Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

[ning]

In a previous lifetime we had a bigfoot camper on our '97 F350. Sounds fine right? Well it's a SRW 4x4 CC with a 9900 GVWR so you can imagine the payload capacity, and in retrospect I believe we were probably very close to overloaded just with that camper, even though if I recall it was only the 9.6 version and not the 10.6 so it only stuck out a bit in the back.

Wife also wanted to be able to tow our (her lol) 2.5 horses with that (a morgan, a poa and a shetland; maybe that's only about 2 horses total idk).

So we had a 3' extender.

All the above encouraged by the RV and trailer hitch people...

My recollection is that we only made at most one trip like that - possibly never towing.

Glad I know better now, and very glad nothing bad happened (I still have the truck and it's still great).

Personally I can't stand driving a truck with a camper on it and we got rid of it after not using it nearly enough. My preference is for "car camping" - bring a tent, put the crap in the back of the truck, cooking stove on a picnic table.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Personally I can't stand driving a truck with a camper on it and we got rid of it after not using it nearly enough. My preference is for "car camping" - bring a tent, put the crap in the back of the truck, cooking stove on a picnic table.

About a decade ago I was shopping for a 3/4 ton that would comfortably haul a camper. One salesman said "Fuggitaboutit, buy a Corvette, enjoy the roads, and sleep comfortably in motels."

 

[WinterDeere]

Have seen a lot of extensions, none that long.

Talked to a few users, “Do you not understand the concept of a lever? How much bending moment you are applying to the receiver?” Answer, “Am not putting more weight on it than it’s rating.” In other words, they don’t understand.

It's more for things like dinghies and wave runners, not real boats and trailers. Like BigJohn said, 300# max tongue weight.

I have a few small sailboats, and I can easily lift the tongue on each of their trailers, meaning they're probably all 150# or less tongue weight. The boats themselves weigh 350 - 550 lb.

 

[fidowanttobe]

About a decade ago I was shopping for a 3/4 ton that would comfortably haul a camper. One salesman said "Fuggitaboutit, buy a Corvette, enjoy the roads, and sleep comfortably in motels."

20 years ago we started looking at small trailers to tow behind my touring bike to haul overnight gear.
We then realized that a good night's sleep in a motel makes the long day ride MUCH more enjoyable. Less crabby too!

 

[Grumpycat]

It's more for things like dinghies and wave runners, not real boats and trailers. Like BigJohn said, 300# max tongue weight.

I have a few small sailboats, and I can easily lift the tongue on each of their trailers, meaning they're probably all 150# or less tongue weight. The boats themselves weigh 350 - 550 lb.

At the end of a 36" arm? The twisting moment at the receiver is significantly greater than if that 300# was on the end of the normal 8" drawbar.

This is what I was alluding to when users claimed they were staying under the receiver's load limit, not understanding the principle of the lever the extender applied.

In defense of the extenders a "weight distributing" (it doesn't) hitch also imparts a strong twisting moment on the hitch receiver.

The hitches are load distributing as weight doesn't move. A spring is used to lift the tail of the tow vehicle.

 

[masseyrider]

About a decade ago I was shopping for a 3/4 ton that would comfortably haul a camper. One salesman said "Fuggitaboutit, buy a Corvette, enjoy the roads, and sleep comfortably in motels."

I know several people that bought trailers to travel NA.
They almost never use them and a couple are pissed at me for not letting them park it on my property. Hey, you're the ones who wanted to live in a condo. Pay the trailer place.
I wouldn't get squat from the cheap SOBs.
You get older, go on a cruise, stay in a nice motel, burden your kids/Grand evil spawn.
Your sales guy was right.

 

[dstig1]

I don't know that this is really hauling anything "wrong"... I took my truck in for service today and I pulled in right behind this guy.
What in the world would this be used for?

View attachment 878460

Reverse Jousting! It's big at all the Diesel Renaissance Fairs!

 

[rangerfredbob]

Truck camper life is a compromise... My first camper was a 11.3' which took a 4' hitch extension to tow with which was stupid and floppy, I copied the "superhitch" design and added a second vertical tube and had sideways chains like the above picture which helped but still dumb... My second and third camper (I'm cheap, keep moving up) are in the 9.5-10' range and now I'm down to an 18" extension but still have the second tube under the first as shown below... now it's short enough I don't have chains for lateral support, tows great... I have the camper on my '97 SRW F350 and tow a trailer with Ford Ranger on it, combined weight around 19k, have thousands of miles on the setup, works great other than having no horsepower... FWIW I have the lower tube going forward to a crossmember I made with a vertical pin so the lower tube takes the horizontal load instead of the upper tube... the pictured is like 3" longer than my previous extension, ball is even with the back of the camper bumper so it is bare minimum.

 

[WinterDeere]

At the end of a 36" arm? The twisting moment at the receiver is significantly greater than if that 300# was on the end of the normal 8" drawbar.

Yes, of course. But what pickup truck capable of carrying a camper has a max hitch weight that low?

Round numbers, let’s say the receiver is 3 feet from rear axle, and a “normal” drop hitch extends that 1 foot, so 4 ft from axle to ball. Max tongue weight for a 2500 series pickup is 1500 - 2000 lb, depending on configuration (I used 2023 Ram 2500 chart).

If extending the ball another 3 feet, to 7 feet total, the equivalent moment would drop that rating down to 860 - 1100 lb., still way beyond the 300 lb rating of the bar itself.

This all ignores the weight of the camper itself, which must be taken into account as well. But the hitch itself is going to be fine with a small sailboat or waverunner trailer, having tongue weights 100 - 150 lb.

 

[WinterDeere]

Truck camper life is a compromise...

You just reminded me of a story I was once told by my grandfather’s sister. She and her husband, when they were first married, took a cross-country trip with a camper. I think it was truck mounted, but could have been tow-behind, I don’t remember that detail. This would have been mid-1930’s.

They’d park somewhere quiet on the side of the road each night to sleep, and continue on in the morning. But one night they awoke in the wee hours to find themselves surrounded by a bunch of drunk Indians, trying to tip their camper over. The group was probably just having some harmless fun at “the white man’s” expense, but they were afraid to get out of the camper to run for the truck and drive off. I think they group eventually got tired of it, and left them alone in the end, camper still upright.

 

[Grumpycat]

Yes, of course. But what pickup truck capable of carrying a camper has a max hitch weight that low?

Round numbers, let’s say the receiver is 3 feet from rear axle, and a “normal” drop hitch extends that 1 foot, so 4 ft from axle to ball. Max tongue weight for a 2500 series pickup is 1500 - 2000 lb, depending on configuration (I used 2023 Ram 2500 chart).

If extending the ball another 3 feet, to 7 feet total, the equivalent moment would drop that rating down to 860 - 1100 lb., still way beyond the 300 lb rating of the bar itself.

This all ignores the weight of the camper itself, which must be taken into account as well. But the hitch itself is going to be fine with a small sailboat or waverunner trailer, having tongue weights 100 - 150 lb.

You are pretending the lever is from the axle. The Principle of Moments teaches us that a moment ("torque" in the popular vernacular) is the same all along the length of the beam.

300# applied 8" from the receiver is 125 ft-lbf of torque.

300# applied 36" from the receiver is 900 ft-lbf of torque.

 

[WinterDeere]

You are pretending the lever is from the axle. The Principle of Moments teaches us that a moment ("torque" in the popular vernacular) is the same all along the length of the beam.

300# applied 8" from the receiver is 125 ft-lbf of torque.

300# applied 36" from the receiver is 900 ft-lbf of torque.

Not pretending. I just know the receiver is not the weak link, in this equation. Tongue weight is limited by rear axle and suspension.

Your numbers are correct, but I have no concern the receiver will handle the said 900 ft-lb. After all, tongue weight rating is 1500 - 2000 lb., in the example I gave above, and in that they're accounting for typical receiver length.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

If extending the ball another 3 feet, to 7 feet total, the equivalent moment would drop that rating down to 860 - 1100 lb., still way beyond the 300 lb rating of the bar itself.

This all ignores the weight of the camper itself, which must be taken into account as well. But the hitch itself is going to be fine with a small sailboat or waverunner trailer, having tongue weights 100 - 150 lb.

With an 11'3" camper on my pickup I had to use the longest extension Reese offered. It was solid, so no real worries about strength, and I also triangulated to to the frame, in both planes.

Still, it was the Reese Dual Cam WD hitch that made it not only possible to tow a small trailer with my Jeep on it, it also made the whole thing handle better and took weight off of the rear axle.

 

[California]

I don't know that this is really hauling anything "wrong"... I took my truck in for service today and I pulled in right behind this guy.
What in the world would this be used for?

View attachment 878460

As noted, likely for a big camper.

But the same geometry exists on logging trucks to get the hitch swivel point far behind the drive axles.

The reason for this is to make the last axle, track wide around primitive tight curves in logging country. Ideally, precisely in the tire tracks of the truck. Instead of falling off the inside of the curve.

Here's an extreme example for long logs.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

But the same geometry exists on logging trucks to get the hitch swivel point far behind the drive axles.

The reason for this is to make the last axle, track wide around primitive tight curves in logging country. Ideally, precisely in the tire tracks of the truck. Instead of falling off the inside of the curve.

That was a nice side effect of the long extension I used. The trailer followed almost perfectly in the rear axle's tracks.

 

[WinterDeere]

But the same geometry exists on logging trucks to get the hitch swivel point far behind the drive axles.

I know I can't be the only one routinely backing up hay wagon style wagons, with a steerable front axle. I found this is pretty easy to do, if you move the hitch far aft of the rear axle, on your tractor. In my case, I put the hitch receiver on the back of my ballast box, and that works great.

Prior to realizing this, I tried to back up that trailer with the regular drawbar, mounted under the rear axle. Boy, was that ever an exercise in futility...

I suspect people who claim those wagons are difficult or impossible to back up, just haven't realized their hitch is too close to the rear of the tractor.

 

[masseyrider]

I know I can't be the only one routinely backing up hay wagon style wagons, with a steerable front axle. I found this is pretty easy to do, if you move the hitch far aft of the rear axle, on your tractor. In my case, I put the hitch receiver on the back of my ballast box, and that works great.

Prior to realizing this, I tried to back up that trailer with the regular drawbar, mounted under the rear axle. Boy, was that ever an exercise in futility...

I suspect people who claim those wagons are difficult or impossible to back up, just haven't realized their hitch is too close to the rear of the tractor.

A friend of mine owned a fairly large nursery.
They transported the potted evergreens on that type of trailer.
One of his offshore guys could backup 3 trailers at one time. Believe it or not I saw him do it.
I couldn't do that with a train of 3 regular trailers.
I can put 1 in with inches to spare on either side just aboot anywhere.
But 3 with a steerable front axle, not a chance.

 

[WinterDeere]

...just aboot anywhere.

Spoken like a true Canadian!

 

[masseyrider]

Spoken like a true Canadian!

Go love your brother, Eh!

 

[WinterDeere]