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DCDOC's avatar
DCDOC
Explorer
Aug 10, 2015

Towing a 30' toy hauler

The wife and I just recently sold a 40' triple axel FW toyhauler.We have been looking at a lightly used 2014 shockwave 27SADX . This trailer has been stored indoors,has all the bells and whisltes, and the owner wants to get a motorhome so he is including the WDH and friction anti sway bar.My big concern is how is a 30' trailer to tow. I prefer fifthwheels over trailers but this toyhauler trailer is hard to pass up. Owner says it tows great behind his Duramax. Any insight from you 30' trailer pullers would be greatly appreciated.
  • My truck is a 14 crew f250 psd, pulling a keystone carbon 33 with a 14k equalizer set up. I don't want to start a battle and I'm sure it's not as great as a 5th, but it's my first Rv and it pulls great with no problems at all. I wouldn't hesitate to pull it, mine is 9k dry.

    If a newb like me can be comfortable I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem at all.
  • DCDOC
    We have a 2005 FSC2800 WW. It is just over 30’ from hitch to backdoor. We’ve towed it over 25,000 miles and travelled all over the country and never had a problem.

    We use the same type of WD hitch and sway bar. Proper loading is the biggest factor in the trailer handling that we’ve found. I have repositioned my load when I noticed a problem. This is a very rare event and normally means we slide our two Lazy Boys or move some other packed boxes or suitcases forward.

    While I have no 5th wheel experience I wouldn’t be concerned about the bumper tow.
    Hap
  • is it friday yet? wrote:
    I went from a 29' bumper pull to a 5th wheel because I hated how it towed. I doubt I'll ever go back. Much more relaxing, especially towing long distances.


    X2. I fully agree.
  • I much prefer a FW over a towed trailer. The fiver is much more relaxing to tow on a long trip. I just completed a 6600 trip to Canada and back towing my FW Impact. The rig was a pleasure to drive. We encountered severe thunderstorms and high winds and had no trouble.
  • My Weekend Warrior was 41' overall. It actually towed pretty well, except with its 24' wheelbase it meant swinging WIDE for turns, and yet I still had to worry about tail swing (took out an open car door once). Also, empty tongue weight was ridiculous, and is often the constraint for many of the larger Toy Haulers. I had to re-engineer and re-fab my receiver to handle the extra weight (later, I found one rated for 6,000 pounds tongue weight which is what I run now).
  • I had a 45' Cyclone. Now we have a 30' "heavy" Work & Play bumper pull.

    As long as you have a decent truck (I see in your sig you do) and a good WD hitch, you'll be just as fine as your 5th wheel.
  • I went from a 29' bumper pull to a 5th wheel because I hated how it towed. I doubt I'll ever go back. Much more relaxing, especially towing long distances.
  • Mine tows fine (details below). Even in the wind, it has more surface area in front of the axles and pushes the rear of the truck with the wind, causing the front to turn into the wind. Basically auto corrects, as long as I don't try and get involved (because I'm always late).

    Ford F250 PSD, bone stock.
    Trailer = 32' triple axle
    Dry weight is just over 8k, wet with 30 gal of gas and 100-150 gal of water and my toys it's just over 11k.

    Hope that helps.