Where to put my ATV

[joelw]

Hello all! I am new to the forums. I have looked a lot but have not found a thread dedicated to pulling a TT and hauling an ATV in a shortbed pickup. I have a 2005 Ford Crew Cab with 5.5' bed and a 09 Jayco 22FB. I am running an weight distribution hitch but I can barely get my tailgate open to access the back without hitting the jack when hooked up and facing straight. My original thought was to haul my Can am Max Machine(95"long) in the back with the tailgate down while hooked up but I realize now that that is not going to happen without some serious modification. I am wondering if anyone else pulls a TT with the tailgate down, and how they get the extra hitch length. I fear running a hitch extender will put too much stress on the hitch, but I am not sure about that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jaycocreek]

It is not meant to be a white knuckled dangerous ride.. But some like you seem to insist that one must endanger life and limb just to have a good time

White knuckled, really. White knuckling is hauling a load of logs down a narrow logging road with chains on all drivers and a front tire and doubles on the trailer with the jake break or retarder use, it locks up the drivers and you head for the snow bank to slow you down...... That's white knuckling, not towing a trailer with an ATV in the back.

Just out of curiosity, what experience do you have hauling an ATV in your truck with a trailer to have those opinions. Your opinion is based on experience, isn't it?

This is silly, your referring to literature you interpret instead of actual experience doing or done that and never again, because.

[Gdetrailer]

jaycocreek wrote:
But he didn't ask about payload, did he. Why some people feel the need to put down others over the net is behond me.

:R

He did not ask, BUT HE DID POST THE PAYLOAD, THE CARGO IN THE VEHICLE PLUS THE WEIGHT OF THE ATV. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that closing the tailgate is a very SMALL issue when compared to exceeding the cargo rating of said vehicle.

As far as the OPs issue of closing the tail gate or not hitting the tongue jack.. With a 5.5 ft bed AND A 8ft long object you have very limited options.. None of the options are good... you simply can not take a 8ft object and make it fit 5.5 ft without making said object go vertical or a platform which takes it over the cab..

Pretty much all options will make the whole way overloaded train wreck even worse..

One must ask themselves.. Why not just forget the extra object or buy a better suited vehicle or Toy trailer or take a second vehicle which can haul said object in a safe manor..

After all the object of going camping is to get there safely, enjoy the camping then get home safely..

It is not meant to be a white knuckled dangerous ride.. But some like you seem to insist that one must endanger life and limb just to have a good time :E :h :S

[jaycocreek]

But he didn't ask about payload, did he. Why some people feel the need to put down others over the net is behond me.

[Gdetrailer]

jaycocreek wrote:

You clearly don't care about your safety over bringing your toys.

I see people hauling one or two snow machines and or ATV's pulling a trailer almost everyday and I have never seen a broken axle/blow out or wreck caused by being a tad over manufacturers weights...

Heck, just go to the fiver forum or truck campers and you will see over the payload all the time or here my axles say it's okay to be over payload.

All the guy wants to do is haul one ATV in his truck and pull his camper..... I wouldn't hesitate to do it with his rig and I have been hauling an ATV in my truck pulling a trailer since I got my first ATV in 1988 with 3/4 ton truck with a GVWR of 7200 lbs.

Never an issue.

Just because you see folks "doing" it doesn't make it right nor is it safe to do (and I am not talking about broken axles)..

There is more to it than axles which may be exceeded, tires, rims, lug nuts, springs, shocks, brakes and even stability..

Although the OP has a 2009 a quick check of Jayco on the same model number but a 2014 model indicates the OP will be over the cargo weight without ever placing anything inside the trailer.

Per Jayco HERE

Weights
Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs) 4,125
Dry Hitch Weight (lbs) 510
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs) 6,500
Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs) 2,375

So from the start with the advertised empty tongue weight the OP is already 110 lbs over the allowable cargo weight of the vehicle..

Trailer has gross weight rating of 6,500 lbs and that means the tongue weight at 10% can be 650 lbs and at 15% 975 lbs.

Loaded the OP will have 250 lbs to 575 lbs OVER the cargo weight.

Then add in that this trailer is 28ft in length and I think the OP is going to quickly regret trying to drag all that weight around with his current truck.

That additional 800 lbs of ATV sitting 4ft to 6 ft in the air is going to make the whole rig really unstable..

The OP IS overweight and IS a dangerous setup with that ATV on the truck.

Sorry if the truth hurts but someone needs to step up and call out a bad situation before the OP gets hurt or breaks down..

[jaycocreek]

You clearly don't care about your safety over bringing your toys.

I see people hauling one or two snow machines and or ATV's pulling a trailer almost everyday and I have never seen a broken axle/blow out or wreck caused by being a tad over manufacturers weights...

Heck, just go to the fiver forum or truck campers and you will see over the payload all the time or here my axles say it's okay to be over payload.

All the guy wants to do is haul one ATV in his truck and pull his camper..... I wouldn't hesitate to do it with his rig and I have been hauling an ATV in my truck pulling a trailer since I got my first ATV in 1988 with 3/4 ton truck with a GVWR of 7200 lbs.

Never an issue.

[Gdetrailer]

joelw wrote:

JJBIRISH wrote:
Typical modern day Rv’er…

wants to take 2 pounds of baloney but,
is only willing to pay for the 1 pound bag…

I don't know if you read any of the rest of the thread. I am not an RV'r. I am a pickup owner who purchased a travel trailer for at the most 6 weekends a year. Maybe one or 2 of these will be with an ATV. Your comment is extremely rude and not well thought out. Its not that I am not willing to pay for this. Its unnecessary to purchase a heavy duty truck or a toy hauler to bring my atv twice a year.

While you may feel JJ is being rude, it is not, sadly it is more truthful than many folks like to hear.

So far there have been multiple posts which you seem to have ignored which relates to the leftover cargo weight which basically is what the trailer will use up and EXCEED.

Loading up your passengers, fuel and ATV is leaving you only 400 lbs for the trailer tongue. That means your trailer cannot exceed 4000 lbs for 10% tongue weight or 2670 lbs for 15% tongue weight.

You clearly don't care about your safety over bringing your toys.

I think you need to stop and consider your safety over the toys and realize that if you want to take it all you will be compromising by either getting a more capable vehicle, replace the trailer with a Toy Hauler, take a second vehicle which can pull a trailer or haul the ATV in the back that vehicle..

[handye9]

joelw wrote:
TV GVW-7200
TV WEIGHT-5577
Passengers and Cargo-500lb
that leaves 1200 lbs unspoken for. I think it might even leave more as I am running a WD hitch, but I am not sure how that works in respect to payload capacity. ATV is 800 lbs full of fuel. I am not interested in building a rack for the back, more giving myself enough room in the bed to load flat in the box with either a hitch extension or different type of solution for tailgate. The rack scares the******out of me to drive on and I'd rather leave the atv at home then put that much effort into it. I probably will be out with this thing half a dozen times per year, so I am looking to keep my truck as close to possible. So to be clear, I am looking more for info on how to make room for my tailgate to ride open and less info on how much my capacities are and what racks are available for the bed. I have that all figure out! I got the smallest tt I could talk my wife into for a reason. I am into a nice easy tow and safe loading and handling. The triple tow thing is looking more and more like my only option...

There have been other threads on the tailgate down issue. Some of their solutions have been:

1. Those with electric jacks. Some have been able to turn the jack 90 degrees.

2. Go to a welding shop and have the jack moved back a few inches.

3. A slightly longer shank for the hitch. Not an extension, but, replace the shank with one that is an inch or two longer.

4. A 5th wheel tail gate. Has a cut out for the jack.


One of these solutions, may be cheaper or easier than the tripple tow idea. However, they won't do anything for your payload.

[arizal]

joelw wrote:

JJBIRISH wrote:
Typical modern day Rv’er…

wants to take 2 pounds of baloney but,
is only willing to pay for the 1 pound bag…

I don't know if you read any of the rest of the thread. I am not an RV'r. I am a pickup owner who purchased a travel trailer for at the most 6 weekends a year. Maybe one or 2 of these will be with an ATV. Your comment is extremely rude and not well thought out. Its not that I am not willing to pay for this. Its unnecessary to purchase a heavy duty truck or a toy hauler to bring my atv twice a year.

There are always those that would like to spend your hard earned money but most are concerned about your safe traveling on those weekends that you want to take your ATV. Every vehicle preforms differently under load. You might try loading something equal in weight to your ATV in your pick up bed and then hook up to your loaded trailer and take it all for a ride on roads similar to those you would take camping. If it handles it ok climbing and stopping then I would pursue looking into different kinds of ramps to allow you to close the tailgate with the ATV loaded.
Good luck and enjoy your new trailer.
ArizAl

[F1bNorm]

I had a similar problem with my box trailer. I solved it be removing the stock jack and replaced it with a folding, side mounted jack. See: Jack

Norm

[joelw]

JJBIRISH wrote:
Typical modern day Rv’er…

wants to take 2 pounds of baloney but,
is only willing to pay for the 1 pound bag…

I don't know if you read any of the rest of the thread. I am not an RV'r. I am a pickup owner who purchased a travel trailer for at the most 6 weekends a year. Maybe one or 2 of these will be with an ATV. Your comment is extremely rude and not well thought out. Its not that I am not willing to pay for this. Its unnecessary to purchase a heavy duty truck or a toy hauler to bring my atv twice a year.

[JJBIRISH]

Typical modern day Rv’er…

wants to take 2 pounds of baloney but,
is only willing to pay for the 1 pound bag…

[Wally_Walleye]

Haulall ATV Rack Systemhttp://www.discountramps.com/haulall-atv-truck-rack/p/HAUL-ALL-R/

Tried to put a clicky in. If it didn't work try looking at Haulall ATV rack system for DiscountRacks.com We travel with our to ATV's on the back of our truck. The weight is transfered to the bed of the truck by the braces. Easy to load the atv's. Wife drives them up. ramps are included.

[coolbreeze01]

jaycocreek wrote:
Here's a link with a bunch of pictures with short bed trucks and ATV's loaded up.

ATV ideas.

Great link jacocreek, plenty of ingenuity out there. Also why I have a 3500 8' bed.

[danager]

I don't think your truck can pull both at the same time. with 1200# of payload left, you will add an 800# ATV, leaving 400#'s for the hitch weight of your TT. A WD hitch does not take weight off of the hitch, it just spreads it between the front and rear axle of the TV.

I have a 2010 F150, I tow a longer heavier TT and I do so with the bed of the truck absolutely empty when I can. Take another look at your figures before you go adding weight to make this possible.

[boosTT]

I haul an Polaris Sportsman while towing an 19’ Keystone with my Ram 1500 6.4’ bed. Here is what I found:
1. Toy hauler is really the way to go.
2. Triple check your payload. I don’t think you calculation includes the tongue weight or the WD hitch weight and that will push you way over your payload rating making this not even possible.
3. You can use atv lifters to put the atv more vertical and thus shorter length. However, the lift basically needs to be above the bed rails to make a difference. Most people just put the front wheels on a toolbox. There are off the shelf systems for this you can buy too.
4. If you are close to fitting. You can remove the wheels (or air) or strap the tailgate closed.
5. Double or triple towing isn’t really a valid option. It’s illegal behind a travel trailer (not 5th wheel) in almost every state. Where it is legal requires brakes on both trailers. It will also require some serious modifications to your trailer frame to support the added stress. And it will probably tow poorly with the lightened tongue weight.
6. Removing the tailgate or replacing it with one with a “V” cutout would work. With the tailgate removed, you need to be extra careful not to smash a rear window. There isn’t any room left to slow down. You give it gas to make it up the ramps and then immediately hit the brakes. Ramp storage is a pain with the tailgate removed.
7. The tall truck bed atv haulers are not recommended for half ton trucks. Most of them are for 8’ bed’s anyway. I don’t think you will be able to find one for an 5.5’ bed.