Requirements for towing and setup of a TT 3500lbs or less

This has been very informative to me and have formed some conclusions based on your comments. Most people reported that a WDH or anti sway bars are not required for a 3500 lb or less TT. I have no problem backing a 19 ft boat down a ramp so I can't see a 19 ft TT being much harder. As far as ride quality after reading on this forum all the handling issues of the F-53 chassis and these short 24 ft Class C with light front ends a truck and TT combo should ride better. One thing not mentioned a lot on here, is each tire carrying the same load for a good ride. My old P-30 chassis has this and I drive it with one hand like a car even with passing trucks without all the suspension addons people buy to fix the ride. My only concern was the added tongue weight from the TT causing the front end to be lighter. Only one person said a special HD package was needed most said any 1/2 ton truck would be fine. My right arm is still good so I can crank the tongue jack on my boat now, not sure how much different the TT would make. As far as leveling it would appear easier than a small C because you only need blocks for one tire vs 3 for a C(one for front tire 2 in rear for dual wheels). I fully realize setup was going to be more difficult than my Class A with auto levelers and in over the last 15 years and 100k miles I can only remember a few times setting up in the rain, because when it was raining it was much easier and safer just to pull into a WM for the night than to pull into an unfamiliar CG in the dark. So have I come to the right conclusions am I missing anything?

Back in ‘94, we towed our Aljo 18.5 Deluxe tandem axle travel trailer all over the southeast with a ‘94 F-150 with 300 cid I-6 and 5 spd manual. The TT had an unloaded weight of 3,300 lbs. weighed at the scale was 4,400 lbs. I fiddled with two different WD hitches and eventually decided I liked a short standard ball mount the best. It towed great. If we stopped overnight, we didn’t even unhitch. With the small TT, we could head to the causeway early and have breakfast, fish and play in the water. The big TT is a little too heavy and cumbersome for quick morning trips. As long as tongue weight is within the rating of the truck and receiver, I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to tow a similar 20’~ TT with a half ton pickup on a simple ball mount.
We tow our ‘32.5’ TT now on a short standard ball mount now with our 2020 F-250. Most places we go don’t need side to side leveling blocks under the tires but the places we go to the most do. I use a cordless drill and socket to run the stabilizers down to keep DW happy. If not for her I wouldn’t even bother with the stabilizers. My boat doesn’t have them either. :B

I towed a 4000lb 27foot TT with a Dodge Ram 1500 in the flats of Texas and used an equalizer WDH with sway bars and glad I did.

However I also pulled the very same TT with a heavy Dodge Ram 2500 V-10 in the steep mountains of the west coast WITHOUT a WDH or bars and experienced no serious sway or problems at all. Passing big trucks caused a very brief small slight sway feeling at 65MPH. Did this for two years without incident and I avoided pulling TT in forecast gusty windy conditions especially in the mountains. Cheers

As usual, this is getting over complicated. However understanding what you want to do Gjac, I think you’re still on the right truck since you want a combo tow vehicle/daily driver.
Any mid level powered half ton like the 2.7 Eco boost, turbo 4 banger from Chevy etc will pull one of those small TTs easily and handily.
Setup and tear down, understand you’re limitations there but if it’s for the night or you don’t need the truck for a couple days, you don’t even unhook. Longer term yes unhook.

Leveling is not an issue if staying in developed campgrounds. Most parking areas are pretty level and you don’t need to be that anal a bout level. Few blocks to level the wheels side to side and tongue jack for front to back.
Manual levelers can be deployed with basically no effort with a cordless drill.

If you want small and easy and accessible, it’s this or a little class c.
Take your pick and don’t get to wrappeda round the wheel about all the “extra effort”.
Remember cheap fast or easy, pick 2. And if it’s too much effort to set up a little TT at a leisurely pace then, honestly, it’s about time that it’s too much effort to travel by RV at all.

Gotta love these forums. The OP asked about towing a "Small" 3,500 pound travel trailer and people are telling him about HD pickups and Class C motorhomes. The OP can have a lot of fun and handle a lightweight trailer, just like he inquired about, It is about the journey, not how big the rig is. At least it is for me and many of my friends.

The best touring RV setup I have had was a used 2002 F250 purchased in early 2003 with the infamous 6.0 PSD. It was not a dually. Towing an Arctic Fox 22H using WDH and a Reese friction sway bar. The truck was HEAVY. The TT dry was 5000 lbs. Gross weight was 7500 lbs. I took that setup all over the country, Alaska and Maine. Crosswind had to get up too 30mph before I realized it was really windy. When the Ford engine warranty ran out at 100k I was not going to keep that truck. I moved on to a class A on a W22 chassis. With Koni FSD shocks it handled like a car not a boat.

Think about this. Have you ever looked eyeball to eyeball at the driver of a delivery van while sitting in your class A? You looked down at them. Class Cs are on van chassis. The road clearance height of my current rig is 10’6”. There are only two steps to get into it. Well most are. My current rig is on a Chevy 4500 chassis and that first step is more than several inches taller I think. The stock Chevy 4500 is a pleasure to drive. Cross wind gusts are noticeable above 25mph. Big rigs passing, not a problem.

Depending on floorplan a 28’ class C can have 100 cubic feet of outside storage in the back. A 28’ class C takes up two diagonal parking spots with room to spare. I have never had to back out of a parking lot when not towing the car.

The only thing my current rig lacked was levelers. Just had Big Foot levelers installed this summer just in case I need them.

The AWD 2015 Terrain I tow is a great DD. Much better than the CRV I had. So I give up about 3mpg. Big deal, better ride and more space inside.

I will never buy a first year vehicle again. That 6.0 PSD only put me a foot once, in Winnipeg. Three injectors and free camping in a Ford dealer’s lot. Should you decide on a truck & trailer go with the Ecoboost.

A standard F-150 will have a tow rating of around 8,000 pounds and a payload of close to 2,000 pounds. Both of these are over double what is required for 3,500 pound trailer with 500 pound tongue weight. HD not required, unless you want triple the ratings needed.

Even a 2020 Ford Ranger has plenty of capability for a 3500 pound TT.
Ratings of 7,500 towing and 1,750 pounds payload.

Gjac wrote:
Thanks for your explanation I just thought a pair of scissor jacks would solve the problem not realizing the frames were not strong enough. When considering smaller units the TT's main advantage to me over larger TT's or 5 wheels is the truck can be used as a DD. I would not want a dully as a DD. Also having had two major breakdowns while out west I found few places have lifts to handle large class A's and the truck stops that do want to work on trucks not class A's. Your right about having to overnight in a repair facility, had to do that once and once had to drive home from Mt in my tow car and hotel it along the way the fly back 3 months later to dive the MH back home, not fun. I figure any Ford place can work on a F-150 truck if there is a problem. When I looked at TC's and 5th wheels you lose the truck bed for storage. The other trade off is a 24 ft Class C without a tow car but you still need blocks to level and have less storage than a truck TT combo and I think after a while I would miss not having a tow car. I don't have a truck now so a truck TT combo would probably cost more than a 24 ft class C but the truck could be used as a DD. I was looking at the Ford hybrid power boost which is about $1900 over the ICE but is suppose to get 20% better fuel economy or about 26 mpg which is more than my older Honda CRV gets, so to me that looked like a good option. Every RV is a trade off and there is no perfect solution.

I would skip the "hybrid" or any "electric" truck for now, lots of vaporware based on theories.. Adds lots of complexity which may/most likely will lower reliability or even distance.

A fairly good compromise would be the Ecoboost F150 which should get you 20mpg-22mpg non towing empty mileage provided you can keep your foot out of the turbo. You will however need to ensure you get the option "Max Tow/Max Payload options" in order to get the highest payload capacity.. That pretty much means you WILL have to do a dealer order for that configuration.. Max Tow/max payload options are not normally ordered for sale on dealer lots.. The few found there might have been a customer order that the customer decided not to buy.

However, when towing the mileage WILL drop substantially, typically 9mpg-11mpg and that is pretty consistent across the board even if you bought a F350 with 6.2 or 7.3 gas engine..

Even newer Diesels do not get as good of mileage as they used to since they are EPA smogged to death.. Nothing like wasting fuel by dumping it into the exhaust filter to burn the soot build up out out of the filter :M

For the record, I have not only 1 but 3 F250s with 6.2 gas engines for "daily drivers" (myself, My DW and DD).. I get 16mpg or so, doesn't bother me at the end of the day that I am not getting 26mpg..

My now former work commute was 20K a yr average. At 16 MPG that is 1250 gallons of gas.. At current price of $2.30 around here that is $2875 a yr on fuel.

average monthly cost $239.59

Most folks spend more than that per month on eating out.

If I drove a econobox at 32 MPG that would be 625 gallons at $2.30 a gal for $1437.50 fuel cost..

average monthly cost would be $119.79..

People make way to much fuss about saving money on fuel mileage..

Everyone wants to get their driving free (plug in electric), NOTHING is "free", someone had to PAY for you to plug in and that someone is EVERYONE that uses the electric grid in the form of higher electric costs.

If you want to camp, go buy the proper equipment for the job and go have fun and don't look back at the small things.. It is a hobby, it costs you money somewhere along the way.

Old school trailer leveling is you level side-to-side by driving the low side up onto wood or leveling blocks, then use the tongue jack to level front/rear. Once all is good, crank down the stabilizers.

A few Years ago, Lippert started selling an automatic leveling system called Ground Control TT that enables you level a trailer like you would a class A.

Use the mobile app to have the jacks auto-level or you can operate them individually. You probably haven't seen a lot of these around because most folks camping in a TT don't have an extra $3k to spend on something like this, nor do most find leveling to be that much of a chore.

Yes, a weight distributing (WD) hitch is advisable even for lighter trailers, since most have integrated sway control that really helps. Without getting into specific numbers, most folks stay under a 6k lbs GVWR TT for a 150/1500 truck. The key point is that the truck will run out of cargo capacity to handle the 15% tongue weight of the trailer long before it reaches its towing capacity.

Gjac wrote:
...snip.... Also will the truck TT combo handle better that a 24 ft Class C? I am trying to determine those answers.

Modern pickups handle very well. With an adequate tow vehicle, towing will be very easy. The additional length should be your only concern. Jayco makes some good trailers in the weight range you are talking. An electric tongue jack eliminates a lot of the physical work involved in a TT. While I would not suggest being terribly out of level, most lots are within the inch or so needed for good camping.