Towing Livin Lite 21 RBS with sway control

I doubt you will need it. I have plenty of miles now towing a 16 DB with a f150 rated @9k lbs. These coaches are just amazing and I would drop it on the ball and go.

That being said the 21 is a different animal,slide and longer overall might catch the wind. Please keep us updated as I am seriously considering a 21, but concerned if it will behave like the 16. One real advantage of the 16 is parking lots and turning around in tight spots. Regardless, enjoy and let us know how the set up works.

You are towing a 21 foot Camplite with a Tundra? I'd try it w/o sway control or weight distribution.

I'm towing a 16' Camplite with an F150, and I've never seen a need for either. I have not felt any sway at all in 7500 miles of towing with cross winds up to 30mph or so.

I've got about 500lbs on the tongue, so the weight is plenty far forward - I'm sure that's helping.

I'd be reluctant to put weight distribution on the aluminum frame, and be very relunctant to drill into the frame.

I'm totally up to speed now...and in case you're wondering, part of my interest in this thread is due to the fact that I've been lusting after the Camplite for a long time and have done considerable looking into it.

I'm thinking the Tundra will hardly know that Camplite is back there- it's considerably lighter than the Bigfoot to begin with, and from what I can see of the design better balanced to boot. The way they've got weight concentrated at/near the axles, combined with the lighter materials above the floor, reminds me of the way European trailers are designed. Many of those can be efficiently pulled with lower tongue weight ratios and by smaller tugs....and it may interest you to know that mechanical "sway control" is virtually unknown over there.

To get back to your original question re. w/d on the Camplite, I'm convinced that this "prohibition" by the trailermaker is for the protection of the aluminum frame...and since your Tundra has lots of available tongue weight capacity, I think a w/d would be more trouble than it's worth anyway.

Again, if "sway control" is your only concern, I think Camplite would permit the use of friction-type sway-specific units, which are NOT w/d systems. That having been said: sway is caused by a number of factors, the most important of which are trailer center-of-gravity/loading patterns and above all: speed. I've done a lot of looking into this subject, too- I'm towing (without mechanical sway control except brakes) at the very upper limits of my itty bitty tug.

A major trailermaker over in England has been partnering with a University in studying "sway" for many years. Their multiple webpages on the subject are most illuminating...if you're interested in their findings/recommendations, here's a link.

Francesca, sold the 99 Mazda and bought 2012 Tundra to tow the Big Foot.It makes an excellent tow vehicle getting around 13 miles per gallon when towing. I think I am close to 7000 lbs for the Bigfoot.

Boomer3344410 wrote:
Thanks for the responses. Francesca, I currently own a Big Foot 25 ft travel trailer. I had forgotten to change my profile. Sorry for the confusion.

I see...no biggy! I actually got the info from your signature, though- you might want to update that, too.


If the Bigfoot twenty-five footer is the molded fiberglass one, at over 5,000 pounds loaded it's also a bit of a beast compared to the Livin' Lite. I can see why you'd have w/d for a Bigfoot 25, too, especially if it's the front queen. Those puppies are real tongue heavy- saw a post at fiberglassrv where the guy's axle weight went up 800 pounds when hitched up!link

Camplite should come way in under half that, one would think...

I'm still curious about the tug- what year/model is the Mazda pickup? I'd love to find a workhorse like that, especially if it's one of the older ones.

Thanks for the responses. Francesca, I currently own a Big Foot 25 ft travel trailer. I had forgotten to change my profile. Sorry for the confusion.

I'd advise you to check with the trailer manufacturer about use of WD hitch with your trailer. Some light weight trailers don't have strong enough frames to handle the stress but the manufacturer would be your best bet for information about your trailer.

Is your Equalizer a weight distributing system? If so:

Weight distributing hitches put a lot of stress on the trailer frame- if Livin' Lite says not to put one on the unit, it's because it isn't designed to withstand those stresses.

The makers of many ultra-lightweights impose similar "restrictions", if one would care to call them that. I think most allow the use of friction-type sway control if you think you need help in that department, but my experience with a trailer of similar size/weight is that proper loading of the trailer accomplishes the same thing.

P.S.
I'm fascinated by your current combo: Mazda pickup with 30 foot Lazydays...guess that explains the w/d hitch! The Livin' Lite probably weighs about a third what the LD did, so do you think you're going to really need the w/d system ?