Does anyone pull your 20'-30' trailer with 1/2ton truck?

[Tigerman81572]

If so, what is your MPG like?

 

[armadafrfs]

Wonder if this thread will get weight police spun up like it does over at RV.net. Anyways, I pull a 33 ft., 7K GVWR trailer with a Nissan Armada. Gas mileage isn't great at about 8-9 MPG, but I knew that going into the purchase of both the trailer and the Armada. I am very happy with the Armada's performance.

 

[U.P. North]

6k 30' with 2010 Toyota Tundra Crewmax 5.7l V8. Is the trailer still back there? i can't feel it!!

towing I get 10mpg

 

[rebelstand]

We pull a 28ft 1971 Airstream with a 2009 F150. 9-10 mpg

 

[big kahuna1]

I pull my own trailer...

 

[minkydog]

We have had two trailers, on the 19ft and one 30ft. We tow with a Ford Expedition 5.4 (the equivalent of a 1/2 ton truck).The gas mileage was exactly the same, 9-10mpg on flat land, 6mpg in the Rockies. However, the difference in the way the trailers handled was like night and day. The 19-footer, with that shorter wheelbase, was lighter and handled like a dream. We hardly even knew it was following us, except for the sucky gas mileage, of course. We traded that one for a larger trailer, 30-ft with a slide. OMG. The difference in handling was remarkable. That was just a whole lotta trailer. Even with all the safety equipment on it, it would give y0u a good physical workout driving from point A to B. Last spring, on a clear, dry beautiful day we flipped our rig 3 times and were lucky to walk away with our lives. Was our tow vehicle rated to pull that much RV? Yes. It had the full tow package. Should we have been pulling it with a mere 1/2 ton. IMO, no. I think if we had had a more powerful truck with a longer wheelbase, we may have been able to avoid the sway or at least,pulled out of it. A hard lesson learned for us.

I'm not the weight/length police. I'm just telling you my experience. I have pulled trailers over 10,000 miles, over the Rockies twice, from sea to shining sea. And what I have learned from experience is that just because you *can* pull a big trailer with your 1/2 ton, doesn't mean you should. YMMV.

 

[keylime359]

We tow our 30' Keystone Outback 5er (2010) with an F-150 (2009). We range from 10-11 MPG. Funny thing is we only get 13MPG w/o the 5er.

 

[rebelstand]

I'm not the weight/length police. I'm just telling you my experience. I have pulled trailers over 10,000 miles, over the Rockies twice, from sea to shining sea. And what I have learned from experience is that just because you *can* pull a big trailer with your 1/2 ton, doesn't mean you should. YMMV.

We heeded the same advice (from my father-in-law). .

 

[armadafrfs]

Minkydog, I am sorry to hear of your accident. I am just curious what kind of sway control you were using on your Expy/30 ft. rig.

 

[minkydog]

Minkydog, I am sorry to hear of your accident. I am just curious what kind of sway control you were using on your Expy/30 ft. rig.

We had a weight-distribution hitch and sway bars. Not the Equalizer kind. I think our next one will have the Equalizer bars. Much easier put on than those blasted iron bars.

 

[kathybrj]

25' Jayco Jayfeather (about 5,500 lbs loaded) gets towed with a 2004 F150 (Triton V8). Weight distribution and sway control installed. Hubby says it tows better than our Coleman Utah pop up. Dual axle on the trailer makes a big difference according to him. We maybe get 8-9 mpg when towing.

 

[armadafrfs]

I use an Equalizer 12K system on my rig. I would definitely use a higher end sway control on a 1/2 ton rig with a longer trailer such as the Equalizer, Dual Cam, or Centerline. After seeing some accident videos on youtube involving 3/4 ton and bigger rigs that ran into sway issues, I would say they are needed for any rig towing a longer trailer. Optimally, I would like to put a ProPride on my vehicle, but that is a little out of the budget at the moment.

Edit: for clarification, I use the E-qual-i-zer brand name hitch with integrated 4 pt sway control. I know the term Equalizer is thrown around a lot, especially by shadier RV dealers, to indicate a basic weight distributing hitch that may or may not have a sway bar included.

 

[starbuc71]

6k 30' with 2010 Toyota Tundra Crewmax 5.7l V8. Is the trailer still back there? i can't feel it!!

towing I get 10mpg

Nice to see another Toyota fan. I have the same truck in this huge market of die hard Ford lovers

 

[Teamubr]

Lots of good advice on here so far but a few comments that may be taken out of context. Don't let the videos and "scarry" stories freak you out. Towing your trailer with your rig is very manageable with the right equipment and prep.

I was a regular on RV.net so I was "one of those". I also tow a lot and have for years. I tow a 31 ft 5th wheel camper or a 33 ft bumper pull race trailer that weighs 11,000 lbs now. Pulled these with F250, F350 and now my F350 dually (because I need a 2 car trailer that will be 46 ft long and over 18,000 lbs.) I have also towed a 33 ft TT with a V8 Explorer and same trailer with a F250. I have never had an issue with sway where I felt unsafe or even uncomfortable. Even in winds or around semi's.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to sway besides the overall length. All of the videos or stories I have seen or read over the years had several factors that caused the crash. Length was a contributor but generally not the cause.

Factors that are much more important than trailer length are:
1. Weight distribution of the load. There are formulas to determine how much weight should be in front of the axles on the trailer and how much tongue/pin weight you should have. Generally at least 10% on the ball of a TT. And you should be "nose heavy" (more weight on front of the axles). Google the formulas.

2. Suspension of the tow vehicle AND the trailer. Both need to be UNDER the limits of the axle. Shocks on the TV also need to be up to the task.

3. Tire type, construction and air pressure. Generally a load range of D or E is best. Many SUV's have passenger Load C tires. The load range should be listed on the sidewall. It is more than max weight rating. D and E load tires have stiffer sidewalls that help with sway. The tires also need to be aired up to the max on the sidewall.

4. Relative wheelbase. A short wheel base SUV like an Explorer do worse (and require more control aids) than longer wheel bases like a F150 crewcab that may not need anything for the same trailer.

Lastly is the equipment you are towing with. "Equalizer" or weight distribution hitches don't do much to prevent sway UNLESS they are a type with sway control as a part of the hitch. Weight distribution does just that. Distributes some of the hitch weight to the front of the TV and back to the trailer. That helps with the load on each axle but that's about it.
True sway controls are what you need. Some "Equalizer" hitches have sway control integrated. There are also seperate friction type controllers that bolt on next to the hitch. Both work if set up correctly. I've never used one, but Hensley Arrow hitchs are supposed to be great, but VERY expensive.

When I towed my 33ft TT (7,000 lbs) with the V8 Explorer, I had a wt distribution hitch with 2 friction sway controls. It did a decent job. It didn't stop sway but "controlled" it.
On my racecar trailer, I have towed from St Louis to Salt Lake City with just a regular drop hitch on a F350 crewcab single rear wheel. No Wt Dist hitch, no sway controls and NO problem. Last winter we replaced the tires on the truck and it felt "squishey" so we bought a wt hitch with sway control. Absolutely no problem. I just bought a F350 dually and I'm back to just using the drop hitch.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I pull my Outback 210rs with my F150 and get about 11 mpg.

 

[Teamubr]

If so, what is your MPG like?

Sorry for the long reply on sway. I realized you originally asked about MPG.

Trying not to be long winded, but it depends how fast you tow. I seem to get around 10mpg no matter what I'm towing and what I'm towing with.

My V8 Explorer with the 33ft TT got 9-10 doing 65. (It didn't like going faster, towing) My 02 F250 diesel with the same trailer got 10-11 towing 75 (or more).

5th wheel and race trailer-10ish with an F350 diesel doing a nice 70.

Don't ask about my former 2008 F250 with 6.4 diesel. 7-8 with the 5th wheel or race trailer. Hence, why it is a "former" truck.

 

[streamerfun]

We pull the 27' Airstream with a good old American wagon. Running at 65 to 70 we get 9 to 12 mpg depending on terrain. Running at 45 to 55 on the twisty back roads we get 14 to 15 mpg. Speed makes the big difference.

 

[Disney Bunny]

We have had two trailers, on the 19ft and one 30ft. We tow with a Ford Expedition 5.4 (the equivalent of a 1/2 ton truck).The gas mileage was exactly the same, 9-10mpg on flat land, 6mpg in the Rockies. However, the difference in the way the trailers handled was like night and day. The 19-footer, with that shorter wheelbase, was lighter and handled like a dream. We hardly even knew it was following us, except for the sucky gas mileage, of course. We traded that one for a larger trailer, 30-ft with a slide. OMG. The difference in handling was remarkable. That was just a whole lotta trailer. Even with all the safety equipment on it, it would give y0u a good physical workout driving from point A to B. Last spring, on a clear, dry beautiful day we flipped our rig 3 times and were lucky to walk away with our lives. Was our tow vehicle rated to pull that much RV? Yes. It had the full tow package. Should we have been pulling it with a mere 1/2 ton. IMO, no. I think if we had had a more powerful truck with a longer wheelbase, we may have been able to avoid the sway or at least,pulled out of it. A hard lesson learned for us.

I'm not the weight/length police. I'm just telling you my experience. I have pulled trailers over 10,000 miles, over the Rockies twice, from sea to shining sea. And what I have learned from experience is that just because you *can* pull a big trailer with your 1/2 ton, doesn't mean you should. YMMV.

Minkydog......I hear you. We were towing a 27/28 foot TT with slideout with our F150 (with the 5.4L engine) with all the appropriate safety equipment also. On a clear, dry day we flipped our rig on I-95......thank goodness only once. When it came time to replace truck and camper, we bought the big
F250 Diesel and a 5th wheel that we knew when fully loaded would give us about 1500 to 2000 lbs leeway. I just don't think you can ever be too safe when towing. I cringe a lot when we are traveling and see what people are towing some of these large, heavy campers with.

 

[armadafrfs]

Nice to see another Toyota fan. I have the same truck in this huge market of die hard Ford lovers

Not to start a brand war thread, but this is why I get excited to see another Armada or Titan owner in a campground. Based on the "show your rig/campsite" thread in this forum, I might be the lone Nissan driver in Fort Wilderness come Dec.

 

[BRDof3]

I pull a 29' Jayco TT, about 5k pounds, with an '08 Toyota Sequoia. We got the Sequoia with a 4.7 because we couldn't find a 5.7 at the time. It could stand a bit more power and a longer wheelbase, but it pulls just fine, even thru the mountains. On relatively flat land at about 60-62 I get in the upper 9's as far as mpg. Wind, speed, and hills will affect that. I'd probably improve it with a dual cam set-up, but it isn't in the budget right now.