Towing experts?

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mopar56

mopar56

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Ok, so this isn't A body related but it is if you tow one, lol, here's my question although I have towed many boats in my profession I don't tow a lot of RV,s. My wife and I just purchased a new RV on the weekend, it's 20 feet long, single torsion axle and weighs 3500 lbs so fairly lightweight, I intend on towing it with my 2019 Ram limited which has a factory air bag suspension that self levals with anything on the hitch. My question is should I use a weight distribution receiver? We will usually be towing no more than 200k, ( 120 miles ) to our RVing destination usually on the freeway with a 110km ( 70 mph ) limit. My concerns of course is tail wag at speed or on a windy day. My research says a RV trailer under 5000 lbs won't require it. I pick it up this weekend and thought I'd run it down the freeway and see how it feels. Dose Anyone who tows a RV or maybe a enclosed car trailer have any thoughts?
 
Not a fan of single axle but yes on load leveler hitch with anti sway bar. Get the hitch as close to level as possible. Remember you will add a lot of weight when you load the trailer with all your stuff.
 
Thanks Jaws, agree on the single axle, I was was looking for a very specific RV, and although I would have preferred a tandem axle thus checked all the other box,s and had extra ground clearance, the trailer/ truck should be leval with the auto leval air bag I also plan on putting most my gear in the truck box instead of the trailer mostly just linen and cutlery unless we decide to go off grid then I guess water in the tank which would add.
 
27 gallons I believe so just under 300 lbs, with gear probably 4500lbs max so well under the 5k recommended, hence my hesitation to get them, honestly it's not the cost just the pia hooking up each time.
 
When you say RV, do you mean a trailer you sleep in ?

I think where I'm at, most folks who hear RV think self propelled
 
You need 20% tounge weight on the hitch which you probably have.

Should hook on and tow fine.

Weight distribution inside the Camper/RV is key. You don't want to have all your gear stored in the tail of the RV.

Should you have a little wag, throw 2, 50 lb. sand bags into the front RV storage area, to put more tounge weight on the hitch, that will help.

The self leveling suspension is a nice touch to keep things riding level.

I have aftermarket air bags on the rear axle of my tow vehicle to manually set the ride height level. Works Great

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2 wheel trailers always have wag,
you could buy a weight distribution hitch with sway control and that would help, not that you need the weight leveling help, but the sway control would help with the wag.
 
I tow a 7500lb travel trailer with my 2004 Ram 2500. I would definitely recommend some sort of sway control for your setup, especially while towing at 70mph on the freeway. While passing tractor trailers things can get interesting without it. The lightweight of your trailer and your truck’s tow rating don’t necessarily require the weight distribution aspect but it kind of goes hand in hand with the sway control. Trust me, you will feel much more comfortable using it than not. You don’t want to be white knuckling it every time a semi passes you.

The hitches are rated by trailer weight/ tongue weight so make sure you buy one that closely matches your setup. “Over-hitching” is just as bad as no hitch.

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So to clarify, yes this is a camping RV, I have towed using a antisway device using this truck but a slightly heavier trailer and it towed nicely and as mentioned weight distribution is key, I don't plan on loading this trailer with a lot when traveling I have a truck bed for that. My gut tells me I will be ordering a weight distribution hitch but I'll drag it around a bit this Saturday and see how it all feels first thanks as always for the advice!
 
btw i have pulled many different type of trailers and one thing most people don't pay attention to is the tire ratings for speed and weight,plus air pressure,
i would look at the tires on your trailer they could be rated for 60mph max speed or something like that
i have seen guys pulling their boats and flying pass me at 75-80 mph and 5miles down the road they are on the side with flat tires or missing the whole spindle and hub. lol
 
I'd get the equalizer/sway control stuff, even if it is a pain to deal with. Also, does your truck have a trailer brake controller? If the trailer starts wagging, reach down and apply trailer brakes. I saw an enclosed car trailer on its side on the interstate 2 weeks ago, with the tow vehicle jackknifed and pointed the other direction than it should have been. I'm kind of partial to a 5th wheel camper because they pull easier. Have fun with it and do what you gotta do to be as safe as you can.
 
My Ram is a limited so yes it has the brake controller built in, I'll check the trailer tires but there new and installed by the trailer manufacturer so I suspect and hope they are correct.
 
Most of my trailer towing is in california, where the car speed limit is 65-70, and trailer speed limit is 55 (of course, EVERYBODY does around 62)
Just cause your speed limit is 70, doesn't mean you HAVE to go seventy. Run at a speed that's comfy for you....... and make sure your tires are at or close to max pressure. (I have heard from several veteran tow-ers, that they run more than the max in their trailer tires.)
 
I used to tow a 23 foot dual axle camper with my Ram, and now tow a 28 foot camper with it. I would say you would want at least something for sway control, the wind (and passing semi trucks) can and will move that camper all around behind you. In ideal conditions, I wouldn't think you need it, but you can't predict the conditions. I use a Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch setup, it also does weight distributing, which I need since my rear coils squat a bunch, I have since added aftermarket air bags to help with the 700lbs of tongue weight. The Blue Ox is very easy to hookup, and does not need to be unhooked to backup, even when backing in at a very sharp angle. Put trailer on ball, lift tongue a little higher, connect bars, then lower the jack down and off you go.
 
It's sad to say, but there are some (not all) truck drivers who delight in blowing by a tag along camper as close as they can get, just to make it sway. I used to see them try it all the time when I was dragging our Sunnybrook 5th wheel up and down the road. A friend of mine who tows a tag along camper says he automatically reaches for the trailer brake lever when he see's a tractor trailer getting ready to do a fly by on him.
 
We have had a couple travel trailers in the past and I used one of these hitches with the bars and, not the chains. These things are awesome!!

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They are from a place called Fastway.
 
I highly recommend you get on YouTube and watch some videos on trailer sway. IIRC, it's something like 4-5 seconds from when a death sway starts to when the truck/trailer are on their roof. That's not much time for all us internet jockeys to react!

I have pulled a car on an open trailer for almost 40 years using a load equalizer hitch. Sway is non-existent. Then last year, I got a 24' v-nosed enclosed car hauler (9' tall overall). Empty trailer weighs 4400#'s so add a car and tools and whatever else and you can decide what it weighs.

I got an appropriately-sized load distribution hitch with sway bars. GLAD I DID!! Windloads are MUCH different pulling this big box! As a truck approaches to pass from behind, you get pushed to the right. Then as they pass, you get pulled closer to them. 18-wheelers are one thing but the WORST are big straight trucks or worse yet are commercial busses. Sway is not an issue with the bars but given the push/pull that goes on with passing vehs, I sure would never pull this without the bars. Oh, and BTW, when I pass a camper or another truck/trailer pulling mine, I see they get the same response that I get when being passed.

Lastly, the newer pickups are quite amazing. Depending on the brand/model/option package, the truck will automatically apply the trailer brakes when it detects sway. MUCH faster than a human can reach down and grab the brake apply lever. One of many nice trailering features!
 
Well the general consensus here is get and use the WD hitch which is most likely what I am going to do, most of the responses here are from people towing very heavy rigs, the only reason I posted this is because this rig is only 20ft and 3400lbs therefore maybe I didn't need them BUT because I'm single axle that could change things and of course I don't HAVE to do the posted speed limit but with the truck I'm using and light weight of the trailer it should be easily achieved and of course the higher the speed the more risk of sway. Believe me safety is FIRST. Thanks for all the info here as always.
 
Plymouth67 I do like that hitch I'll look into it, I work in the marine industry do can purchase my stuff including hitch wholesale. I'll see if my suppliers sell that one.
 
mopar56 said:
Plymouth67 I do like that hitch I'll look into it, I work in the marine industry do can purchase my stuff including hitch wholesale. I'll see if my suppliers sell that one.
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I remember blowing down the interstate about 75 mph with the camper on the back and, it blew a tire, with that hitch all I felt was a very slight tug like I hit a very small pot hole. No swaying, or bouncing...nothing!! If I ever buy another camper I will buy that hitch set up again.
 
I honestly, the first thing I would do with a single axle trailer is ditch the factory tires and get some decent ones on it. Some Carlisle or Goodyear Endurance. Camper tires are paper thin and not the best. The ones that came on mine, weren't even rated to hold GVW of my camper.
 
@mopar56, you are getting good advice. Allow me to add to it. I have just under 45 years working in trucking, and have pulled myriad trailers behind my 94 TCD 2500. Please, do not cheap out or hit the "easy" button on towing. Get a good weight distribution hitch with sway control. As mentioned above, if things go south your time to recover is somewhere between no time and very little time. You will be much happier with the WD hitch. Just because your hitch or truck has a weight rating, does not mean it's a good idea to haul that much on just a bumper or frame hitch. CONTROL is what you are after. Having the tail wag the dog till you're upside down in a ditch is not the time to reflect on "maybe I should have made a different decision". Also any travel trailer has a LOT of square footage on the side walls, which will catch wind or as mentioned, blow-by from trucks and busses. This can push you all over the place where a boat is less prone to such concerns.

Ditto to the above with good tires, load rated at or preferably above your gross trailer weight. Make sure your trailer has electric brakes, as some more lightweight units may not have them. In an emergency braking situation, properly set up trailer brakes can make the difference between my trailer is still behind me, and my trailer is now in front of me. Test the brakes and set them so when you slow down, you can just feel the trailer brakes coming in before the foundation brakes. You want to feel the trailer helping slow you down from the rear as opposed to the truck doing the work. If the trailer doesn't participate in braking, it can push the rear of the truck off to the side causing a jackknife.

You said your truck has an auto level feature, but make sure the rest of your setup is also level. Get the trailer fully loaded, hook it up, and make sure both truck and trailer are level. This will likely mean hooking and unhooking a few times while you fiddle with the hitch height and WD bar tension adjustments. This is time well invested.
 
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