I've been thinking a lot about the issue with towing a trailer when using a camper with a large overhang, especially now that I ended up buying one with said large overhang
I know many people have had good experiences with the class V hitches plus the extensions, and I don't see it as a bad option. But in thinking outside the box, so to speak, I've been thinking about building out a frame extension off the truck instead. Quite literally, extend the frame of the truck approx 2 feet, and build a hitch into the extension.
I can already see many people cringing at the thought of that level of modification to their shiny new truck, but mine is a 1965, and I have FAR less invested into it, so I'm much more inclined to do heavy modifications without losing sleep at night Just as an FYI, I'm no stranger to this level of fabrication work, as one of my current projects is a full gut/rebuild of a 1965 IH Scout, including a full drivetrain swap of V8 power, 1 ton axles, and frame stretch on both ends - 6" front, 8" rear to acheive additional wheelbase and additional support for the cage/rear tire swingout.
Anyways, the kicker for this is that I'd want it removeable - no point in carrying that extra 2 feet of frame when the camper isn't mounted. What I'm thinking is similar to what is being done here - http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=59046 only using box tube instead of C-channel, and instead of welding it to the frame, I was thinking of welding in a section of 2.5" hitch tube into the frame rails, and 2" hitch tube into the extension part so that it would be removable like a normal drawbar. Also, I'd be gusseting a drop if needed, unlike what the poster on that forum did. I wouldn't be copying his design, more so just using that as an rough example of what I'm thinking...the ol' "pictures are worth a thousand words"
So basically I'd be using the truck frame itself as the receiver, and basically just making my own extended drawbar, albeit quite a bit larger than normal. Seems to me that this would be a considerably more stable setup, at a greatly reduced cost compared to the typical Class V hitch+extension considering I'm only paying for the raw steel (estimating cost of steel and materials to be less than $100 for what I'd need), and I can weld it out myself.
Thoughts?
1965 Ford F250 Camper Special 352/4spd - tow vehicle
1974 Juno Real-Lite - truck camper, currently undergoing rebuild
If ya search around you may be able to find one of the old sliding channel bumper assemblies that used to be common on pickups for campers and towing before the days of the standard receiver hitch.
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JoeChiOhki wrote: If ya search around you may be able to find one of the old sliding channel bumper assemblies that used to be common on pickups for campers and towing before the days of the standard receiver hitch.
That sounds like exactly what he's trying to build and that's what I was thinking when I started reading his post.
Easy enough to fabricate one from scratch. Don't know how long it would take searching for a used one from so many years ago.
I did have one of those for my old dually when I had the 10.5' camper on it, several years ago. Worked just like a receiver hitch extension bar, except it had 2 receivers and 2 tubes sticking out, with a sort of 'bumper' at the rear and another receiver in the middle, like a normal hitch.
Someone else here on the forum built a very nice v-shaped version of the double-tube receiver hitch. It's in a sticky post in the TCU section of the forum, in the hitch section. He did a very nice job on it. I forget who it was... maybe Matthew-B ?
Don't mean to hijack the post, but it fits right into trying to solve this problem. Just a thought after looking at my boat trailer..... it has a extra long tung on it. I just picked up a Tractor Supply 5x6 utility trailer and it looks like it would be simplicity itself, to just get a 2' longer piece of 2x2 hd channel to add in for the tung. What are the downsides to this
The Bradford's
Western NY
24'Class C TIoga Montera
1996 Jayco pop-up TC
JoeChiOhki wrote: If ya search around you may be able to find one of the old sliding channel bumper assemblies that used to be common on pickups for campers and towing before the days of the standard receiver hitch.
That sounds like exactly what he's trying to build and that's what I was thinking when I started reading his post.
Easy enough to fabricate one from scratch. Don't know how long it would take searching for a used one from so many years ago.
I did have one of those for my old dually when I had the 10.5' camper on it, several years ago. Worked just like a receiver hitch extension bar, except it had 2 receivers and 2 tubes sticking out, with a sort of 'bumper' at the rear and another receiver in the middle, like a normal hitch.
Someone else here on the forum built a very nice v-shaped version of the double-tube receiver hitch. It's in a sticky post in the TCU section of the forum, in the hitch section. He did a very nice job on it. I forget who it was... maybe Matthew-B ?
The Uber V frame assembly was Matthew_B's, if there's a number of early 70s era chevys pickups around his area, he might find one ready to go, they were fairly common on them.
If his bumper already has a good built in hitch, he simply needs to fabricate up the slide tubes and attach them to the truck's C-Channel, and then weld together new arms to attach the bumper to.
Then, pull a couple 5/8" pins, slide bumper out, reinstall pins, and reverse for when not towing with camper.
NavigatorC130A wrote: Don't mean to hijack the post, but it fits right into trying to solve this problem. Just a thought after looking at my boat trailer..... it has a extra long tung on it. I just picked up a Tractor Supply 5x6 utility trailer and it looks like it would be simplicity itself, to just get a 2' longer piece of 2x2 hd channel to add in for the tung. What are the downsides to this
That can work, depending on the details. If the camper is very long and also hangs down low, the extended trailer tongue under the camper can come up and hit the bottom of the camper when going through a dip. A shorter camper, or one that doesn't hang down much, may not have a problem with that.
I've seen some old trucks around here With the frame extension setup. It's possible. Still not as strong as my off the shelf SuperHitch with extension.
wcjeep wrote: I've seen some old trucks around here With the frame extension setup. It's possible. Still not as strong as my off the shelf SuperHitch with extension.
Depends on how they're designed and built. They can certainly be made to be much stronger than a Superhitch, if needed.
I do like your thinking. You are aware that when adding an extension to the rear of the truck, you add weight, exponentially to the rear axle. By adding additional weight of raw steel you have to figure that into your weights that are applied to the rear axle.
I was giving a similar idea some thought, I would have to drop the extension to clear the rear of my T/C, But after getting the weights with my setup, I decided not to get involved with this truck, as right now I only have a couple of hundred pounds before I hit my max GVW. So in my case, trailering is out with this dually.
I am now thinking of a mid 90's Medium duty with a service box, or putting the T/C on a gooseneck trailer and getting a 2500 to pull it.
Keep us posted on your progress.
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1997 Veri Lite RL1200 on a '02, K3500, CC, DRW, 8.1L, Allison, 4.1 gears, Bridgestone 225/70R19.5 tires.
If the truck will be used mostly with the camper, you may just want to stretch the frame in the middle, between the cab and axle, to lengthen the wheelbase length, while keeping the axle to end of frame length the same. That would eliminate the extra long hitching situation, as well as distribute more of the camper's weight onto the front axle.
I have a cab/chassis F350DRW with about 2-1/2 feet longer distance from the back of the cab to the rear axle than a regular 8' long bed pickup. The bed is 11' long and an 11' camper would fit completely on the bed of the truck, with no need for an extension hitch at all. Since the truck has a regular 2-door cab, the wheelbase length is actually shorter than my crew cab long bed pickup by about 7" (161" for the cab/chassis, versus 168" for the pickup) and the overall length is about the same for both trucks (about 20').
Compare lengths of both trucks parked in the same parking area.
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Just as an FYI, I'm no stranger to this level of fabrication work, as one of my current projects is a full gut/rebuild of a 1965 IH Scout, including a full drivetrain swap of V8 power, 1 ton axles, and frame stretch on both ends - 6" front, 8" rear to acheive additional wheelbase and additional support for the cage/rear tire swingout. 
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