Bought a trailer today

99-ls1-ss · April 13, 2016

I bought a new equipment/car hauler trailer today. It's more than I need but, I would rather have too much trailer than not enough. I'm going to haul the occasional car/pickup and my tractor with it. Tractor weighs around 6800 lbs with FEL and box blade. A little more with the bush hog.

It's a Big Tex 14ET 20'. I got a spare tire and a Curt WDH with it.

Any words of wisdom from people that haul things frequently?

ember1205 · April 13, 2016

The trailer should serve you quite well. Here, in CT, I can't drag anything over 10k GTWR without needing to have a DOT sticker or an exception from DOT. So, I went with the 10ET (18') as my tractor is about 4000-4500lbs and that's about the heaviest thing I'll ever have on it.

While your WDH will definitely be useful to you, be sure to adjust with each load if necessary. The different weights and such could require different settings based on how much weight you need to transfer to the truck. Also, your truck is absolutely not rated to pull that trailer fully loaded. So, be careful of exactly how much you put on there.

Safety chains should be crossed underneath the drawbar before latching them to the truck (make an "X") - it amazes me how many people don't know to do this with them. Forming the "X" allows the chains to be slightly shorter than would be required if you connected them without crossing, and helps prevent them from ever dragging on the ground.

Use chains to secure your loads, NOT straps. If the tractor has an FEL while you're hauling, be sure to run a strap up and over the loader arms and have the bucket flat on the deck. One distinct chain at each corner will give the safest method of securing the load. And, with a tractor that heavy, it's likely required by your local laws. Yes, you'll end up investing a few hundred bucks in proper chains and tensioners, but they'll last you forever as long as you take care of them.

Adjust the boost on your brake controller with each tow to ensure you have the correct amount of brake assist for the payload.

Then there's the sort of advice my Dad would always tell me... Leave extra room to stop.

Jon A · May 1, 2016

Any words of wisdom from people that haul things frequently?

Yes. One very wise word: Airbags! While they're helpful for anybody who tows/hauls anything with a 1/2 ton, it sounds like you'll be doing a lot of it so you will benefit a lot from them.

Equipment trailers, much like horse trailers, can vary widely in tongue weight, changing many times even in the course of a single day depending upon what you're doing with them. With a 2500 or 3500 (especially if it has airbags set at a medium level) you can pretty much ignore things, load up and go and be just fine.

With a 1/2 ton, they're way too soft to do that--being able to air the bags up for a heavy load without screwing up your ride permanently makes your truck better suited to doing the work allowing it to ride and handle better and more safely when loaded. I don't know how you use your tractor specifically, but if it involves moving it short distances with lots of offroad/uneven terrain you aren't going to want to be messing with the WDH several times during the course of a day for several different tongue weights. Save that for the long highway trips.

I went the full nine yards with an onboard compressor and self-leveling system which is a lot more effort than most are willing to do, but man is it nice! Load, unload, trailer on, trailer off, horses in, horses out, car on trailer, car off trailer, etc and the suspension is adjusted perfectly for however much weight it's carrying. It's certainly not necessary though as just having the bags is 90% of the battle but I thought it deserves mention if you're trying to set this thing up as well as possible for many years of use.

One more thing to consider--I don't know what kind of tongue weight that trailer will have when typically loaded, but with those trailers it's quite easy to load something heavy and pull it just a bit too far forward without realizing it. If you think there's much chance of your tongue weight spiking significantly above 1200 lbs in the course of a day's work you may want to upgrade to a HD 2 1/2" hitch with a higher rating just so it's not a worry in the back of your mind.

99-ls1-ss · May 4, 2016

Also, your truck is absolutely not rated to pull that trailer fully loaded. So, be careful of exactly how much you put on there.

Adjust the boost on your brake controller with each tow to ensure you have the correct amount of brake assist for the payload.

Thanks for the reply! I know the trailer is rated for much more than my truck will haul. I shouldn't ever be pulling more than 10K lbs, including the weight of the trailer, so I think/hope I'm ok and safe.

Yes. One very wise word: Airbags! While they're helpful for anybody who tows/hauls anything with a 1/2 ton, it sounds like you'll be doing a lot of it so you will benefit a lot from them.

With a 1/2 ton, they're way too soft to do that--being able to air the bags up for a heavy load without screwing up your ride permanently makes your truck better suited to doing the work allowing it to ride and handle better and more safely when loaded. I don't know how you use your tractor specifically, but if it involves moving it short distances with lots of offroad/uneven terrain you aren't going to want to be messing with the WDH several times during the course of a day for several different tongue weights. Save that for the long highway trips.

I went the full nine yards with an onboard compressor and self-leveling system which is a lot more effort than most are willing to do, but man is it nice! Load, unload, trailer on, trailer off, horses in, horses out, car on trailer, car off trailer, etc and the suspension is adjusted perfectly for however much weight it's carrying. It's certainly not necessary though as just having the bags is 90% of the battle but I thought it deserves mention if you're trying to set this thing up as well as possible for many years of use.

One more thing to consider--I don't know what kind of tongue weight that trailer will have when typically loaded, but with those trailers it's quite easy to load something heavy and pull it just a bit too far forward without realizing it. If you think there's much chance of your tongue weight spiking significantly above 1200 lbs in the course of a day's work you may want to upgrade to a HD 2 1/2" hitch with a higher rating just so it's not a worry in the back of your mind.

Do you have any airbag recommendations? I hadn't considered your points. I feel like they are very valid and I will look into getting airbags for my truck.

99-ls1-ss · May 4, 2016

I have a concern about the new trailer.

I'm not sure if I've hooked it up wrong or it is just the way things are. When I pulled the trailer home (empty) after purchasing it, it made my truck drive very rough. It almost seemed like my suspension had switched to zero travel mode. My lower back was sore after a 30 minute drive home. I didn't have the WDH on it because the trailer was empty and the trailer weight is around 3400 lbs.

Is there a chance that the trailer is balanced so well that I was feeling the trailer teeter like a seesaw? My truck wasn't squatting much if any so I don't feel like there was too much tongue weight. Do you guys have any ideas on what might be causing this or how to fix it?

ember1205 · May 4, 2016

Can you lift the tongue of the trailer by hand? That would indicate being very well balanced.

Pulling an unloaded trailer is different from dragging a properly loaded one. Hard to know exactly what happened in your situation, but it's more likely that tongue weight was too low than anything else. It normally takes cargo to get the tongue weight correct.

99-ls1-ss · May 4, 2016

Can you lift the tongue of the trailer by hand? That would indicate being very well balanced.

Pulling an unloaded trailer is different from dragging a properly loaded one. Hard to know exactly what happened in your situation, but it's more likely that tongue weight was too low than anything else. It normally takes cargo to get the tongue weight correct.

Thanks. I will check to see if I can pick it up when I get home. Hopefully that is all it is.

ember1205 · May 4, 2016

Thanks. I will check to see if I can pick it up when I get home. Hopefully that is all it is.

Honestly, you shouldn't be able to. It should be pretty heavy on the tongue, even unloaded. But, for a 3400lb trailer, it might be very low in terms of percentage of total weight.

kevin_nj · May 4, 2016

An unloaded trailer will bounce more than a loaded one. Just like an unloaded pickup truck will bounce and be more likely to have the rear end kick out if you hit rough roads while in a corner. A bouncing trailer will have an effect on the tow vehicle as it will quickly change the load on the tow vehicle. Once there is weight on the trailer it should settle down. I drove an enclosed dual axle cargo trailer from NJ to TX when I helped a friend move. I was a bit over 7 ton combined on the way down. On the way back I put 2000# of water softner salt in the trailer just so I had a comfortable ride back, otherwise the trailer would have been jerking and swaying the whole way home.

Ideally you want roughly 10-12% of the total trailer weight on the tongue. So if the trailer and the cargo on it total 6000#, you want somewhere around 600-700# on the tow ball.