Well, we did it (Finally found a TT)

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Joined
Nov 12, 2017
Posts
22
Location
Placida, FL
Well, we did it.  Bought a new (to us) FunFinder 214WSD today.  She's a 2012 but in really nice shape.  Only things it looks like we need to do are to replace the awning fabric, giver her a new set of tires and do a bit of roof seam maintenance (no leaks just looks like it's time).

The rig came with a Curt 8,000 lb WD hitch setup and I'm thinking I want to upgrade to a full on WD with anti-sway.  Any suggestions?  (TV is a 2005 F150).  Payload and weight numbers all work to where my calcs figure we have a 14% safety margin - Just looking for a good quality hitch (and tire recommendations too while you're at it).

Thanks all.
 
Congratulations on your purchase! You don't mention if this is your first RV. In any case you and your family are going to have great times with your new TT. You mention your tow vehicle is an F 150. What configuration is the truck; motor, body style, etc. What the specs; payload, max hitch weight, tow rating. The reaso I ask is we are looking at a larger TT and I've been looking at the F 150 with the 3.7L Ecoboost. Saw some YouTube videos of the truck tested towing 10,000+ lbs.
 
First TT, but we've had MH's in the past.

Our F150 is an older one:  2005 FX4 SCREW with 5.4 and 3.73.  Factory tow pkg gives it an advertised "towing capacity" of 9,200 lbs, but in reality we've only got 1395 lbs of payload to play with.  Pretty sure the newer trucks are quite a bit lighter and have more payload.  I like my older gasser even though we only average about 15MPG.  It's a great vehicle for hauling our bikes and kayaks and for towing my flats boat.  Now it has another job, towing our TT.  It's a 2005 but we just turned 67,000 miles.
 

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Nice truck. Should do a good job with your new TT. We fulltimed in a 37' 5th wheel when I retired from the AF. It was great but after 5 years it seemed it was time to settle down and get a job. We now have a 17' Winnebago TT and a Nissan Frontier. Like I said probably next year we'll upgrade both. Looking at a Camplite bunkhouse TT. I see you are from FL. I was born and raised in Daytona Beach and the wife was raised there but hails from Buffalo, NY. Happy trails!
 
I like my Equa-lizer 4 point with built in sway control. Very easy to hitch up, no chains to figure out or old-school sway bar to adjust or remove to back up. Keep the hitch head greased and there is no noise either.  It works better after a couple hundred miles when the paint wears off the bars so they get the proper friction.
 
SWFL:  I have similar setup, and I bought a Reese.
 
https://www.reesehitches.com/products/Pro_Series_Trunnion_Bar_Weight_Distributing_Hitch__800_lb_,49586

A friend told me about this style, Trunnion Bar, what is nice is, the WD bars do not hang low like others, they come more from the center of hitch.  I added a Reese anti-sway, and feel 100% comfortable with it all.  It's just a well made, great value, WD set-up.

Good luck with 15MPG, I went from 18 to 11 when pulling my 20' TT



 
I had a Reese Dual Cam for my last trailer, and it worked great. It's a bit of a pain in the butt to to set up correctly though. Were I to buy another trailer and needed a WDH with sway control, I would most likely go with an Equal-I-Zer brand hitch.
 
Take a look at the Fastway E2, similar to the big Equal-I-Zer but two point control instead of 4-point. I don't know how the price differential works out, but for your modest size trailer I'd guess the E2 would do nicely.

http://www.fastwaytrailer.com/e2-hitch
 
Lynx0849 said:
Since you may not know the history of the trailer, perhaps rebuilding the wheel bearings while doing new tires would be in order?

Thanks for the reminder -  According to the seller they were done this past summer, but that is on my list of to do's before we head out anywhere.
 
Making progress.  I ordered my 1/10k Equal-i-zer hitch yesterday.  Now I'm focussing on tires.  Been doing a bunch of reading and search for tires and I'm down to three (all are 205-75-R14, and all include shipping but not local mount/balance/disposal):

Goodyear Endurance D1  $107.99 each ($50 mail in rebate on set of 4) = $95.49 each

Maxxis M8008 C1  $92 each

Carlisle Radial Trail HD D1  $102 each

Considering these prices, I see no reason to not go with the Goodyears.


Now here's my newest question:

Four or five?
I was planning on buying five, but after looking at the tires I have now I'm wondering if it might be OK to put my best as a spare (Power King TOWMAX STR) since it's only 2-1/2 years old (3115) and has good tread left.  Would you spend the extra $120 or so to have a set of five or be good to go with four matched and an OK spare?  (they won't get rotated through as I have aluminum wheels except for the spare).

Thanks again.
 
Your choice on the spare, but be aware, if you set up a tool kit to be able to change your tire(s) along the roadside, the nuts that hold the spare onto the bracket may not be the same size as your lug nuts.
 
The Goodyear Endurance would be my first choice and the Maxxis 8008 my second.  Repacking the wheel bearings and checking the trailer brake pads would be a good idea.  We have the Equal-i-zer 4 point hitch and have been very happy with it over the past 2 years.  I got it off Amazon with free shipping.  That hitch weighs enough to make the UPS man grunt so free shipping is a big thing.  Just put your best used tire on for a spare.  If you have a flat, use the spare and just plan on buying a new replacement ASAP.
 
Update to close out the thread:

Did the tires about three weeks ago  Was all set to order from Discount Tire and in a last minute online search found that Sam's Club had a Goodyear promo of $20 off (per tire) so I ordered a set of four. They came in two days later and I made an appointment for first thing the next morning.

Four Goodyear Endurance D rated, ST205-75-R14 tires, free shipping to the store, mount/balance/2-year road hazard on each, state disposal fees and sales tax. One extra mount/balance charge as I had them move by best existing tire to the spare. Total out the door was $428 and change.  Didn't pay anything at time of order, only once the install was complete.  One additional bonus was an unexpected $10 Gift Card in the mail from Sam's for having made my first online order with them.  That brought it down to $418.

After looking at the existing tires I decided to keep the newest as a spare (only 2-1/2 years old, good tread, no signs of rot).
So far so good, hopefully they'll do as well as they're touted to do.
 
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