Hi, I have a 2000 Ex and just purchased a 30' Travel Trailer. The trailer is in Mississippi and I am in NY. It would cost $750 more to have it shipped than if I picked it up myself. I have only pulled a small popup before this and I am concerned about what I don't yet know about bigger trailers. Would anyone have some words of advice? thanks.

 

Brake controller is required if you don't have one already. Take your time. 55 mph on freeways. Use truck stops to fill up. They have more space for you to pull in/out. You'll need a weight distribution hitch. Keep your distance a ways back to give yourself some stopping distance. If you start to sway, pull the manual brake lever on the brake controller a bit. It will help pull you out of a sway.

You want E rated tires and inflate to the max on the rear to take out the squishy feeling due to the extra weight.

Just remember, you will know what the semi truck drivers have to deal with now.

 

In addition to the above advice, go to RV.Net RV and Camping Forum ? RV, Trailer, Camper, Motorhome, Camping and Campground Information and go to the towing forum. At the top of the forum will be a sticky on how to set up a weight distribution hitch. Study up on how to adjust the hitch and you should be good to go. Just go slow till you get a feel for it. Good luck, John

 

Also, know what your trailer maximum height is. Measure it, not just going with the number from the brochure. Now get those Jiffy Lube reminder stickers and write it and stick it in the upper left corner of your windshield so you don't forget. Now observe those bridge/overpass height signs and make sure you are well below that!

 

What part of Mississippi?

 

Thanks for everyone's advice. It is appreciated.
I am not sure of the town, but it is in the Northwest corner of the state.

 

Got to thinking, it would probably be worth $750 to have it shipped to you. If you factor in your time and the cost of fuel, well I think you will be right at or over $750 bucks. A lot could happen if your not familiar with towing a large trailer. I dunno, a lot to think about. But it would be an adventure too! Good luck, John

 

That's what I was thinking. Take the delivery to your house. After you research what type hitch you want, you will be able to install it the right way.

 

Not knowing where you are NY and where the trailer is in Mississippi...I would bet you are looking at near 1000 miles each way drive?

Also since I don't know what you are driving engine wise (V10 or 7.3)...figuring the cost of fuel (1000 miles not towing at 13mpg V10 or 17mpg 7.3 gives you ~$300 fuel for V10 or $270 for 7.3L on the way there) and then towing 1000 miles you'll get 8mpg V10 or 11mpg 7.3L so you'll have $500 V10 or $410 7.3L (I used $4 for 87 octane and $4.50 for diesel in these calculations)...

You can see...your fuel costs alone will very likely approach or exceed the $750...not factoring in your time and hotel and food costs along the way.

NOW...the adventure value is something different...and if you get the opportunity to do a complete walk thru and back out of the deal if the trailer is not up to par...that may be worth it too...

Lots to think about...but the math...well the math on food, hotel and fuel alone seems to show based on a 1000 mile one way drive...says the $750 is a pretty good price!

BTW...excellent advice above...regardless...you will need a good quality WD hitch with sway control and a good brake controller. I will suggest the Prodigy brake controller...very easy plug and play installation. Also I'll recommend one of two hitches.

1) Equal-I-zer BRAND hitch
2) Reese Dual Cam

Make sure you know your LOADED tongue weight so you can get the right WD spring bars to match the trailer. Both of these hitches provide WD AND Sway control in the package...don't even mess with a friction bar for a 30' travel trailer...

Finally make sure you understand the proper way to set up the hitch...follow this link (it is the link to the post mentioned by shadow's above)...RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Towing: Travel Trailer Hitch Set-up Procedure It is the BEST on-line tutorial to walk you thru the PROPER way to set up a WD hitch and make sure you have your trailer properly balanced...

Good luck,
Joe

 

Forum glitch...double post...sorry...

 

I have another suggestion. You can go to the rv.net/forum website and ask a very specific question such as.... I am buying a (insert exact trailer make and model) and want to buy a weight distribution hitch/sway control devise that will work well with it. If you have this trailer, what do you use and how does it work for you. The reason I say this is because you will get 50 replies within an hour and they will all say Reese Dual Cam or Equilizer or some of the high end hitches and you won't know any more than you do now. There will also be a bunch asking you for your actual trailer weights, which you obviously don't have yet. You might as well tell them right off that you have an excursion so that you won't get bashed about towing capability for that size trailer. There is a lot of good advise to get from rv.net, but you need to be specific. In reality, reese dual cam and equilizer are the main brands. Either will probably work fine. What you will need is the spring bar rating to get. The Reese might be better, but is harder to set up and adjust. That's what I have. I never used the equilizer but have heard it works well and is easy to adjust. The high end hitches are probably great. I've never used one of them either. Good luck.

If you drive up to pick it up, you may be able to purchase something at the pickup location and have it installed so you can drive it home. Otherwise, you will need to bring it with you. If that is the case, I suggest Equilizer since you don't need to drill any holes to install it. It bolts on.

 

BTW...awesome advice guys...reps to you guys! (jh818...rep gods have me restrained from passing some your way just yet...I'll get you though!)...

Joe.

 

Great advice on this thread!

I rep'd JH818 for you! The same gods won't let me rep you back yet X_Hemi_Guy (hint hint to somebody).

 

He said it would be $750 MORE than if he went and got it himself not $750 total shipped.

 

I paid $2000 to have a 25" TT hauled to SW Colorado
2 years ago from Orlando, FL (2100 miles EACH way).

Not sure exactly what the OP is referring to when he says $750 "more". I think he means the purchase price is $750 more to have it delivered to NY than it would be to buy it in Miss, but snowseeker has a good point.

As others have stated:
I would say it's a good deal to have it shipped, but
then again it would be a fun trip PLUS being able to inspect it before he pays for it and get help setting up his WD hitch properly before the long drive back.

I wanted to buy local so I could spend weeks looking until we found "the one" we wanted. Then I just paid to
have it hauled out and had it delivered to a friend,
then I flew out a few weeks later to help get it placed
properly.