Noob with questions - need expert advice

HJGyswyt wrote:
Robert, you are getting close to making a usable setup for your towing needs, however if you do buy an 11.5 camper my best guess is you will need to go all the way to 48" extension to clear the rear bumper of the camper and not have "collision" issues when turning.

Secondly, I would highly recommend going with equalizer type hitch. I don't care how tough your truck is, pulling a trailer that is leveraged about 8' behind the axle puts a ton of stress on things, and by using an equalizer hitch you are transferring the torque load way forward and eliminating tongue weight. I tow my 8000lb trailer with 750lb bars cranked super tight.

You can see in the story I have on my web sight my old rig at 18,000GCW, no air bags in the picture, factory suspension and everything was almost within limits but the truck rear axle was right at 6500lbs. See the last picture in the story "Wood Cutting". Wood Cutting

I'm glad you saw that Curt hitch, I was so impressed I ordered a front hitch also so I can carry my Honda Trail 90 with me into the hills for trail riding and also plug a big winch into front and back receivers. I bought my hitches from the Hitch Store and didn't pay any shipping or tax, and their prices were better than I could source locally. (I do try to support my local merchants)

And one last thing, finding a solid older camper is difficult at best. Please inspect your camper very closely, so many of that vintage are on their last legs even though they look good on the outside. If there is any sag under the cab-over portion, run, don't walk away. Look for any water marks on the inside. Any de-lam issues outside means trouble. If the people selling it have air fresheners in it they are hiding the stink of rot. I would turn the heat on for a full day and have the windows closed, if it's sweating on the inside there is probably a lot of moisture in the walls and roof. I know, I just hauled my beautiful Vacationeer in the pictures to the dump because it wasn't worth fixing it was so rotted, even with aluminum constructed walls. All the best. Hans

Hans - thanks for all the tips. I going back out for a scond look at the camper on Tuesday. I'll make sure to double and triple check the areas you mentioned. If I see even a hint of water damage it's a deal breaker. I've been reading everything I can on this site to try to make sure we don't get a lemon.

Fortunately, we live in Vegas - extremely dry area with little rain. The camper has been stored in an aluminum outbuilding - sheltered from the sun and elements. Owned by an older gent who took meticulous care of all his equipment.

I'm still going to to have to do some more measuring when I look at the camper. With all the added leverage imposed by a hitch extension, I really don't want to have to go past 24", even with a WD hitch. Just too many additional forces at work - on the hitch,on the axle - never mind all the additional leverage the trailer would have to be able to push the truck around going down the road. Even as much as the wife liked the rig, we might have to look at something smaller

Your post did give me an idea. I already have a front hitch on my truck for moving my boat around. I could mount the generator there and get 125 lbs off the tongue of the trailer. No matter what we go with, this can only help the situation by getting weight off the tongue and back axle.

Thanks to all for the ideas - many minds are better than one, and there are some damn fine minds on this site! Keep 'em coming.