Enclosed trailer question

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abodyfan

abodyfan

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Looking to down size our trailer and truck. We currently have a 42ft. enclosed trailer and a 1-ton dually. We really want something enclosed to pull with a 1/2ton truck, we will need enough room for a golf cart and a car, probably put the golf cart in sideways. My question is what would be the biggest trailer you could safely pull with a 1/2 ton truck? I would like think you could pull a 28 ft. trailer using torsion bar hitch. Thanks for the help.
 
In my opinion you are way WAY off base here. You might get by with a 3/4 T and should be using a 1T

What, realistically, is the loaded truck / trailer gross weight, trailer + cargo + tools + supplies, + spares + luggage, you and yours whatever else is in the truck?
 
Your best bet, IMO, is a 3/4 ton Diesel, 28ft. trailer with a 48in (minimum) side door for the golf cart. Use 16in wheels on the trailer, torsion bar type hitch & you should be set. Now you won't set any landspeed records, but it'll get you 'most anywhere you'd like to go...........
 
A loaded 28' trailer will put a serious hurting on a 1/2 ton pickup. Can it be done? Sure but you will be over the limits and Unsafe even with Load Levelers and Trailer Brakes. My enclosed 26' trailer with an 1800lb sand rail and 4 quads loaded would waste my wifes 1/2 ton Suburban. Shoot our 28' Deckboat only weighed about 9000lbs loaded with fuel etc. Her newer Big Block 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburbon just about blew up towing that boat, overheated, lights and buzzers going off etc, it was brand new and only had a few thousand miles on it…. Dumped that POS quick. Upgraded to a Diesel Excursion…. Never a problem ever again. Tow's anything like its on Vacation.
 
I have a 1-ton truck that just sits, all we do with it is pull the our current enclosed trailer. I'm trying to cut insurance cost by down sizing trailers so I can sell the dually. When we go to the Mopar Nats we are loaded with about 7000 lbs. It is a 3 hour trip for us, so not like we are driving 12 hours.
 
I don't see why a 1500 with good set of shocks and air bags along with weight dist. hitch could not pull a 24' or 26' enclosed.
I had 24' haulmark and I had 20" wide work bench and I could fit a Honda rancher in front of my duster in the trailer.

I bought an aluminum 18' open trailer to tow my behind this
 

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My uncle towed his 30 foot car trailer with a 2,000 pound race car and golf cart with a 2012 ram 1500 - needed some mods but got the job done , air bags, T-bars t-brake ect,ect
 
Pulled a 24ft enclosed with a 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee,360 engine and 3.73 gears,Airlift airbags in the rear coilsprings, towing mirrors,equalizer hitch and brake control.Drove and stopped better than the motorhome that I use now. Check the truck's towing spec. The Jeep rating was 5000 lbs.My 94 Jeep GC had a 7500 lbs tow rating.
 
Just my opinion, but I never like to use anything that is "enough" for the application. I always go for "more than enough" for the extra margin of safety.
i.e.: * 12,000 trailer rating but keep it around 10,000 loaded. (28')
* 16" tires w/6,000 lb axles instead of 15" tires and 5,200 lb axles.
* One ton dually instead of ANYTHING smaller.

A 3/4 ton truck will have better brakes, better rear gearing and strength, weigh more so the trailer is less likely to push it around, etc. The truck and its parts will last longer and be safer. If it's replacing a dually, then size-wise it will be more like a 1/2 ton anyway, but better equipped. It's too easy to go overweight. It always surprised me when I weighed my stuff at the truck scales over the years.

Hemicop is on the same page as me.
 
Like I stated….. It will do it but it will be no easy task. It won't get out of its own way nor be able to stop quickly if need be. Been there done that. I don't care what the others say. I have towed for many, many years. They are not speaking the whole truth about the situation, "What I have is the best syndrome" It is going to be a hurtinnnn for certain! Pulling any type of Grade…. Forgetaboutit

My 26' enclosed weighed 5500lbs dry. Loaded easily 10-11K with fuel, cargo, tools ready to go.
 
yup, I just said he towed ,,,.... did it tow good.......well,... that's another story haha


we towed a 24 foot with a 3,000 pound car -that's it , no tools ect. from here to new jersey and back with a 1500 with no T-bars- Towed very good, but of course That is a 24 foot with just a car
 
abodyfan said:
I have a 1-ton truck that just sits, all we do with it is pull the our current enclosed trailer. I'm trying to cut insurance cost by down sizing trailers so I can sell the dually. When we go to the Mopar Nats we are loaded with about 7000 lbs. It is a 3 hour trip for us, so not like we are driving 12 hours.
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The right combination is very important. One minute, one hour or ten+ hours from your house could result in your loved ones, yourself and other people being dead just as quick with the wrong combination.
 
I used to tow my 69' bee on an open one car trailer and it was outright scary
with the 1/2 ton I had so I sold it and bought a 3/4 ton ram cummins now I have to watch the throttle when I release the clutch to keep from jerking the tounge
off the trailer:D
 
And why do the 1 tons usually have dualies? Ever see what happens when a rear tire let's go while towing that trailer? One of my best friends was towing his 24 footer with a 3/4 ton. Inside were two less than 1,000 lb formula race cars with some spares, chairs, scooter, etc. They left Chicago to attend the races at Road Atlanta. Fours hours into the trip a left rear truck tire let go (later deemed to be from a metal part puncture). Trailer started wiggling, then the whole this went out of control. Trailer went down the ditch, pulled the truck with. Crew cab Ford with dual fuel tanks, and four passengers. Shredded tire ripped out both fuel tank filler necks and tore off most of the quarter panel. Then the trailer pulled the truck into the ditch. Truck. trailer, and passengers all ended up on their side. No serious injuries but truck, trailer and race cars were wiped out. He has never towed without dualies again. One more tire would have saved the whole thing.
 
Im on the other side of the fence here.

I have a 24' enclosed trailer and a 3/4 ton Dodge with diesel

It pulls great, but I don't use it much any more and doubt I will go much in the future. So I don't think I need the diesel and would like to get a new truck.

But with a properly equipped 1/2 ton it will pull my 24' trailer. NO IT WILL NOT PULL AS WELL AS MY DIESEL, I know that up front and will be pissed every time I pull it. But a 1/2 ton truck I would probably drive daily and sell my truck and car. Save on insurance and maintenance.

What are you planning on hauling?

Took my 1981 Imperial and golf cart to Carlisle in 2007 plus all the crap I needed in the front of the trailer. It was tight and probably close to the 10,000 rating of the trailer. No problem with the truck pulling it. Getting the golf cart in with that big car was a trick, but I got them both in (cart in the 48" side door across the trailer.)

Yes I also thought about getting a 28' trailer, but do you really need it? Downsizing right, how much crap are you going to take? If you think you are only hauling 7,000 are you adding the trailer weight? You can get a lot of stuff (weight) in a 28' trailer.

For the average car a 24' gives you plenty of room. I can put my Prowler and trailer inside mine with them hooked together. Or Dart and Golf Cart with plenty of room for other stuff

The new F150 has over 11,000 lbs tow rating, going to pull my trailer with one just to see how it does with the Eco boost V6

Yes the best towing vehicle would be a dually, but the most expensive to own and maintain. For a person doing a lot of towing the only way to go. For someone towing shorter distance and not frequently a smaller truck properly equipped is acceptable.

My 2 cent, makes cents to me

I might change my mind once I pull my loaded trailer with a smaller truck.
 
abodyfan said:
Looking to down size our trailer and truck. We currently have a 42ft. enclosed trailer and a 1-ton dually. We really want something enclosed to pull with a 1/2ton truck, we will need enough room for a golf cart and a car, probably put the golf cart in sideways. My question is what would be the biggest trailer you could safely pull with a 1/2 ton truck? I would like think you could pull a 28 ft. trailer using torsion bar hitch. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

a 6 X 8 -----------OPEN TRAILER OF COARSE! 30 years responding to MVA's I've seen what you can't tow with 1/2 trucks. The results weren't always good.
 
what a 1/2 ton can do as opposed to should do is a big difference.
check your GVW of the truck and use that as your starting point.
Trust me, if you get in an accident pulling a trailer that's over weight you're in deep $hit. At least here in Canada.
 
I pulled a 29' v-nose enclosed with a 2000 Ram 1500 360 4x4 quadcab shortbed several times through the Pennsylvania mountains with no issues whatsoever. Fully loaded with car and parts probably weighed 10K lbs. I have towed all over the US and Canada with anywhere from this rig to a dually with a 48' enclosed. The most important thing is brakes, pretty much anything can pull but it must stop it too. The new Hemi half tons are plenty adequate for a 24' trailer and probably much better to tow that old 29' v-nose than my old 360 truck.
 
I tow a 24 foot enclosed behind my 97 Expedition. I do have airbags and a weight distribution hitch. Tows like a dream
 
I must be lucky cause I have pulled A bodies on my 18' utility trailer all over the East side. Of course, I kinda go easy when doing so.
 
my dad pulled a 24 foot enclosed trailer with a very heavy load of goods with a ford econoline 250 with a 4.6 for like a month driving around 2,000 miles a week...it worked that little motor hard up mountains but it got the job done till he could get a 2008 ram 2500 with the 6.7...now he can fly up the mountains like he's in a sedan
 
We have been going through the same exercise. My ram has airbags. We used to tow a 25 foot trailer and have mx bike/tools/power washer / 45 gal water barrel / firewood and a couple of bicycles in the back. Kids are slowly moving out and we sold the trailer that could sleep 10 and we have been looking for a 32 foot 5th wheel that sleeps two and dogs.

Went to a really good RV board and started asking questions...then went armed back to a rv dealer and asked them again.

My RAM will not be safe pulling a fifth wheel unless is it really small. Even with the trailer having electric brakes, we really shouldn't be going over 8K with a tag along.

It can be done. But it cannot be done safely. What may work in a controlled situation may go sideways when sh8t hits the fan and you are in panic mode.

Then you got to ask yourself what you life and your passenger's lives are worth ? And the traffic on our roads is getting heavier and the road conditions sometimes are not the best.. We are getting older and our reactions are slower..

In the short term, we are going to keep the RAM and buy a smaller tag a long.

This was a hard conversation between us.. our RAM has excellent memories that we are not willing to give up yet..
 
breakstuff said:
I tow a 24 foot enclosed behind my 97 Expedition. I do have airbags and a weight distribution hitch. Tows like a dream
Click to expand...

Lol, you know the thing is a DOG and won't get out of its own way. You should have said it tows like a BAD Dream.

People tell themselves things long enough they start to believe their own bullshit. Us who have been there and know better will straight out tell the truth. Good or bad.
 
My suggestion is to down size the trailer and keep the tow truck you have.
Getting rid of stuff for insurance reasons....

If you have a underated 1/2 truck and an accident happens with a trailer heavier than you tow capacity, guess what you just let the insurance company off the hook for neglect, disregard for human life, and plus what ever thing else some lawyer can come up with.
 
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