Thinking of pulling a 33 ft. 8300 lb. travel trailer (of the mountaineer variety). It has a 1000 lb. hitch weight. I have a 2wd. 2500, auto. 3.55, short box. They say the longer trailers have a tendancy to throw the short wheel base trucks around a little. Anybody have a similar setup, or have any input? Thanks. The trailers brand new sitting on the lot, wife really likes it, so do I.

 

You might want to look at getting a fiver instead. They pull much nicer and don't sway even in the wind. Besides, with a fiver, the trailer can be shorter and you will still have more room.
Tom

 

The TT is probably a wiser choice with the 3/4 ton truck. A large 5ver with its higher pin/hitch weight (about 20% of total vs 12% or so for a TT) will put you way over your GVWR. You'll want a Hensley, Pullrite or good sway control with a TT that large.

Rusty

 

A fifth wheel will always pull easier, better, safer than a tag along, no matter what you pull it with. Also generally the longer the trailer vs the length of the truck the better it handles. Also a lot easier to back when long.

If you have a Buick or Suburban then the tag is the only way to go, but if you have a pickup, get a fifth for safety and ease of handling.

 

I feel I have to add this. There are a lot of opinions on the GVWR thing and pulling trailers, but... Any time, the goose-neck or fifth-wheel is safer than a tag with any weight at all. You are much safer going over the GVWR and using a goose or a fifth than pulling a tag. You are pulling the same weight either way, the fifth or goose is just plain safer. If you are pulling a given weight, the proportion's of weight are much more important than the factory listed GVWR. If the trailer is too heavy for you in your figuring, than don't pull it. Moving it to the rear bumper is not a cure, its a less safe detriment.

 

Haulin-in-Dixie as spoke the absolute "Words of Wisdom".

 

OK, how 'bout I get to put a response in here before the "piling on" gets too rough?

I'm not anti-5th wheel. I pull a 5th wheel. The RV before this one was a 5th wheel as well. I agree - a 5th wheel will always pull better than a TT. See, I'm really not a heretic!

The only point I'm making is that a 3/4 ton truck can handle a heavier TT than 5th wheel without exceeding its GVWR. If one doesn't care about GVWR, go for the 5th wheel. If one does care about the GVWR, go for the TT or a lighter 5th wheel.

Rusty

 

But Rusty, if you look at CGVW then the weight comes out the same. My truck is rated for 16,000 pounds CGVW. It doesn't matter if it is a fiver or a goose or a TT. HOWEVER I do see what you are saying and have a tendency to agree with you.
Tom

 

WOW! Thanks for everyones thoughts on this subject. My first choice would be a larger Fifth if I had the right truck. My thinking was along the same line as Rustys'. I don't want to be overloaded. That's the reason we started looking at the larger TT. I pull a 30 footer now (TT) but only about 5000 lbs. dry and it's stable in tow. The next step is to go back to the dealership and hook on to the new trailer and give it a good run. This forum is great, a lot of people with good information. Joe.

 

Tom,

As far as Dodge is concerned, it does matter. They are clear in stating that one should not exceed any of the truck's ratings (GCWR, GVWR or GAWRs) in a towing application. The GVWR will invariably be the first rating exceeded when trying to tow a 5th wheel with a 3/4 ton truck since the 5th wheel places about 20% or more of its total weight on the truck as pin weight. A TT, on the other hand, only places around 12% or so of its total weight on the truck, so for equal trailer weights, a 3/4 ton truck can tow a larger TT than 5ver without exceeding the truck's GVWR.

Forget the manufacturer's trailer tow ratings. They are established using a base truck with only a 150 lb driver. My truck weighs over 1000 lbs more when loaded and ready for the road than Dodge's assumed curb weight.

The only way to ensure that the truck manufacturer's ratings aren't exceeded when towing an RV is to load up the truck with driver, passengers, cargo, fuel, hitch, etc. and head for the scales. The weight of the truck loaded as described will be the truck's laden curb weight (LCW).

Knowing the truck's LCW and its GCWR and GVWR, the maximum allowable weights of an RV may be determined as follows:

Truck's GCWR - Truck's LCW = maximum allowable total weight of loaded trailer

Truck's GVWR - Truck's LCW = maximum allowable pin/hitch weight of loaded trailer

If the weight of the loaded trailer isn't known, a conservative approach is to use the trailer's GVWR for its total loaded weight and 20% (5th wheel) or 12% (TT) of the trailer's GVWR for pin/hitch weight of the loaded trailer.

Rusty

 

Yep Rusty, That is why I said my truck is rated at 16k. Like I said, I do agree with you. But also like Haulin' said, a fiver or goose is safer to tow in a heavier configuration. Unfortunately, there are many, many of us (yes, I include myself) who do go over thwe CGVW. At least I think I do, I have not weighed my set up (yet). If I was able to pull a larger fiver and my boat at the same time, I don't know if I would just due to the weight factor. As far as handling a heavy load, when I was driving my largest was 82k pay load. Total CGVW (with permit) was 122,000 lbs with a tractor that only weighed 17,000lbs. So It is possible, however, MOST people pulling trailers don't have a lot of experience pulling larger loads. With that said I willhold off on any more comments about experieced drivers. No, I am not calling anyone here an inexperienced driver, but somebody will think I am and try to start an argument.
Tom

 

My turn: I tow 4-5K miles a year, and switched a couple of years ago to a 5th wheel - I'll never go back. That said, my last truck was a '96 3/4T Long Bed CTD with an automatic. The last TAG trailer was a 25' Tag with an 8' slide. With some attention, you should be very comfortable with the combination you're looking at, but the short WB is a bit of a challenge.

The best thing you can do is to watch the weight distribution. If you get the nose of the trailer too heavy, you unweight the nose of the truck to an unacceptable extent. While it sounds impossible with the weight of the CTD up front, it happens. Counteract this with a weight distributing hitch and you'll get back toward the handling you have before you hook up. You'll want to make sure that the weight on the front tires is AT LEAST what it is unhooked when you hook up; ideally you want to split the weight of the trailer between the rear and front of the truck using the distributing hitch.

A couple of more things will help. Weight on the back of the trailer, while it sounds like a good thing to counteract the above discussion, is a BAAADDD thing. I put my 200# generator on the back, and the stability went to h**l quick. The moment arm of all that weight way back there overcame the benefit of the weight distribution change. My solution was to move the gen to the bed of the truck - an immediate, big improvement happened.

Next, get an anti-sway link. This will work to keep the truck and trailer from pivoting at the hitch, not so much that you'll have a problem turning, but sway will improve.

Finally, make a habit (and before you start the 1st time) of checking the bolts holding the hitch to the frame. I found, after a very mysterious white-knuckle drive from Phoenix to Ventura, CA, that 3 of the 4 on my truck were only finger tight. The amount of sway generated by just the fraction of an inch movement in the receiver assembly is truly frightening, let me tell you.

If 'twas me, before I spent the $$ for the trailer, I'd buy the ball mount and equalizer assembly, tell the dealer I wanted a "test drive", hook up and drive 20-30 miles out of town and back. Hooking up the anti-sway won't be an option, but if you absolutely can't stand the situation without it, you're not going to like it long term with the improvement you'll see from the anti-sway.

I've not towed with the Hensley, but I hear that's a good unit. If you need better performance than the setup above, it might be the way to go.

Best of luck - the truck and trailer combination, either tag or 5th, is really the way to go instead of the motorhome route - only one drivetrain to maintain, etc.

Mike

 

Tom,

That's certainly your choice. All I can do is to put the information out there for the individual who may not know how to size a trailer and stay within the truck manufacturer's ratings. To some people, that's important for civil/tort liability reasons, among others. To others, ratings mean nothing. The latter are certainly free to ignore my post and go on their merry way.

Rusty

 

With all this response I feel like I should give you some more information. Here's my numbers, GVWR 8800lbs....Max. payload 2830lbs....GCWR...16000lbs...Max. trailer tow rating 9900lbs. These numbers are right out of the Dodge book. I had the truck weighed about a year ago and I want to say somewhere between 4500lbs. and 4700lbs. (not sure). I wrote it down somewhere, I'm going to have it weighed again. Using these numbers I think I'm okay. Unloaded truck wt. + hitch wt. + trailer wt. + about 1500lbs. for truck and trailer cargo puts me right at about the 16000lb. max GCWR. I drive the big red trucks with the ladders and the lights for a living so saftey is always a concern. Thanks again.

 

My 2WD truck's laden curb weight (LCW) is 7,680 lbs!

Rusty