Is your trailer too long?

[Davexxxx]

Many of us have gone through the tow guides, sorting towing capacity, from available payload, how to set up a WDH etc. but I hadn't run across this one before.



According to that, I'm a little over a foot too long.

At just shy of 30' and right at 7500lbs, my rig tows fine and I don't know how much longer it would take before it crossed a line but intuitively, I know that eventually, wind would be a factor.

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[{tpc}]

The guy isn't wrong. Personally, I feel I am at my limits with my 31ft trailer. But I know people who pull 35/38 ft trailers and don't break a sweat doing so. But I also monitor things like weather conditions when I am going to be towing, and have been known to stop occasionally to wait out some weather patterns.

 

[mrtull]

I tow a 24.5 ft rig because I don’t want any longer, but I’ve learned a lot about wheel base and hitch weight matter. I think unscrupulous RV dealers convince people their truck can handle an RV to get the sale, safety be damned!

 

[Davexxxx]

The guy isn't wrong. Personally, I feel I am at my limits with my 31ft trailer. But I know people who pull 35/38 ft trailers and don't break a sweat doing so. But I also monitor things like weather conditions when I am going to be towing, and have been known to stop occasionally to wait out some weather patterns.

We were in Utah last yr. when a bad, 2 cell storm hit. Luckily for us, timing and route had us going between them, so never got the worst of it but the Wife was driving and not having fun at it.

I told her so long as the Road Tractors and Trailers were moving, so could we, just slow down until comfortable.

Then we passed a camper, flipped over on it's side.

Still didn't stop but slowed down to 40 until we were through it.

 

[Buyer2021]

Is your trailer too long?

Nope.

Not just because the nose-to-tail length of my 5500# GTWR trailer is only 21', but the 'rules and equations' are completely different for a 5th-wheel with the pivot-point over the rear axle instead of behind the bumper. Yes, I'm well-within my truck's payload and all other load / tow ratings including frontal area.

My overall rig-length is actually 2 inches less than with my previous 17' bumper-pull RV.

I've towed in some really obnoxious wind situations .... "sway" just isn't in my vocabulary, the rig is always as steady as a rock. Gotta love a well-matched 'fiver'!

 

[ChrisBaja]

Ours is 28ft, 6800 lbs. Have towed it about 50,000 miles over the past 2.5 years without issue.

 

[Ranger621]

I've got a 29 foot RV and tow it with my short wheelbase F150 using a pro-pride hitch. It tows as good as any 5th wheel. no sway at all. It wasn't cheap, but safety and piece of mind was more important.

 

[J17GT]

Using his math I just squeak under the max length by 1/4” with my enclosed car trailer. With my Weigh Safe WDH I never experience sway. It’s like the trailer is on a railroad track behind the truck. Only thing I don’t like is the ‘truck suck’ with semis.

 

[Davexxxx]

Using his math I just squeak under the max length by 1/4” with my enclosed car trailer. With my Weigh Safe WDH I never experience sway. It’s like the trailer is on a railroad track behind the truck. Only thing I don’t like is the ‘truck suck’ with semis.

I use a weigh safe too.

Really like it.

 

[Brent@ANParts]

Interesting, something I hadn't thought much about but good to know. I don't tow anymore (other than the occasional car hauler), but I used to tow a 39' with an F350.

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