Does length of trailer matter?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

goldiecr

New member
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Posts
1
Hello everybody!
My DH and I have just bought our new truck. We are now searching for a travel trailer.

I just read several discussions in this forum about towing weights. But now I am wondering if there is some magic number for how long your trailer can be to be pulled by a 1/2 ton truck. Any danger in going over 30 feet with a super lite trailer that is only 7000 lbs and well within the trucks towing capacity?

Thanks so much in advance for any input!!

Sandy
 
  No, it is a matter of weight. Some short trailers are very well constructed, and are quite heavy. While many trailers, are advertised as ?ultra lite? or some such.....and can be quite long for the weight!
 
Welcome to the forum Sandy

Your right the weight issue is VERY important.

Regarding the length..The longer the trailer the more of the sail effect you will experience. I would want a good anti sway to help keep the trailer from getting push around.
 
This topic is discussed and many of us debate and disagree.  For ME, and my personal opinion, I think 30' is too long for a 1/2 ton, simply because you start getting into much more area that a 30' trailer can catch a cross wind with, and those ultra lights are particularly crazy in the wind. Some people are much better about driving, where as some, who seem to just be starting out, have no business putting themselves at that skill level and risk.  I am also guessing that the 7000 lb trailer is the empty weight as published by the manufacturer. That is no where close to reality of what your weight will be pulling it.  So rather than debate this, we all will help and give better advise, if you give us more details on the following

Exact truck purchased?
In the drivers door you will find a yellow sticker, what is the payload?
What Trailer are you considering?

Without that information, this thread will only be a discussion of unknowns.



 
Welcome to the Forum!

Spencer nailed it!    Unless you are experienced towing RV trailers, stay below 30 ft - maybe below 27 ft!

We really need to know more about your tow vehicle, especially the yellow placard payload displayed on the driver door latch pillar.  If the salesman said it could tow 7000#, he was talking about a load of bricks.  Here is how to understand sales folks

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,90933.0.html
 
Check out the video mentioned below... it echoes most of the advice we post here all the time, regarding the dangers of putting too big of a travel trailer behind your truck. Your towing numbers are one thing, and the "sail" effect of towing a big empty box are another aspect to consider.

spencerpj said:
Others will help you with all the technical numbers, I just want to share with you a great youtube video for you to watch, that explains that there is more than just numbers to consider.  Enjoy, glad you are here before you bought a truck or trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M75Sm7XaIdY
 
At some point the tail gets long enough to begin wagging the dog.  Various factors grow as the trailer gets longer, e.g. sail effect (more side area), the extra leverage of a longer trailer wheel base (distance from hitch to axles), and the amount of weight that is far behind the hitch. And then there is the truck itself - there is a wide range of capability in half ton models. These days many of them have soft suspensions and/or P (passenger) rated tires, so aren't much different than an SUV for towing.

I think 30 ft max is a good rule of thumb to help stay out of trouble, but any rule of thumb only fits about 80-90% of the cases. There surely are more than a few that ought to stay under 27 ft, but there are probably a few that can handle 30-32 ft as well.
 
Back
Top Bottom