I put it up again for those who missed it. Help yourself.

 

I will concur........when I was pulling with a gas SRW,it was like having a JOB! Days got real long!!
Pulling the same trailers with my diesel dually is like going on vacation!!! I arrive relaxed!!

 

Yep, my point exactly. Now if you can't afford or don't want a dually, then sure, do it with an SRW.

 

First. I drive an '03 F-350 Crew Cab long box dually as my daily driver. I also tow a 33 ft 5th wheel with an 18 ft boat behind it. Weight wise I could use a SRW but I won't. The dually just handles it so much better and gives another layer of safety if I where to blow a rear tire, not common, but it can and does happen. The dually really does handle wind, especially crosswinds, better. I drive an 18 wheeler as a profession with over 5 million miles with a lot of those pulling doubles, and yes wind does give problems even at 80K pounds. In your case I would go to an F350 and I would go dually in a heartbeat, but a SRW will be a drastically better answer to your problem in high winds, even an F-250 would be better, the price between the 2 is very little in most cases and the 350 will give you room to grow without having to immediately buy a bigger truck again.

 

To the OP... Have you ever considered a Hensley or ProPride hitch?

 

I'm not the OP but I have a Propride hitch. Absolutely no sway in any conditions. I used the Reese Dual Cam for years, and this is much better. Expensive yes, but worth it for the peace of mind and ease of towing.

We recently took a trip out west and ran into winds in Wyoming that were probably gusting 30 mph or so. With the Propride hitch you can still "feel" that wind, but it pushes the entire rig, including the truck. So the trailer does not sway, but you still feel the wind. I slowed down to about 55-60 to make it more comfortable.

 

And unless I can not understand the OP, this is exactly what the OP wants to eliminate, or minimize!! Which, due to the laws of physics, requires more mass (bigger truck)!!!!!!!

 

You guys arguing for the "minimalist while towing" mentality is just beyond me. It's ludicrous when you really think about. Hmmm, let's see how little truck I can get away with while towing heavy...whatever

 

IMO a dually would be great but I do think the weight of the 1/2 ton is the primary problem. A heavy trailer will wag the TV even with passing trucks. My Ex weighs almost 9000 lbs and with a Pro-Pride it handles the wind just fine.

 

I got to haul my camper this weekend in a 25-35mph crosswind.


the straight line hitch did exactly what it was supposed to do and kept the vehicle in a straight line. never once did I see the side of my trailer in the mirror.


I did, however, get to do a lot of steering. the wind would blow the trailer sideways and pivot the whole rig about the front axle. so I had to correct for the ever-changing yaw of the entire rig.


semi's passing would have an effect, but no worse than the 35mph gusts.


while I could drive it at 65mph, I felt very busy doing so. it was controllable, but I just felt like I was really driving. slowing down to 60mph made a big difference, so I just set the cruise at 60 and let'er buck.


this was the 6th and final time I got to use the camper this year. counting the other times I had to haul it over to the park to dump the tanks (because I'm always in a hurry to get home and never do it on the way out), I've probably hauled it 12-15 times this year.


I'd rather slow down to 60 a few times a year than drive a dually every day.

 

It's funny to me how I can usually find a sweet spot in the 60s and one in the 70s. I have creeped to 90 on occasion when using the pedal, altho the X holds speed MUCH better than the old chebby C2500 in cruise..little need for the gas pedal until a substantial hill.

 

I do definitely have a problem holding speed without cruise control. The expedition takes quite a bit of pedal on fairly small hills. It pulls pretty good and will hold speed with enough pedal, but then I dont lift enough when I get back on the flats and I end up slowly gaining speed until I notice in going much faster than I wanted to.

I dont, as a practice, tow more than 65mph. But I've noticed my transmission runs a lot hotter at 70 than it does at 65.

At 65 I'm usually running about 180 degrees on the flats and up to about 190 if I'm working the hills. At 70 it runs about 210 in the flats, and it doesn't take long to go from 180 to 210. I've never intentionally pulled the big camper at 70 long enough to see what it would do with some hills.

I hauled my inlaws pop up across the state at 70 last summer and the trans ran at 180+ in overdrive the whole trip. Normally, not towing it would run 150 at 75-80. So speed while towing has a big effect on the temp my transmission runs.

I've got a larger cooler to install, and id like to put a thermostatically controlled fan on it too, just waiting for the time to get it done.

Sorry for going slightly off topic.

 

I just pulled my 32' Prowler back from Salt Lake to Ocean Park Friday and Saturday, other than a little dancing at 65 of the whole rig all was good. I currently am using just an Eaz-lift with the standard 1500# round bars with a Reese Sway Control. Pulled this trailer several times back and fort to Houston with no issues especially after fine tuning my airbags and adjusting the height of the hitch. I did have to slow down because of the winds from the storms but at 60-65 she did just great.