Need some advice

WoodLark · 09-23-2009, 02:12 PM

I am in the market for a travel trailer. I just looked at a 2006 Puma 27FQ which appears to be a super buy. It is immaculate, is priced right, and is equipped just the way I want.

My dilemma is whether or not my tow vehicle can SAFELY handle this trailer.

The trailer is 30'7" overall length, has a UVW of 5350 lb, GVWR of 7530 and tongue weight of 530 lb.

My tow vehicle is a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500, 5.7L Hemi, Quad Cab with tow package. It is rated to tow 8750 lb with a gross combined weight of 14,000 lb.

My big concern is the length of the trailer. If I use the commonly accepted formula, I shouldn't go over a total length of 27.6'.

Will an Equal-i-zer hitch allow me to tow this trailer without becoming a hazard to myself and others? If not, would a Pullrite or Hensley?

ScottnKimmer · 09-23-2009, 03:06 PM

We have the basically same Dodge. We have a Wildwood Sport 23FLSRV which is 27' 10" total length and dresses out when fully loaded at 10815 lbs and a tongue weight of 655 lbs. We routinely haul it pretty full with 2 full dress bikes or one dresser and a golf cart or Polaris RZR. With all the normal load of personal items etc we travel fairly normally. We have not modified the TV and with a BlueOx 1000 lb WD hitch setup we only see the need for some air bags on ocassion when the road gets rather bouncey. We will be adding them some time soon but it is not in our opinion necessary. The rear of the truck drops within recommended amounts and the truck and trailer combination is awesome as far as we are concerned. We rarely notice it's even there except for the dreaded fuel mileage difference.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

NWJeeper · 09-23-2009, 05:23 PM

Rule of thumb I have heard and some of the trailer experts here can confirm but for safety and handling concerns the trailer should be no longer than 1.5 times the wheelbase of the tow vehicle, up to 2 times longer if a 5th wheel.

My friend used to have a 1-ton, quad cab, Cummins turbo diesel Dodge pickup with all the goodies. He used to brag about how much it could "haul" but he admitted that the problem was stopping it. The brakes were not enough to stop what the truck could haul.

Error on the safe side, after all your family is at stake.

dezolen · 09-23-2009, 07:43 PM

I thought the trailer brakes are supposed to stop the trailer. The truck brakes are meant for the tow vehicle other than perhaps an extra 1000#. That is why brakes are required on trailers over 1000# or per state req'ts.

NWJeeper · 09-23-2009, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dezolen

I thought the trailer brakes are supposed to stop the trailer. The truck brakes are meant for the tow vehicle other than perhaps an extra 1000#. That is why brakes are required on trailers over 1000# or per state req'ts.

In a perfect world yes. But in my buddies case with his Dodge he admitted that the truck brakes were not sufficient for the amount he "could" pull with it.

I have seen guys pulling trailers, both regular and 5ers that just make me cringe in fear. Bumpers practically dragging the ground, trailers that dwarf the tow vehicle and should probably realistically be behind a Kenworth tow rig, trailers pulled out of level so that a majority of the weight is on one axle rather than both and mostly because some RV dealer told them "you can pull that trailer with that rig, no problem!" There is so much more behind being safe with a trailer that there should probably be a course in it.

**Bama Rambler** · 09-24-2009, 06:39 AM

I towed the 280 in my sig with a 1500 Ram, 5.7 Hemi, 20" tires, 3.92 gears and it towed it well. The GS-280 is 31' long and weighs 6100 lbs loaded. I used (and still do) an Equal-i-zer with 1000 lb bars. I wouldn't be afraid to tow that combination anywhere. In fact we towed it to Yellowstone with that 1500. The fuel economy sucked but the truck pulled the unit good. Fuel economy is the reason I traded for the truck in my sig.

MtnGuy · 09-24-2009, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Rule of thumb I have heard and some of the trailer experts here can confirm but for safety and handling concerns the trailer should be no longer than 1.5 times the wheelbase of the tow vehicle, up to 2 times longer if a 5th wheel.

I agree that a shorter trailer is better as far as safety and handling, but with the 1.5 figure quoted then my 145" wheelbase truck could only pull a 18 footer. To pull a 30 footer you would need a 240" wheelbase truck?? I don't even think the make such a puppy.

Here is a chart that has been floating around on RV sites that is a little more realistic....the 1st figure is the wheelbase of the TV, and the 2nd is the total maximum "suggested" length that you would be able to tow with a conventional travel trailer:

110" 20' .... 150" 30'
114" 21' .... 154" 31'
118" 22' .... 158" 32'
122" 23' .... 162" 33'
126" 24' .... 166" 34'
130" 25' .... 170" 35'
134" 26' .... 174" 36'
138" 27' .... 178" 37'
142" 28' .... 182" 38'
146" 29' .... 186" 39'

At 145" wheelbase, I should be able to tow between 28 and 29 foot......which I am right at that limit.

WoodLark · 09-24-2009, 09:24 AM

Thanks for all the help. It looks like I could safely tow the trailer, but might be right at the upper limit of length for my truck. I may still buy that trailer (it is a super deal!), but I am going to look at one tomorrow that is 2 feet shorter and close to 1500 lb lighter. It is a little older (and a little cheaper) but has essentially the same floor plan. If it is in really good shape, it may be a better choice for me. It will have to be really good though, I got kind of spoiled by the one I looked at yesterday.

ScottnKimmer · 09-24-2009, 09:33 AM

Good Luck WoodLark.

Let us know how it goes.

08flagvlite · 09-24-2009, 09:33 AM

Hi Woodlark. I have the same truck, as well, 2006 model. I pull a Flagstaff Vlite 30 foot, rated at 7575 uvw. I have the Reese Dual cam setup, and just put on a set of bilstein shocks. My mileage is 7 to 8 mpg at 65 in flat Florida. I don't feel that the Ram is all that bad, but if I had a choice, I would opt for a 2500 diesel. I would NOT pull my setup through any mountains....not enough power. I have a 3:54 rear end, and 17" stock tires, with the 545 RFE Overdrive auto. trans., and always try to pull in Tow/Haul mode. So in summary, you can get by with your truck and the Puma, just stay reasonably close to home. Randy

08flagvlite · 09-24-2009, 09:51 AM

By the way, my rig is 33ft. 6 inches total length. Really, as long as your'e putting a good trailer brake setup on the truck, and use a weight distributing hitch, you can adjust the amount of braking applied to the trailer from the box in your cab, and the amount of tension on the hitch area, with the bars. So it's as safe as most other trucks, although I have been told that I need "truck" tires- what's on these 1500 ram's are "P"rated Passenger tires, with weaker sidewall construction. I have noticed that if you stand at the rear of the truck on the side, behind the stake pocket, and look at the tire while pushing/pulling the body back and forth, you'll see why the tires are important. Spongy, at best. I feel this movement when pulling, which is why I put the Hellwig helper springs on mine. Still not happy, I put on the new shocks, better, but I still need the tires, I think. Hope this helps. Randy

WoodLark · 09-25-2009, 06:00 AM

08flagvlite,

Staying near home is not in the cards. My wife just retired and we want to travel a bit. She expressed a desire the other night to see British Columbia (that's about as far as you can get from here without a boat).

BTW the rear end on my Dodge is 3.92 which should make it a better tow vehicle. It has 20" wheels; I don't know if that helps or hurts.

**Bama Rambler** · 09-25-2009, 06:36 AM

The 3.92 gears with 20" wheels is the same as the 3.55 gears with the 17" wheels. That's why Dodge matched them like that.

08flagvlite · 09-25-2009, 06:48 AM

It should be slightly better in pulling, because I found that the 20's are I think a 275-60-20, that makes the tire's sidewall height overall shorter than my 275/75/17's. This means if you were to take one of my mounted tire/rim /aired up wheels off, and one of yours off, and set them back to back with each other, the overall height would be very close to the same; meaning YES, your steeper gear should be better for towing, and also your rig is about 6 feet overall shorter, and a little lighter than mine. I'd say go for it, you'll probably be just fine. Randy

WoodLark · 09-25-2009, 03:42 PM

Well, I bought a trailer today, but not the one I originally inquired about. I went for a little shorter at 25'. It's a 2004 Coachmen 248TBG "Spirit of America"

. It has an almost identical layout to the Puma, but should be an easier tow since it is both lighter and shorter.

As near as I can tell the difference in length is in the front bedroom. Both have a queen size bed, but it is turned 90 degrees. Since the bed is longer than wide, this saves some length. The trade-off is that two sides of the bed are against walls so it will be harder to make according to my wife.

My next purchase is a weight distributing hitch. At the moment, I am getting the Reese SC Pro sold by E-Trailer.com. I have already bought a Prodigy brake controller. and the harness which connects it directly into my Dodge's under-dash wiring.

acadianbob · 09-29-2009, 08:35 AM

IMO, the farther you are planning to tow, the less you should tow. towing over 80% of rated capacity is an unhappy situation if you are looking at trips of over 500 miles; or in the mountains. So, each TV/trailer decision is somewhat situational. Caution and safety should be your main concern. Once you are on your top in the median and your trailer is a trail of sticks, it is too late . . .

08flagvlite · 09-29-2009, 12:47 PM

I totally agree...I would NEVER dream of pulling my existing setup in any mountains....even rolling hills, for that matter! I stay in Florida, and some Georgia with my rig. I don't feel safe enough that far away on challenging terrain, and my gas mileage is less thn desirable, anyway! Randy

ScottnKimmer · 09-29-2009, 05:29 PM

We have towed ours long distances twice. Once when we got it in LaVergne TN and once on vacation from the Tampa FL area all the way to the mountains of TN for the first part of vacation and off from there to Indy and then back. The truck did fantastic even in the mountains. Yes the RPM's occassionally were high in the mountains and yet the truck never failed to gain speed when I wanted. As stated in previous threads I have done nothing to the truck itself yet and it handles very well except the occassional bouncing of the dreaded mismatched concrete highways. Bouncing I hope can be cured in the future with a little work on the rear suspension. We expect to replace the shocks with some upgraded units soon and a few other minor mods but we have no problems with mountains or long distances.

As for all the comments about FL being so flat. Overall it is, but the highways are in many ways just as tough on the truck and fuel mileage as towing in all the different states we have been in. The combination of the ability to attain higher speeds for long periods of time versus the climbing of hills and mountains but at a much slower speed seem to almost level out fuel mileage. We seem to get aprx 8 to 9.5 mpg not matter the hills of Tn or the flat lands of our home state. Florida is not as flat as one would think but it is much flatter then many other states. Many rolling hills.

08flagvlite · 09-29-2009, 09:00 PM

Yes, I know in the central Florida area, it does get slightly hilly, but I live in Jax, which is really flat. Note the suspension mods I have done, just recently added the Bilstein shocks, and they helped somewhat. The weight of my camper is really a bit too much for the 1500 Dodge shortbed Quad Cab Hemi, but my wife says I gotta make it work! (no new truck in my future!) So, I keep modifying it to make that happen. Randy

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