast it levels the truck off. And the ride? Well.... Air ride. It's pretty darn great.

Honestly you can't go wrong with whichever version you select. They are both great trucks and go for what fits your needs best. However - I would strongly encourage you to option the Aisin and the air ride system.

I personally prefer the Mega Dually because you get more cab and less bed. Frankly I could care less about the length of the bed; I only use it to tow my trailer.

I installed a Titan fuel tank in my truck that is the oem replacement tank. Instead of 31 gallon capacity, I have 51 gallon capacity. When you're pulling big weight, it's nice to know you have a 500 mile range. Unlaiden I get about 750 mile range which I love.

As for the trailer's gooseneck configuration - When I had the trailer built by Intech they measured the bed of the truck and designed the goose specifically for my bed. It does not hit my cab of course but comes within about 6" when turning. It was designed perfectly for my application. Kudos to Intech to nailing the design.

The nose is taper but I did this for aero advantage.

As a side note - my trailer is 8800lbs. dry. Add my car, tools, gear; I am easily around 14K lbs. My Ram will get 11mpg pulling this trailer at 75mph all day long and 10mpg at 80. Yes.... It will pull the trailer at 80 all day long.

My previous Intech 28' bumper pull was quite a bit less weight and I got the exact same mileage.

Sorry for the long response; I hope this addresses your questions.

Kind regards,

Chris.

spg993tt

tx so much for the response. I just am at that same decision point so I really appreciate your thought process. I looked at the lengths. the mega and crew are the same overall length , wheelbase so turning, maneuvering will be about the same, but yeah, if you don't need the bed length, I agree, mega is the right way.

tell me about the 28' trailer. was thinking that route and an intech as well. you're at 40? now, so 31 on the floor, 9 in the neck. and the 28 was only 3 smaller on the floor. did you not like the bumper pull? the driving/hauling with it? not enough space, or just wanted something more sweet. don't get me wrong, I love the latter as well, life is short, enjoy the f out of it while we can.
just curious the thought process in the switch.

what di dyou pull with the intech? the 3500 dually?

jrbkarter

As designated crew chief and co-trailer designer (way to forget my other title Chris) I can help out with this one. The overall length of both trailers and the floor length played roles, but in reality it's much more complicated than just those two base measurements.

First and foremost, the 28' Intech was Chris's first trailer and was a pre-built factory spec Intech unit purchased from Trailerworld in Bowling Green, KY. It's an excellent trailer and is still "in the family" as Monochrom3 upgraded to it when the big boy was ready from Intech. However, to know Chris is to know that "stock", "factory spec", "off the shelf" are not words or phrases he generally accepts for long. He is very much so the ever tinkerer and loves to customize almost everything to his personal tastes. We had barely crossed back into Tennessee on our drive back to the DFW area with the 28' Intech before we were already discussing the next bespoke custom build Intech that we would do when the time was right. As for tow rigs, the vehicle at that time was a '15 RAM 2500 Crew Cab Short Bed. IIRC it did not have the Aisin trans and the air ride was not yet available.

With that in mind, the single largest driving force between the switch to the larger trailer was ancillary item storage more so than box length/car space. Specifically, Chris's design ethos with the build was absolutely nothing was to be seen in the trailer once loaded except the car itself, and the wheel rack (since neither of those lend themselves to being put in a cabinet very well ). We poured over hundreds of Intech and ATC trailer design photos to pick up ideas for what we would do and store everything we bring with us. Chris insisted he didn't want to see Race Ramps, or chairs, or fuel jugs, etc strapped to the walls of his trailer. An excellent picture of what we were able to accomplish is here:





This photo shows the 2'x2'x8' wardrobe cabinet in it's transport configuration. It holds both large sections of the largest/longest 2 piece Race Ramp configuration, along with our 10'x10' EZUP Tent (and yes, we pondered an awning mounted to the trailer but the reality is the tent gives significantly more flexibility when traveling to different tracks, with different parking configurations, sun angles, lot sizes, etc), and broom. Once at the track, the wardrobe is emptied at setup and is then available for race suit storage again. We still even have enough height in the wardrobe to store 4! helmets/bags. Chris has already posted a pic our solution for fuel jug storage in the upper bunk area and the curb side over wheel box cabinets store the other half of the race ramps, x6 foldiing camping chairs, x2 6' folding tables, x2 folding stools, a full medical cabinet, fluid cabinet, cleaners, spares, etc and we still have room to expand- all entirely hidden from view.

With all of that rambling said, it's interesting to compare the two trailers and find out there's actually little difference in "car space" between them. The 28' Intech has 8' cabinets down the road side meaning the actual useable box space for a car was only ~20'. I couldn't find a BP of the down the wall cabinets but you can compare exterior lengths using these:










As you can see from the third diagram, we have 23'4" max interior space from the wardrobe cabinet to the rear door. However, we preferred to maximize storage space instead as additional car space is essentially wasted in our minds. Bottom line is we ended up with roughly 3' more "car" space between a 28' and a 40', but those numbers don't tell the whole story. Specifically, when comparing overall trailer lengths- both of which are available in from those diagrams. Since the nose to tail length is 41' compared to 33' for the 28' bumper pull you'd be technically correct that the big boy is 8' longer...however...you can already see the shift and where I'm going. Despite one being a "40 Foot" and the other being a "28 Foot" so your mind is thinking- ITS 12 DAMN FEET LONGER we've already swallowed up 4' of that difference. The REAL kicker is when you actually hook up both trailers to the tow rigs and measure the complete rig length...and find out that the big boy overall rig length comes in just under 3' longer than the 28' bumper pull connected to the exact same tow rig. Once you add in the extended tongue (5') and the draw bar length (12-18") of the bumper pull, and then deduct the ball mount location and overlap of the bunk to bed in the GN, you realize quite rapidly you can have a much larger useable trailer space with a GN with the same overall footprint of a smaller box bumper pull.

Which brings us to the final point you asked about- driving dynamics. Hands down, 100%, there is no comparison- 5th wheel/GN towing is significantly more stable. Combined with the air ride suspension you can quite literally one finger drive that rig down any expressway at 75mph past any 18 wheeler, without any issues. Empty, loaded, doesn't matter. As excellent as the 28' bumper pull towed (and we did nearly 10k miles with it) the GN is head and shoulders above. Even in a heavy crosswind (which we caught a line of T storms that spawned tornadoes as we came into TX from picking the trailer up in Indiana) the entire rig always felt like one complete unit. The single largest difference I notice- other than the overall stability passing trucks, etc with no sucking in or blowing out as you pass phenomenon, is changing lanes. The GN setup moves 100% as one, all the time. As the front bumper corner of the truck moves into the lane, the back corner marker of the trailer moves into the lane. There's no delay, no whip crack of the trailer, etc.

Obviously GN/5th wheel isn't an option for all due to choice of tow vehicle but if you're shopping a new tow rig, and are already planning to do a HD variant, by all means make sure you get it with the integrated GN package (they all have them not for cheap money) that uses the new "universal" puck system that allows you to swap between GN and 5th wheel hitch in minutes. Just buy either the GN ball package or 5th wheel hitch and you're done (source them from etrailer.com - much cheaper than from the dealer for the exact same stuff). No drilling, no wiring, no questions. From there- if you're debating between a GN or TAG, get the GN. A 36' GN will be a smaller overall footprint in full rig length, be much more stable towing, give you all the bonus room in the attic, and depending upon cabinet design, may give you more useable floor space, all for nominally more money.

As for the bunk design itself- the Mega Cab did require the use of the tapered nose but we would have gone with that design regardless. The bunk is HUGE even with the tapered nose and unless you're planning to do a sleep arrangement in the bunk (queen size bed, two night stands, overhead cabinets on the front wall) the extra space afforded by the square is nominal. Considering we have space for the genset, 10 fuel jugs, 8' wheel rack, and can fit another set of wheels on the floor, the taper bunk is tons of room. Hell, we can fold the wheel rack up and put a queen size blow up mattress up there just fine- but the floor gets a little warm with the genset running as the exhaust exits under and out from there- so note from the wise- but the genset down on the floor if you intend to use the bunk to sleep ;-).

Sorry for the long rambling post, hope that clears up most of your questions. And bonus pictures of both trailers together at early load in at COTA and after we were setup and running:

mooty

JRBKARTER and ham, great design and good explanation on length and dynamic of GN vs bumper pull.

i dont like cabinets b/c i dont have that much stuff that stays in the trailer but other than that, i totoally agree with all you said.

those who are not so sure, if you have a choice and the extra $ a GN is always better than bumper pull. pulls faster, straighter and load better. i can park the car all the way to the nose or all the was near rear gate, no problem. try that with a bumper pull. GN doesn't porpoise like bumper pull. and it's really not longer. jrbkarter explained that very well. i have had 4 bumper pull and 3GN and i really am horrendouse at backing them up (all my freinds let me park first then they come next to me. bc i will and have taken them out MANY times). if i can pull a GN, any moron can.

the load distribute better in GN. and unless you load way too much, i pulled a 36' GN with 2500 SRW short bed.

oh with regard to taper nose or hitting the cab.... you get a 6" extender in the bed then you are golden. i can turn full lock, and driven 360* all day long in my short bed with non tapered nose GN.

spg993tt

curious thoughts 5th wheel hitch and pin vs g/n. might be overkill. the hitch in the truc k bed takes up much more room. but that connection is money.

Coochas

If it's a factor, I think the resale is more difficult with a 5th wheel because they are so much less common with GN car haulers.. They are pretty cool though!

jrbkarter

Thanks for the kind words Mooty! We definitely took your gospel to heart and it only took 2 steps thankfully to just figure out DRW 3500+ Big 'ole GN is just the best way to DE in style. Thankfully everything except the car itself stays in the trailer so the cabinets are fantastic. No need to load/unload anything but the car, driver gear, fuel, and away we go!

So this is something I researched somewhat when we first started shopping GN/5th wheel and the only solid information I could ever find was this:

Back in the day 5th wheel hitches could not articulate on 4 axis, just two (fore/aft- no side to side) so if you were going over rough roads/etc you could run into issues where the tow vehicle would be yawed to one side while the trailer needed to be in the other, which created excessive stresses on the hitch/coupling system. Instead, in applications where excessive pitching side to side was expected, such as through open fields to access live stock, unimproved work sites, etc, GN was the preferred application because it allowed the trailer to "rock" side to side as needed independently of the tow vehicle. Thus why almost all horse trailers, live stock trailers, and equipment trailers are GN. 5th wheel was generally reserved for campers where the more stable platform meant less pitching without having to lower landing gear.

However, any even relatively new (lets say 10 years?) 5th wheel hitch on the market is now a 4 axis and has the ability to yaw side to side in addition to pitch forward and back so that reasoning is not particularly applicable anymore. So why are travel trailers/campers 5th wheel while livestock/car/equipment trailers still GN? I have no idea truthfully. inTech and ATC both will supply the trailer with either hitch you prefer so if you're building to spec- the option is there. I just couldn't see any particular advantage to choosing 5th wheel over GN (GN is the inTech default) and thereby losing the bed room. As Mooty and others have pointed out- just because you have your GN trailer hooked to your truck doesn't mean the bed is useless. It's kinda amazing the first time you sit in your tow rig and look back there and see how little the trailer moves around and thus how much bed you can pack stuff in.

We've found mounting our 75QT cooler in the front of the bed, with the lid facing the cab, means we can open the rear access window, reach out for drinks, all while still cruising down the road and not sacrificing any room inside the cabin of the truck. The best part? We're able to drive all the way from DFW to Road Atlanta, park over night leaving the cooler in the bed, and then go the entire next day in May heat (cooler inside the trailer now) and still have the cooler half full of ice! All that and there's still plenty of room left in the short bed for additional supplies, DEF, spares, etc.

FOS373

Very nice write up. I'll add my preference to pulling a 5th/GN trailer vs a bumper pull any day. I have 38' work n play for motorcycle racing (15' garage + separate living space) and at 15k lbs it is night and day more comfortable than towing a 24' bumper pull car hauler.

I have a drop in Curt 24k 5th wheel hitch for my '16 SRW F350 with air bags. Still have room near the back of the cab for items as well as fuel jugs by the gate.

One thing I will add and most of you know this: bring two spare trailer tires if you are traveling any distance. Once one goes, another is bound to go if it didn't go with the first one.

mooty

to add more on GN vs 5th wheel.
the 5th wheel hitch used up more space in truck bed than GN

when not towing i have seen B&W making a 5th wheel thing that can be easily removed and return ur bed flat.

5th wheel is faster to hitch up. you dont have to get out of your truck at all if you design it right.

i saw a pro hauler with a 5th wheel elevated just above rear gate. his trailer is GN. somehow, the GN hitches onto a slot on his 5th wheel. it looked like magic. he hitched up so fast that when ran out my warehouse with paper and pen trying to get info, he was long gone.