Hey fellas... I have a potential trailer that I may be hauling...

My trailer hitch is Class IV rated at 750 lbs tongue weight.

This trailer is a travel trailer rated at 40 ft long, 10,500 lbs and states it has a dry hitch weight of 1600 lbs.


How can I haul a trailer such as this? I know my truck will pull it, but whats up with the tongue / hitch weight???

How do I make this work?

 

i'm no expert, but i'd say not unless you upgrade your receiver. get a class V (2 1/2 inch receiver) and a weight distribution hitch. something like this http://www.etrailer.com/pc-WD5~66006.htm. i have seen class v receiver (http://www.redtrailers.com/ShowItem.asp?id=45007) that are rated to carry almost that weight without the distribution bars, but i'd not recommend it. it will ride A LOT better with the wt. distribution. i used to have a 6 ton hudson trailer that I towed my 7500 lb skid loader on (total trailer weight of about 10500lbs) and it rode almost as smooth as my gooseneck.

 

I'll agree the weight distribution hitch is the way to go. Don't know if you need the 2 1/2" receiver frame. All my heavy towing is with a gooseneck.

 

i don't know if the 2 1/2" is necessary, but most of the class v's i've seen were. most of the 2" one's weren't rated but for 1200-1500 tongue wt even with the WD. i just recently traded for a little 26 ft TT. i was building a covered porch and the customer said they'd trade the camper for building the porch 4' longer. sounded good to me. i'll mainly use it as a jobsite camper, to crash in on the jobs that require weeks of work 2-3 hrs away.

anyway, i'm not familiar with TT's and how much they weigh. mine was light enough that i pulled it home with just my pintle combo. rode perfectly level, and with ZERO sway. your trailer is a lot longer and with what seems like a rather large tongue wt. may be normal, but like i said, i'm a rookie with campers. i'm usually towing a landscape trailer, or the 25' triple axle gooseneck.

 

Another vote for the weight distribution hitch. Pulled our previous Travel Trailer to Florida & South Dakota with it - 32' and about 8K lbs.

a 40' Travel Trailer is a big boy.....make sure your brakes are all good to go.

 

I have a 1200 lb weight dist hitch. Question is... how do I use it to tow this trailer just once with out drilling the frame and mounting the spring bar hooks??

This is what I have.

http://www.reese-hitches.com/product...ch%20Bar,66084

Thanks...

 

Are you talking about drilling the frame of the trailer or truck? I guess I'm not understanding fully.

As far as the truck is concerned, the hitch assembly should just slide into the receiver on the truck & lock with a locking pin. But the trailer - you'll need no mount the sway bars & chain brackets. But it looks like you are over the capacity of the Reese hitch.

How far do you need to tow it?

 

Also,

Check out Jim's Camping forum....

http://www.jimscampingforums.com/forums/

Lots of great folks there also - especially when it comes to campers & hitches.....

I've had a 5th wheel for the past 5 years so my my memory is a bit rusty on the subject. It's a big Travel Trailer so get it set up right the first time......

 

About a month ago, i hired out my truck to tow a 30' 9k Airstream 230 miles, i used a borrowed 8k-10k weight distribution hitch for the job...i had to keep checking the rear view to make sure the tailgater was still there...i couldn't tell i was towing anything...hehehe...you'll be fine, but definately get the weight distribution hitch...my reciever is just the factory, i did ask a local camper dealer what that hitch was rated for, and was told...and i quote..."that factory hitch will tow 10k with what you've got now, if you're adding a distribution hitch, you could tow up to 16k without a problem"...so, have fun and don't worry about the details...hehehehe

 

I have a 15k W/D hitch and when hauling my backhoe have at least 2k on the tongue and hardly know its there
I pulled it from North Georgia to SW Fla (750 miles) most the time never under 80 MPH and past 90 quite a bit

 

If you are refering to drilling holes in the trailer frame for the sway bars, you can pull it without them. I have and only noticed the differance during high wind gusts or passing large trucks on the hwy. But as a rule and because its already there, I usually use them. There are other swaybars options that can be purchused as well.

 

Notice the 2 bolts that attach to the front of the trailer frame.

 

I would drill them. I have a similar set-up. I am going to pick my TT up from getting inspected in a few minutes and I will take some pics to compare. I have towed it with, and without the WD bars and I won't do it again without them unless it's for a short distance and 45mph or lower. Mine is a 30 foot and dry weight I think is 7700lbs. It moved around quite a bit on me. Now keep in mind I have D rated 315's on 16 inch rims so I have a lot of sidewall flexion possible. I don't know what tires and rims you have, so you may not experience as much movement as I did.

 

Those brackets for the weight distributing hitch clamp to the trailer frame, you don't have to drill anything from my experience.
Pulling a 40' long trailer you will definitely want the weight distributing hitch, and the anti-sway if you can swing it. Pulling our 28' bumper pull TT last year at highway speeds it didn't take much to get it swayin' in the breeze. I was just using a regular draw bar- no equalizer hitch or anti-sway.

 

Did you look at the pic? There are 2 pieces that attach to the frame on each side. Are you saying they both just clamp on? and I dont need the front piece bolted on?