New Camper + Question on towing toys

[Kalabin]

Hey all,

Been a bit but my wife and have pulled the trigger on a new truck camper. We owned one in 2012, didn't have toys then sold it but we do now. My truck is a 2009 F350 Crew Cab V10 (3800lb payload). The camper (1994 dry, so 2800 wet) we are buying will need a 24" hitch extension to tow our 2013 Polaris RZR-4 900.

The RZR weighs in at about 1300lbs, the trailer I pull it on is an open utility trailer 7'x14' with a 3500lb GVWR. I have been told by multiple people to just pick up a reese or titan 24" hitch extension and go play.

I think the Torklift Superhitch is way over kill for what we would be using it for. Thoughts?

[burningman]

Ok I stand corrected some of you tow a whole bunch of different trailers with your camper on and use your hitch extensions when the camper is off, and live where welding shops that routinely stretch truck frames won’t weld a few feet of C-channel to a small trailer frame if you or none of your friends have a little 120-volt “wire feed”’ mig welder and a 4” angle grinder.

[jaycocreek]

Extending the trailer tongue certainly is an option..Coming from a logging background, I have seen some amazing things welded back together and worked,sometimes better thanbefore,so this would be a piece of cake to a competent welder such as we have around here for the logging and the ranchers.

If I ever went to a larger/longer TC,I would do just that to my ATV trailer instead of that over priced Torklift fix!

As I have said before,over 18" gets expensive.

[mkirsch]

I own 5 different trailers, and so far have pulled at least three of them with the camper in the truck.

Yes, I have asked all the local welding shops. They want no part of it. I'm glad you have such talented welders that are willing to stick their necks out at your disposal. I don't. Even the local trailer shop who are in the business of doing this say, "Just get an extension."

Why don't I leave it in? Because it's so easy to remove. One pin, two hooks, one 7-pin plug, and it's off. But I have left it in when I couldn't find my 2-1/2" sleeve adapter. Worked fine. I actually prefer the extension because the trailer tracks the truck more closely in the corners, instead of "cutting" the corner.

[BradW]

burningman wrote:
How many different trailers do you pull with your camper on?

I pull at least 4 different trailers and flat tow a JK.

[burningman]

How many different trailers do you pull with your camper on?
Have you asked if a welding/fab shop will modify a trailer? The answer is generally “bring it right in”.
They do things all day long that are critical to not fail.
I’ve had a fab shop reweld a crane lifting fork... something I didn’t even want to do. They cut truck frames in half and lengthen them. I’ve had that done. I think you’re completely making up the story about them not wanting to do a little trailer stretch.

If you think hitch extensions are the way to go, why don’t you leave it in all the time, when the camper is off the truck? You know they’re a bad idea you just tolerate it because you think you have to.

[mkirsch]

Yes, except you have to have EVERY trailer modified, and some people don't have buddies that work for free. Ever priced a professional welder? $100+ an hour, plus materials. That is if you can find a welder that will modify a trailer like that. Most don't want the liability. Trailer comes apart, it's on them because they modified it.

The extension is a one-time expense, while stretching trailer tongues is a gift that keeps on giving, when you have multiple trailers.

I dunno, I never thought installing my hitch extension was that big of a deal. One pin, two safety chains, and one 7-pin plug.

Sure, one trailer modified vs. a Superhitch/Supertruss combo is pretty much a wash. It's when multiple trailers come into play...

[burningman]

One of my stretched trailer tongues is on a flatbed car/equipment trailer with a big toolbox across the front. The other is on a utility trailer made from a pickup truck bed.
If yours hits your camper when cornering, you didn’t stretch it enough.


One other modification you need to do is relocating the tongue jack.

Then it’s goodbye heavy hitch extension you have to install and remove every time you load your camper, goodbye reduced tow rating, and hello better weight transfer and general physics. Would you want to use a hitch extension if your camper wasn’t on?
Well, that’s why you know this tows better.

It’s a little harder to hitch because you have to crawl under to do the latch but that’s less a pain than putting on and taking off an extension.

[Kalabin]

Well keep in mind the trailer is pretty light, and actually tow's tounge up since I don't use a drop hitch. The trailer is a 3500lb GVWR single axle utility trailer. The problem with it, is it has a 2' high support system around the outer edge, which when turning hard would hit the camper.

Weight wise I picked up the 18" extension which de-rates down to 6000lb towing and 600 hitch weight. I would guess I have less than 200lb's hitch weight. Again it's not the weight of the trailer, its the type of trailer being pulled behind a truck camper.

Boats tow easier because of their shape, picture it as trying to tow an enclosed trailer behind your truck, the square front of the trailer will smack your camper long before a pointed boat trailer will.

[burningman]

Why not do the simple and most effective thing? Lengthen your trailer tongue!
That puts less stress on your extended hitch, tows better, backs up easier, and costs less than a superhitch. If you don’t have a welder and none of your buddies are decent welders just go to your local welding shop.
It’s easy.
In fact, you probably don’t need a hitch extension at all.

I pull a 10,000 trailer behind my 11.5 foot camper with NO hitch extension.
That’s one less tedious thing (putting on the hitch extension) I have to do every time I load and unload the camper, too. And zero reduced capacity.

No, the trailer does not hit the camper, as long as you don’t go extreme places. On the roads between the Pacific Northwest and Black Rock Desert, Nevada in almost 20 years this has worked great.

[Threebigfords]

^^^ What he said^^^

Buy the Super Hitch once and be done with it. Last hitch you will ever need.

[SideHillSoup]

Never regretted the super truss. I haul toys all the time and for years. Knowing that the hitch extension and receiver are sturdy pulling my load, gives me a clear mind when we travel. It also should make the drivers around me feel safe knowing I spent the extra cash to ensure I’m safe driving down the road in all sort of conditions.
For me the price means nothing, it’s the safety factor that I bought.
We drive all over the mountains pulling out toys, knowingbthat when I stop, the stuff I’m pulling will be safely behind me means everything.
There is no price on safety.

[BradW]

I could jacknife our car hauler trailer going forward in a full lock turn.

That is not a good situation and I hope to avoid it with our new rig.

Bradw

[trail-explorer]

jaycocreek wrote:
and everything you need to get after the purchase is spendy anymore!

Especially if the name starts with Tork and ends with Lift

[jaycocreek]

Yea,things get pretty spendy after 18"..Luckily my 18" extension comes flush with my lance bumper..Heck,pickup campers and everything you need to get after the purchase is spendy anymore!