How much does truck length affect towing stability?

[Fallon]

I picked up a beater F250 (cab & a half with an 8' service body on back) after it became apparent my 2009 Tacoma couldn't pretend to be s 1/2 ton, much less the 3/4 ton I needed for hauling the old L3200, buch less the impending L4060HSTC. I'm planning on replacing the Taco & F250 with a newish 3/4 ton diesel in the next year or so. I may or may not also get a cheap econobox commuter. I work from home a lot, so it may not be worth it to get a commuter car.

My question is how much does truck length affect towing stability? I know the longer the better, but long is painful in parking lots & tight spaces. I'm planning on a double cab, but debating what bed length to get. I'm wanting a short bed for manuverability. Bed capacity isnt super relevant. My Taco bed mostly works for my needs now. And if it's not big enough, I have the 22' deckover. Any good arguments against a double cab short bed for hauling a 14k 22' deckover bumper pull (4k itself) with upwards to 7k of tractor & impliments on it?

The current beater F250 is a little twitchy at times, mostly due due to a sloppy gearbox (I assume, ball joints & tie rods are tight).

All things considered I'd like to keep as much manuverability & possibility of fitting the truck in the garage. But its main job will be trailer hauling, so I need to optimize for that if I can.

 

[oosik]

I'm certainly no expert regarding this situation but a foot or so of overall length shouldn't make that much difference. At least, in towing characteristics.

I've gone from a Jeep to a 3/4 ton pickup and it's not been a problem. However - around these parts there is alway a parking lot around. So I never have to parallel park the pickup.

 

[Monster5601]

From everything that I've read and then practiced, the key to safely towing a bumper trailer is the proper tongue weight with respect to the loaded trailer weight. I shoot for 10 to 12 percent of tongue weight, lighter or heavier and I can feel the trailer so to speak. With proper tongue weight, the trailer isn't noticeable.

Knowing your equipment weights and trailer weight plus the convenience of a hitch with a scale (Weight Safe) and properly position the tractor on the trailer, I can get the correct weight on the tongue. I can't compare a long bed to a standard bed since I only have the standard bed, just over six foot.

 

[TMGT]

Depends a lot on the truck and how it's being used, if you are towing at or beyond the trucks limits then you'll notice a difference in wheelbase, also depends on trailer type and engine. Tag along trailers will benefit more from a longer wheelbase, also a lighter engine option will make a shorter wheelbase truck feel less stable (i.e. gas vs diesel).

I've had experience driving almost identical trucks but gas/diesel, different wheelbase. Largest truck I had that I towed with was a diesel Crew Cab F550 long wheelbase, it didnt really care what was behind it!

I'm in your same boat, I work in DC, and while I don't drive my truck there often, I needed a truck that I could park at work when needed.
I currently have an 07 crew cab shortbed Dodge CTD 4x4, and while I've towed more then I should have in the past by accident (close to 20k est with my dump trailer) and it has worked, I would have just sucked it up and gotten a long bed if I was towing at its limits everytime.

Once I retire from this job I plan on getting a long wheelbase dually!

 

[dodge man]

I think it’s more of an issue when towing something that catches wind, like travel trailers. Keep an eye on your payload when buying a 250 diesel, some are low.

 

[Motorboatin]

Looking at the chart for current trucks it is only a few hundred pounds. For gas the shorter wheelbase pulls more but diesel it is the opposite. Definitely confusing

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/conten.../guides/Prelm19RV&TT_Ford_SuperDtyPU_May4.pdf

 

[Renze]

We once replaced the two leaf rear springs of a Sprinter 2500 5th wheel tractor, to the three leaf suspension of a 3500. That made an incredible difference in towing stability with a 10 ton trailer.

Just the three leaf suspension is stiff when empty, it bounces. Thats why many customers spent another 4000 euro on an air spring conversion, so it would ride smooth and firm with 2.5 ton on the 5th wheel, as well as without a trailer on.

If you want to drive smooth around town, and firm with a trailer, i would get an Air ride assister kit. Inflate the bellow to a pressure that just lifts the truck an inch off the leafs, so that small vibrations are smoothened by the air. Once you load it up, the leafs start carrying too, to give a firm handling. We had a customer who was fond of US pickups and ran a few chevies and a Tacoma, all gray import. We installed the air ride kit as soon as he got them from the US import firm...

 

[gary49]

You might want to consider a dual rear wheel truck, especially if it has a utility body. That body weighs about 1000# more than a pick up bed. It looks like you're pushing it with the current rig, might well be above the gross weight rating of your rear axle and tires. That'll make a rig squirrelly, longer wheelbase or not. I've owned double cab trucks with both 6.5' and 8' beds, both kinds are pretty long. You'll find that backing into spaces in parking lots works better than trying to pull in the normal way. You can mostly forget about trying to parallel park the truck.

 

[Citydude]

I have a crew cab F250 short box because an 8 foot box wouldn't fit in my garage at home. Like you, I didn't need the extra length for hauling stuff in the box. I pulled an L3400 with a 6 foot cutter on an 18 foot trailer around my town when I contract mowed for the city. I didnt have any problems navigating through the city or finding areas to park. Buy the crew cab, they are handy for more than hauling people.

I also used to pull a 30ft 5th wheel with this pickup. I had no issues with it.

 

[Jchonline]

I picked up a beater F250 (cab & a half with an 8' service body on back) after it became apparent my 2009 Tacoma couldn't pretend to be s 1/2 ton, much less the 3/4 ton I needed for hauling the old L3200, buch less the impending L4060HSTC. I'm planning on replacing the Taco & F250 with a newish 3/4 ton diesel in the next year or so. I may or may not also get a cheap econobox commuter. I work from home a lot, so it may not be worth it to get a commuter car.

My question is how much does truck length affect towing stability? I know the longer the better, but long is painful in parking lots & tight spaces. I'm planning on a double cab, but debating what bed length to get. I'm wanting a short bed for manuverability. Bed capacity isnt super relevant. My Taco bed mostly works for my needs now. And if it's not big enough, I have the 22' deckover. Any good arguments against a double cab short bed for hauling a 14k 22' deckover bumper pull (4k itself) with upwards to 7k of tractor & impliments on it?

The current beater F250 is a little twitchy at times, mostly due due to a sloppy gearbox (I assume, ball joints & tie rods are tight).

All things considered I'd like to keep as much manuverability & possibility of fitting the truck in the garage. But its main job will be trailer hauling, so I need to optimize for that if I can. View attachment 612887View attachment 612888

I have towed my M62 with my F250 double cab standard bed (I think it is 6.75 ft) up to red feather lakes and back without issue so I am sure you will be fine. I have a diesel. Standard hitch 18k trailer. It certainly isnt as easy as a gooseneck to maneuver but I dont need a lot of maneuverability.

Best of all my truck fits in my garage (fold mirrors in). I did get the little flip out bed tailgate extenders and they have been useful if I need to haul 8ft materials (plywood sheets, etc).

 

[Fallon]

I've looked at the charts for capacity occasionally. Pretty much all the diesel option will fit my capacity needs. I'm mostly looking for people's experience on how smooth & stable the various length options are while doing it.

My current F250 has the utility box on it because that's what was on it when I found the deal. I use the storage because it's there, but I'm not planning on getting another utility bed. If anything other than a regular bed, I'd go with a flat bed. Easier to access stuff on a flat bed without climbing in & easier to toss a spare impliment on with just forks. It's a pain to rig up an impliment with chains to get it in it or out when there is a trailer blocking the back.

Pretty stuck on a 3/4 ton SWD. They stay under the 26,000 CDL limits that the 1 tons don't. No need for the extra wheels to maintain either.

I do as agree on the air ride too, given the varying loads it will be hauling, or not. I expect I'll be looking at grampas old RV hauler with a higher trim level anyways. Assuming it will end up being another F250 as Ford has most of the market share here in CO & I'm looking slightly used. Not opposed to a Chevy if the right one turns up. For some irrational reason I dont like Doge though. Never have really figured out why & I've never owned one.

 

[nikerret]

A single wheel 3500/F-350 would ensure you have the better pulling truck, especially, if you’re thinking flatbed. Also, at that light weight, you don’t need a diesel. The current gas offerings are great. I have a 2014 F-350 dually flatbed with the 6.2L gas. Regularly pulling 10K to 15K, sometimes more. Flatbed is nice. Gas gives you much more payload to use that flatbed.

A 2500/F-250 would be fine, you won’t notice enough to matter on length. Again, you’re not pulling that heavy. Having enough trailer to move your load where it needs to be on the deck is more important than a longer truck.

 

[zzvyb6]

Well, I AM ex expert on towing from an engineering and experience standpoint. I worked 40 years in all aspects of Vehicle Dynamics. So the answer to you question is simple and I will add some additional advice.

1) Wheelbase: Longer is better.

2) What is more important though, is distance from tow hitch to rear axle. Shorter is better. Negative is even better (That's why a 5th wheel hitch is so much better than any other form of towing). This is because as the towing vehicle turns, the hitch point moves laterally in a direction opposite from what the steady state position will be. Hence, this produces a tendency to oscillate or 'overshoot'. As speed increases, the stabilizing effects of wheelbase diminish too, leading to the tendency to sway and even jackknife.

3) Nothing beats a GOOD set of tires properly aired up. Not bargain tire constructions, they don't have the lateral stiffness required to keep the truck and trailer on the desired path. There are special trailer tires made with VERY high sidewall stiffness, bruise resistance, and storage (aging) resistance.

4) Truck tires on the tow vehicle always have a Catch 22" They need 80 psi (for example) to carry the axle and hitch load, but they have the highest lateral stiffness (sideslip restraint) at about 50 psi. But, at 50 psi, they may overheat from sidewall flexing and separate the tread from the carcass.

5) A tow vehicle with dual rear tires on each side is the safest condition because now the tires can be run at 50 psi with each of the 4 tires carrying only 1/2 the load compared with a single tire equipped axle would have.

6) A dual or triple axle trailer is safer because A) the load per tire is less and B) the trailer axle separation distance(s) introduces a yaw angle and yaw velocity twisting resistance (scrub), which is a big stabilizing factor.

7) Vehicles I've worked on for towing capability, work best with 'frame level' operation. This means keep the truck frame level (horizontal) as well as the trailer frame.

8) Air shocks for load leveling are not always the best way to go because: The towing vehicles suspension is designed to droop a bit when payload is added and the suspension geometry is altered to increase stability. That's why a truck usually looks a bit high in the back. When loaded, it should be level for best stability and driveability. Also, the level control shocks or airbags increase the rear roll stiffness, which shifts the combination's stability margin in a (bad) rearward direction.

That's the Expert opinion, I'm pretty sure some 'others' may contest some of this, but this is what you will hear from me in Court in case you wreck and don't want to accept the blame.

 

[RustyA]

F-350 will have one more leaf in rear springs and overloads are standard. Be sure to add camper pkg so you get the rear sway bar, it can make a difference in the wind or heavy loads on uneven surfaces. My 2011 350 Crew 4X4 shortbox spent the weekend pulling a 22 ft deckover 14K trailer all weekend hauling large round bales. I figure it was 15-17K total weight and my 6.2 gas just purred along...6 speed auto with engine braking in tow/haul really pulls stuff nice.

 

[dstig1]

Only thing I will add is that the most popular configuration for F250/350s is crew cab (4 door) and short bed - by far. That seems to be what everyone is buying so if you want the long bed, you will have to work for it. I wanted the supercab/long bed to keep the length down also, and it took months to find that, especially since i did not want diesel. Buying new would probably be easier to get what you want if it isn't that config, but used is tough.

 

[4570Man]

Getting rid of the bumper pull trailer is the best thing you could do for stability. A gas truck will be fine for limited towing. A diesel will definitely get better mpg but it doesn’t sound like you’re towing enough to matter. Despite what the GVW says a 3500 dually is a huge step up from a 3500 SRW. I’ll put twice as much on my ton dually as a SRW truck will handle. Or you could take the ridiculous overkill approach. Really I bought that with a different idea in mind. My trailer out weighs that load.

 

[HCJtractor]

I switched from an 06 F350 crew cab longbed to a 08 F250 extended cab shortbed, both diesel. And I pull a bigger tractor than yours with a deck over goose neck. I really can’t tell that much difference pulling or handling. But my newer one sure is easier to drive and park without the trailer. But the shorter wheelbase seems a little more “choppy” when hitting road bumps, but that’s not a big deal. And I do miss the bigger back seat to stash stuff. Frankly, I don’t think it really matters which you pull with.

 

[nikerret]

Also, get the pulling gears; ie, 4.30 vs 3.73 (Ford gas), if towing is important. It makes a huge difference.

 

[Renze]

. Also, the level control shocks or airbags increase the rear roll stiffness, which shifts the combination's stability margin in a (bad) rearward direction.

Look, i dont claim to be an expert on vehicle dynamics, but i did design trailers, convert vehicles, and help design testbenches for air suspension trailing arms do ive seen a few things: Your statement is theoretically correct, but is a wild exaggeration when applied to the subject discussed.

That's the Expert opinion, I'm pretty sure some 'others' may contest some of this, but this is what you will hear from me in Court in case you wreck and don't want to accept the blame.

On the internet, everybody is an expert. Who cares

 

[EddieWalker]

In my personal experience, duel rear tires make the biggest difference that I've experienced. It's like the rear end of the truck and the trailer are locked into the road. You just feel the difference, and it's significant.