Experienced tow-ers, I’d love your thoughts on this. I know this is kind of long. Sorry and thanks in advance.

As some of you know, I have been on here asking a lot of questions about towing and we went and looked at a used Hi-Lo yesterday. In a nutshell, we loved it. I was so excited. My husband really liked it. My kiddos were very excited. Well, the baby wasn’t really excited about the Hi-Lo, but he was happy because everyone else was happy. Anyway, here is what happened…

We hooked it up to tow it and my husband, always calm cool and confident, well, I could just feel his discomfort as he drove. I could tell he did not like the way the trailer was being pulled and he did not like the way driving it felt so I asked him and he said that no matter what the numbers say for tow limits and weights, he doesn’t feel like it is safe and that our truck isn’t big enough. I completely respect that and I certainly don’t want to put ourselves or anyone else on the road in any danger because we are towing something that is too big for our truck. If he says it doesn’t feel safe, I trust that and wouldn’t dream of pulling it with our truck, but…

I’m a little confused because other people on this forum are pulling similar weight with a similar vehicle. Of course I am thinking that possibly other people have more experience with towing and therefore feel more comfortable when they have all that weight behind them. Also, maybe their axle ratio is different or something else that I don’t know. Of course it could also just be that it isn't safe and we need to be done with it. But what I am also thinking, and what I’d really like to know from people with more experience is…

When they hooked up the truck they didn’t hook up the weight distribution hitch. They just hitched it up with the hitch.

Could that have made all the difference? I don’t want to do anything unsafe but if that WDH would have made it handle much better, I’d like to know.

I don’t want to do anything unsafe and we are in no position to buy a bigger truck right now so we didn’t buy it, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe the WDH would have made it handle better and we could at least buy it to use locally until we are in a position to buy a larger truck in a couple years.


Here are the facts:
Tow Vehicle
2002 Dodge Dakota SLT Quad Cab 2WD, 4.7L V8 engine, 3.55 axle ratio, factory installed tow package, automatic transmission. Rated to tow 5050 lbs.

Trailer
1989 22D Funchaser UVW = 3590, GVW = 5000
We planned to tow it without liquids and low cargo, attempting to keep it under 4000 lbs. Today it was dry when we towed it.

Thanks again and sorry this is so long,
Cheryl

Using a WDH would make a tremendous difference. I have towed our 2310H without WDH when in a pinch and there was no comparison. Your truck, as is mine, is not really designed to tow that much weight without WDH. I assume you have a brake controller already, that is an absolute must.

__________________
Great Wife, Joyce
2010 2310H Hi-Lo
2012 F150 4X4 SuperCrew EcoBoost w/Leer Cap
Reese WD Strait-Line Hitch
Amateur Radio K3EXU

I totally agree with RichR,
I tow with a 1999 Ford Explorer, 4.0 V6. I wouldn't even think of taking my 2209 on the highway without the WDH. When the hitch is set up right, towing the Hi-Lo is more stable than with out it. I also have a 3.55 axle ratio, which in my case should be a 3.73 or 4.10 axle ratio. Your V8 should handle the trailer without problems. My 2209 is 3860 lbs. dry, the fun chaser is probably about the same or a little more. That UVW is without options, like the air conditioner etc. The only way to get the true weight is to have the trailer weighed.
A half ton truck is designed to have the weight in the bed, not on a hitch hanging off the back. When you do this without a WDH it takes a lot of weight off the front wheels making the truck steering light and gives a loose feeling..

__________________
Rich
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(215TL) - 1995 21' TowLite
(2209T) - 2009 22' TowLite
99 Ford Explorer 4DR 4X4

I totally agree with the above two post. The WDH would make a world of difference in how it tows. Go back and tow it with the WDH hooked up and also a brake controller so you know the brakes work. Will tow even better if you have anti-sway bars or can add them if you buy the RV. Good luck on your search.

__________________
Jim L & Faye
2805C
2003 Silvarado diesel crew cab
central Virginia

This website has a lot of good info on WDH: Weight Distribution | etrailer.com They have some good videos that help.

Another little item, make sure you have the correct size ball on your hitch that matches the trailer.

__________________
Great Wife, Joyce
2010 2310H Hi-Lo
2012 F150 4X4 SuperCrew EcoBoost w/Leer Cap
Reese WD Strait-Line Hitch
Amateur Radio K3EXU

And, of course the WD hitch needs to be set up so that there is nearly equal compression over the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle. (This means you are distributing the trailer tongue weight equally on to the axles of your truck.)

I agree with Rich and the others. I think you can tow it without too much problem, but you'll definitely know it's there. I was able to tow my 17 ft trailer weighing 3800# (measured) over the high mountain passes in Colorado using a Nissan Frontier (6 cyl) with a 5000# trailer rating. I had to do it in 1st gear on the upslopes, but it pulled the weight. (I used 2nd gear on the downslopes for engine braking.)

If you set up the trailer brakes properly, they will take care of stopping your trailer so that stopping distances won't be increased much. Essentially, you might want to feel just a slight pull back from the trailer when you apply the brakes.

- Jack

Cheryl,

Here is a link that might better help you and your husband understand the use and purpose of a WDH. The 2nd page shows a pic of the effects of adding additional weight on a hitch with and without a weight distributing hitch.

HowStuffWorks "How Towing Weight Distribution Systems Work"

Jerry Curtis
2406 T Towlite

The others on the forum have given you very accurate advice. See if you can look up the websites mentioned and can get set up for towing correctly. efeniately a weight distributing hitch and a brake controller. The worst case scenaro is that you take the truck and trailer to an RV dealer to get set uproperly. SWe tow our 90 HiLo Classic with a 3/4 ton Ford Heavy Duty f250. Wehave a wd hitch,brake controller that was put on by our RV dealer. The second year we had the HiLo I was following behind my husband in my car and we realized the trailer was swaying. Our dealer then had a sway bar that would work for our set up. Didn't have one available when we first got the trailer. Perhaps the owner could tow the trasiler to the RV dealership for you. I've been told that the rv dealer can install the brake controller for about $250.00. If you get set up for towing by yourself then maybe an RV dealer could check it for you especially if you are in there buying a sewer hose ect. I know my dealer would. Call ahead and see what is a convenient time for them to do this. Hope this helps. I would think your truck would work for this 22 ft. HiLo.

Just a note about pulling a light HiLo (2008 19ft 3100lb unloaded) with a bigger truck (2005 F150 300 horse with 365 ft lbs of torque).

I have a 2007 27' Sunset Trail (unloaded 5000lb) that absolutely needs the WD and sway bars to feel safe.

But the HiLo is towed with no WD and just a sway bar feels great.

I look with interest as to what others are towing their HiLows with because eventually I'll get a smaller truck or a SUV.

Hope you get the HiLo you are looking at. They are much easier to tow and maintain than a conventional trailer

Ray

__________________
1908T bought Sept 2011
2005 Ford F150 Lariat 5.4 Liter
2 Shi Tsu's Eddie and Binky and Muffin the Yorkie

Thank you so much everyone, for all of the great information you shared. I showed this thread to my husband and he read through all the posts and he checked out the links that RichR and JCurtis95 shared and I am excited to say that he is now open to going back and driving the trailer again, this time with weight distribution. I really can't thank you all enough. Your posts and links made all the difference.

Best Regards,
Cheryl
Future hi-lo owner