TC with a boat

[Bionic_Man]

I have spent the last 10 years pulling my boat tandem behind my 5er. I spent over $2,000 this spring having my hitch and the back of the 5er reinforced, but I just think my new boat is too heavy to continue towing that way.

New boat is a 23' ski boat. It weighs 6500 pounds. This year, I have had my wife pull my 5er to the lake, and I have followed using a 2003 8.1 Burb. Taking two vehicles is a PITA, so we are thinking of changing to a TC.

Before I go that way, I have a couple of concerns. First, I think it will be a tough transition going from a 32' 5er to a (much) smaller TC. I can figure out how much of a trade off that will be at an upcoming RV show.

Bigger concern is, how rough is the ride going to be with a TC and this big of a boat? It seems that with that long of an overhang, there will be quite a bit of bounce pulling the boat. Is that something to be concerned with?

Anyone else out there tow a 6500 pound boat behind a TC?

[WNYBob]

I've seen postings a vew times that refer to non-commercial trucks pulling tandems, you can't do that here in New York State! The commercial trucks are heavily restricted on where they can travel. I think this is the norm east of the Mississippi.

Just a fyi.

[Super_Dave]

Bionic, see my signature picture. My ride is as smooth as a Limo with the suspension set up I use. And as far as transition, being a boat guy, I know you spend most of your day out and about. Eating and sleeping will be just as comfortable as your 5er.

[deltabravo]

Bionic Man wrote:
Bigger concern is, how rough is the ride going to be with a TC and this big of a boat? It seems that with that long of an overhang, there will be quite a bit of bounce pulling the boat. Is that something to be concerned with?

Anyone else out there tow a 6500 pound boat behind a TC?

I towed a 10k cargo trailer full of stuff and things, and a Jeep. THe only complaint I had was it was more weight than I will ever tow again with a camper on the truck. I tow various trailers all the time, and they really don't have much effect on the ride of the truck

[Artum_Snowbird]

It does take a bit of getting used to for sure. We had a nice 9'6" slideout camper and towed a boat about half that weight quite capably. The trick was once at the lake you found a place to park the boat for awhile, while the camper was offloaded to the ground. We used to put the boat in and take it out daily, as this was a remote but very large lake.

One thing we did that worked quite well with the SuperCab was to take out the rear seat back. The cushion (sic) still flips up, but behind there was now a great place to put our reclining lawn chairs. The extra floor space behind the front seat held tools, generator, firewood, and even a platform to put the cat carrier on so she could see out as we drove. Keeping weight forward in the truck worked well to counteract the tongue weight of the trailer which in our case we did not need an extension for.

Another thing to think about is having a longer tongue on your trailer. We had a "Swing-Away" hitch on ours that made the entire length longer, but swung to the side for storage in the shop. That gave it the ability to just hook onto the bumper ball instead of an extension, even with a 9'6 camper. A good boat/trailer shop might be able to retrofit one to your trailer. The further the tongue is in front of the load, the lighter it needs to be.

When you look at T/C's compare the width. Some are a lot wider than others, and that gives room inside instead of short closets. It also keeps the weight up front instead of a more narrow but longer camper.

Good luck.

[kohldad]

I see you have a dually which will help greatly. Add a super hitch like Buzzcut1 and others and you should be good to go.

The biggest issue with a TC is lack of storage that you are use to with the belly compartment of the FW. Second will be only having the dinette to sit at instead of the couch.

When shopping, be warned that the weights they tell you will be for a bare bones unit dry. Figure the actual weight will be 20-40% more. Then you still need to put in your gear which will add another 500+ pounds.

[Halibut214]

I was probably closer to 5500 and had a single axle trailer but did a lot of towing with my Dodge Ram 2500 6.7 Diesel with a Lance 830 Camper. I installed the torklift hitch with as I recall a 36" extension. The only complaint I ever had was sway but after installing the hellwig sway bar I was extremely happy. Never noticed a bounce at all and with the dual axle trailer I can't imagine you would. Didn't see what truck you had but I would absolutely recommend at least a 1 ton and possibly a dually and it must have a diesel. Don't do what many do and over camper your truck. It's no fun. As you point out it's going to hard going from the 5ver to a TC but they make some really nice ones now with popouts and you can go anywhere.

[Buzzcut1]

no but I tow a 7000 pound horse trailer on a 48" extension and with my set up I have not experienced trailer induced bounce