Make sure you still have some of the load on the tung otherwise your haul can get a little hairy, the trailer will start getting a mind of it's own and not tow very well.

 

yeah, it's a balancing act opf sorts. But the pulling weight is not what you're gonna have a problem with. It's the tounge weight. The tounge weight is what bottoms out your springs and bulges your tires. The pulling weight has to do with what the drivetrain can handle. a 300I6 can pull most any load, it just can't pull them all fast. the way you have it hooked up should be fine for towing another truck. Just keep the loads from being too terrible on the bumper (about 300 to 500 lbs) and you should be fine.
The way to test how much load you've got on the tounge is to get a piece of wood or steel of a measured length. use the piece piece of wood or steel as a lever and try to lift the trailer from sitting on the ground with this. If you want numbers then try to lift it with a bathroom scale under the lever. This will give you approximately what the tounge weight is. then you can shift the truck around until the load on the scale is approximately 1/5 or 1/4 what you want it to be, depending on the length of your lever. Say 200 lbs on a four foot stick would be 800 lbs, which is a bit much,(and lifting it would suck) but 100 lbs would be about 400 lbs, which is about right. Obviously this is really rough, but trailer hauling is not an exact science. once you get a place you like, you can mark the trailer where you want the truck, and back it on to that place from then on.

 

with most trailers, to load backwards like that will get you a top speed of 45 without fishtailing. For best results, you load forward, and roll the truck back away from the hitch as far as you can until it sits right. Rule of thumb I use is that the seat should be centered between the axles. Depends on the trailer you get as to whether you have any adjustment room or not. I would recommend if you don't have one already, look for a trailer with a 16' or 18' deck length, it will give you additional adjustment room, and will trail better in the end. Not to mention, it gives you the ability to haul extended cabs as well.

 

OK I got a brake controller, its used but its a Tekonsha Voyager with a level and gain rotart switch. It was manufactured in feb of 2002. Now How do I wire this guy up to my truck? Its got a plug but I think thats for use with newer trucks. Also won't I need a different light hookup plug on the hitch to accomadate the trailer brake function? Right now I have a 6 pin round plug and an adapter I made that converts the 6 pin to 4 pin. The 6 pin has seperate brake and directional signal outputs and the 4 pin integrates these two.

 

well, a wiring diagram would be the best thing, because you hook one wire to power, one to the brake light wire, and one goes to your trailer brakes. Cosider this your lucky day, i happen to have a tekonsha voyager laying around, and have the wiring diagram in it.The white wire goes to ground, the black is 12v power, constant,red is from the brake light wire, and the blue is to the trailer brakes. Splice into the brake wire after the brake switch, that gives the signal to the controller to apply brakes. E-mail for any other specifics and I will help if I can.

 

Thanks that will make wiring up the trailer brakes easier Is the Voyager unit any good? It says it can do up to 8 trailer brakes. Does anyone know about the plug on the trailer? Thanks

 

I haven't used it, baught it a while back when i bought my truck, and it ended up having a controller in it, so i haven't worried about it. The trailer plug, truck side, is marked on the back for which does what. If you go to a 7 plug, I don't know the wiring on them. but I can find out, gonna have to learn real soon, will be installing one on my sister's truck.

 

OK I scored! I got the hitch and reciever from a 91 f250 and a 7 pin plug as well for $40 at the wrecking yard after some haggling I also got a 2" and a 2 5/8 " ball. I just need the pin that connects the receiver to the hitch.

 

sorry guy but this, in most cases,is BAD advise. the tounge weight and the center of balance in this situation with get you or someone killed at any kind of travel speed.
I tow with a 1 ton dually crew cab, and I wouldn't think of towing like this, again IN MOST CASES. I have towed like this, but this is why I say please dont try it! the fishtailing that occures is not worth the heart attack!!

when you load the trailer, a good rule of thumb is to load until the bumper on the towing vehicle drops about 1 to 1 1/2". this will give you good tounge weight and a stable load.
try and get the truck and trailer as level as possible when loaded. theis will assist in keeping the load under control at speed.

zwinstead wrote:
ummmm, ever hear of a towing package or camper special?? my truck came factory with a class 5 hitch among many other towing specific items, like an electric brake controller, swaybars, ect.

 

As stated above, that is a very bad idea and I know from experience, look in my green 77 gallery to see why. You WANT tounge weight. If you load the pickup onto the trailer backwards it will lift the rear of the towing vehicle off the ground and it wont be able to control the trailer. BAD IDEA !

 

460 and the other folks are right, don't back onto the trailer. Rule of thumb I have always heard is 10% of the load weight should be on the tongue. If the trailer is out of balence it will not show up until your up to speed. Then the trailer fish tails uncontrollably jerking you all over the road. Definatly go with a tandem axle. I purchased one last year for my business, approximatley $1,300 for a 7 ft x 16 ft with ramps. It is rated for 7,500 pounds, more than the truck I think. Brakes are required for one that large and a dealer is not supposed to sell a new one without them. I tow heavy loads frequently with it and a 1/2 ton truck, no problems.

 

I'll tell you a story about one time I hauled a big ol' Buick Lesabre with a V6 backwards. It was the only way I could get to it, it was a nonrunning car, and it was an auction, so space and loading was limited. I winched it on, tied it down and headed down the road. Everything was going fine for about ten miles, then I was coasting down a hill picking up speed when it broke loose at 60 mph. I was luckily all alone on the road, and had two lanes to work with, and no concern of oncoming traffic. I was however, on a bridge, so space was still limited. The trailer was kicking me around so bad i thought it was going to jack knife at that speed. I did finally gain controll by repeatedly stabbing the brakes, but I really had to clean my shorts after that one. The rest of the way home, it would break loose at about 45, not nearly as severe, but it would start to dance. I have had trailers that let me load backwards, but it doesn't always work out. You still have to load further forward than normal, and end up with the same tongue pressure, and it is more of a pain loading that way anyhow. It is much easier loading forward.

 

Tounge weight should be about 10-15 percent of the trailer weight. If your trailer does start to sway almost every brake controller should have an emergency brake for the trailer brakes. There supposed to lock up the trailer brakes but in reality they may not actually lock them up but will apply them very hard, when you apply the brakes on the trailer, mat the gas in the truck, this will effectly snap the trailer straight as the trailer is trying to stop while the truck is trying to accelerate.

I'de say even pratice this alittle with AN EMPTY TRAILER. Find a big emtpy road or parking lot and at SLOW speeds gently rock the truck side to side so the trailer moves around alittle and hit the trailer brakes/gas pedal and see what happens. knowing how sometihng will react will give you more confidance if an emergency should arise. and always remember to never stand on the brakes if the trailers swaying it will only make the situation worse.

The brake controller you have will work fine, you can buy more expensive ones but for the towing I do I cant see spending the extra money. The cheap ones will still apply the trailer brakes maybe not as smoothly or may not activate the ABS or what ever but they will work fine.

 

If you don't wire the the trailer brakes correctly they will activate even when you use the turn signal. It won't take long to figure out you did it wrong.

 

ok ok I recant. I only tried this when I had a really big load to tow and It didn't have to go far or fast. It's a bad idea on any type of main road or at any high speed. But for a short distance at low speed it worked for me, so I thought I'd share it. in retrospect, perhaps I should have posted the conditions.