No Anti-Sway/Weight Distribution

[Omrod]

My son will be renting a small travel trailer (2011 Jayco Skylark) Trailer to camp next to us at a state park. He does not have means to it tow at this time and has asked me to tow it for him. We get to the park a day before and leave a day after, so this will not be a problem for me. I contacted the person who rents it and they do not supply the hitch. Thus, no anti-sway/weight distribution. My camper is much larger and I use a heavy-duty Equalizer Hitch, which will not work on this small camper. It uses a 2” ball, which I have available. The camper is located 20 miles away from the park. Am I being overly paranoid about sway, hauling this camper on the highway?

[BarneyS]

capacitor wrote:
Is your Silverado a 1500 or 2500? Asking cause the 3250bh is a big trailer.

His question is not about that trailer. It is about a small trailer his son is renting for a short time to camp with him.
Barney

[Omrod]

Yep, it's a 2500 HD
Have hauled the Imagine about 5,000 miles since I got it last November. Wind seems to be a big issue so far, but that may be because I was lucky enough to haul it on windy days.

[capacitor]

Is your Silverado a 1500 or 2500? Asking cause the 3250bh is a big trailer.

[Omrod]

Thanks Folks, I'll sleep a little easier now.

[mr_andyj]

Yes. 20 miles is nothing. Sway comes from speed and wind usually, from poorly loaded trailer, or other alignment issues. If sway starts then just slow down, that might be all that is needed. Slowing down a little for 20 miles is easy.
For 20 miles I would not even bother with the effort to hook up the WDH and sway control if it were already set up for it, not for this smaller trailer

[bgum]

You should have no issues.

[Redone]

I don't think you will have an issue if you load the trailer so as to maintain sufficient tongue weight. We tow a 23' Starcraft with a Subaru Ascent that specifically indicates not to use a weight distributing hitch. You may want to ask the rental company to measure the ball height on the trailer, so you can make sure you have the appropriate drop to keep the trailer level. I suspect the hitch is considerably lower on the Jayco than on your Grand Design.

[Lwiddis]

“ The camper is located 20 miles away from the park.”

Whatever the answer is it doesn’t matter whether it’s 20 miles or 200…or Thursday vs. Friday, hot vs. cold. It’s safe or it isn’t.

[wowens79]

Looks like they're all about 21ft, so your HD truck will be fine without the W/D and sway.

[JIMNLIN]

Omrod
GMs last 1500HD was in '06. It came with a 6.0 engine 8600 gvwr 6000 rawr and basically the old 3/4 ton chassis.
For later 1500 GMs like your 2015 1500 GM has the NHT package which upgrades gvwr to around 7xxx lbs.... 4300 rawr.

Anywayz you won't have any issues pulling a small lite weight bumper pull TT without a WD hitch. Pump the trucks P tires to max sidewall pressures. Your stressing needlessly.

I use the wifes 2016 1500 chevy 5.3 engine 6 speed tranny pulling a 10k car hauler with a 6820 lb tractor/cab 11' 8" on the deck and had no sway issues.
I did add a WD hitch for sag issues with 1280 lbs on the bumper which caused a 220 lb front axle loss (steering).

[Mike134]

Lynnmor wrote:
Since the trailer has a 2" coupler, I doubt that it is heavy enough to matter. If the tongue weight is correct, sway will be no issue.

X3!!

[BurbMan]

Lynnmor wrote:
Since the trailer has a 2" coupler, I doubt that it is heavy enough to matter. If the tongue weight is correct, sway will be no issue.

2X on this, most utility trailers and the small trailers you rent from U-Haul have 2" balls, so no WD should be required, especially with an HD truck.

[Lynnmor]

Since the trailer has a 2" coupler, I doubt that it is heavy enough to matter. If the tongue weight is correct, sway will be no issue.