how much weight can i tow?

[RoyC]

I have the setup in my signature. The camper unloaded is 3500 pounds. I believe my truck towing capacity is 12K. It moves my camper with ease. So, with the unloaded camper on the truck, roughly how much can I tow - as in a travel trailer on the way to a winter home base 1500 miles away - some mountains no rush.
edit: I don't want to strain the truck - she's my other baby.
edit2: I don't run the 16.5" rims anymore but some of the strongest 16" wheels and tires.

[burningman]

Bedlam wrote:
If you have an overhang off the rear of the TC, you will get interference between the tongue and bottom of the TC when going through dips or curbed driveways.

I thought so too but in thousands of miles and years of doing it, it hasn't been a problem. It helps if you have a 4x4 truck that sits a little higher, and the camper elevated a little off the truck bed floor.
Conversely, under the same dip/curbed driveway situation with a hitch extension you can bottom out on the ground.

I know it's custom work and not a premade bolt-on solution but it's not a difficult modification and a welding shop can do it for you if you haven't got a sawzall and a wire-feed. If you stretch your trailer tongue I recommend adding a couple square-tube or angle-iron crossmembers to prevent the C-channel from twisting, and add some triangular gussets in every corner you can.

I think if any trailer tongue were to fail it would be at the rear of the tongue just ahead of the trailer, so add a lot of "beef" there in particular.

I added a flat panel on top of my trailer tongue so it became a step for the camper.

The only drawback I've encountered has been that I had to remove my tongue jack to clear under the camper. One of these days I'll get around to simply relocating it further back but until then I just use a floor jack.

[mkirsch]

burningman wrote:
Stretching the trailer tongue effectively increases the trailer's length and that in itself also helps it tow straighter. Everything is good about doing it this way and everything is bad about extending the hitch. I don't understand why I seem to be the only person who does it!

Hitch extensions are simpler, come pre-engineered and ready to go out of the box. Every tongue extension is a custom one-off job that has to be designed and fabricated properly to be safe on the road.

Anybody can turn a wrench, stuff a square tube in a socket, and stick a pin in a hole.

Few people can plasma the front off their trailer and fabricate a whole new tongue that would be considered safe for road use. I know I wouldn't want some incompetent hack's dingleberry welding coming apart next to me on the highway.

[RoyC]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great info.

[bobndot]

burningman wrote:
You do not "have to use a hitch extension".
I hate those things, they make all the geometry wrong. I opted to extend my trailer tongue instead. It tows a LOT better that way and I consider it a safer way to go. The further behind your rear axle the hitch is, the more leverage your trailer has against your truck and the more it unloads your front tires.

Stretching the trailer tongue effectively increases the trailer's length and that in itself also helps it tow straighter. Everything is good about doing it this way and everything is bad about extending the hitch. I don't understand why I seem to be the only person who does it!

This is how I tow my 'lil trailer' in my posted photo in this post. I extended the trailer tongue.
The only thing you need to watch is being able to clear the rear jacks when making a turn. Each camper will a little different.

I have now installed the new Curt 2.5" receiver, only because the 2004 OEM GM hitch (also mentioned in this post) was weak and rotting away and I now tow multiple trailers.

[Farmerjon]

I had a short bed truck with an 8ft camper on it and I had the tongue on my horse trailer extended 2ft. I drove that rig for several years and thousands of miles. That was in the early 70's The only reason I sold it was when we got married and consolidated our stuff her truck,camper and horse trailer were all bigger and nicer than mine.
That was in the early 70's and the only plumbing was the sink and fresh water tank. It had no holding tanks to interfere with the hitch.
Well now our current camper is 9 1/2ft with tanks and plumbing hanging lower than the bed.
We didn't like the idea of an extension. We compromised, We have an 18in ball mount and we bought a trailer with an extended tongue. It works great for us.

[Bedlam]

If you have an overhang off the rear of the TC, you will get interference between the tongue and bottom of the TC when going through dips or curbed driveways.

[burningman]

You do not "have to use a hitch extension".
I hate those things, they make all the geometry wrong. I opted to extend my trailer tongue instead. It tows a LOT better that way and I consider it a safer way to go. The further behind your rear axle the hitch is, the more leverage your trailer has against your truck and the more it unloads your front tires.

Stretching the trailer tongue effectively increases the trailer's length and that in itself also helps it tow straighter. Everything is good about doing it this way and everything is bad about extending the hitch. I don't understand why I seem to be the only person who does it!

[Bedlam]

RoyC wrote:
Hey Bedlam - I have stayed at Brannon Island several times. Windy as hell every time I was there. I will need to do some reading up on different types of hitches.

The SuperHitch with double truss extension works well for us.

It has been a light breeze here on the Island. Yesterday was in the high 60's, today was in the high 70's and tomorrow will be high 80's. We attended the Asparagus Festival in Stockton yesterday with very comfortable weather for North Westerners.

[AH64ID]

According to the 2003 Lance Brochure the most you could carry with a Lance 920 and the proper extension is 6,000/600 conventional and 8,000/800 WDH, that is assuming you have the axle capacity.

If you are using the OEM hitch with a single 2" extension the weight limit might be lower than listed.

I really doubt you will come close to GCWR, more likely the extension or tires will be your limit.

[RoyC]

Hey Bedlam - I have stayed at Brannon Island several times. Windy as hell every time I was there. I will need to do some reading up on different types of hitches.

[R2D1]

I have seen reports (and the aftermath) of hitch problems with GM trucks equipped with the factory hitch. I don’t know if your 3500 series had the same unit as the 2500 or 1500 series hitches. If you have a factory hitch, it might be worth researching the problem further prior to attaching a trailer and traveling long distance.

[Bedlam]

I tow 7000 lbs behind my truck with the TC. I was too close to tire/rim maximums until I went to 19.5's. A WDH should be considered mandatory and sway control if you need it. My extension is only 2', so you will have less capacity as you extend farther back.

We're close to you right now on Brannan Island. Tomorrow we head farther south in CA.

[RCMAN46]

If you have a 5000 lb trailer with 10% tongue weight which is 500 lbs.
I would not go less than 10%, 15% would be better but would overload your tires.

Your rear axle and tires will see about 625 lbs from the 5000 lb trailer without weight distribution bars.

[Reddog1]

RoyC wrote:
... P.S. My current tires are Toyo 16 inch tires with the weight limits I quoted. I still have the 16.5 Vision rims but without tires. They are mucho $ so I hope I don't feel the need to buy those for even two wheels much less four. I could buy an extra truck for that price!

Are you sure they are 16.5 Vision rims, not 19.5?