I have a 2011 F-250, I just purchased a bumper pull TT. The salesman told me I didn't need a stabilizer hitch just a receiver hitch with a 2 5/16 ball. I talked to a friend that pulls TT and he said that it would be better if I bought a stabilizer hitch. What are y'alls opinions?

 

Without even asking about the weight and length of your new camper, I would strongly recommend you get a weight distribution hitch set up with the friction sway bar.

Unless it is a 12 foot compact unit, you will need a real hitch block for safety and stability. Crosswinds, rhythmic swells in the roads, unusual situations with hard braking and turning, etc... All challenge our fantastic trucks to tame the weight shifting of a 2 to 5 ton trailer with a high center of gravity.

Then, if you purchased a trailer over 24 feet long and weighs more than 3 tons loaded with your gear, you should seriously take measures to get that salesman educated (choose your level of frustration from the standpoint of placing yours and every other family on the road in an un safe situation)

 

It's a used 05 26BH Dutchman

that's what I was kind of thinking. I've pulled TT before with my old truck and always used a distribution hitch. He told me that these trucks have all the trailer sway controls that you don't need the distribution hitch, I was thinking WRONG. then he said if it starts to sway just give a little more throttle and it'll staighten out. I'll spend the extra money and get the hitch!

Thanks

 

I've only pulled flat beds and 24' enclosed trailer and have never used a distribution hitch.

I have always thought it was best/required for TT because they sit higher and have more surface area for wind impacts.

I'd spend the extra money on sway control for a TT for sure.

 

Well, if you have the traction control and the sway control along with it, I know what you are talking about. My truck has it too.

Unfortunately, I personally don't know what the trucks traction control system will do if the trailer starts wiggling a lot, but I really don't want to know either, I'm glad it's there but I would not rely on it to replace physical equipment mechanisms.

And for what it's worth, it is possible to wind up in the ditch upside down no matter how safe we try to be, I am not preaching to you, just throwing this down in case somebody looks this message thread up a year from now....

 

Worth the money, easily for piece of mind. I have the Reese dual cam.

 

Get the WD setup but on a side note, here is Mike Rowe explaining the trailer sway feature in a Ford promo video.
At least for the job 1 2011 builds, trailer Sway Control with Hill Start Assist feature is standard on all pickups according to the order guide.

I'm with ruschejj, I would rather not find out.

2011 Ford Super Duty - Trailer Sway - YouTube

 

I would first go to the salesman and slap him in the head and tell him you did it for me. You bought a 26 foot long camper, BH is bunkhouse as I remember with my old 31 foot Dutchman. I'm pretty sure anyone towing a camper over 20-21 feet long without sway bars is crazy. I've been driving SD Fords and pulling campers over 20 years and would never tow without a sway bar.

My genious brother in law didn't use one, that's the one that totalled the truck and trailer about 5 or 6 years ago when I semi came by him running about 80 mph and started the death shake/wobble.

With these new 250's having soft rear suspensions you may have too much sag too. Have you hooked it up? I have the F350 and hooked up my brothers 24 foot Alumi-Lite and the back didn't sag more than 1/4" if that. But the 350 vs. the 250 are a lot on the 2011's. Do a hook up and look at the camper stance. You want the back of the camper frame sitting about 1/2" higher than the front, maybe 1" at the max.

 

Fordtuf1 brings up a good point I didn't think of, since you have a F250 you're going to be in for a shock on the sag.
I certainly was.
I would have gone F350 for the 2011 knowing what I know now but that can also be fixed easily enough.

 

Get the WD Hitch...money well spent and you will not regret it!

 

I have towed for the best part of 30 years with the Reese Dual Cam Weight Distribution hitch. I also haved towed with an F250 for most of those years with no worry about sagging rear ends. I had a slider sway bar on an older hitch years ago, but never seemed to help more than the Dual Cam did for sway. The weight distribution hitch with the right distribution bars, sized for the Tongue Wt. of the TT, should take care of any sag that others have mentioned. Yes the back will go down if you don't have the spring bars set right but adjusting the spring bars trial and error you will adjust the truck to be riding about level once it's done right. Take a few measurements of the truck front bumper and back bumper, then adjust the spring bars and bring the truck to where the front and back are almost even or as close as possible.
If this seems to be too much, take it to a good quality RV sales and service center. They should be able to get you hooked up and hitched up properly. I have seen way too many people going down the highway with the rigs tongue way up in the air or almost dragging the ground because people didn't know how to hook them up, or just didn't know any better. This could get them hurt, with the trailer going into an oscillation, swaying it's tail like a dog, to where they totally lose control.
I hope you have many a safe trip in your new trailer and happy camping!

 

+3 on the Reese Sway Control hitch. Seems a little expensive, but where we live it costs about $800. A regular hitch costs about $400, so the Reese will in effect only cost $400. If you calculate the total cost of the truck AND trailer, and then calculate the percentage of the total cost that the $400 Reese hitch is, it is the greatest bargain you will ever go camping with.

 

Another thing popped into my mind. When getting a WD hitch, Reese and/or others as there are options, you want to consider and know what the tongue weight is of the TT. I have switched to a 5th wheel about 4 years ago so I'm sure there could be other options now, but when I bought my first hitch I didn't think far enough into the future.

The load distribution bars come in different ranges; some are 500-750 (or about) and some are 900-1200 (or about). My first camper was a 27 foot so I got what the camper dealer set me up with, which was a 750 lb max tongue weight distribution bars. When I went to the 31 foot with super slide I had to get the bigger one, and for me that meant a bigger head for the part that slides into the receiver of the truck. I could have gotten a bigger set altogether with the option of using either size bars, but since I had the smaller setup in the beginning I couldn't just add the heavier bars.

Plan out what you may want in the future, make sure you know the camper's weights. You can find these used, on CL and Ebay, but you need to know what you're buying. It may be worth spending the extra few hundred to KNOW you have what you need, and to get their people to show you the ropes (or chains as it happens to be).

Just saw you were from Wharton, I had an old construction contractor from there back when I lived in SW Houston. Seems like he drove a long way to work everyday now that I think about it. Anyway Happy Camping!

 

Another very satisfied Reese dual cam user here as well. I will not put my families life in danger because some stupid salesman told me I could. Since when do salesmen know anything anyways. I once overheard a salesman at an rv show tell a couple they could tow a 34 ft. TT with an Explorer. It took all I had to not go over there and slap him in the head!

 

I went and picked up the camper yesterday afternoon. I will never buy from this RV dealer ever again. The sales guy was an a$$. He just wanted me to sign some papers pick up the camper and leave. Luckily I borrowed a WD hitch from a friend that has a larger camper. Well the folks that owned the camper prior bought it from the same dealer, it didn't even have the chain hooks on the frame to hook up the bars. So they never had a WD hitch on it, I asked the salesman about a hitch and he was trying to sell me a receiver with a ball on it. So I hooked it up and it barely squatted my rear end. So I carefully drove home with it. I didn't have any problems with it but I will be buying a WD hitch before I pull it anywhere else. You live and learn, luckily I didn't have any problems.