Lwiddis wrote:
To each his/her own.
Exactly.
Personally I won't tow that long of a trailer with that light of a truck. I've seen too many 3/4 and 1 ton trucks flipped over by 35' plus travel trailers to risk pulling one with a 1/2 ton.
Just last week on our way back from Banff on the 28th of August we saw a 37' trailer laying on it's side blocking two of the Westbound lanes as we came down the Coquihalla from the summit. The tow vehicle was a 2011-2016 F350 CCLB SRW diesel, heavily damaged, sitting on a rollback. Weather was clear and sunny.
To the OP, if your comfortable towing it where you take it, that's great. But as you've said, you have ZERO towing experience. Come back and talk to us after 5 or 10 years of towing. Talk to us after you're first trip down a steep Rocky Mountain pass at night in a blizzard with that setup. Talk to us after you experience the 60 mph crosswinds going thru Wyoming. Talk to us after you've towed on some of the heavily rutted sway inducing stretches of I-90 through Eastern Wa where the Semi's are passing you at 80 mph. Talk to us after you have to panic stop that setup in the pouring rain, going downhill at 65mph. Talk to us after you've towed that setup with a larger truck to feel the difference.
Then maybe you'll have some real perspective and can appreciate what some of these folks are saying.
I'm not knocking your setup. If it works for you and your level of acceptable risk, that's fine. It wouldn't work for me, and it doesn't work for a lot of others on here not because it can't tow the trailer, but for the reasons I mentioned above.
Your arguments for the truck are all based on how much closer it is to driving your cars.... smaller, goes faster, stops faster, lighter. For most of us that tow heavier/longer travel trailers, those are all negatives.
Smaller and lighter...negatives in relation to the load. Accelerates faster and stops quicker...ONLY WHEN EMPTY...put the same trailer behind my truck and I'll out accelerate AND out stop the F150 with better HP/torque, better gearing, bigger brakes, and better traction.
Me personally, I like a large margin of error. I'd rather have overkill than be operating right at the limits of my equipment. The trailer pictured below is 37' tongue to tail and weighs 3500 lbs LESS than my truck as pictured. Truck is 12,800 loaded with gear and family. Trailer is 9300 loaded up with full tanks.
That makes for an extremely comfortable towing experience in almost any situation... and that's without any WD hitch or Sway control device.
