The following is an update on my initial test of my tow setup. All Right – Here goes.

With the trip to Yellowstone 2.5 weeks away I needed to do something to keep the testing and analysis going. I want to make sure that my 2005 6.0 EB EX will tow my 31 foot Travel Trailer easily. Keep in mind that I believe the truck to be stock. I have a Hellwig rear bar setup on order but it has not arrived yet.

I asked my Dad to meet me down at the storage facility. Previously the storage facility had adjusted my hitch to 21.5 inches off the ground (to the top of the ball) and said that this should be the optimum height for towing most travel trailers and they did not consider the trailer I was towing.

I towed the trailer out to the parking lot. Within the trailer is about 75% of the total gear we will take on our trip. No canned food and no water yet but everything else is in it – even the propane tanks are full. The parking lot was fairly large and level although it is older and kind of beat up so I knew it would not measure out perfect on all four corners. Next I unhitched the trailer and pulled the truck up a few feet. The following were the measurements on all four corners of the truck measured from the ground to the center (or highest point) on each wheel well.

Right Front 37
Left Front 37.5 (I believe a low spot in pavement)
Right Rear 38.5
Left Rear 38.5

I also measured the exact height of my Hitch which was exactly 21.5 inches from the pavement to the top of the ball.

LEVELING THE TRAILER
I purchased it without a front to back level on it so I was using my small carpentry level. This part was puzzling. When I put it on the floor of the trailer I had to crank it way up in the front (way over the height of my hitch). My level was happy but when I stepped 30 feet off to the side to observe it did not look level and appeard the front of the trailer was high.

I moved the level to the counter top inside the camper This seemed to help and I lowered it down a bit but it still looked too high and was obviously (to me) way higher than the ball on my truck. Next I tried placing it on the frame itself just behind the propane tanks. This seemed to agree with the counter top as being level but was still too high.

I decided to lower it to about 21.5 inches to the top of the inside of the hitch (where the top of the ball would be). I stepped back to look – now it looked nice and even from the front to back! I looked at the level resting on the frame. It was now showing a downward slope from back to front of trailer. Not a lot but it was not inside the two lines showing it to be perfectly level but it was just inside the secondary lines – not sure what those mean on your standard level. I decided to measure from the bottom of the frame of the TT. When doing this it appeared that the back of the trailer frame was exactly 1 inch above the front of the trailer. I was still a bit confused on the trailer but since it is a trial run I thought I would keep things moving.

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION SETUP
In my earlier post I mentioned I had an equalizer hitch – I realized this was incorrect. I am not sure which brand the WD hitch is but it is not an equalizer hitch – I meant to write “Weight Distribution Hitch” instead. It is the type with the two bars and chains that you crank up to move the weight forward.

Now with the trailer’s weight resting fully on the hitch the back end of the EX was down with the front of the EX pointing more up. About this time one of the RV guys from the storage facility (they sell and service RV’s also) came out to see what we were doing. He said that we need to make sure that the WD hitch bars were raised as to bring the hitch up to the same height as it was prior to the trailer being on it – or 21.5 inches.

I tried one link on the chains to see what that did. It took all my strength to use the pipe to push the hinge over and rachet it up – those of you with the same hitch know how this works. It definitely helped but was nowhere near the height needed. Since I could not reasonably lever 2 links up I used the hand crank to manually raise the hitch up 6 inches and then put the WD bars on and then lowered it.

Still to low – it was now about 20.5 inches and you could visibly see the dip right at the point of the hitch. I raised it back up and added another link now for a total of 3 links. After lowering it back down I stepped back and looked. It looked perfect – and measured out to be exactly 21.5. I measured from the wheel wells:

Right Front 37.5 (down ¼ inch)
Left Front 37.25 (even)
Right Rear 37 (down 1.5 inches)
Left Rear 37 (down 1.5 inches)

Everything looked pretty close but clearly I had added weight to the rear of the vehicle. When looking at the WD bars which look to be about an inch and a half of solid steel I could now see a slight curve as they transferred the weight forward. A little concerned I mentioned it to my dad. He thought this was a good thing and they were doing their job. We hooked everything else up and attached the new friction anti sway bar guessing at the correct amount of tightening.

TEST RUN
As we pulled out I could feel that the trailer now felt like a part of the EX instead of a loose appendage dangling behind the vehicle. Worked great at 45mph. After getting to the freeway I cranked it up to 75mhp. WOW! I could barely tell it was behind me. I was dumbfounded after the initial towing experience getting it from the seller to the storage facility. This is an awesome tow platform!

We took a short trip south out of Minneapolis for about an hour. There was no wind at the time. I could easily drive it with one hand and while chatting. I could simply not feel any sway at all. The only time I could feel the trailer was going over a bump which, due to the length of the truck trailer, bumped the hitch/hinge point. Other than that – nothing. Since it is Saturday there were not a lot of truckers on the road but one did come up behind me and pass me during the trip. As his cab was creeping half way up the trailer I could feel the trailer getting sucked in a bit and again as his rear pulled ahead away from me. There was a little sway but manageable. The sway was more like a sideways slight bump and not sway. Probably something you want to have both hands on the steering wheel for but not an emergency. I would guess that a 30 mph side wind would make life a little more interesting.

Overall I am pretty happy. I do not plan on changing a thing until after the trip. This works. The only complaint I can make is the steering play. Not that big of a deal but there is ¼ to ½ inch of play between left and right steering corrections. Why Why Why? It only has 33k miles. I can live with it for now but seriously - someone must have a good solution for this. I have a friend who bought a Tahoe because he hated the play in the steering while TEST DRIVING a NEW TRUCK.

That is my test run – probably more info that most of you needed but I want anyone else with questions to be able to read my thought process. I have towed similar trailers in the past but was concerned in getting it right before the Yellowstone trip especially since I purchased the EX 6 weeks ago and the trailer 2 weeks ago.

Thoughts or questions?

 

Your set up sounds about right. The only way to tell for sure is to make a trip the the scales. Weight the whole combo, then unhook the bars and reweigh, and finally disconnect the trailer and weigh the truck by itself. You will be able to calculate your tongue weight and the weight of the TT and the Ex. Also the amount of weight distribution. About 13% of the TT weight should be the tongue weight. As to the passing semi's, thats the bow wave of the semi you are feeling. And it will try to suck you in, just stay to the right and keep and eye out for them in the mirrors. Oh one last thing, most TT tires are only rated for 65 mph. Good luck on your trip and let us know how it goes. John