Half-ton vs 3/4 Ton

[humblerb]

We have been towing a travel trailer for about 6 years now.
Like a lot of Newbies, our first trailer was WAAAYYY too heavy for our TV and for us as newbies.
Had white-knuckle experiences for about 6 months, then decided we had to just bite the (financial) bullet and make a change.
As I recall, our first trailer ended up being about 8500# on the scale and we were towing with half-tons.
The second trailer we got was bought with a dry sticker weight of 6,000# and has a wet weight at 7200#-7300#. This trailer tows very well behind our Nissan Armada and our F150. We know that we are right at our limits with weight, so very cautious about extras that we take in the TT or TV.
The wife is ready to change trailers and get one that has features we would like to have (must-haves, for her).
A King Bed in most TTs means an extra slide (= more weight). Same for a tub rather than shower stall (more weight, not slide).
Most of the trailers we look at that have extra seating (sofa and two recliners, two sofas and chairs, etc) also are in heavier trailers.
The decision we have reached is, if we want to upgrade our TT, we are going to need to upgrade our TV.
As mentioned earlier, our 8500# trailer was a white-knuckle experience and our 7300# trailer is very comfortable (relative to towing a 4-ton wind sail).
Question I have is, if I upgrade the TV to 2500 (3/4 Ton) and look to purchase a trailer that will probably be as much as 8500# - 9500#, does the 3/4 ton remove the white-knuckle experience?
I guess what I am wondering is, was my uneasiness with the heavy trailer an issue with the trailer in general? or was it because the trailer that heavy was being towed by a half-ton?

[DutchmenSport]

When you finally "think" you have enough, reality will quickly tell you, you should have gotten more! (Sure is true with ice cream!)

(See my signature line).

[wing_zealot]

If you buy a 3/4 ton and overload it you have the likelihood of having a white knuckle experience. If you buy a 9500 lbs (dry weight) trailer you will have about 1500 lbs of tongue weight (with hitch). If you load the truck with cargo and occupants that total another 1,000 lbs., you will need a truck that has 2500 lbs of payload. Buy a truck that only has 2200 lbs a payload and you may have "white knuckle" issues. Buy a truck that has 2800 lbs of payload and you have a lot less likelihood of having issues. So, read the yellow sticker on the truck before you buy.

Before making any purchases, you have to match the RV to the truck. If you don't know how to figure tongue weight, weight of cargo, occupants, etc. do your research. clicky

[MFL]

A 9,000 lb TT is a big trailer. Yes, a larger heavier truck will make it easier, as will an upper end expensive WDH. The larger truck will have noticeably stiffer springs, and much stiffer sidewall tires at 80 psi, which gets rid of a lot of towing squirm.

Many consider 7K TT, about the max for 1/2 ton towing.

Jerry

[GordonThree]

If you're buying another tv, and a large trailer is in your future, go right for the one ton, the cost is about the same as the 3/4.

1/2 t are setup to ride and handle like a sedan these days, and that's no good for towing. Now that's spilling into the 3/4 t range for some reason.

I'm real happy with my new 3/4 t, and it tows my tiny trailer just fine. For me, the increase in capacity means I can worry less about carrying stuff in the bed, passengers, and the weight of the trailer tongue.

I towed close to 30,000 miles with my 1/2 t and it was never "white knuckle", but my tiny trailer weights 3500-4000 loaded, with about 500-550 on the tongue. That didn't leave much payload in my 1/2 t, and the rear suspension suffered for it when I also brought along a lot of gear, bottoming out more than a few times.

The new 3/4 barely moves when I lower the tongue on the ball, and doesn't mind a bed full of generators, water, gas and firewood.

[donn0128]

A properly equipped 2500 with correctly setup WDH assembly will generally speaking tow much better that a 1500 setup.