Thank you again for all of the helpful advice! I am pleased to say that our first venture out with the new TT was a success. Towing felt good, took it slow and easy. We averaged 9 MPG on flat Florida highway staying around 63-65MPH. No big surprises during the stay at Hillsborough River State Park here in Tampa. Calm, just as we had hoped.
On our way to camp we did have the opportunity to quickly pass through a CAT station and get weighed fully loaded with the TT attached (we didn't unhook). Looking at the numbers, although we were 194 lbs over the TV GVWR, I feel confident that we are within our TV limits for the tow, but I would like your take.
GVWR - 6422
Max Tow - 7400
Curb Weight (includes fuel and necessary fluids to run, according to dealer) - 4966
Payload capacity - 1440
Tongue Max - 740
Tire cargo load max - 2600
GCWR - 12,800
We ran without fresh water, as we plan to do on all trips. The measurements when hitched front and back on the truck were pretty level, as was the trailer front to back. We had the hitch ball tilted slightly back o allow for more tension on the bars (Reese Dual Cam WD, 750LB bars) and we had the bars with three links of tension, five hanging free. The tension was just enough that I could hand-set the bar chains - the dealer set up allowed for me to unmount the chain one-handed, so we adjusted.
Thanks again, I look forward to reading your opinions!
Melissa
2008 Keystone Hideout 23RKS
2005 Nissan Titan 4x2 KC SE w/o BT
12,080 GCWR loaded for the woods
Next time you get a chance weigh the truck by itself, and also weigh the rig without the bars hooked up. From this info you can get all your values. But for now you know you are 178#'s over your truck GVWR, but OK on GCWR. So move a couple of hundred pounds to the trailer from the truck. Once you get those other values you can get tongue weight, plus actual GW of the trailer and the truck by subtraction. You can also figure out how well your Weight Distribution is set up.
05 F150 FX4 Supercrew, 5.4, 3.73 LS, Jordan Ultima 2020 Brake Controller,
04 TrailCruiser 30QBSS, Battery Disconnect,
Dual Cam HP, Ultra Fab Power Tongue Jack, Bal Lockarm Stabilizers
NHguy wrote: So move a couple of hundred pounds to the trailer from the truck.
Thanks for the quick reply!
That was my thought - we had a cooler full of ice, two bins of food, clothes, and my camera gear (heavy) all in the truck, so next time, load all of that in the TT. My concern with that is, will it make the truck too light compared with the TT? My understanding was that the payload of the truck should be somewhat comparable to the load in the TT forward of the axle. Does it matter? Or will the tongue weight of the TT with the WD offset the forward TT weight? Our floor plan has a rear galley, so it was kind of an issue getting enough tension on the bars as the rig is a lot heavier towards the rear, even with the forward under-compartment packed up.
Melhow wrote: We had the hitch ball tilted slightly back o allow for more tension on the bars (Reese Dual Cam WD, 750LB bars) and we had the bars with three links of tension, five hanging free. The tension was just enough that I could hand-set the bar chains - the dealer set up allowed for me to unmount the chain one-handed, so we adjusted.
Good to hear that your first outing was successful.
On the adjustment of your hitch, you need to tilt the hitch head back a lot more. You should have at least 5 links under tension when they are drawn up. This is not as important when using the Dual Cam system but three links is not enough. The ends of your bars must be pointing up when they are drawn up. They should be level or slightly pointed downward.
In addition, you should not be able to draw up the chains by hand without raising the tongue and truck combined. If you don't have a lot of resistance on those bars, you are not transferring much weight and the sway control of the Dual Cams is not as effective.
I would take a look at this sticky post when you get a chance and then re-do you hitch set up.
It certainly does not sound like you have it set up right now.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch
2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD
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Melhow wrote: We had the hitch ball tilted slightly back o allow for more tension on the bars (Reese Dual Cam WD, 750LB bars) and we had the bars with three links of tension, five hanging free. The tension was just enough that I could hand-set the bar chains - the dealer set up allowed for me to unmount the chain one-handed, so we adjusted.
Good to hear that your first outing was successful.
On the adjustment of your hitch, you need to tilt the hitch head back a lot more. You should have at least 5 links under tension when they are drawn up. This is not as important when using the Dual Cam system but three links is not enough. The ends of your bars must be pointing up when they are drawn up. They should be level or slightly pointed downward.
In addition, you should not be able to draw up the chains by hand without raising the tongue and truck combined. If you don't have a lot of resistance on those bars, you are not transferring much weight and the sway control of the Dual Cams is not as effective.
I would take a look at this sticky post when you get a chance and then re-do you hitch set up.
It certainly does not sound like you have it set up right now.
Barney
Thanks for the reply. The bars are pointed down, probably at a 40 degree angle from the connection to the hitch to the cams. In setting the bars by hand, I mean when the hitch is just set on the ball and still raised, we place the chain (third link) and then we use the metal pipe supplied to us and pull down on latch to raise the chain into place and set tension. It's a two-handed job with some force to press that pipe down and set the chain. Then we lower the jack and complete the set-up (break-away chains and locking pin). The chains have ground clearance, but we are concerned about turning - I observed a sharp turn when we were practicing, and the bars did not hit the hitch.
We will need to play around and see if tilting the ball back more allows for more links under tension. Learning cuve.....
* This post was
edited 05/07/08 10:47am by melhow *
Quote: ...pull down on latch to raise the chain into place and set tension.
Pull down? I have never seen a WD hitch where you pull down on the pipe to tension the bars. What brand hitch is this? Do you have any pictures?
Quote: The chains have ground clearance...
Don't quite understand this one either. The lowest point on the Dual Cam should be the cams themselves - not the chains. I am very confused. Sure hope you have a picture.
Barney
Quote: ...pull down on latch to raise the chain into place and set tension.
Pull down? I have never seen a WD hitch where you pull down on the pipe to tension the bars. What brand hitch is this? Do you have any pictures?
Quote: The chains have ground clearance...
Don't quite understand this one either. The lowest point on the Dual Cam should be the cams themselves - not the chains. I am very confused. Sure hope you have a picture.
Barney
No pics of the hitch set up yet, so this is the best I can do for now....
To raise the chain, the pipe goes over the little knob that the chain is attached to. To add tension to the bar, I raise the pipe from the lowest position while attached to the knob to the highest position.
As far as clearance, I meant the cam, not chain....
We adjusted the ball about 10 degrees down towards the TT.
Thanks for clearing that up! You had me going for a minute when you said "In setting the bars by hand, I mean when the hitch is just set on the ball and still raised, we place the chain (third link) and then we use the metal pipe supplied to us and pull down on latch to raise the chain into place and set tension. It's a two-handed job with some force to press that pipe down and set the chain"
The "pull down on latch to raise the chain" and "press that pipe down" really had me scratching my head.
By the way, notice that, in the Reese picture above, they have 5 links under tension. That is the way it should be. If you have fewer than that, then you need to put more tilt in the hitch head.
Barney
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