Shopping for a different tow vehicle.

[Tyandkate]

I currently am using my 15' chevy Silverado 1500 to tow my 07 Jayco 25z bumper pull camper weighing in at 6,000 pounds my truck is rated to pull 10,000. But it pulls my camper like garbage. I have found a 97' Ford F-350 single wheels with a 7.3 turbo diesel. Anyone had any advice on this particular truck? It's a one owner truck with 196,000 miles on it.

[Tyandkate]

Great video that's a eye opener for sure! I use blocks for leveling and store them In the front compartments to help with front weight as my kitchen is on the back wall I try to keep weight upfront to compensate that

[RedRocket204]

Sounds like you are headed down the road well now. Keep in mind this time you probably have a loaded trailer and that will also help get the WDH setup correctly. Another item that can cause issue is not having the proper tongue weight. Make sure you are at around 12% or slightly more as proper trailer loading, balance is very important too.

This short video effectively shows what can happen without proper tongue weight.

http://imgur.com/gallery/dYz2tCE

[Tyandkate]

Wanted to update everyone as stated I started out on setting up my hitch only to find I was sold only half the kit... 3 hours round trip to pick it up and after asking both the manager and sales person to check the box which they both assured me it was all rhereit wasn't.. but they did make it right, the manager offered to have someone bring me the parts or if i could have it installed for free. I opted for the free install so I could see how the equalizer hitch did on the way home and I wasn't disappointed! My truck towed the camper home as if it wasn't even back there no swaying at all! The hitch is a little noisey on turns but besides that it's perfect! Thanks for all the help everybody y'all really came through for me as always and saved me a ton of money!

[owenssailor]

Your truck should tow that trailer with no problem. As stated above weigh the combination so you know what all the weights are. Do the setup of the hitch. I found the Equalizer brand hitch much better than ones with separate sway bars. We have towed about 40 000 miles with the rig in our signature. Weight of trailer when travelling is 6500 lb.. Truck has 3.42 axle.

[Tyandkate]

Thanks for the help! I'll be setting it up tomorrow morning

[demiles]

When setup correctly the Equalizer works well but can be noisy at times. I've setup mine several times on different trucks and what has worked for me is reclaiming half the rise on the front of the truck with the hitch. If I remember correctly this is what Equalizer recommends to do once the basic set up is done. So if your front reference point on the truck goes up one inch after putting the weight of the trailer on the hitch adjust the Equalizer so it goes back down a half inch. Don't agonize over the height of the rear of the truck. Then drive the truck with trailer attached and see how it feels. On both my trucks if you try to take it to far the whole rig will start to wander.

[Tyandkate]

I'll look in to the type of tires ive got and make sure they are inflated properly. My camper weighs in at around 5800 pounds loaded on the scales with about 450 pounds of gear in the truck. I did read somewhere on a area I may have very well messed up on. I trusted my dealer to install the weight distribution and I'm now learning they don't always do it right I'm going to find a big level parking lot and set it up myself following the instructions exactly on the equalizer hitch system

[KD4UPL]

Your truck probably has P (passenger car) tires on it. You need LT (light truck) tires. That alone would make a big difference. Whatever tire you get make sure you have them inflated to the maximum pressure when towing. Your truck has more HP than that old Ford. I'd stick with what you have and make it work. A 6,000 pound trailer behind a modern day 1500 should work just fine if everything is set up right.
Maybe your trailer weighs more than you think, have you weighed it? How much weight are you adding to the truck with people, pets, and gear? Even if you hitch is set up "by the book" it doesn't sound like it's right for your situation.

[Tyandkate]

What do you mean by LT? Sorry I'm new to the vehicle lingo. Also I would like to thank everyone for there advice, I decided to take a trip to camping world and bought a equalizer hitch with built in sway control. I've saw a lot of good things about equalizer from other forums. Just seemed to have a good name for the price

[Dayle1]

BillyW wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
Invest in a Hensley Arrow or Pro Pride hitch. It'll tow like a dream. You should have plenty of power for 6000lbs. Lots cheaper than buying a 24 year old truck.

I would lean toward this answer.

X3, much better answer, I personally wouldn't be happy towing miles from the nearest garage with a 24 yr old truck and my family inside. 15 years ago I towed a trailer with a truck similar to yours, 5.3l with 3.73 axle but it was a 2000 model with just a 4 spd auto. Your truck is certainly more capable and comfortable. My trailer weighed 6500 lbs and I towed it everywhere with great stability. The big difference is that the trailer was a fifth wheel, not a TT. My point is your problem is not the truck but the hitch so spend the money on a Hensley Arrow or a ProPride P3, maybe you can find a used Arrow. There are several available out of state, $400-$1500.

Also, as suggested, switch to LT's. My son just made that switch on his 1500 Burb to prepare for towing.

[Grit_dog]

If you're not down for doing repair work, I wouldn't, in general, suggest a 20year old diesel of any flavor to be considered a rock solid reliable, trouble free, take it on vacation without a care type of vehicle.
Brand new Silverado with towing gears will do the trick just fine.
I'm no pro on wd hitches but sounds like you're getting blown around by the wind/passing semis is your issue with the half ton.
Couple questions.
How much towing experience do you have? I.E. Do you know it's worse than it should be or could you just not know what to expect?
Could be the wdh setup, any way to compare to another vehicle? Hook up to a buddy's truck or something?
Do you have P tires on the Chebby still? Some good stout LT tires will take a lot of the squishy feeling out of the truck. I've had a bunch of half ton work trucks that get used as big boy trucks and the first thing I do is stiffen up the rear suspension considerably with timbrens or overload springs and burn off the OE tires for some LT tires. Helps a bunch.

[APT]

That 7.3L is down a lot of power and gearing compared to your current truck. I find it hard to believe a properly loaded 6k pound TT and adjusted WDH has issues. Spend $15 at a CAT scale to verify how much TW you have and how well that WDH is adjusted.

Since you mentioned two sway bars, you maybe want to invest in at least a mid-level WDH with integrated sway control, say $500 vs. $2500. But you'll want to understand your weights first anyway.

[Tyandkate]

The previous owner just had the front end rebuilt motor fresh oil change etc.

[TurnThePage]

goducks10 wrote:
Invest in a Hensley Arrow or Pro Pride hitch. It'll tow like a dream. You should have plenty of power for 6000lbs. Lots cheaper than buying a 24 year old truck.

I would lean toward this answer.