Pulled the new camper on our family vacation this week. Camper I would say weighs about 8500 loaded up. Is 37ft hitch to bumper. Truck is a stock 05 ccsb 4x4 v10. Truck performed flawlessly. Used torque pro app on a galaxy 3 tablet to monitor vitals. Towed just shy of 500 miles round trip. Tranny temp never reached above 175 deg. Had more sway on trailer than I thought I would but didn't have sway bar super tight. Just tightens it down with 2 fingers until I get a lot of resistance. Should have went a little more. But all in all love the truck. Mpg was right around 8 with towing speed between 60-65. That's it just thought I would share a good towing experience with everybody.

 

Yeah, the V-10 makes for a nice reliable but thirsty tow platform.
37' is a lot of trailer to be relying on a single friction type sway device. You may want to consider looking into a WD hitch with built-in sway control like the Reese's Dual Cam or one of the others in that price range, then there are the sway elimination hitches that cost a bit more but really do deliver on eliminating all sway, the Hensley Arrow and the Pro Pride. The last two are pricey new but can be found used on CL or eBay frequently, I got my used HA off CL for $650 and just repacked the bearings and repainted it, works perfectly. Our travel trailer is 41' long and weighs 11k, the HA keeps it totally sway free behind our 137" wheelbase Excursion.
Safe travels!

 

Thanks for the info. I was thinking maybe adding a second friction bar for a more economical solution. What do you think of those setups.

 

ncl, always good to hear from a happy V10 owner

 

Yes indeed. Never lacked power at all. And to get 8 mpg towing when truck normally gets 10 unladen was great. My previous truck a 2012 f150 5.0 scb would get 8 pulling a smaller, lighter camper. So I couldn't be happier. Very glad I did not go the diesel route. With only putting 5k or less miles a year on my trucks it def. wouldn't have paid off. Now to save pennies for a 5 star once I get the 77 wood hauler back into commission.

 

Personally, I don't think very highly of them on the size trailer we are talking about.
I used to pull a 9.5k 31' toyhauler using a Draw-Tite WD hitch with a single friction bar and it was inadequate in that application. The leverage provided by a longer trailer is significant, and in my opinion the friction type bars are not enough to control a sway event in a long trailer. Getting individual axle weights on the tow vehicle and trailer needs to be done to verify the actual tongue weight and ensure that the tail of the trailer isn't too heavy, that will generate sway.
Having used both, I feel the better hitches are worth every penny. Compare the cost of a good quality hitch (new or used) to how much you have invested in your truck and trailer, the cost for safer travel isn't really that high.

 

Do you thimk the equalizer or dual cam would be a good fit?

 

I haven't used either personally but I have read tons of positive towing reports and stories from users of both, they both seem like quality units that work well and are very popular. I have spoken with a couple of other campers who have used both and they both agreed that the Dual Cam worked better for them on their longer trailers.
While you shop for these be sure to also check on Craigslist for a used Pro-Pride or Hensley Arrow hitch too! . I just had to throw that out there again, I'm a huge fan of these pivot point projection hitches and for pulling long heavy trailers like ours there really is nothing better.
You may also want to ask around the towing forum here at FTE to get others input and experiences.

 

I have the Equal-i-zer HD hitch on my setup with my 11,000 lb Airstream; the hitch weight is around 1,000 lbs. No sway at all. I also switched from ST tires to a Michelin LT tire on the Airstream and that made alot of difference as well. MOre stable and alot less blowouts. ST tires have a bad history of tread separation.

 

Pappy you are right on with the tires. My father will be doing just that on his when the originals wear out as will i. My father wants load range e for his camper to get rid of the weak sidewalls the stock tires have.