Hitch for 3/4 ton TV and 37-ft TT

I have a thread going now about adjusting a Reese Dual Cam, I've had one for years and they can be a pain to get right. However I myself am questioning its capabilities on a longer trailer. Mine is 35ft from hitch to bumper. If I can't get it better soon with a few more adjustments I'll be looking for a Propride.
BTW JBarca is the resident Dual Cam expert, listen to him!

I run a Blue Ox sway pro with 1500# bars. Pulls great. My 31KQBS is nearly 40' tip to tip with 4 slideouts. So far its my favorite hitch. It pulls straight, is more robust than the Hensley I had before, and easier to setup than the Dual Cam (which I replaced the Hensley with).

So far, I'm very pleased with my Equal-i-zer. I purchased the Equal-i-zer right after I purchased my new truck this last April. I've put a few thousand miles on towing now. Granted, I'm towing with a 1 ton truck, but the trailer is 35 and 1/2 feet long. Absolutely no problems at all.

FYI, equally important as WD is breaking. My first 1 ton (gasser) and my first 1 ton (diesel) had aftermarket break controllers. One was a Reese, the other was a no-name brand (I never did know what it was). Both made the trailer either buck like a mad bull or did nothing. Finding the happy medium was always a challenge and every time I hit the breaks it was always a little "white knuckle" guess what would happen. My current 2014 one ton has the integrated break controller and .... honestly .... I forget the trailer is there because the breaks are so smooth with the truck.

So while WD is important, so is getting the right brake control. I had a Reese with a separate sway bar and now the Equal-i-zer. I now prefer the Equal-i-zer. Once I got comfortable hitching it after having nothing but Reese with chains all my life, I realize it does a really nice job. (although it does pop a lot. That takes some getting use to).

I'd spring for a used HA. They don't need to be cranked up like a standard friction type. So you could use bags on the truck if needed to bring the rear up a bit. Look for a 1400lb one. Those that use the HA/PP know what it means to have a sway free safe tow. That long of a TT can get to wiggling in windy conditions. And I don't think a standard EQ type will help. If I ever go back to a TT again I'll be looking for a used HA. Bought one when we had our last TT and it was a big jump from the EQ. I can say from experience that the HA will give you as close to a 5'er type tow as you'll get.

dsmith3 wrote:
Here are towing specs from 1999 Ford Super Duty Towing Chart (F-250 SRW)

GCWR 20,000
GVWR 8,800
Payload 2,900
Rear Axle Rating 6,830

Available payload (2,900 lbs) to be calculated as follows: weight of all cargo in bed of truck + weight of passengers + trailer tongue weight

Dave

Hi Dave,

I'm just checking in case you made an error, does your door sticker actually say the GAWR-Rear is 6,830#? The F250's are usually at 6,000#, Your older truck and the lower GVWR of 8,800 sounds OK and this aligns with the lower payload for that vintage, but that rear axle spring pack sounds off.

As a comparisons, my 05 F350 has a GVWR of 11,000# and a rear spring pack rating of 7,000#

37 foot camper is a lot of camper when loaded to 10,000#. You need to be looking to make sure and get a good 13 to 15% loaded TW which if you fill the camper is 1,320 to 1,500# TW.

Your GVWR is low, the older SD's where and you have the diesel up front too. Have you scaled the truck with full fuel and added people?

Odds are high you are going to go over the GVWR without too much trouble. Suggest a trip to the scales to sort this out.

As far a hitch, The Reese DC when set up correct is a good tool. However you may find the edge of just how good it may be at 37 feet and 10,000#. Everything will need to be optimized including your truck tires and pressure. If they are too soft, the DC is not going to hold the truck steady. That said, there is nothing wrong going with the Hensley or PP in a camper of this size regardless of the F250.

Hope this helps

John

I haven't owned any of the others but since I got my Dual Cam issues straightened out, I'm completely satisfied with it's performance. Just to be clear, they must be installed and set up correctly or they'll give much trouble. If you're not up for that level of detail, maybe they're not for you. I'm towing 8000 lbs with a heavy 1/2 ton and it's great. There's a lot of them out there getting a bad name because of poor installation.

A better buy and a well proven hitch is the Reese Dual Cam Straightline. It is a bit more trouble to install and set up, but once set it works great.

Ken

I have a Ram 2500 and a 36-ish ft trailer. I use the Equal-i-zer and would strongly recommend it.

Here are towing specs from 1999 Ford Super Duty Towing Chart (F-250 SRW)

GCWR 20,000
GVWR 8,800
Payload 2,900
Rear Axle Rating 6,830

Available payload (2,900 lbs) to be calculated as follows: weight of all cargo in bed of truck + weight of passengers + trailer tongue weight

If GVWR of TT is 10,000 lbs (assuming we fill the thing up to that weight) then that translates to tongue weight of about 1200-1500 lbs.

Weight of five passengers (crew cab) is about 600 lbs (2 adults and 3 kids).

We are up to 1800-2100 lbs toward our max 2900 payload which leaves about 1000 lbs of gear to throw in the bed of the truck (luggage, etc.). That's using the most conservative weight estimates, so I feel pretty good about that.

NOTE: Dry weights of the TT models we are looking at are 7300 and 7700 lbs so the above estimates assume we load the trailers with over 2000 lbs of gear, water, etc.

Additional thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave

Much depends on the GVWR of your TV. And the tongue weight rating of your truck. All F250s are not created equal. And 10,000lb is a heavy TT.