Half tons & Campers



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For sure you can pull a camper with a 1/2 ton pickup. Because you can, doesn't mean you should. Some have talked about beefing up there 1/2 tons and adding coolers etc. Seems like with some modifications to the 1/2 ton you're approaching a 3/4 ton.

I'd be willing to bet that everyone who pulled a camper with a 1/2 ton and then was allowed to pull said camper with a 3/4 ton would prefer the 3/4. I have a 1/2 ton and have been thinking about joining the camper/owner fraternity. While thinking about what I might want I've considered the cost of upgrading to a 3/4. Safety and comfort is the main reason.
 

PrairieGhost

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The biggest concern is gear ratio. My old 350 GMC with 373 gears just didn't cut it. If I had put in 411 it would have pulled like a 3/4 ton, but a light and fragile 3/4 ton.
 

SLE

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Being a person that ones both a 1/2 and a 3/4 at the moment here's my thoughts. Local towing or withing a couple hundred miles, I'll drive my F150 3.5 Ecoboost up to about 8-10k lbs. It pulls, handles and stops just fine. The reality of stopping, is any trailer of significance should have brakes of it's own. If it cann't stop it's self, it probably needs some brake work. The newest crop of pickups is absolutely more capable than there predecessors of even 10 years ago. That goes for 1/2 tons all the way up to 1 tons. Food for thought, but my 2011 F150 Crew Ecoboost weighed the exact same as my dads old 93' F350 dually 460 powered camper hauler. Both weigh right on 6k lbs. My 15' F150 is about 300 lbs lighter with the aluminum body. A new 3/4 ton gasser is going to weigh around 7k lbs while a 3/4 to 1 ton diesel will be around 8k lbs depending how they're configured. Once I get over about 10k lbs, I usually pull out the super duty.

I think the biggest limiting factor with pulling a 5th wheel with a half ton is bed length and tires. Most 1/2 tons come with junk P rated or 6 ply tires which make handling terrible with any significant weight.they are quite, ride better, and might even help fuel economy but they sway and squat terrible when weighted down. I run 10 ply on all of my trucks and it make a significant difference in both handling and tire wear. Heck the last set of BFGs came off at 70k miles and would've made it 80k but it was winter and I didn't want to drive around all winter on marginal tread.

The other piece is bed length. Most half tons come with the short 5.5' bed and a long bed is considered a 6.5'ter any more. You'd have to have a fifth wheel with an extend pin box and still be careful with a 5.5' bed or some combination or a extended pin box and slider hitch to have the bed room to comfortably maneuver a fifth wheel. If you go with a 6.5' bed, it would certainly be better and depending on the fifth wheel you could probably make it work.

This all being said, you will be over the weight rating of the 1/2 ton with most any fifth wheel as they typically have about 20% of the trailer weight on the pin and most 1/2 tons don't have a sticker rating for much more than passengers. Personally, I don't get hung up on the door sticker, make sure you aren't over your rear axle or tire ratings, and if it handles comfortably knock yourself out. Last note, everyone will have a different comfort level towing trailers depending on the drivers experience and abilities, do what works for yourself, not what works for others.
 

wslayer

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Being a person that ones both a 1/2 and a 3/4 at the moment here's my thoughts. Local towing or withing a couple hundred miles, I'll drive my F150 3.5 Ecoboost up to about 8-10k lbs. It pulls, handles and stops just fine. The reality of stopping, is any trailer of significance should have brakes of it's own. If it cann't stop it's self, it probably needs some brake work. The newest crop of pickups is absolutely more capable than there predecessors of even 10 years ago. That goes for 1/2 tons all the way up to 1 tons. Food for thought, but my 2011 F150 Crew Ecoboost weighed the exact same as my dads old 93' F350 dually 460 powered camper hauler. Both weigh right on 6k lbs. My 15' F150 is about 300 lbs lighter with the aluminum body. A new 3/4 ton gasser is going to weigh around 7k lbs while a 3/4 to 1 ton diesel will be around 8k lbs depending how they're configured. Once I get over about 10k lbs, I usually pull out the super duty.

I think the biggest limiting factor with pulling a 5th wheel with a half ton is bed length and tires. Most 1/2 tons come with junk P rated or 6 ply tires which make handling terrible with any significant weight.they are quite, ride better, and might even help fuel economy but they sway and squat terrible when weighted down. I run 10 ply on all of my trucks and it make a significant difference in both handling and tire wear. Heck the last set of BFGs came off at 70k miles and would've made it 80k but it was winter and I didn't want to drive around all winter on marginal tread.

The other piece is bed length. Most half tons come with the short 5.5' bed and a long bed is considered a 6.5'ter any more. You'd have to have a fifth wheel with an extend pin box and still be careful with a 5.5' bed or some combination or a extended pin box and slider hitch to have the bed room to comfortably maneuver a fifth wheel. If you go with a 6.5' bed, it would certainly be better and depending on the fifth wheel you could probably make it work.

This all being said, you will be over the weight rating of the 1/2 ton with most any fifth wheel as they typically have about 20% of the trailer weight on the pin and most 1/2 tons don't have a sticker rating for much more than passengers. Personally, I don't get hung up on the door sticker, make sure you aren't over your rear axle or tire ratings, and if it handles comfortably knock yourself out. Last note, everyone will have a different comfort level towing trailers depending on the drivers experience and abilities, do what works for yourself, not what works for others.

Well said...
 


SDMF

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The biggest concern is gear ratio. My old 350 GMC with 373 gears just didn't cut it. If I had put in 411 it would have pulled like a 3/4 ton, but a light and fragile 3/4 ton.

Rear end ratio not nearly as big of a deal as it used to be. Your old GMC w/350 and 3.73's had 3 or 4 forward gears in the transmission. 1/2 ton pickups now have 6-10 gears in the transmission and a manual mode to allow you to choose the gear you want or at a minimum, lock out the gears you know you don't want.

IMO/IME most towing troubles self-inflicted. Poorly maintained tires/bearings being the biggest culprit. Saw a Crestliner on the side of Hwy 2 yesterday about half-way between Devils and Forks. Port-side wheel was GONE and axle had dug into the gravel on the shoulder. I've been in a very similar situation myself, and in my case, it was bearing neglect and cost me 2wks and a new axle. Take a look at the tires on just about any trailer and you'll see poor wear patterns suggesting under/over inflation or poor load leveling. You'll see plenty of them w/less than 25% tread left too, sometimes w/steel belting cord starting to show through, and people pull these things 70-80MPH.

Hitch, hubs, brakes, lights, pretty much in that order. Then use that squishy stuff between your ears and behind your eyes to keep yourself from looking for trouble. Do everything you can do to ensure safe and reasonably stress-free towing, then you just have to worry about the other guy.................
 

Kurtr

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Rear end ratio not nearly as big of a deal as it used to be. Your old GMC w/350 and 3.73's had 3 or 4 forward gears in the transmission. 1/2 ton pickups now have 6-10 gears in the transmission and a manual mode to allow you to choose the gear you want or at a minimum, lock out the gears you know you don't want.

IMO/IME most towing troubles self-inflicted. Poorly maintained tires/bearings being the biggest culprit. Saw a Crestliner on the side of Hwy 2 yesterday about half-way between Devils and Forks. Port-side wheel was GONE and axle had dug into the gravel on the shoulder. I've been in a very similar situation myself, and in my case, it was bearing neglect and cost me 2wks and a new axle. Take a look at the tires on just about any trailer and you'll see poor wear patterns suggesting under/over inflation or poor load leveling. You'll see plenty of them w/less than 25% tread left too, sometimes w/steel belting cord starting to show through, and people pull these things 70-80MPH.

Hitch, hubs, brakes, lights, pretty much in that order. Then use that squishy stuff between your ears and behind your eyes to keep yourself from looking for trouble. Do everything you can do to ensure safe and reasonably stress-free towing, then you just have to worry about the other guy.................


Did you stop and tell the guy his transom is probably rotted out just to make his day a little better.
 

gonefshn

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Pulled my campers for quite a few years with and without a boat behind. Started with a 27 ft fifth wheel and later updated that to a 32ft. At first I used a 1/2 ton when I pulled them. They pulled ok. But if you plan on doing 70+ mph, I'd highly recommend a 3/4 ton. The difference is the suspension. I switched when I was pulling the 5th wheel and boat with my 1/2 ton and trying to keep up with a couple friends doing the same with their 3/4 tons and who normally drive about 75mph. I was able to keep up, but found the trailer would sway quite a bit on the road I was one. It was road worn pretty bad and with three different items each with different wheel widths, the highs and lows from the road wear made things sway a bit. With a 1/2 ton, even though I could drive nice and straight, the soft suspension made it harder to keep things from swaying. At one point the trailer and boat started whipping around and even though I held the steering straight, it was the suspension that allowed it to sway. Right after that I went to a 3/4 ton and what a difference. One day pulling the stuff was a chore. The next it was a nice easy ride. So, if you're going to pull it a lot or go any real distance, I'd highly recommend going to a 3/4 ton.
 

SDMF

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Did you stop and tell the guy his transom is probably rotted out just to make his day a little better.

Lonely one-legged boat/trailer rig sitting along the highway all by its lonesome. I guess I should've probably stopped and written him a note regarding his impending transom woes to come.
 

MathewsZman

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62479074_2723930490957285_8613750370339913728_n.jpg
 


BrokenBackJack

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Most people don't have the experience pulling a trailer if and when something goes wrong. Not a knock on anyone but having the knowledge on what to do if and when something goes south is a big plus. People pulling too fast in town and in rural areas. How many times have to seen someone in town pulling a big camper and the light changes and they are 1/3 of the way out in the intersection before getting their rig stopped. That weight pushing you gets worse the faster you go.
One bit of advice is if your trailer starts whipping side to side, don't slow down by letting off the foot feed or touching your pulling rigs brakes, grab your trailer electric brake controller and slide it gently to apply the trailer brakes only. That will straighten it out and then you can slow down with your rigs brakes or letting off the gas.
When we were farming and ranching there wasn't hardly a day when we weren't pulling a trailer of some sort. Things happen and so very often at the worse time and when others could be in danger too. Check your tires and then check the air in the tires. Check your bearings and your brakes and set the trailer brakes when first starting out and driving slow down the road, then again after you are up to speed. Sometimes you need to adjust them stronger when up to speed.
The rubber on the tires isn't made like it used to be and after a couple of years they are weather cracked and could blow at any time. Get the highest rating tires you can for your trailer and buy good ones not the cheapest thing you can get.
These are just things that we used to do and just our opinion and advice for others. Not meant to offend and do what works best for you and your family!
 

Uncle Jimbo

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I’ve always wondered about liability when driving a vehicle combo over the GCVWR or pin weight specified by the manufacturer and end up having an accident. Seems to me one is really opening themselves up to a lawsuit being grossly overweight.
 

GSP

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I just purchased a 31 foot (35.5 bumper to bumper) travel trailer, and drive a 1/2 ton dodge with the air suspension. I’ve pulled it a few miles on the interstate, but I’m nervous/anxious for a longer trip. Its 2 thousand pounds under the limit for my 1/2 ton, but I’m still cautious. I intend to drive 60 MPH or so. For the record, I have the equalizer hitch with the bars, but not an “anti-sway bar” like my old one had. Hopefully it goes well this weekend!
 

PrairieGhost

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I guess I'm s pessimist or something because I carry an extra hub with bearings in my tool box. I also had to add air bags with onboard compressor even though I have a 3/4 ton diesel. My 5th wheel puts 2300 lb in my box.
 

BrokenBackJack

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We too always had an extra hub with the bearings prepacked along for every trailer. Good thing was most of them were universal. Don't know if they are nowadays or not.
 


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