First Tow Impression: 5200+# Travel Trailer

[Jtheising]

I have a similar TT, 28' bumper to bumper and weighs about #5400 dry. Pulling it with a 2019 Laramie. I noticed right away how much squat there was when the trailer was hooked up even with a WD hitch. The rear end was extremely soft and moved around a lot while towing. I decided to go with the timbren springs and will never look back. Forewarning, the only thing I do not like about them is hitting bumps while driving unloaded. With the soft coil over rear suspension, it hits the timbrens on small bumps and can be pretty jarring. But to me the benefits are greater having them. Truck sits perfectly level when loaded, bumps are very minor when towing, and a much more stable ride. Easily the best $200 I've spent on thats had that drastic of a difference when loaded.

I just bought some still gotta install them any tips?

 

[NDanecker]

That is why most people suggest the air bags. They cost more and are slightly more involved with keeping them at the right air pressure but the ride is just like stock. Air supply can be a cheap cigarette lighter air pump also. Needs very little volume.

 

[Rammit]

I just did an 800 mile round trip with my 22’ enclosed car trailer. Went to Illinois to pick up a project car. The whole two day trip I had to deal with 30+ mph winds. The truck did fantastic as it hauls great and is very stable. I usually get about 10 mpg but the head winds made have the trip dip into the high 7’s low 8’s. I was really happy that I swapped my small 23 gallon tank to the 33 gallon. Best mod I did.

 

[agillott13]

We bought a 26ft TT (5200# empty) this weekend and towed it back home, approx. loaded weight is probably around 5600# (first trip). I'll get it on the CAT scale in the next 2weeks to get a better ideal where we are at. Tongue weight is around 750-800#, yep this TT is nose heavy with dual axles closely spaced together. 290 mile trip: Interstate (65mph) 90%/ 2 lane backroads 5%/ Congested Urban Traffic) 5%
Overall not a bad experience. Is it like towing with my 2500 CTD? No. Still cant get used to downshifting to 3500-4500 rpm. Truck had no issue maintaining 65mps even in the "hills" of eastern Tennessee.
We went with the equilizer 10K WD hitch and we very pleased with the sway control esp. on the interstate with RVs, semis, and other large vehicles passing us. A much better hitch than our previous eazlift WD. Bonus with equilizer hitch is that you do not have to drill the TT frame. Also the bars were much easier to install and remove than the eazlift chain setup.
I did notice some slight push and some wiggle from the rear of the truck. I would attribute that to the P series OEM tires. As soon as the bridgestones are worn out they will be replaced with Michelin LTs. I might also look into the Timbrens, but I wouldnt hesitate to hook up and take the trailer back out on a 4-6hr trip. Now let me tell you how I wish I had gotten the 33 gallon fuel tank. 8.9mpg (lie-o-meter) with a couple for fuel, lunch and rest stop (all idling)...In reality it would have probably been closer to 10mpg without the heavy traffic and idling. Not bad, just use to making that trip without refueling.

I have a very similar set up. My TT is a 24ft (27.5 tip to tip), 5450lbs dry, with 603 tongue weight. My hitch is identical to yours. Long story short I hauled my camper for the first time this past weekend. I left the hitch set up like it was for my Ford that I towed with previously. I knew after hooking the TT up that the WDH wasn't doing its job because I could put the load bars onto the L brackets without the help of the tool while the TT was sitting level with the truck. The weight of the TT didnt make it sit really high in the front and low in the back, and the camper only had a slight dip front to back, so I went with it, as I didn't need to go too far. I towed with a full tank of water (500lbs), fire wood in the bed (100lbs), and supplies in the camper but mostly over the axle. Overall it was obvious that it could be better because cars and trucks were easily moving me around in my lane when they would pass me, however it never felt "dangerous". The drive home was seemingly better, maybe 150lbs of water, no firewood, and supplies slightly lighter, but mostly the same in the same locations. This might have seemed better simply because I was a bit more confident, but I am not sure.

I decided that since I knew my hitch wasn't doing much that I would try to set it up correctly once I got home and could get to level ground (driveway and road in front of house are angled). So I offloaded the family and all of the supplies and headed off to the local flat parking lot. I set my hitch up to specs as listed in the book, however I did not go as far as raising my ball height, which should technically have been done. I figured that I did make my situation better (by what the specs said what I did should have made very positive changes, even if it wasn't perfect, it should be better). I didn't move the ball height because that meant I would have had to flip my ball mount and remount and shim it. I did not have the tools and worry that when that is flipped the tailgate will hit it while it is down.

Anyway, I thought it was better than it was so I took it for a drive. I wanted to do a mix of driving of country roads and highways. On the country roads it felt great, I was really excited, like I actually fixed my issue, until I got on the highway. Ill tell you that I have never been so scarred in a vehicle in my life. I was behind a semi where there was turbulent air, so I thought I would get out in the fast lane to get around him. So I did... or at least I tried. When nearing 70mph the best way I can describe the feeling was that the TT was dancing behind me. Not swaying, but side to side like the left side wheels and right side wheels were bouncing off of the ground opposite each other. This gave the truck a very unsettled, unplanted feel that had me slow back down to the low 60's... after I got away from that truck it smoothed out but still wasn't perfect, and because I'll never be driving when I dont encounter a semi, I would say that my current set up is not good.

So after the not so short version of my story, my question for you is can you tell me your exact hitch set up? Like what holes are you using for everything, how far back are your L brackets, what is your unloaded height of your front fender, vs loaded with and without equalizer bars, etc? I know it is a lot of information to ask for, but it sounds like you've got the closest set up to what I've got to anyone that I have seen...

I would greatly appreciate any help that you could give me... this thing is currently scary!

 

[Limited11]

I have a 2019 limited with air ride, 5200 lb TT and I’m all over the road , do you have any info on setup?

 

[Willwork4truck]

I have a 2019 limited with air ride, 5200 lb TT and I’m all over the road , do you have any info on setup?

You haven’t provided anything in the way of details. Look at post #24 right above yours for a start. Then get your WDH set up as correctly as you can from the trailer dealer, a hitch place or a knowledgeable other owner. After that get your trailer weighed at a scale as loaded for camping. Truck too.
Once you have your weights, the hitch reasonable set up, then you have much better info to work with.
Lastly look at your tires. If you are like me, you still have stock (Goodyear) passenger car rated “standard” load soft sidewall rubber, which won’t help you at all for control. You should really consider a true light truck tire, D or E rated.
Some will get the Hellwig or equivalent sway bar as well, for about $250 it’s a good investment.

I realize that all this costs money, but if you are serious about a trailer, that’s the game you are in. At least you already have an air system for load leveling, thats one less item to buy. Just understand that a truck designed more for a comfortable ride as opposed to payload capability is going to need $$ thrown at it to become the equivalent to a better trailer hauler.

I don’t tow anymore, but when I did it was with a 1 ton srw. I never had squat or handling problems as I didn’t have a soft suspension or car tires. I didn’t actually weigh anything because my 24 or 28 foot old wood framed trailers didn’t squat the truck at all. People are pushing their comfy riding 150/1500’s too much these days, you can’t have everything in one truck (IMHO). Either unladen ride quality or the trucks capabilities as a tower will suffer.

Nobody wants to hear it but towing travel or 5th wheel trailers bigger than your single axle units really is a job for a 250/2500, (boats and car trailers excluded).