You really need to look into the TL Hitch. The TL stands for Torque Lift, and it has dual bars. There are pictures of a couple of them on this excellent post.
I was not able to get a link to Torque lift, but perhaps someone will help, or start a new post for "Where to buy a Torque Lift hitch."
When I googled Torque Lift, I found the post above.
I am not sure how much weight the hitch can handle, and I think there are very few trucks that can handle 14,000 pounds of trailer, 1,500 pounds of hitch weight and a camper too.
So are you using a F-450 or a F-550 to tow this?
I don't think a dually GM or Dodge will be strong enough.
I know that many cowboys use a torque lift to tow a 7,000 - 8,000 pound horse trailer along with a large camper. But 14,000 pounds is a lot more than many pickups can carry - even without the weight of the camper too.
Fred.
Money can't buy happiness but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche or Country Coach!
Garth466 wrote: I have an 07 Dodge 2500 diesel. I'm not worried about moving the weight, I hauled Dad's car trailer with my AF 860. I downgraded to an older longer camper (10.9 Western Wilderness). This camper weighs about the same as the AF did but I didn't have to deal with the rear overhang.
My Dad gave me a name of a welding shop that he knows of that specializes in towing mods. I want to be safe and legal as economically as I can.
Holly Cow!
You want to tow up to 9,000 pounds with a truck that is already over it's GVWR? Have you ever taken your truck to a scale?
I know that you will have adaquate horsepower, but you don't have the capacity to transfer another 500 pounds off the rear axle when you put 1,500 pounds on the hitch pin that is 60" or 75" behind the rear axle.
With a F-450 you would have the 5,000 + pounds of cargo rating, and the ability to transfer weight onto the rear axle.
With a 150" wheelbase, when you apply 1,000 pounds to a hitch ball that is 75" behind the rear axle, you will transfer off about 500 pounds from the front axle, and put an additional 1,500 pounds on the rear axle - more than what is there now. So if you had a dually with an extra 2,000 pounds or more of rear axle capacity, it might be do-able, but with a 2,500 series truck, it will overload the GVWR, and likely overload the rear axle amd tires as well.
05 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT SC DRW 4X4 CTD G56 373's CAI,Edge Juice/Attitude,Jake,Rancho9000x,Torklift tie downs,Superhitch,Stable Loads
04 S&S Avalanche 9' with slide 26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969.
Over in the trailer section they have mentioned a few I've not heard of. I had a Dodge 3500 with a PullRite Camper Special hitch. Rated 2000# tongue 20,000 pull and that was at 14 to 16 inches past the bumper. To extend it out to the full length dropped the tongue weight to 1400# at maximum extension. I believe that was around 54 to 56inches past the bumper. The TL with the 48" extension is rated at 1200#'s tongue weight. There are other lesser known brands than Reese and Torklift that others use. I use TL on my setup.
I have a Ford F350 Dually and the Torklift Superhitch. Not trying to bash you, but I would not even think about towing that 14k trailer behind it WITH my TC. You'll be WAY over your GCVW rating.
If you have even the slightest problem with your trailer brakes, you're toast.
Boatycall wrote: I have a Ford F350 Dually and the Torklift Superhitch. Not trying to bash you, but I would not even think about towing that 14k trailer behind it WITH my TC. You'll be WAY over your GCVW rating.
If you have even the slightest problem with your trailer brakes, you're toast.
Boatycall has a F-350 dually with a GVWR of 13,000 pounds, and that is 4,000 pounds more than the Dodge 2500 series GVWR.
I REALLY think that you are overloading your truck with the camper, and would not consider towing more than a small cargo trailer when you already have such a large camper on such a lightweight truck.
Now if you upgrade to a F-450 and don't have olverloaded tires, then towing a trailer in the 8,000 + pound range can be considered, because it will not cause the axle or tires to be overloaded.
But to tow 14,000 pounds with a 1,500 pound (give or take) hitch weight, and carry a 3,500 - 5,000 pound camper at the same time, that requires a F-550 with a custom body to hold up the camper. I saw pictures of a really nice F-550 supercab with a tool box storage body on it, and it looked great, has a 17,000 pound GVWR, and could tow your trailer - even if it has a 2,000 pound hitch weight without a problem.
Right now, I suggest that you find a ligher camper or a heavy duty truck. Yes I know that the Dodge has enough horsepower, and the air bags can bring the rear of the truck up 4-6" higher. But you still have those rims that are rated at less than 3,200 pounds with over 3,500 pounds on the rear ones.
I have a Dodge 2500 with a TowBeast. At 24" it's rated 800/8,000. You might push it to 9,000. I carry an 8' camper that weighs 1800lbs. But my truck has about 1,000 lbs higher payload than yours (slightly over 3,000 lbs) because it's a stripper ST with Hemi and 2WD.
I agree that the CTD will move your load no problem, but with the race car trailer you'll have a combined weight of around 24K lbs, and that is a lot of weight...
Have fun, good luck. FWIW race car guys use their stuff a lot harder than most RV'rs since they attack the problem as a professional work issue rather than a recreational deal. My buddy tows a 22K GVWR 48' triple axle fifth wheel with a 2001 Ford F350 crew cab, chipped, and while it gets lousy mileage, it gets him to the track every week without fail.
Brian
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab, Hemi, 5 speed manual, 3.73 gears, Tow Beast hitch with 24" extension.
28 ft race car hauler, Lola T440 Formula Ford, NTM MK4 Sports Racer
2004 Travel Hawk 8' Truck Camper - Roll at 16K combined weight
I've talked to so more people after reading the first few posts. Since I've been here, it seems that most other posts are in agreement with the first few and in agreement with what I've researched. The custom welding shop told me to just go with TL, so that's what I'll do. I'm going to put air bags under it and going to go ahead and also going to put the clips on my trailer for weight distribution. I'll never let it weigh 14,000 lbs, though with that set up it is supposed to be good at 28" to 12,000. The most it will be is the trailer with two Willys CJ3A's on the back (so no more than 9,000)
I don't like feeling the least bit out of control. I hoping this camper, though the same weight, feels a little better than the last one. The AF860 was so tall and there was so much weight up high with the slide and the fact that the thing was just plain tall. I haven't measured, but I know this camper is probably more than a foot lower on the truck. I won't get a feel for it until I get my Stable-Lift put on so I can actually drive it somewhere.
The shop is going to put the Torque Lift on my truck for a little under $1k. The Reese Tow Beast would be about $300 cheaper but would technically be under rated for what I want to do.
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