Picking up my first toyhauler tomorrow and never towed anything that big. anything you guys can think of that i should know or look out for or becareful of? towed my car on an open trailer many times but i can see right past the car behind me and its pretty easy. toyhauler book says its about 30' long. Not a big deal, but im am a wee bit nervous as I am picking it up about 200 miles from home. The dealer is setting me up with a weight distributing receiver and I installed myself a prodigy p3 last week on the truck. Any suggestions or comments are more than welcome.

dont know if this matters but the website says about tongue weight is 1500 and the trailer is about 6k. Its a wildwood 27srvs toyhauler

Thanks Guys,
Tom

 

i would look into replacing your stock reciever if you havent already. othersie take it slow and take the corners real wide until you learn how the trailer tracks.

 

Make sure you have towing mirrors. I brought my 5th wheel home with std. mirrors and had about a 15deg cone where I couldn't see anything backing up. It was a real drag. Quickly got a set of factory towing mirrors and those helped a lot.

 

can you clarify that for me mega? why would i replace the stock hitch? im just curious......or ignorant I guess

 

Take it slow, and get the factory tow mirrors. Remember to enjoy it.

 

mirrors, take it slow, CHECK lug nuts after a short bit, i do not know why they loosen up?? practice manuevering in a empty parking lot. using the parking lines as a reference

 

thanks for the info guys, i do have towing mirrors so i got that covered.........i hope. LOL keeping my digits crossed, wish me luck

 

you will be fine, just don't do anything your not comfortable with.

my CTD before i moved to school in august probably had more towing miles that it did unloaded. your CTD is just waiting for a "slight" work out. . . mainly due to wind resistance.

RAMBUNCTIOUS

 

Don't forget to look up once in a while. A low branch can really ruin your day, not to mention your roof.
Oh yea.....watch the tail swing too.

 

Did you flat tow your car or was it on a trailer? Tandem axle?

If you're not used to a tandem axle you'll feel more resistence and hear different noises in tight manuvering. Otherwise like most have said; seeing what you're towing is EVERYTHING. 30' is very different than a 14' - 16' car hauler. You just need to be aware of the extra length, not afraid of it. Plan your route and avoid side streets, keep an eye on whats above you and give yourself extra room for turns.

Dialing in that prodigy P3 right will also help you out quite a bit. You're going to want the trailer doing most of the stopping, but you don't want those wheels to lock up! If you run into any tail swing, use the brake controller only, don't hit the brakes in your rig. [I usually just goose the throttle]

You towing with your '07 or the lifted '06? Either way make sure you get the trailer level. I'd guess you'll need the ball about 21" off the ground.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!!

 

using my 07 its not lifted.......yet

 

I think Mega was thinking your rig could be close to the maximum the stock receiver hitch can handle, and you might have to upgrade. GF's parents upgraded to like a 32' trailer and had to do that. Dealer actually gave them pretty good deal, buying the stock receiver from them.

Anyway, I'd suggest running the tires at max psi, check the lug nuts with a torque wrench after a bit (the way tandem axles scrub in turns tends to loosen them), and if it is new the brakes might not develop full stopping power until they bed in a little. Also, you would want to readjust new brakes after your first couple trips.

Take your time, watch the tighter track of the trailer around town, and have fun.

 

I have been pulling almost 10k 32' TT for almost 5 years now with 2 different dodge trucks, not one problem with the reciever. Btw my hitch weight is around 1000 lbs. dont worry about your truck.

 

My buddies stock hitch broke while pulling 16k lbs of slab stone out of the quarry on his dual tandem trailer - he had done this many times prior and had been dragging that same trailer with a 10k lb skid steer for thousands of miles before the hitch broke. I dont think a 6k lb TT will be a problem.