Forum Discussion
burningman
Nov 19, 2016Explorer II
Just to throw it out there, there are a couple minor things to deal with. The trailer tongue jack won't clear the camper, you'll need to reloacate it further back.
It's a little more pain in the butt to hitch up because you have to crawl under the back to do it.
I consider that worth it for all the benefits: the longer the trailer wheelbase, the straighter it goes. The shorter the distance behind the truck rearend the hitch is, the better the weight distribution and straighter it tows. Despite what people "warn" about needing to engineer the stretch strong enough, a whole lot less stress is being created than when you try to twist the hitch off your truck using a long hitch extension.
It's also less stuff to set up and reconfigure every time you put on or remove your camper.
Those big hitch extensions are heavy!
I agree about getting a 10k lb trailer instead of a 7k. Trailers inevitably get abused. They get overloaded, ignored, dragged over curbs and through ditches, and you really want them to just work and not mess with them. Go stout.
And get a set of LED lights for it. Mine sits around most of the time, and it seems every time I went to use it, I had to screw around getting the lights to work, the bulb sockets would be corroded or something. Ever since I put on a nice set of LEDs, I just plug in the connector and it works.
Having said that, my next project is to build some extremely stout bomb-proof guards so my next set of LEDs won't get smashed... like flatbed trailer taillights always eventually do!!
It's a little more pain in the butt to hitch up because you have to crawl under the back to do it.
I consider that worth it for all the benefits: the longer the trailer wheelbase, the straighter it goes. The shorter the distance behind the truck rearend the hitch is, the better the weight distribution and straighter it tows. Despite what people "warn" about needing to engineer the stretch strong enough, a whole lot less stress is being created than when you try to twist the hitch off your truck using a long hitch extension.
It's also less stuff to set up and reconfigure every time you put on or remove your camper.
Those big hitch extensions are heavy!
I agree about getting a 10k lb trailer instead of a 7k. Trailers inevitably get abused. They get overloaded, ignored, dragged over curbs and through ditches, and you really want them to just work and not mess with them. Go stout.
And get a set of LED lights for it. Mine sits around most of the time, and it seems every time I went to use it, I had to screw around getting the lights to work, the bulb sockets would be corroded or something. Ever since I put on a nice set of LEDs, I just plug in the connector and it works.
Having said that, my next project is to build some extremely stout bomb-proof guards so my next set of LEDs won't get smashed... like flatbed trailer taillights always eventually do!!
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