I am looking at buying a used Raptor 3018. I cant do the 5ver thing for certain reasons. Can anyone shed sone light on towing one of these units with similar? And what setup do you use. My concern is the weight and length. I don't want the tail waggin the dog!
THanks
Great Forum!
2007 GMC Sierra Classic 2500 HD 6.6 Duramax/Allison
A garage of Harleys
1 Mutt
2 Cats
3 Kids
and a wife
I tow a 2005 Raptor 3018TT with my F-250 6.0L so I would think your 2500 is plenty of truck. I will say this, it is a heavy load going through mountains but as long as the breaks are in good shape and you get a good controler, you should be fine. I had someone pull out in front of me last November and thought I was going to cream them, but with 6 tires on that heavy trailer, it stopped me short of hitting them.
I am not going to travel I-75 between Valdosta and Atlanta because of the traffic. Unless your willing to go 50-55 in the slow lane, you have to travel at 75-80 and thats a bit much for me.
Make sure you get a good weight distribution hitch and that you setup correctly. It will make a huge difference in towing.
Not quite apples to apples but thought I'd add my 2 cents....
My trailer is "bumper tow" 32 foot (internal mesaurement) that weighs roughly 9,000 pounds empty, closer to 11,000 loaded. The actual length is about 36' from the hitch to the end of the trailer. I'm towing it with a F-250, completely stock.
My observations on a large trailer and a 3/4 ton truck:
- The diesel is plenty of motor, the 5 speed auto trans works great.
- The truck at 7200 punds is plenty to control the weight.
- The brakes work fine (with a good controller), the trailer is capable of stoppping it's own weight.
- Even if the brakes failed the truck could stop it.
- With moderate anti-sway it's very stable. The wind actually pushes the truck INTO the wind because there is more trailer in front of the axles. Weird feeling but very nice because it helps fight a crosswind for you.
- Tongue weight can be an issue. Fully loaded I'm at between 1400 and 1500 pounds (I put weight behind the axles). Unloaded it's higher, I actually don't like to tow that way.
- Your stock hitch might not make it, check the ratings. Make sure you leave room in your figures for the trailer to be 20% heavier than the stickers say it is. Keystone/Raptor stickers are better than most.
- Yes, I know that the good weight distribution/anit-sway hitches are expensive but you should ask youself: when the tail is wagging the dog and you are sliding sideways on the freeway (with your wife, 3 kids, 2 cats and 1 dog) at 60mph (or more) how much would you pay to make it only a bad dream and not reality?
Hope this info helps!
Don't take life too seriously, it's not permanent.
06 Weekend Warrior FSC3200 pulled by 05 Ford F250 PSD 4x4
07 Yamaha YZF450 White/Silver, 05 Yamaha YFZ450 White/Red
94 Husqvarna WXC610, 2008 Polaris RZR 800
You have plenty of truck to pull that trailer. The only place you may encounter frustration is if you head for some big mountains...last I checked, there aren't many near Florida.
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