Anyone pulling 37 Foot "Travel Trailer" TH?

[polishdon]

After all my research and looking at toy haulers, I'm leaning towards a Cherokee Wolk Pack 2512. It's a 37 foot long "bumper pull". I'm wondering what kind of hitch set up I'll need to safely and smoothly pull it.

And looking for opinions from other folks pulling a trailer this long and whether I'm asking for trouble or not. lol My tow vehicle is a 2500HD Duramax, so I know I've got the truck to pull it, I'm more worried about sway and being able to fit this thing into typical camping sites.

[allcool]

polishdon wrote:
After all my research and looking at toy haulers, I'm leaning towards a Cherokee Wolk Pack 2512. It's a 37 foot long "bumper pull". I'm wondering what kind of hitch set up I'll need to safely and smoothly pull it.

And looking for opinions from other folks pulling a trailer this long and whether I'm asking for trouble or not. lol My tow vehicle is a 2500HD Duramax, so I know I've got the truck to pull it, I'm more worried about sway and being able to fit this thing into typical camping sites.

My FSW3200+, triple axle, is almost 40' long from end to end. Its TW can approach 1 ton easy. Its gvw is rated at 13,000, but that is probably low when fully loaded up for a camping trip.

My FSW3200 tows great.
No sway and tracks straight.
Michelin Ribs XPS probably help.

As for getting into camping spots, I've never had a problem. But don't try and put a huge TH in a too small a spot. I've seen some guys with smaller rigs try to tow thru a fast food drive thru, unsuccessfully. So its all common sense and knowing your limitations. Yes, a big TH needs a big camping spot.

Now I don't know the actual weights your TH is sporting, so act accordingly...
I have towed with new 3/4 ton diesel trucks, and they can tow it, but are over their capacity for sure. The lights do point up with the WD hitch bars at full tension.
The 1 ton trucks don't sag nearly as much and the lights stay more or less level and usable.

If yours is as heavy as mine, to tow across the street,or very short trips, driving appropriately slow and careful, a 3/4t truck should work. At night you will be challenged for enough light. To take a cross country trip, a 1 ton at the least, for my rig.

You can spend a lot of money on the real fancy complicated WD/sway control hitches. IMO, unless you have a sway/towing problem, they are not needed. Most of those fancy type hitches like the Hensley don't have big enough TW capacity for the Biggest heavy Toy Haulers. Regular WD with sway control, like Blue ox and Reese, make some heavy duty WD hitches that work fine.

My advice, make sure to get it on the scales to get an accurate real world weight.
Use the correct tow vehicle and WD hitch for the TW weight and GVW. Get LT tires, don't trust the ST china bombs it probably comes with.
You should be fine...

jmo

[lawnspecialties]

Labman7 wrote:
We have a 33'7" Jayco Octane toyhauler. Loaded for travel, nothing in the rear, the tongue weight is 2080# by scale. With 2 Harley dressers in the rear, the tongue weight is 1840#. Our 2015 GMC 3500 diesels' factory hitch was not rated enough for the tongue wt. Upgraded to a Curt 20,000#, 2,700 TW hitch. With 2 adults, 2 dogs, a cap on the truck and misc in rear of truck, we are at 10,900 on the truck. Toyhaulers are notorious for high tongue weight. I would expect you to exceed the trucks rear axle and or payload with a trailer that size. Just my experience for what it's worth.

I have the same hitch on my F350. Its a brute. Great product.

[old_guy]

I am like dutchmensport. I tow a 35.5 ft keystone with a 4 point hitch also. I only have a 6.0 chevy and it goes right along behind the truck without any sway that I can detect. I really believe in the 4 point hitch set up. you have at least twice the control over a sway bar set up

[Xflyhighx]

Well let me tell ya ... I have a 2014 jayco 338rets which is 39' plus the back rack, so every bit of 41'. I pull with a ProPride 1400lb hitch and it is a real dream to pull. A little pricey, but for a hitch that will not sway is worth every penny. I have traveled quite a bit and I am a real believer. They sell reconditioned ones for a big savings. And no I have no interest in this company, just a happy camper.

[polishdon]

Labman7 wrote:
My weight on the octane included 102 gal of fresh water. It has 2 50+ FW tanks located over the axles. With the tanks empty, the TW is not a lot different, only the total wt. We do have a 4kw Onan generator and 3 series 29 batteries, so without them ( located toward the front) I imagine the TW would be somewhat less, but still over the factory GM hitch TW rating.

Just ran out to my truck, I see what you're saying. The factory hitch has a max TW of 1,500 and max load of 13,000. So if I upgrade to the bigger hitch, and WD system, think I would be ok??

[Labman7]

My weight on the octane included 102 gal of fresh water. It has 2 50+ FW tanks located over the axles. With the tanks empty, the TW is not a lot different, only the total wt. We do have a 4kw Onan generator and 3 series 29 batteries, so without them ( located toward the front) I imagine the TW would be somewhat less, but still over the factory GM hitch TW rating.

[jmtandem]

My weekend warrior FSW3200+2 was more like 2,400 pounds of tongue weight with no vehicles in the garage but otherwise packed and loaded.

Weekend Warrior made fantastic toyhaulers (at least until they went to the light models) but their brouchure or advertised weights were way off. And not just a little under represented!!! I thought the triple axles would even out the weight disparity between having toys and not having toys in the back but in reality it doesn't.

[carringb]

polishdon wrote:
With all of our cookers, food and beer for a weekend competition, I can't see us putting more than a 1,000 lbs in the trailer, so would I really be over 1,800 lbs of tongue weight?

Very likely, yes! The problems with Toy Haulers is they have to built to maintain enough tongue weight with a full garage cargo load, that empty tongue weight is very high. 1,000 pounds in the trailer, even if you put it ALL in the garage, it would still be much less than the max garage capacity. I do think that 1,800 pounds would not be out of the question.

My weekend warrior FSW3200+2 was more like 2,400 pounds of tongue weight with no vehicles in the garage but otherwise packed and loaded.

[jmtandem]

The payload is listed as 2706#. I need to weigh the vehicle with a tank of gas to see where I'm at. I will mainly be using this trailer for just me, my wife and daughter to camp. Bringing along kayaks, bicycle etc. The other time it will be used for my BBQ team. With all of our cookers, food and beer for a weekend competition, I can't see us putting more than a 1,000 lbs in the trailer, so would I really be over 1,800 lbs of tongue weight?

The average travel trailer or fifth wheel typically with water in the fresh tank and living stuff adds over 1000 pounds to the coach. If you also add 1000 pounds of bbq and toy stuff you will be adding that to the basic living things that typically are found in a coach. I certainly would look at a 2000 pound receiver as a minimum as the weight of the hitch needs to also be considered (1800 pounds tongue, 100 +/- weight of the hitch). What you want to do is certainly doable, you just need to upgrade the tow aspects of the receiver. You probably will want to add some suspension stuff to the truck's rear axle, have the best higest rated tires, and use a sway mitigation/control feature.

[polishdon]

jmtandem wrote:

My tow vehicle is a 2500HD Duramax, so I know I've got the truck to pull it,

What is the payload of your 2500? Adding 1800+ pounds tongue weight not counting the hitch is quite a bite out of most three quarter ton truck's payload. Torklift makes an aftermarket receiver that can go up to 30,000 pounds towing and 3000 pounds hitch weight. They also have a weight distribution system for that receiver. Curt and others also make aftermarket receivers.

A few tight, old, campgrounds might have limited space for the truck and toyhauler but some campground planning ahead should alleviate that issue. Of course, how well you are at backing and maneuvering the trailer is also important.

Another option is to acquire a cabover camper and tow a 16-18 foot enclosed trailer for the toys. Just something to think about.

The payload is listed as 2706#. I need to weigh the vehicle with a tank of gas to see where I'm at. I will mainly be using this trailer for just me, my wife and daughter to camp. Bringing along kayaks, bicycle etc. The other time it will be used for my BBQ team. With all of our cookers, food and beer for a weekend competition, I can't see us putting more than a 1,000 lbs in the trailer, so would I really be over 1,800 lbs of tongue weight?

[jmtandem]

My tow vehicle is a 2500HD Duramax, so I know I've got the truck to pull it,

What is the payload of your 2500? Adding 1800+ pounds tongue weight not counting the hitch is quite a bite out of most three quarter ton truck's payload. Torklift makes an aftermarket receiver that can go up to 30,000 pounds towing and 3000 pounds hitch weight. They also have a weight distribution system for that receiver. Curt and others also make aftermarket receivers.

A few tight, old, campgrounds might have limited space for the truck and toyhauler but some campground planning ahead should alleviate that issue. Of course, how well you are at backing and maneuvering the trailer is also important.

Another option is to acquire a cabover camper and tow a 16-18 foot enclosed trailer for the toys. Just something to think about.

[polishdon]

Labman7 wrote:
We have a 33'7" Jayco Octane toyhauler. Loaded for travel, nothing in the rear, the tongue weight is 2080# by scale. With 2 Harley dressers in the rear, the tongue weight is 1840#. Our 2015 GMC 3500 diesels' factory hitch was not rated enough for the tongue wt. Upgraded to a Curt 20,000#, 2,700 TW hitch. With 2 adults, 2 dogs, a cap on the truck and misc in rear of truck, we are at 10,900 on the truck. Toyhaulers are notorious for high tongue weight. I would expect you to exceed the trucks rear axle and or payload with a trailer that size. Just my experience for what it's worth.

This is good info, thanks.

Looks like the trailer that you have and what I'm looking at are similar in size, the website for the Cherokee shows the dry weight as 8721 lbs and the dry hitch weight of 1173. Your 2080# TW is a lot more than I was thinking it would be. Is that just your families gear, or does that include water in the tank?

[Labman7]

We have a 33'7" Jayco Octane toyhauler. Loaded for travel, nothing in the rear, the tongue weight is 2080# by scale. With 2 Harley dressers in the rear, the tongue weight is 1840#. Our 2015 GMC 3500 diesels' factory hitch was not rated enough for the tongue wt. Upgraded to a Curt 20,000#, 2,700 TW hitch. With 2 adults, 2 dogs, a cap on the truck and misc in rear of truck, we are at 10,900 on the truck. Toyhaulers are notorious for high tongue weight. I would expect you to exceed the trucks rear axle and or payload with a trailer that size. Just my experience for what it's worth.

[polishdon]

jmtandem wrote:

I'm wondering what kind of hitch set up I'll need to safely and smoothly pull it.

Toyhaulers are built with axle placement that allows for the weight in the toy section to not make the tongue too light. However, when the toyhauler is empty the tongue weight typically would be greater than a comparable travel trailer. You might need to upgrade to an aftermarket reciever for the truck that can handle 1500 or more pounds. I would look into a Hensley or ProPride hitch or at a minimum the AirSafe system plus a weight distribution hitch.

I have a class 5 hitch now, wouldn't I be ok with a WD system?