First Time Pulling A Camper

[[email protected]]

my buddy is letting me use his 30 ft camper for a country music fest in june here in Wisconsin, he was originally gonna tow it there for me with his truck, a silverado 3500, but now he cant, so its up to me! i hope my truck can handle it! i think he said it weighs like 7,000 pounds. anyone else here have a camper that big with a half-ton pickup truck? luckly its only 2 hours away. were gonna practice some backing with it this weekend, and also hook it up to my truck. hope everything goes good! ive pulled my dads 20 ft flatbed before, and his 16 ft enclosed trailer, so i know pretty much what im doing with pulling a trailer, wider turns and all. but nothing this big! thanks guys!

[dlstewart01]

Thats pushing it for your truck. You will need a brake controler and a weight distributing hitch with sway control for sure. A camper like that can have a tongue weight of 800-900 lbs.

 

See video...

 

 

[[email protected]]

holy crap. thats crazy.well i do have the brake controller. but im not sure the trailer is set up for weight distribution. ill have to find out this weekend. Thanks!

[pwall]

That'll pushing it. As mentioned above, you will need weight distribution and sway control (and a brake controller of course).

Perhaps you and your buddy to trade trucks for the trip.

[compulynx]

There is no way I would try to pull a 30 foot 7000 lb camper with a 1500. If you do, be sure you have a w/d hitch, and keep your speeds below 60 mph. And pray the wind is not bad.

 

C

[Pig Hunter]

Your buddy should have a weight distribution hitch that will fit your receiver, assuming you have a towing package on your truck. Don't even try it with a bumper hitch, besides the trailer probably has a ball requirement larger than 2". I had a 6000 lb trailer I pulled with a 1500, no problems, but I think your pushing it. Check your owners manual and your GVWR. If your not overloading the truck, here are some things to remember; never exceed 60 mph, gets squirrely, make sure and take off the sway control bar before backing, you'll bend the crap out of it and make it uselss, set your trailer brake controller so that you feel the drag of the trailer brakes as you come to a stop, calibrate the brake controller in an uncrowded parking lot or a back street, make sure you do it before you get in to traffic, the trailer will push you into intersections if it's not set properly. Last but not least, take it easy, take it slow and avoid backing up whenever possible.

Good Luck!

[jdewolfe]

Which festival are you going to? I'll be going to hodag this year for the first time. All I hear is crazy stories, so I can't wait to go! Sorry to not contribute to your question.

 

Jeff

[dlstewart01]

The only time a friction sway control must be removed when backing is when it is not set up properly and will bottom out in a sharp turn. When set up properly you will hit your truck with the camper before the sway control bottoms out.

 

This is right from the friction sway control manual...

 

 

 

c. On some installations, damage to the sway control may occur during extremely sharp turning maneuvers.

This can be checked by slowly backing vehicle into a jackknife position while someone is watching. Do not

allow slide bar to contract completely (bottom out) or bumper to contact sway control. If it looks as thought

contact will be made or the sway control will bottom out then the sway control must be removed before

backing trailer.

[music]

I pull a 32 ft camper (bumper to tongue) that weighs ~7k lbs fully loaded w/ a family of five. I've had zero sway issues or anything of that sort. It pulls very steady, in crosswinds, tractor trailers passing at high speed, etc. Our previous camper was a 22 ft 5k lb model, and sit lower to the ground... so I know the difference. I pulled a pop-up with a minivan before that. A good WD hitch and sway control are required for these sizes. More importantly, weight distribution of the camper is *critical*. The 32 ft camper pulls more steady in windy conditions than the 22 ft model did, which is partly due to the Reese Dual Cam WD hitch system, but greatly due to the camper weight distribution itself. I have ~1k lbs sitting on the hitch (without even trying), and that is very important.

 

I've watched a 25 ft camper send a 3/4 ton into sway spasms, and I've watched 35 ft campers behind 1/2-tons pull steady as a rock in cross-winds. It's all about weight distribution and setup. As far as power goes, plan to tow in 3rd and pull hills in 2nd. Stay to ~60 mph for a comfortable ride.

 

The things about a longer camper that have created more difficulty are turning corners, gas stations (getting in/out... not economy), and getting into a tight camping spot. Fuel economy for the two has been very similar (maybe 1 mpg difference).

[sc4808]

I pull a 32 ft camper (bumper to tongue) that weighs ~7k lbs fully loaded w/ a family of five. I've had zero sway issues or anything of that sort. It pulls very steady, in crosswinds, tractor trailers passing at high speed, etc. Our previous camper was a 22 ft 5k lb model, and sit lower to the ground... so I know the difference. I pulled a pop-up with a minivan before that. A good WD hitch and sway control are required for these sizes. More importantly, weight distribution of the camper is *critical*. The 32 ft camper pulls more steady in windy conditions than the 22 ft model did, which is partly due to the Reese Dual Cam WD hitch system, but greatly due to the camper weight distribution itself. I have ~1k lbs sitting on the hitch, and that is very important.

 

I've watched a 25 ft camper send a 3/4 ton into sway spasms, and I've watched 35 ft campers behind 1/2-tons pull steady as a rock in cross-winds. It's all about weight distribution and setup. As far as power goes, plan to tow in 3rd and pull hills in 2nd. Stay to ~60 mph for a comfortable ride.

 

The things about a longer camper that have created more difficulty are turning corners, gas stations (getting in/out... not economy), and getting into a tight camping spot. Fuel economy for the two has been very similar (maybe 1 mpg difference).

 

+1

[SavageNFS]

I pull a 32 ft camper (bumper to tongue) that weighs ~7k lbs fully loaded w/ a family of five. I've had zero sway issues or anything of that sort. It pulls very steady, in crosswinds, tractor trailers passing at high speed, etc. Our previous camper was a 22 ft 5k lb model, and sit lower to the ground... so I know the difference. I pulled a pop-up with a minivan before that. A good WD hitch and sway control are required for these sizes. More importantly, weight distribution of the camper is *critical*. The 32 ft camper pulls more steady in windy conditions than the 22 ft model did, which is partly due to the Reese Dual Cam WD hitch system, but greatly due to the camper weight distribution itself. I have ~1k lbs sitting on the hitch, and that is very important.

 

I've watched a 25 ft camper send a 3/4 ton into sway spasms, and I've watched 35 ft campers behind 1/2-tons pull steady as a rock in cross-winds. It's all about weight distribution and setup. As far as power goes, plan to tow in 3rd and pull hills in 2nd. Stay to ~60 mph for a comfortable ride.

 

The things about a longer camper that have created more difficulty are turning corners, gas stations (getting in/out... not economy), and getting into a tight camping spot. Fuel economy for the two has been very similar (maybe 1 mpg difference).

 

+1

 

 

this

 

I have pulled trailers that long with my 1/2 ton truck as well. The video shown is a text book case of not enough tongue weight (not saying that is what caused the crash, but it demonstrates exactly what happens if you don't have enough tongue weight on the vehicle). If that situation happens the best thing you can do is fight your reaction to hit the truck brakes. Best thing is to manually apply the trailer brakes only (usually a slide control on the brake controller) and slowly regain control. I might have taken it a step further and accelerated slightly while trailer braking until the trailer was following correctly and then stopped to redistribute the weight. The push/pull action will fight the swaying to regain control.

 

The weight distributing hitch and sway bars should not be a suggestion either. If you are towing a trailer that long and that heavy, you really need them. Talk you your buddy, it is likely already installed on the trailer and he has the receiver for the hitch. If he doesn't, that is a small price to pay for borrowing the trailer if you ask me. Your buddy will appreciate the donation.

[music]

Here's a fun photo from the Lucile Ball movie "The Long Long Trailer". Imagine that setup!

 

[[email protected]]

haha thats a good picture, thanks for all the replies guys! i was looking at my manual and it said the maximum trailer weight for my truck is 8400 pounds, and the GCWR is 14,000 pounds. im pretty sure my truck weighs around 5300ish,,,so you guys are right im pushing the limit. i guess ill just have to have my brother take his jeep with all the camping supplies and fire wood! Jeff--im going to Country USA in Oshkosh--i went for one day last year, and this year i got a campsite for the whole week. it should be a good time. ive never heard of the one your going to!

[jro909]

[maxco]

LOL...wow...what was that guy thinking??? And to reply to the actual post same as the other guys said, make sure you have the sway control/weight distr. setup.