Travel Trailer - When is it too long ??

[MartyW]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to this forum but I've been towing campers and other trailers for many years, first a pop-up, then 26' class c MH, and now a 20' hybrid. In all the years, about 25' is the longest trailer I've needed to pull.

We're considering a bigger TT for some longer vacations and I'd like to get a reality check by hearing from some folks who have experience pulling longer TT's. And I'd like to hear even if they may have felt their new TT was a bit too long for comfortable towing, even when within weight limits.

We'll be towing with an older, but solid and strong, 1997 Suburban 3/4 ton, 8600 GVWR, 7.4L with 3.73's. Its 4wd rated to tow as is with 3.73's, 8k lbs. The same chassis/engine combo is rated to tow 10k lbs with 4.10 gears.

The newer TT's we've been viewing on the internet seem to go up to 32'-34' and still be within our 8k lbs, as many of them will be in the 6000-6600 lb range dry. It will be just the wife and me and our dog, with only a few hundred lbs of extras. All in all considered, we would be well within the 8k towing max with some of these 32'-34' TTs. The sales folks just look at max limit and say fine, good to go, etc...

But, having seen these longer TT's on the road or in a campground, I've wondered to myself "is that any fun to pull down the road or over a tight bridge, etc"?

Any experienced TT haulers, past/present, I'd be interested in your thoughts as to how long a TT you think you'd be comfortable pulling down the road with our 3/4 ton Suburban.

Thanks in advance,
Marty

[oughtsix]

A travel trailer is too long when you drive around the block and see your tail lights in front of you! 😉

[MartyW]

Thanks so much to everyone for your responses and help. Your insight and experiences are very much appreciated. All in all, a great reality check to better enable my wife and me to move forward. 🙂

And many thanks to CampingN.C. for the detailed explanation of the weights and tire loads. This really spells it out for me, a newbie to weight distribution.

And Ron3rd, thanks for the V front tip. We had seen these but had not looked in depth at them. We will take a deeper look, starting today.

Many thanks again to everyone who has responded and best of luck to all,
Marty

[Ron3rd]

Marty,
One suggestion I would make is take a look at the V-Hull type trailers now being offered from Forest River and other makes. FR makes the Windjammer/Flagstaff twins (same trailer, different decals). I was skeptical at first but I'm a believer now after having our new Windjammer for nearly a year. The V front cuts wind resistance dramatically improving mileage a bit and best of all, virtually no bugs on the nose after a trip due to the aerodynamic design. Tows like a dream too.

[CampingN_C_]

Let me try to explain this a little better. The percentage of tongue weight vs overall weight is to have a trailer with less sway. You want tongue weight. That number could vary from 10-15% maybe more.
Trying to do this math without scale results is just putting you in the ballpark.
Sounds like your truck will be fine with the models you're looking at, as long as you get the correct weight bars. Another words, let's say the camper has an "advertised" tongue weight of 1000lbs you would need 1000lb weight bars, maybe 1200 considering the nature of your tow vehicle.
For example I had 1000lb bars with a 750Lb tongue weight. But with a 42 gallon tank behind the axle, heavier bars will help.

As far as the tire question. Think about the guy with the 3/4 ton truck running E rated tires pulling the pop-up camper and I think you'll get your answer.
But, make sure that Burb has E's on it.

[APT]

Length only matters for what sites you fit in. A 25' trailer will fit into a 35' site, but not the opposite. There are far more sites for 25' RVs than 35'!

Keep in mid that the average RVer tows at 1200 pounds more than manufacturer published dry weights based on a survey done on this forum of real people and actual scaled weights. 6500 pounds dry will be very close to 8k loaded. Still, fine for your big block 3/4 ton.

[MartyW]

At this point, the tongue weight has come to the top of my question list because our favorite of favorites so far is within our 8k weight but has a 1016 lb tongue weight. That's 56 lbs over the 12%*8000 lbs, but it is 184 lbs less than the 12%*10000 lbs.

Now, if we use the 13% figure suggested by CampingN.C. (thank you), then we're there as 13%*8000 is 1040 and that would mean our favorite at 1016 tongue weight would be ok. Is 13% generally accepted as ok for tongue weight?

Also, any advice on which WD hitch to get is appreciated, as we were going to pretty much leave that to the dealer where we buy the TT (since we have no prior experience with WD hitches). The WD hitch that is 102" is very interesting as the TT's we've looked at are 96". Sounds like even more stabilazation ?

One other question - I've seen at least one TT advertised with shocks, but I haven't seen many. DO some of the larger TT's offer shock absorbers as options?

[MartyW]

Thanks for all your replies and experiences. You have put our minds more at ease about looking at the 33'-34' units which have the floorplans that are appealing to us.

Another question, some of the TT's we've been looking at have load range C tires and some have load range D tires. If we go with a TT with load range D tires, does this mean load range D tires need to be on the tow vehicle as well?

[2500_Grunt]

I had a 27' TT at 7500# for 12 years and now have a 33.5' (box plus hitch) TH at 13000# and can say as long as you are adjusted correctly with the proper WD hitch there really aren't any issues. The wide body (102" wide) of the TH is what really makes a big difference for me. Funny how an extra 6" of width seems like a foot. Still getting used to it. Also I've noticed when backing up with my new TH it takes longer for the trailer to respond to my steering wheel turns than the last one due to the hitch to trailer axle length.

[CampingN_C_]

12-13% tongue weight is a guideline for a properly loaded trailer, not the truck. Payload capacity for that truck is around 2800lbs if I remember correctly. It does not change.
I had a 1999 model with the 4:10 and towed a 30 footer for a long time without issues. Pulled great in fact.
Tongue weight would be my biggest concern rather than length. The fuel tank is behind the axle, which if full adds approx 350lbs that can make certain hitches like the Dual Cam harder to adjust...IMO

[skipnchar]

There is no length rating for your suburban. Although there is not likely to be any warenty to be concerned with I'd still recommend you not exceed the factory trailer weight rating. I've got well over 90,000 towing miles on my 34 foot trailer, most of it with an f150. Been to 49 States and much of Canada since 2005 and except for a couple of trouble filed trips with our f250 diesel, they've all been a complete joy.
Good luck / Skip

[DutchmenSport]

I towed a pup, an 18 foot Dutchmen, a 31 foot Springdale, and now a 35 and 1/2 foot Outback (tip of tongue to end of bumper. I will say, the longer they are really makes no difference when driving straight forward. And I find backing in on the passenger side is actually easier on the 35 footer than the 18 or the 31 footer. I don't know what the difference is, but it just seems easier.

I never noticed the difference in the 'sail' size with cross winds. Maybe I'm not towing in high enough winds to really tell. The thing to watch with the longer trailer is turning corners. Two things to watch for, is the trailer tracking, you can cut too short. And the swing of the rear of the trailer (you could potentially hit something with the swing if you turn too soon. BUT after a few hours behind the wheel, this gets figured out pretty quick. I find backing the longest one the easiest (on either side).

More important than the length of the trailer is the tow vehicle itself. I towed our 18 foot Dutchmen with a 1500 Suburban with weight distribution and ha no problems (until I destroyed the transmission). Then I learned how to tow correctly with the next truck. But going from a mini-van to a suburban, to a 1 ton dually gas, to a 1 ton dually diesel, and then a new 1 ton dually diesel, each step-up with the tow vehicles got better and better.

Our current rig configuration tows absolutely sweet. You don't even know the trailer is there until you turn a corner and look in your mirrors.

Campgrounds? Never had an issue with campgrounds. Although some of those state parks in Wisconsin we visited with the 18 foot Dutchmen, there is absolutely no way we'd ever get in with a 35 foot Outback with 3 slides! So when reserving our campsites, we always specify 30 feet and we've never had any problems getting into any campsite. The days of the more "primitive" camping in the thick of the trees is pretty much over for us, especially when surrounded by trees we can't get satellite television reception! So we don't mind bypassing those tight campsites now anyway!

[MartyW]

On tongue weight, please help me understand this.

I know the tongue weight has to be added to vehicle weight and my owners manual states this. Then it says that, when using a full weight distributing hitch, the tongue weight should be 12% of the loaded trailer weight. So, if I use our 8k lbs max as a fully loaded target, then our tongue weight comes to 960 lbs max. Now, if we change gears in our 3/4 ton 7.4L burb, same chassis, then max tow weight is 10k lbs and max tongue weight goes to 1200 per owners manual. What I don't quite understand is how tongue weight could be 240 lbs different for the same chassis/engine/suspension when pulling with the same weight distributing hitch. Thanks for opening my eyes on this...

[MartyW]

Many thanks for the replies.

Up to now all I've had is an anti-sway bar (1" ball attached to ball mount), so the enlarged sail area is a large concern. But I've never pulled with a full weight distributing hitch, so hopefully that will ease the sail effect?

We're looking for a 60x80 bed and they're hard to find in the smaller units, and so far it looks like around the 33' length is where the floor plans seem to hit a sweet spot with us.

[Ivylog]

I pulled a 31' Airstream with a 1/2T Burb for many years and it only had a 5.7L engine. I would not worry about the 3.73 axles as you should have a low range in the 4X4 if you ever had to pull slow and very steep. I alway say " buy more RV than you think your need... ONE TIME so 34' or longer if light weight..