First time travel trailer towing question

Well you certainly have gotten the full range of WILD &*()X GUESSES so far.

kwlincoln and Brisk IMO gave you some very bad advice based on not considering the potential tongue wt approaching or even exceeding your receiver's weight rating w/o WDH. Myredracer gave much better advice and addressed the potential TW issue along with actually having some hands on experience with a TV and TT in the general ball park as yours.

Likewise IMO jmtandem went way overboard on the ultra high end WDH/sway systems for such a light and small TT as yours.

My take is you need to determine your actual TW along with what your actual receiver is rated at in both the weight carrying and weight distributing mode along wth getting your TT actually weighed so we know that number along with the TT GVWR and AWR along with what sized and load range tires are on your TT. With those numbers we can start to make some SWAGs vs. the WAGs you are now getting.

While that 12mi distance to your current CG might let you get away w/o doing things right, folks get comfortable and forget that what they are doing now become downright dangerous when they make that sudden 500mi trip and forget what they skimped on initially. Thus I'm sort of in the camp that a TV/TT combo should be set up properly w/o regards to how far or often one might tow unless it's a one time to like a seasonal/permanent site.

Larry

I would not worry about your engine. That beast was used in dump trucks. I would add a good hitch with sway control.

Thanks everyone for the good advise I'm going to try just the sway bar first My go to campground is Tugaloo state park its only 12 miles from my house and its all back roads and then go from there If it feels squirrely, probably with new shocks Ect..

kwlincoln wrote:
GOOD GRIEF!! I need to stop reading some of these threads because it annoys the hell out of me on how quick people invoke the "no price too high for safety" nonsense when the situation isn't a matter of safety at all.

IT'S ONLY A 3000 POUND TRAILER!! - You DON'T need a WDH! Sway bar - definitely....

Agree 110%

Georgiadave,

Congratulations on the trailer, it looks like a good one. This forum will offer up plenty of "advice" and lots of opinion on anything you want to discuss. I will add mine too.

First of all, trailer sway is the thing you want to be concerned with. Whether or not you "need" weight distributing will depend on many factors and I am sure you are aware of that. If the rear of the truck sits too low and the headlights are aiming too high you probably need some WD.

Everyone needs to be concerned with sway. The worst example of a swaying trailer I ever saw was when I pulled in behind a small 18 footer that was a rental trailer. It was being pulled by a half ton truck and I wondered why this guy was going 45 down the road. When he sensed I was behind him he sped up and around 50 the thing started to sway. I backed well off, he slowed back down and a disaster was avoided.

I pulled a 21ft. hybrid with my V6 Toyota 4Runner. I decided to get a hitch that incorporated both WD and sway together. I didn't like the idea of snapping chains so I went with the Equalizer. Every trailer is different, the weight of the trailer, the distribution of the weight within the trailer, the percentage of weight on the tongue and of course the aerodynamics or lack there of makes a huge difference. Don't let anyone tell you what to do based on weight alone. If you don't want to get a WD/sway system then make sure you know your weights. A friction sway bar can do the job but make sure you have it connected at ALL times. Those who post that they connect their when they know they will need it are either fortune tellers or fools. Come around the corner on a beautiful dry day with no wind and get passed by an 18 wheeler barreling down the road too close to the yellow line and tell me then if you need sway control or not.

While I like my Equalizer there are many other systems out there today that are more affordable. Reese and Equalizer are very good but the Anderson gets some pretty good reviews from those pulling lighter trailers like yours.

Good luck in your decision. OH, and I wouldn't go out and get a different truck. Tow with yours and see how it goes. You might just be fine.

I would use a WDH along with sway control. A basic round bar WDH along with an add-on friction bar should be more than adequate if only doing mostly 20-50 mile trips. You could go to up to something like an Equal-i-zer or Reese dual cam WDH but not necessary. The Reese can be finicky to set up too.

Specs. for a 2014 model Skyline are here. I assume 2015 would be pretty much the same. Hitch weight is listed as 425 lbs. That is dry tongue weight and with the TT fully loaded for camping, it *could* end up around 500 - 600 lbs, hard to say. Factory dry weights always go up - sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. The Skyline is 20' long and single axle. Relatively light for that length of TT.

The first thing I would do is figure out what the actual tongue weight is so you have a real number to base a decision on. You can go to a scale (Cat, commercial highway, grain elevator, etc.), use the bathroom scale method or buy/borrow a tongue weight scale. If going to a scale, you will need 3 separate passes and if you want to do this, look up how to do it or ask here. If at a scale, you might as well determine your actual payload capacity at the same time for the record.

While your truck may technically be plenty fine on payload capacity, I would measure the fender heights before hooking up and after and see how much rise there is on the front. For a '97 truck, I doubt the manufacturer will say how much weight to restore back onto the steer axle. I *think* the thing to do in that case is to refer to what the WDH manual says, but you won't have a WDH at this point. So I think the thing to do would be to restore the front fender height to what is was unloaded or maybe within 1/4"? Someone here with an older truck may say what's good.

You'll have 500-600 lbs cantilevering on the ball out the back and it will remove some amount of weight off the steer axle. Depending on how much the front rises (without a WDH), it may negatively affect handling and safety. I think that's the important thing to consider, not whether your truck can handle the payload or not.

Check the receiver rating on the truck (if you have any idea what it could be). Receivers normally have a max. tongue weight with no WDH and another (higher) number if using a WDH.

Even if you could get away without a WDH, I would use one so you can have sway control. You could find that driving in windy conditions or when passed by semis on the highway it's a real handful. It's the frontal and side area of the TT that will affect sway and handling and get you, not the GVW of the TT.

As a personal experience comparison, our first TT was a 20 footer (5K fully loaded for camping). We towed it with an F150 that had a V6 (205 HP). We did not have CC and I had trouble maintaining a steady speed in strong headwinds or sidewinds from the constant buffeting/gusting and it was very difficult at times to maintain a smooth/steady straight line. I could manage big passing trucks at highway speeds and it was a bit of a handful sometimes but strong winds was not fun at all. If we had kept that TT & truck, I most definitely would have added sway control.

FWIW, you may find adding HD shocks to the truck will help handling a lot (we did that on our F150) and it sounds like you keep it in good shape, but unless you know for certain it's all good, check the front end for wear and play (considering it's a '94).

JMHO...

GOOD GRIEF!! I need to stop reading some of these threads because it annoys the hell out of me on how quick people invoke the "no price too high for safety" nonsense when the situation isn't a matter of safety at all.

IT'S ONLY A 3000 POUND TRAILER!! - You DON'T need a WDH! Sway bar - definitely.

The WDH basically lifts weight off the rear axels of your truck and transfers weight to your trailer and to your steering front axle of your truck. Even if your tongue weight is 500 lbs (and I doubt it is that much), your p/u can handle that just fine and will likely give you a better ride and more traction on your drive axle, and most importantly, not enough to affect your steering axle weights.

Here's why you DON'T want to use a WDH... As I said above, it transfers weight back to your trailer axle which is only a single axle and the weakest link in your set up. The trailer tires are smaller and lighter duty than your truck tires because it is such a small trailer. Sending more weight increases the heat on them, wear on them, and the suspension on the trailer is significantly less strong than your truck suspension. You increase your chances of tire failure by putting more weight on them.

I've just bought a 2015 skyline retro 188s I have a 1994 f150 with a tow package 300 inline 6 auto, the camper weighs 3050 the gvwr 3850 I pulled it home with a regular receiver I was going to put sway control on it by welding the plate to my receiver, but after talking with a friend at work with a 27' 7500# camper he said I needed a receiver that you can put leveling bars and sway control on. I mainly camp 20-50 miles from home, I have a pup but once a year I usually go 100-200 miles for a week of relaxation mine is an ultra light and I want to be safe as you can tell be me owning my truck for 21 years so do I need this set up or will the regular receiver with sway control be sufficient Thanks

Well, lets start with your truck. An inline six is not exactly brute force for towing. That could be an issue in the mountains. Second I would get an aftermarket reciever for the truck. Then get a ProPride, Hensley or PullRite hitch as they are the best and eliminate sway, not just mitigate or control it. Common hitches like the Equalizer are often used as the 'deal maker' when a dealer throws it in to make the sale. They are not even in the same hemisphere as the premium hitches I listed above as it relates to towing. You have spent money on the trailer, have a nice truck, why not connect them with more of a hitch than something a dealer throws in to make a sale. If you still want a friction based hitch you might look at the Centerline, Reese dual cam, or Anderson.

I spent some time searching for your camper on the internet "2015 skyline retro 188s RV". Found several dealerships, found some stats on it, but none had a tongue weight. Manufacturer web site didn't help much either.

Your camper is a light weight camper and a smaller tow vehicle will tow it OK under most circumstances. There are some pop-ups that weigh more than your new camper does.

I did notice your's is a single axle, and 18 feet long(?). I personally would want a weight distribution system (hitch) if it were me, but contrary to my own stubborn insistence that there's no price too high for safety when it comes to towing, I would made a wild (disclaimer), you will probably be OK without WD bars. We towed a pop-up that weighed a couple thousand pounds with a Chevy MiniVan for 6 years and had no problem. Of course, if the kids stood on the rear bumper, I could lift the tongue and move it around by hand comfortably.

For your own safety and for better driving performance, I would recommend some kind of WD system. I DO NOT THINK a high-end system is necessary for your configuration.

If you go to your closest Ford Dealer, you can probably pick up a WD hitch and bars for a reasonable price. The standard old school style Reese with the chains and bars would probably do you very well. Then add a sway bar. So get the hitch head with the extra holes for a sway bar.

Then the Equal-i-zer, a little higher in cost, has the sway control built in. I've had both systems. Both worked well for me. To go any higher in cost, I REALLY think you are overspending and gaining nothing.

Now ... if you are considering changing tow vehicles in the future and changing trailers also, then you might be better off with a higher scale system. But, if you ever go with a bigger rig, you'll probably want a WD system taylored for that configuration.

My suggestion: You don't need the bars or anything if you are just tooling the camper around your yard or from campsite to campsite in the same campground, or even to the dump station and back.

But on the road, I think you should have something, BUT you do no need to go elaborate... be practical. Reese or Equal-i-zer.

Enjoy your new camper!

GordonThree wrote:


You'll get a wide range of input on this subject... some don't feel comfortable towing anything without using a massive Peterbuilt tractor, others use more reasonable conveyances like Jeeps, VW's, etc.
s.

yep, my TT is heavier and my TV is lighter than the OPs. the dealer said I didn't need a WDhitch, I got one any way with sway control.
bumpy