So I have been towing a 7000 lb trailer for the past few years and have an opportunity to buy a nice 27ft trailer that is 9000 lbs fully loaded for a really good price.

The X has been towing my 7000 lb trailer pretty good. Not great but good, still has some rear end wander that I have a set of RAS to add to hopefully remedy that? My question is most importantly stopping and second power to pull.

Would you all have any issue pulling a 9000 lb trailer with this setup or should I steer clear?

My setup is as follows:
V10 with 160k, AFE CAI, SCT tuner with tow tune, stock rear springs, V code front springs, Hellwig rear sway, drilled slotted rotors and HD pads.

 

I know there are several v10 guys that tow near that weight a lot. As far as stopping it, I noticed a HUGE difference once I put in the prodigy P3 and I can't imagine pulling without it. We have a 33ft toy hauler that was a weight around 9k.

 

Our towing experience with the EX is almost a duplicate of yours!! Our 24ft (27+ft actual) Jayco weighed aboot 7100# loaded and the EX handled it great. 2 long cross country trips with no problems. Last spring, we bought a new Timber Ridge 280RKS which is about 34ft actual length, and weighs in at over 9000# loaded. It really didn't make much difference in feel, both up and down passes here out west, and in braking. I actually think the new trailer tows better, gets as good mileage or slightly better (maybe shape??), and feels more comfortable at hwy speeds. Trailer axles are further back than the Jayco, so more of a straight line feel?

Our EX is basically stock, 3.73 ratios, only y-pipe rebuild and RAS on the rear. The RAS was well worth it. Yours should handle a heavier, longer trailer very well. Get the RAS on and feel the difference. Another point is having your hitch set up properly. That alone is a big factor in your overall feel on the road.

Biggest problem now is getting into the old camping spots in the mountains with 7 more feet behind me!!!

 

Yea I hear ya! I have the prodigy P3 and makes a big difference however it seems to grab really hard when the brakes get warm while driving around town. So I adjust them to a lighter setting but then it's too light for the highway.
Not sure if it's a controller issue, trailer issue or that's just how it works?

 

Glad to hear you are successfully towing a similar trailer (weight) without issue.
Will get the RAS installed asap and see how that works out.

Question for you on the RAS, I have read that it will raise the rear of the X wondering how much lift you got and if you raised the front to even it out?

 

Do you have a rear sway bar? Helwig or F350 take off seems to be the way to go especially for the wagons.

 

I got maybe an inch lift from the RAS, hardly noticeable. Between that and the sway bar it feels pretty solid and stable.

If I am going through an area with a lot of stops, I'll turn the boost setting off on the P3 and run it on setting 2 on the highway.

 

I do the same thing. While towing the TT in traffic or side streets I will have no boost. On the highway I will have it on boost 3.

 

I`m towing a 9200lb loaded, 35ft long TT. My X has stock springs and a Hellwig rear sway bar and air bags. My tongue weight is 1200lbs. the X has no issues with handling or stopping with my Prodigy P3. Now I do have 4.30 gears, I did tow my trailer twice with the 3.73`s and it wasn't a fun drive, the 3.73`s are marginal with 7k lbs they will not go well with 9k lbs.

 

As the former "Unquestioned V10 tow-master" X_Hemi_Guy Joe once put it, you just have the let the thing rev and do it's work.

 

Yes, but it does that work soooo much better/easier with the 4.30 gears!

My old toyhauler would get real grabby with the brakes in town like mentioned above and I did the same as others have said with backing down the boost when that was needed. However with the new TT (11,000lbs and 41') I no longer get that in town grab, the current setup seems to have pretty uniform good braking manners in all conditions. Maybe with your new trailer the braking will be different also, you'll know after the first few pulls.

Like Coop and Eric said, adding a rear sway bar is a great idea, a new Hellwig made a very noticeable improvement in our trailering control and comfort back when we still had stock springs and were pulling 9,500lbs.

Also as said above by Tuquala proper WD hitch setup is very important to both comfort and safety.

If your future holds plans for lots of towing miles especially with mountains in the mix you may want to explore the idea of a gear swap to get you to an effective 4.30-ish ratio, the V-10 loves that ratio as it puts it into the higher RPM range where it's making more power at cruising speed and those same deeper gears make getting up to that speed easier.

 

Yes it does!

Remember, I drove Jonathan's truck for a week before he sent the transport to come get it. Gotta say, I have mad respect for a V10 with 4.30 gears

One with 3.73 gears just has to work harder is all

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I installed a Hellwig sway bar last year. Made a good deal of improvement towing or just driving around. I will be installing the RAS this weekend and hopefully this combo will give me what I need for towing stability?

I do have a weight distributing hitch with sway control. Nothing fancy just a reese unit with bars and chains like most people use. I was thinking of getting something that might work a little better but don't have 1k to spend on it.
Any recommendations for a good setup to help with load distribution and sway or just make sure what I have is set up correctly?

I have pondered the 4.30 gears in the past but $$ always holds me back and with 4wd that's x2! Any ideas on where/how I could possibly re-gear on a tight budget?

I don't know how much longer I will keep this truck and I don't know if I want to throw alot of $$ at it but I said that from the beginning and it just keeps giving me no reason to get rid of it. Does it's job and just keeps on ticking like a clock.

 

I hear you on the cost of the high end hitches, they do get pretty costly.........however there are deals out there! I found my Hensley Arrow used on Craigslist for $650, typically they are one of if not the most expensive new with a list price around 3 grand! And now that the equally as good Pro Pride hitch has been on the market for several years those too can now be found used with patient shopping.

I would recommend looking into upgrading to some type of WD hitch with built in sway control for that larger TT, there are several great ones available for well under a grand.

Again, patient shopping can pay off with the gears. I got my set of axles with 4.88s that are on my rig thanks to a heads up from a forum member about an ongoing eBay auction. That auction ended with no bidders so I contacted the seller and made an offer, he then reduced the price even more when I told him I would drive from Philly to Wisconsin to pick them up! $1200 for two complete (including brakes) EX axles with 4.88 gears and a locker in the rear. Pretty good deal but an even better one showed up in the Free Parts thread at the top of this page not too long ago, Gots A Sol posted up a set of 4.30 axles for free! Gotta keep your eyes open for good deals and check frequently on several sale sites.

 

So regarding the WD hitch your'e telling me the the one I found locally for $650 is a good deal and I should ****** it up? Does the Hensley have built in sway control?

I will keep my eyes peeled for gears/axles. I just called and got a quote for both axles either 4.10 or 4.33 for $1880.00