Hey, I am wondering if anyone tows with a camper in the bed?I know some can be heavy.How much do you guys tow with the bed loaded. I am thinking of trying this while towing a race car trailer with an automatic trans. What do yous think?

 

Ive been using my 93 with the auto to do this. Its pretty much stock with the exception of a hipo pump, and HD trans cooling (2 coolers). Youll need this if its hot or lots of hills. My camper, Im guessin weighs around 1800 loaded. the truck has air bags that I used only once when we pulled a stock trailer and 2 horses. The trailer was at 6k I figure. We still got 14 mpg or so. You could tell it was there, but no problems. A good part of the trip was in the mountains, one section is a climb from 2k ele to 6k in just a short distance. Steep as Ive seen. I only used OD on flat ground, you could tell when the truck didnt like it even if the trans temps didnt get to high. just felt bad. The biggest problem heat wise was going real slow climbing a dirt road in 1st gear. I would install trans temp guage also. All in all, I wouldent worry if your rig is in good condition.

 

Thanks Apache, I hope to get a camper and see the country again.It has been over 10 yrs since I have been out west past Ohio!

 

I would recommend a full set of gauges for heavy towing egt trans temp and fuel pressure you would be suprised how high egt's get while towing and fuel pressure is critical in a vp44 truck

 

Yes, yes, yes!......get trans temp, and egt gauges....at least....My slide in is VERY heavy.......right around the 4000 lb mark loaded to go and I tow my Jeep on a car hauler w/ some extra gear which is around another 7500 lbs with no problems. Get a good brake controller and depending on how much over hang your camper has, get a heavier receiver or at least a weight-distributing hitch. I have found the W-D hitch makes a big difference in how well the truck tows when the slide-in is in the back.......and oh yes,......don't forget to add a little more power!!

 

C-D NUT, OR?,

With an 11' slide in, do you use a reese extension? I was wanting to do the same as you, but was wondering about the camper/trailer clearance.


thank-you

 

Yeah, Im curious also, mine is a 8 footer, bought it for that reason of being even with the bumper. How much can you safely extend it?

 

I made my own extension that slides into the receiver.......I used a piece of 2" square bar that slides into the receiver with a piece of 2 1/2" .220" wall square tube welded over the other end that accepts the hitch. Depending on what you are towing, how heavy the tongue weight is and the length of your extension, you may want to use a W-D hitch.......for my application with a somewhat heavy tongue, 32" extension and a very heavy slide-in, the W-D hitch was a must. It makes a huge difference in how the truck tows and handles and takes some of the load off your receiver. I plan on upgrading my receiver to a class 5 because I think I may be pushing the limits of the factory class 4 with the extension.

For all the best info on towing with slide-ins and related hardware, go to the tork-lift website (tork-lift.com, I think). They have a chart that shows how much receiver capacities diminish with extensions. They also make a super heavy duty receiver for towing heavy with long extensions.

 

Thanks, BTY I was reading your sig, sounds like 1 nasty jeep you have. Bet it makes a unstopable mudwhomper.

 

CTD-nut


Thank-you, Iplan on towing a 4-place snowmobile trailer that weighs about 7500 hopefully I won't have any issues.

 

The Reese Titan V receiver is another HD unit to consider. It costs considerably less than the Torklift setup.

I haul a 4100 lb camper, and tow a 7000 lb. trailer with a 28 inch Titan V extension.

 

I towed a two horse trailer and had a 9 1/2 ft slide in camper. I had a hitch made for the truck that would work with up to a 12 ft slide in camper. The hitch could be extended out and worked well with equalizer bars. The bumper was attached to the hitch and would come out woth the hitch. Once extended it took six schedule 8, 5/8 inch bolts to secure it but with the live weight I could not afford to loose the load. It was built with heavy duty channel iron, 2 inch tubing and 1/2 inch flat bar strenghteners. It was custom made and as the maker said it would pull the gates off of hell if it had to, When you tow with an extender and with equalizers you need to be well built to handle the stress of the extension.

 

Yeah, it breaks lots of stuff, too......

 

Hey Roadrunner,
My camper also is about 4k lbs. loaded ready to go, and i tow a homemade 8x12 steel frame wood deck snomachine/4wheeler trailer with a 36" Reese extension. The trailer weighs about 1450#, and a sled/4whlr weighs about 500# ea. Only two machines at a time on this....one kind or the other, because usually there's other stuff on it too....firewood, coolers, xtra fuel, etc. I'd say the trailer weight loaded is never over 3k lbs. I can't even tell it's back there while driving.
If you're going to be towing heavier than that, I'd go with a class V receiver and a Superhitch. Please use approprite safety chans too!