Truck camper with trailer length

[Marcela]

Hello all.

Re pulling a trailer, truck with camper bumper to rear hitch is 25'. Have a '04 vintage Haulmark 20' car hauler I can pull. Really only need something like 14' long and 7' wide for a scooter and couple bikes and misc.

So with what I have total length is almost 50', pulling the trusty Haulmark. Could shorten that length 6-8' at the most and reduce the width about a foot to foot and a half at the trailer.

Is it really worth the trouble to purchase a smaller trailer which I expect to cost more then what I paid for the '04 years ago and sell the '04 Haulmark.

Anybody pull a 20'er and how did you like it?

Thanks.

[Marcela]

Some good advice everywhere. Thanks!

burningman wrote:
You don’t want a narrower trailer. Its a real pain to back up a trailer you can’t see when it’s going straight.

This brings up a good point, been there done that. Also if your mirrors can't extend out to see the sides of the trailer you are only looking at the front, hard to tell when the turn starts if you are trying for the straight back.

[Reality_Check]

I pull several different trailers. Our boat is short (maybe 21 total), a 20 box that is 26' overall and a 28' box that is 34' over all. That one makes us 60'.

Never a big deal...but I don't camp in 'campsites' with the long one. If you're anywhere around 50', I think you'll be fine. I personally don't put any extra effort into the thought process between towing our 16' box, or our long or short 20'. There is more 'planning' when you get up around 60', but it's no different than half the world pulling a huge 5th wheel or what not.

I woulnd't give up the extra space a 20 offers for any perceived savings in agony over a smaller trailer.

[jimh406]

I agree narrow isn’t great. I pulled a 17 ft (probably 22 or so to hitch) narrow body trailer (I think 7ft) on a trip from Seattle Area to Yellowstone. We were fully loaded for a week plus with 4 adults and full water.

Anyway, I could only see the trailer on the turns. BTW, I use a 2 1/2 inch x 24 inch extension with normal length ball mount. The trailer is a light frame model, so there was no WD hitch involved. My guess it weighed around 4000-4500 lbs loaded for camping because they brought everything they could think of. 🙂

I had no problems maneuvering and that included parking it into a very tight space at Yellowstone Canyon Campground. The snow was about as wide as the trailer.

[burningman]

You don’t want a narrower trailer. Its a real pain to back up a trailer you can’t see when it’s going straight.

[BradW]

TJ on a 16' car hauler.

[Bedlam]

I have towed the same 20’ enclosed trailer behind both my truck campers. I suggest a width close to to the camper width so you do not create additional drag but can still see it with your mirrors (I do not use a rear facing camera). Length can be an issue in tight camping sites or if you catch a vehicle ferry that charges by the foot.

[noteven]

I pull a 4 bike 20ft (16 ft body ) roundy front 8’6” wide tandem enclosed. It pulls like a barn door in a crosswind and now sticks out past the new camper width wise, so contributes drag at all times.

The new camper (Cirrus 820) calls for a nice 7’ wide - a V nose would be nice but there is a roundy front 12ft in the fleet which will be put inta service.

I am working on a retractable hitch extension that closes the trailer gap to 12” then auto extends at speeds less than 40 mph to provide correct swing clearance for sharp turns.

Cue the kwacking about “band aids, won’t work, gimmick, lawyers...”

[Buzzcut1]

Marcela wrote:
Cool. How is the maneuvering at the filling stations or campgrounds?

I never have any problems but then again you should see how tight the places at the stables where we park the trailers are. Two feet wider than the trailer and you back in solo with no spotter most of the time. I've been doing that for over 20 years

[Marcela]

Cool. How is the maneuvering at the filling stations or campgrounds?

[Buzzcut1]

23' truck 48" supertruss extension with WD hitch, 21' horse trailer: 46' combined length no problem, been doing it for years

[KD4UPL]

I wouldn't worry about the length. I used to pull a 20' boat behind my truck camper; actual length on the trailer was probably closer to 23'. I used a 48" hitch extension to get the ball back past my 11' TC. It handled really well but boats don't have that much hitch weight. If there was any advantage to you going with a smaller trailer it would probably be for less overall weight and less tongue weight.