I have a 2003 F350 with a 11 foot slide-in camper. I would like to tow a small (4' x 8') Wells Cargo trailer behind but have a couple of questions.
The trailer toungue in 36" long which is about the length from the hitch receiver on the truck to the end of the camper. If I put on an 18" hitch extendor would that be adequate room for the trailer to clear the camper in turns. The information I read cautioned against using more than one extendor. Also, would the 18" extendor make the trailer unstable at highway speeds. The trailer weighs about 625 lbs empty and has a payload capacity of 1500 lbs. The only expereice I'vd had with trailers (other than 5th wheel) is pulling a 20' camping trailer with a drawtite hitch. Is that something that could be applied to a samll trailer? Any information would be appreciated.

 

Since your trailer doesn't weigh much and probably doesn't have alot of tongue weight, you can likely use a hitch extension of the right length (probably about 24-30 inches) to get the trailer tongue out from underneath the camper overhang and help out your turning ability, if your hitch is a Class IV or above. The long extension acts like a lever on the hitch and makes the trailer's tongue weight seem heavier than it is, to the hitch, which is why I say a class 4 or above for such a light trailer. Check out www.reeseprod.com under the Titan hitch section and they have some long hitch extensions that are rated for a descent amount of weight.

You can also check out www.superhitch.com (made by TorkLift, the camper tiedown people) they have a special double-barrled reciever hitch that is designed for towing with very long hitch extensions behind extended truck campers. It uses chains tightened on each side in a triangle to stiffen the hitch extension from side to side movement, and an over-under double bar arrangment that allows it to carry quite a bit of weight so far away from the frame hitch. It would be overkill for your application and is not exactly cheap, but is something to look at should you decide to tow a heavier trailer behind your camper at some point in the future.

One note of caution- because large slide in campers are sooo heavy and a trailer's tongue weight adds onto the weight the truck is already carrying, especially being so far behind the rear axle, watch that you don't overload the truck beyond the GVWR and especially the rear GrossAxleWeightRating, and of course the tire ratings.

Check out www.RV.net in the Truck Campers forum for more help and ideas.