Trailers you tow behind your MH / Pictures of the whole rig

[Crasher]

I have thought about the trailer toad, but we will already be 75' long and don't want to approach 80'. Although it's not needed, I will use a heavy duty equalizer hitch. Using that, I could get by with the existing hitch, but I like things over built for the job. The owner of the ATC pulled it for 7 years with an Tradewinds MH with a hitch rated at 5,000# he beefed it up himself and never had a problem. Don't think I would do that, but it worked for him.

[JNicholson]

Me either, love those Mopars!!

You are going to be amazed at how much better the ride and the handling is when you get the Trailer Toad installed. It's been almost 4 years that we have built them "in-house" so we could control all the quality and react to needed changes the same day. Since then, I have not had one customer who wasn't satisfied. Most call and say "why didn't I get one years ago".

We are ready when you are, thanks for choosing Trailer Toad to make your travels smoother and safer.

Jok

[Blacknchrome]

I see here that many have a DP Vs my Gas baby......I now have a 5000 lb hitch and believe a class 3 hitch....rating is 5000 lbs....I see many large car type trailers showing behind an RV the same as mine....if I update my hitch to a higher rating how much will I hurt my RV? 36 ft HR endeavor...2000 year...V10. Would like a 8 x 20 enclosed trailer to haul 4 HDs or maybe my corvette...HELP? Us pulled a 16 ft to Sturgis last year and looking to head bad again with a larger trailer and a few more bikes

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by Blacknchrome

I see here that many have a DP Vs my Gas baby......I now have a 5000 lb hitch and believe a class 3 hitch....rating is 5000 lbs....I see many large car type trailers showing behind an RV the same as mine....if I update my hitch to a higher rating how much will I hurt my RV? 36 ft HR endeavor...2000 year...V10. Would like a 8 x 20 enclosed trailer to haul 4 HDs or maybe my corvette...HELP? Us pulled a 16 ft to Sturgis last year and looking to head bad again with a larger trailer and a few more bikes

Attachment 55676

It is not so much the strength of the hitch, but how beefy the frame of the RV is.

Call the manufacture and ask them if the frame can handle the additional weight before investing in a stronger hitch.

General rule, the trailer is the weakest point, you want the hitch rated stronger that what the trailer needs and the RV rated stronger than the hitch

[HoleInOne]

Originally Posted by jauguston

FWIW for those that care Washington State where I am the legal length limit is 75'. Not a problem for me I am only 66'.

How do you load the boat? I am guessing back the trailer as close to the water as possible and go like hell and jump it??

[TVforMyRV]

On our way to the Quartzsite RV show in 2010...

[jauguston]

Hole in One,

I use a 12v winch mounted on the front upright for the left bunk the boat sets on. A pulley on the center of the crossmember between the two bunks turns the winch line 90 degrees to go to the back under the boat. I have a bridle with two hooks on the end of the winch line (poly rope not cable) That go under the boat and hook up to the two transom lift handles. The bunks are spaced so the ribs in the boat bottom act as guides to keep it straight when sliding it up. I covered the bunks (4" channel) with carpet to prevent scratching the aluminum. The boat weights about 300# so it slides up the bunks pretty easy. I have retractable wheels from West Marine on the transom.The outboards (15hp and 2.5 hp ride under the boat along with a lot of other "stuff" (-: The suspension and tires are rated for 1500# and they carry about 500#
It works quite well.

[palehorse89]

I have been following this thread since the beginning and you guy's sure have some nice outfits,and now have a question about the trailers that are being pulled and the ratings of the Coach and receiver's that are pulling these traiters. I am not questioning the tag axle Coach's, but the 40' DP's and the gas Coach's, I started a thread here http://www.irv2.com/forums/f25/upgra...ns-192396.html asking about up-grading my receiver to be able to pull a 24-26' enclosed car trailer like I see in a lot of photo's in this thread.......any help would be appreciated.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by palehorse89

I have been following this thread since the beginning and you guy's sure have some nice outfits,and now have a question about the trailers that are being pulled and the ratings of the Coach and receiver's that are pulling these traiters. I am not questioning the tag axle Coach's, but the 40' DP's and the gas Coach's, I started a thread here http://www.irv2.com/forums/f25/upgra...ns-192396.html asking about up-grading my receiver to be able to pull a 24-26' enclosed car trailer like I see in a lot of photo's in this thread.......any help would be appreciated.

It is not so much the strength of the hitch, but how beefy the frame of the RV is.

Call the manufacture and ask them if the frame can handle the additional weight before investing in a stronger hitch.

General rule, the trailer is the weakest point, you want the hitch rated stronger that what the trailer needs and the RV rated stronger than the hitch

I think I have read this before (I'm not trying to be smart, just funny)?

[palehorse89]

Originally Posted by GlennLever

It is not so much the strength of the hitch, but how beefy the frame of the RV is.

Call the manufacture and ask them if the frame can handle the additional weight before investing in a stronger hitch.

General rule, the trailer is the weakest point, you want the hitch rated stronger that what the trailer needs and the RV rated stronger than the hitch

I think I have read this before (I'm not trying to be smart, just funny)?

Thanks Glenn, this info. is out of the link I posted:
Per Newmar spec. sheet GVWR = 31,000#(I am under the GVWR, scaled ) GCWR = 41,000#

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by palehorse89

Thanks Glenn, this info. is out of the link I posted:
Per Newmar spec. sheet GVWR = 31,000#(I am under the GVWR, scaled ) GCWR = 41,000#

What you really want to know is if the frame can take the stress, you are interested in weight also, but the stress of the weight hanging off the end of the chassis. Think of it as the frame being a lever with the axle as the fulcrum. You have the weight of the trailer on one end the axle in the center and the rest of the chassis in front of the axle. You hit a bump and you are driving the axle upwards with weight on either side of the axle trying to pull it down.

So stress is important.

Also remember the psychics rule an object at rest want to stay at rest and an object in motion wants to remain in motion. the axle is traveling upward and the two ends of the frame want to remain in their current position.

I'm not saying you can't do it I'm saying it is not an opinion question, but a question you should ask the chassis builder.

[JNicholson]

W wondered about what kind of loads were being put on our motor home several years ago. So we put "compression pads" (not the technical name) on top of the trailer ball and they were hooked to a laptop in the coach to record "actual weight" on the trailer ball as we towed.

It was a basic 850-lb tongue weight enclosed car trailer with gross weight of 9100 lbs. Weight distribution hitch was in place and a "home made severe duty receiver hitch in place".

In 90 miles we had readings that were steadily over 1200-1500 lbs and probably 50 that were over 2500-lbs. We had seven readings that showed the weight on top of the trailer ball exceeded 4000-lbs.

That proved to us that it isn't the "sitting-still tongue weight" that does the damage is the "sledge-hammer effect" of the trailer beating down on the receiver hitch and those loads going into the frame, suspension and body components of the coach.

After we installed the Toad we had to add another "compression pad". We left the one on the trailer ball on the back of the Toad and put one under the drawbar that slides into the receiver hitch.

Same roads, same day; highest reading on the trailer ball was a spike of 2950 lbs and the drawbar on the coach never registered above 500 lbs at any time.

We feel the lower "spikes" on the trailer ball come from the "softer suspension" of the Trailer Toad absorbing the road bumps and then isolating those pressures from the hitch on the coach.

Nothing else we tried, including air-bag hitches even came close to keeping the weight off the coach's receiver hitch and stopping the impacts felt by the coach and it's occupants.

I know it is a long-winded reply but we came to the conclusion that you could have a 20,000-lb huge I-beam receiver hitch but it will not isolate the coach from the stresses of towing. Imagine what the "weight spikes" would have been with my stacker trailer that has 2100 lbs of tongue weight and 19,000 lbs trailer weight. No wonder we get calls from future customers who are at the welding shop getting their receiver hitch fixed after it was cracked or broken from towing. If it cracks the steel tubing, what is it doing to the fiberglass rear cap, the side walls or the plywood walls? **Use the best 25,000-lb rated trailer-ball you can find no matter what trailer you use. The best $20 or $30 you will ever spend.

The coach is your investment, how you protect it is a personal choice. We feel the Trailer Toad is the only way to keep the tongue weight off of it. If there is another method available to motor home owners, I have not seen it.

Be safe out there,

Jok

[Crasher]

I have no doubt that the trailer toad will relieve the load on the MH. The loads recorded are also part of what the hitch manufacturers go through to arrive at hitch ratings. I'm not sure how the chassis manufacturers arrive at their ratings for the hitch. I suspect they are aware of those numbers and rate accordingly. Hence, a hitch/chassis combo rated at 1500# tongue weight is designed to take up to a 9-10,000# load from a dip or bump in the road. In our case, we have pulled several trailers with various tongue weights on all kinds of roads and have never had a frame problem. However, I have never exceeded the hitch ratings. As I said, the trailer toad will reduce any load problems due to weights, but is not necessary to tow a trailer safely if one stays within the ratings.

[palehorse89]

I would sure like to see the specs. on this chassis........the GCWR has to be in a gross excess.........

This is for the new Coachman DP's , 2-4k towing ability...... http://www.coachmenrv.com/products/c...ecificationsmh
(Again, based on scaled weight)