New to towing a Travel Trailer

[TXWolf]

After much deliberation, the wife and I went out and bought a 36' travel trailer last night. We were wanting something much smaller, but we KNOW we're gonna have to take our daughter, her boyfriend and our 2 grandkids with us when we go to the Coast. So I have a few questions for those of you that have experience with towing one of these.

A few quick notes:
The dry weight of this travel trailer is 7300 lbs. We are getting an equalizer hitch and electric brake controller installed.

First off ... just how bad is my MPG going to get. :thumbsdwn: Thanks to Corey's recommendation, Bill made a custom tow tune for me when I upgraded to the Gryphon. So I'm hoping that will help a bit.

How hard is it to back one of these things up? I haven't pulled anything with my newer truck (2008 with a 6" lift), and the most I ever towed with my '97 F150 was a small 7' dump trailer filled with crushed granite.

How will having a lifted truck affect the towing?

I'm sure I'll think of a few more things after I get the trailer home. We're planning to take it to an RV Park in Port Aransas in August, to be right next to the beach. So I guess I have a little bit of time to practice! :thumbs up yellow:

Thanks in advance for any help I can get from y'all. :cheesy smile:

[Desert Racer]

Think you may have bitten off a lil more than your truck can handle once you get it loaded with water and all your gear. Yet upgrad the brakes on the truck and you should be fine. Towing something that big to me is easier for some reason the bigger the better in my book. Just pull forward far enough to give you enough room to make corrections. If your truck is regeared than you are fine. Mpg aint gonna be pretty with that much weight expect single digits. As far as lifted you will notice more sway than a stock truck just because you are higher up. So go slow around corners and take it easy on it. Other than that happy camping and good luck!

[Dozer]

F-250? I tow a 5400 dry weight toyhauler and I wish I had a Diesel. Take it easy with that much weight especially braking. I get about 8-9 MPG when I tow with my truck. Good luck anyway.

[88Racing]

Just remember give yourself plenty of room!

Take corners extra wide especially RH ones!

Balance the load.

Slow and sure is better than fast and hasty.

Know where you are going before you get there.

Maybe a brake upgrade?

The bigger they are the easier to backup. Give yourself room.

Good idea on the equalizer hitch.

Try to tow so the vehicle and trailer are level. Makes for good geometry and good handling.

Watch where the brake controller is mounted in relation to the gryphon.

I may think of some others

Lars

[Sburn]

The dry weight of this travel trailer is 7300 lbs. We are getting an equalizer hitch and electric brake controller installed.

Depending on your gears and tire size, you're at or near the top of the towing capacity shown on page 249, 2008 Owner's Manual.

I don't have a gearing calculator handy, but if you have 3.73 gears, then 35 inch tires are going to make it like you had 3.55 (or worse) gears. And with that comes lowered towing capacity.

Assume plain water is just over 8 pounds per gallon, so you could easily add another 500 lbs to the trailer in just water. Then you got all your groceries, beer, firewood, and such to add. I could see you getting up to 8000 lbs, easy.

1) Make sure tires, brakes, fluids, etc on the truck are inspected and in perfect shape. And don't wait until the last minute while you're hitching up. Smack yourself on the head if you ever think, "might be alright -- I'll just keep and eye on it", instead of fixing the problem before you go.

2) Go over your receiver, hitch, safety chains, electrical plug, trailer lights/brakes, and equalizer bars EVERY time you go to leave somewhere. Even if you just parked overnight, inspect it before you go in the morning. Get used to doing an inspection walk around the trailer when you stop at rest stops and the like.

3) Your brake controller should come with a manual that tells how to adjust the controller with the trailer hooked up. Find a vacant stretch of road to do that adjustment.


How hard is it to back one of these things up?


Not as bad as you might think. Lars is right, longer is easier. Borrow some orange cones or such and take some time in a large parking lot to practice. Work out with the wife what hand signals (flashlight, radio) the two of you are going to use when you're backing in or out of a space. And then practice again in the dark.

[88Racing]

Sburn has a good point on the gearing!

Some other thoughts.

Noticed in the post that you have 6 people taking this trip. Hopefully the lariat has the bench seat up front. That's what bites about mine. The consel doesn't make it a good people hauler 5 max, on the good side I get my space.

Make sure you bring a good bottle neck jack or floor jack and some 1'x1' pieces of 3/4" plywood just in case of a flat.

Lars

[Jackpine]

These guys have pretty much covered everything!

I don't have near the towing weight that you do, but, your truck SHOULD be able to pull what you have. My trailer is a mere 3600#, but when I bought it, I had a Nissan Frontier (max towing weight was 5000# with an equalizing hitch, which I got). I was able to pull that thing over Monarch and Red Mountain Passes in Colorado (above 11,000 ft) but I was in 1st gear all the way. I found I was starting to run hot pulling it up a long 7% grade in Arizona south of Camp Verde and that's when I decided I really needed a bigger truck. So I got the f150.

You have a similar weight to "pull" ratio that I did with the Nissan. If you have not already gotten the hitch, I recommend the Equalizer load-leveling, equalizing, anti-sway Hitch: http://www.equalizerhitch.com/. Others have said you don't need the anti-sway feature, but it's kind of free with the design and I'll take any advantage I can get. It's dead easy to adjust the hitch ball height and it sounds like you'll need to drop that ball quite a bit since you've lifted the truck.

The good news about backing a long trailer is that it won't want to jackknife like a shorter one (mine). The bad news is you can't see a damned thing while you're turning while backing and it's really hard to tell where the back end of the trailer is. You have to have an assistant (I think).

Get used to the stopping distance, don't overload the trailer, don't drive faster than 65 mph.

And, you MAY discover that you need to install gears with a higher ratio than you have. With larger tires, I can just about bet on it.

You WILL get single digit gas mileage! Sorry!

- Jack

[TXWolf]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. I will definitely look into getting bigger brakes installed, and possibly different gears. I currently have the 3.73's, so I guess the upgrade would be 4.10's? And I definitely plan on doing some "practice towing and backing up" on the many country roads in our area. :thumbs up yellow: I've already reserved a site at an RV Campground at the coast for a week in August. I chose a pull-through site, in the hopes that it's easier to manuever the trailer into, instead of a back-in site. :o

As far as the equalizer hitch goes ... I had the dealer throw it in as part of the deal. So I emailed the salesman the website, to make sure that what they're planning on installing is comparable to what the site shows.

What about towing mirrors? I've seen some clip-ons at the JCWhitney website, and I think on StylinTrucks. Any recommendations?

[88Racing]

I don't know what your looking for as far as towing mirrors.
As far as clip ons I have had good and bad even from the same mfgr.
Your best bet is to go OE style telescoping mirrors. Might get a little pricey though.
Here is a good read from our friends over at f150online.
Note:
These threads contain the following info.
How to remove old and install new.
Where to buy.
Approxiamate pricing.
Some wiring diagrams found in user's albums.
http://www.f150online.com/forums/2004-2008-f-150/377985-new-telescoping-towing-mirrors-help-installation.html#post3738699

There are additional threads within this one also. Enjoy!

Lars

[Jackpine]

OE telescoping mirrors WILL be pricey - probably in the $500-600 range for a pair.

I don't know what your mirrors look like, but I use Cipa slide-on mirrors that I bought at Camping World. Here's a webpage: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/cipa-slip-on-tow-mirrors/7753d

They work great for me. I adjust the truck's mirrors to see the area to each side of my truck and the slide-on mirrors give me vision back along the sides of the trailer to the rear. There is no vibration and they're big enough to actually see something with. And, they go on and off in about 15 seconds. However, they may not make one for your model year truck yet.

I tried the ones that fastened with elastic bands on my previous truck and they did not work well at all. The mounting was too flimsy. I ended up using this style: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/eagle-vision-portable-rear-view-mirror/14887 which was a pain to mount, but they worked well once on the truck.

Looks like the thread Lars has given you has people putting telescoping OEM mirrors on their trucks, similar to the kind you see on the 2009 models and earlier Superdutys.

- Jack

[88Racing]

OE telescoping mirrors WILL be pricey - probably in the $500-600 range for a pair.
.............
Looks like the thread Lars has given you has people putting telescoping OEM mirrors on their trucks, similar to the kind you see on the 2009 models and earlier Superdutys.

- Jack

In that thread one guy got them for $426 then ford dropped its price and another guy got them for $290. From the same place.

The mirrors are full powered minus powered telescoping feature and power fold. These are brand spankin new oem's.

I don't think $290 is that bad of a deal?

The weird thing I was reading in there, was that the manual everything ones were more expensive. Go figure?

So check on the pricing.

Lars

[Jackpine]

In that thread one guy got them for $426 then ford dropped its price and another guy got them for $290. From the same place.

The mirrors are full powered minus powered telescoping feature and power fold. These are brand spankin new oem's.

I don't think $290 is that bad of a deal?

The weird thing I was reading in there, was that the manual everything ones were more expensive. Go figure?

So check on the pricing.

Lars

I think I saw something like that when I was researching mirrors for my f150 too. Some of the powered ones were cheaper than manual? Oh well. I know I really like the power fold option on my mirrors, since it's a tight squeeze into our garage. I wouldn't need power telescoping though.

As I said though, the Cipa mirrors work so well, that I stopped worrying about real towing mirrors. They were about $30 each, as I recall.

- Jack

[Sburn]

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/eagle-vision-portable-rear-view-mirror/14887
- Jack


Oh yeah, Camping World. TXWolf, you have a new trailer now, so just have your paycheck sent straight there for a few weeks for all the stuff you never knew you needed. :smiley_roll1: I have a love/hate relationship with that place!

[TXWolf]

I think that I'll stop by Camping World today after work. My side mirrors look the same as your 2005 mirrors, Jack, except for the chrome on mine. So I'm hoping that they fit as well on my mirrors as they do on yours. And $60 for both works a lot better than $290 right now. :hehe:

[Jackpine]

If the installed mirrors are the same shape as mine, then I think you'll be pretty happy with the Cipa mirrors. And, since you might be new to Camping World, they seem to be VERY liberal on accepting "returns". I've bought several things from them for our trailer and then discovered they would not work right. They took them back and gave me a full refund with no hassle whatsoever.

I will add that these mirrors would not work for a "superwide" trailer. But, if your trailer is the standard 8 foot width, they should be fine.

- Jack

[88Racing]

Oh yeah, Camping World. TXWolf, you have a new trailer now, so just have your paycheck sent straight there for a few weeks for all the stuff you never knew you needed. :smiley_roll1: I have a love/hate relationship with that place!

Kinda hate to compare campers to motorcycles but they sound like they are alike in this way. "Buying it is just your down payment for accessories"
LOL's

Lars

[Sburn]

Kinda hate to compare campers to motorcycles but they sound like they are alike in this way. "Buying it is just your down payment for accessories"
LOL's

Lars

Yep, and ditto for boats, AKA "floating money holes"..

[Jackpine]

Kinda hate to compare campers to motorcycles but they sound like they are alike in this way. "Buying it is just your down payment for accessories"
LOL's

Lars

That's funny Lars, and, TOO true! My biggest "addon" was a $700 Honda generator for when we camp in the boondocks. But, things like bike racks. fresh water hoses, sewer hoses, remote tire pressure sensors, an extra battery, chocks, leveling blocks, and so on DO add up.

I also replaced all the interior lights in the thing with high powered LEDs. They weren't cheap, either!

- Jack

[88Racing]

Speaking of campers, boats, and motorcylces.
Just passed a "parade" on the interstate!

A f350 pulling a 30ft 5th wheel with a platform on the back of it. Holding 2 dirt bikes and 2 HD touring bikes. With a 24ft boat in tow behind!
Wow! That guy wanted to take all his toys with him on vacation! LOL's

Don't worry Jack I stopped to post this one while getting a pop+goodies at a gas station! So, I'll be be passing him again!

Lars

[TXWolf]

Oh yeah, Camping World. TXWolf, you have a new trailer now, so just have your paycheck sent straight there for a few weeks for all the stuff you never knew you needed. :smiley_roll1: I have a love/hate relationship with that place!

I'm sure I'll be walking around the store, pointing at all the bling-bling, saying, "I need that ... and that ... and that ..." LOL :hehe:

[Jackpine]

I guess it might be possible to back up a double-articulated "train" like you saw Lars, but I'm glad I don't have to try it. Saw a picture recently of a triple-trailer "road train" that's used in Australia for trips into the outback. Wonder if we'll see them on the interstates here.

Yes, you'll have fun in Camping World, TXWolf. If you haven't been there before, DO join the "President's Club". You'll probably save the cost of membership on your first visit when you buy all the goodies you didn't know you needed. :hehe:

- Jack

[88Racing]

I guess it might be possible to back up a double-articulated "train" like you saw Lars, but I'm glad I don't have to try it. Saw a picture recently of a triple-trailer "road train" that's used in Australia for trips into the outback. Wonder if we'll see them on the interstates here.

- Jack

UPS, roadway, old dominion already does the triples up here!
They are shorter trailers to begin with. Up here there are some rules they follow. They have to have long load signage. If any of the following happen they must drop a trailer.
Inclimate weather. Like snow, slush, ice.
Winds over 45 mph.
The milk companies also haul finished products in double full size.
There restriction is 10 mph below posted speed limits and long load signage.

Lars

[04FX4]

The most important thing you can do is have fun!!!! Jack where did you buy your leds from?

[Grabber523]

I'm kinda thinking take the trailer back for a smaller one! Like a lot of other people said, you are going to be waaaaay over-weight...unless you're running 4.10 gears or lower your brand-new truck is gonna take an @$$-kicking...

My wife and I are looking at boats, and we always have to keep in mind the weight of the boat so we don't over load the truck...with a 6500# max weight on the 3.55 geared screw cabs, it doesn't leave a lot of room to play with...which is why we still haven't found one big enough without being too big for the rig.


Good luck and have fun!

[Jackpine]

The most important thing you can do is have fun!!!! Jack where did you buy your leds from?

I got them from SuperBrightLEDs. Here's the link to the "order" page: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=OTHER#1142-PCB-W36

The ones I got were the 1156-PCB-xWHP9 devices (third ones down that page). They have the highest lumen output of all, and my trailer's overhead lighting uses 1156 bulbs. I got the "Warm White" 3100K ones for the living area - they are very bright but and the color is comfortable on the eyes - good for reading. I decided on the "Cool White" ones for the kitchen area. They seem fairly close to a daylight fluorescent color, which I think works pretty well there, but would be hard on the eyes for reading. There's actually a bit for "blending" from the spillover from the warm white lights that "softens" the effect too.

One of the ones I got was faulty. I called them about it and they had me send it back for a replacement and they refunded my shipping cost. I've ordered other bulbs from them for yard lighting and they sell quality products.

- Jack

[TXWolf]

I'm kinda thinking take the trailer back for a smaller one! Like a lot of other people said, you are going to be waaaaay over-weight...unless you're running 4.10 gears or lower your brand-new truck is gonna take an @$$-kicking...

My wife and I are looking at boats, and we always have to keep in mind the weight of the boat so we don't over load the truck...with a 6500# max weight on the 3.55 geared screw cabs, it doesn't leave a lot of room to play with...which is why we still haven't found one big enough without being too big for the rig.


Good luck and have fun!


Well cr@p, now I'm getting worried about this purchase. :shrug: I guess one other thing to consider is that our daughter will probably also take her truck when we go to the coast, because we're thinking about getting a golf cart to go back and forth from the beach and the RV park. And we can load a lot of equipment in the back of her truck while we're at it. :thumbs up yellow:

Can anyone give me a ballpark figure on the cost of getting the gears changed to 4.10?

[88Racing]

Randy's ring and pinion for gears. web site. http://www.ringpinion.com/
Make sure you get a reverse cut for the front.
I've heard any where from $900-$1500? For the whole job.

Lars

[TXWolf]

This travel trailer is getting more expensive by the minute ... :sigh:

[Desert Racer]

Just wait untill you hit the road and realize you forgot things. Than it gets more and mroe expensive! In the end as long as everybody is having a good time than that is all that matters. After all it is only money.

[TXWolf]

Just wait untill you hit the road and realize you forgot things. Than it gets more and mroe expensive! In the end as long as everybody is having a good time than that is all that matters. After all it is only money.

There's always a WalMart around every corner! :thumbs up yellow:

[Desert Racer]

Exactly and a $200-300 bill lol. Happens all the time to me.

[408F150]

I tow a 21' Toy Hauler that weighs 6700# dry, 8800 when I roll out of my driveway with full fluids, toys, etc. With 35" tires, I strongly, strongly recommend getting 4.56 gears. This is usually what it will take to give you your stock final drive ratio back, maybe a little lower which will give you extra torque. I have 35" Coopers on my 07 f150 screw with the 5.4 (efans, exhaust, edge, super springs, CAI), and I can tell you your trailer will work HARD pulling something over 7k up a grade with 3.73s on 35s (I did it once before I got my gears swapped). My trans hit 230* on my way back from pismo beach this last spring, you really will need the extra torque from lower gear. Also, take your truck to a scale, my "dry weight" was supposed to be 6100#, but even with NOTHING in it, it weighed 6700#s on the scale. dry weighs are usually about 10% more than they list. your truck will handle it, but you might have some white-knuckle moments towing that large of a trailer behind a light-duty truck.

[TXWolf]

I am REALLY starting the regret this latest buying decision. :doh: I haven't picked it up from the RV dealer yet, and I'm wondering if I really want to now. We've already spent $300 on items that we'll need for our first camping trip next month, and now I have to try to explain to the wife why I need to get the truck regeared. I can just see her reaction now ... :cursin: LOL

[88Racing]

Did anyone ever ask you what kind of truck you were going to pull the camper with?
Is it to late to cancel the deal and go for smaller size?(To save face with them)
If you haven't picked it up yet you must not did all the paperwork?

That's the way it works in our state, but you may have to pay a prep fee.

Lars

[408F150]

To tow a travel trailer safely with your tire size and gear combination (this is just from my experience), you will want a trailer that weighs around 4,500# "dry weight", when you actually leave the dealership a 4,500# trailer will weigh much closer to 5,000#. Fill it up with food, gear, fluids, etc and you'll be pushing 6,500-7,000#. Most decent sized travel trailers have 80-100 gallon fresh water tanks, which will add almost 1000# on their own. Any higher weight than that will put lots of stress on your transmission. The engine can handle it fine, but for more weight than that (plus all the extra rotating mass from large tires) your transmission needs the leverage from a lower gear. Gears cost about $350 per axle minimum, and the labor is usually around $300 per axle.

Here's a pic of my setup to get you an idea of what I'm towing on a regular basis.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y236/mopar04/IMG_0143-1.jpg

Doesn't look that big but it's a beefy frame, it's cargo capacity weight rating is over 4,000#

[TXWolf]

Yeah, that looks about half the size of the one that we're looking at. :(

I've always pulled up to the RV dealers in my truck, and everyone says that it will pull it with no problem. I don't know anymore ...

[Jackpine]

I think your truck WILL pull it, but you're sure going to know it's there. (About like when I tried to pull ours with the Nissan Frontier).

But, a trailer is a bit like a second home (in fact, if you finance it, the interest you pay is deductible just like mortgage interest - in case you didn't know this). So, since you're going to live in it, you want to be comfortable while doing so.

If you can't find a lighter one that passes the "live in" test, then I think your best bet is to upgrade the tow vehicle (if you can't stand the way your current truck "pulls"). And, I'm not talking something minor like a gear swap here. Do what I did - start combing the internet and paper for a good, late-model F250, 6.4L diesel that you can buy in a "private" sale. If Texas is like Arizona, you pay no sales tax when you do this. I'm sure there WILL be some for sale that are about 1-2 years old due to the state of the economy. Then, you just have to decide if you want to sell your current truck the same way!

But, find out how your current truck handles the trailer before you make any huge decisions.

- Jack

[408F150]

RV dealers will always try to sell you the biggest trailer your truck legally can tow. They don't seem to care about the fact that it actually weighs much more when you actually put stiff in it. When I was looking at new trailers the guy kept trying to push a 7,400# dry weight 28' Toy Hauler. Technically my truck can tow it, but by the time you put anything in it you're way over your GCVW.

If you are willing to upgrade your tow vehicle, the trailer you picked up isn't heavy at all for a 250/350, and you could tow it very easily with a V10 that will be a whole lot cheaper than a diesel. I've seen 06/07 F250 Crew Cab V10s with under 50k miles going for well under 20k. I love diesels but with your trailer a diesel engine is entirely optional, a V10 will tow it just as well.

[TXWolf]

Unfortunately, spending another $20k isn't an option for me right now. :( I'm going to pick up the trailer this weekend. I guess I'll find out pretty quick how the rig handles at that time.

[408F150]

There's a few (relatively) cheap things will will help you greatly, if you don't have them already.

First, I'd recommend installing two 5" electric fans on your transmission cooler, you can either set them up to turn on at a certain temp or run a basic +/- wire setup to the cab and flip them on once you hit 180* on your Gryphons ATF temp gauge. May want to swap out your AT fluid for high temp/heavy duty full synthetic. Whole setup will cost around $100 and takes maybe 2 hours to install and wire (if you do fluid its around $7 a quart and I think it takes 14?)

Second, you are going to want either Super Springs or air bags to keep your a$$ from dragging. Super springs run about $375 a set and take about an hour to install (they add 2,000# of spring to help keep your leaf springs from getting over stressed), airbags are I think a tad more.

Third, you will need a NICE weight distribution hitch with dual-cam or a comparable form of anti sway. You're basically towing a 30+ foot sail behind a relatively light truck. It can and will push you around without a nice anti-sway setup.

Lastly, remember that when you're towing a trailer that weighs more than your truck, you need to have the trailer brake harder than your truck does (Prodigys call it a "boost level"). These are usually measured as a +% (+25%, +50%, etc) mode. You will probably want the trailer braking around 50% harder than the truck, but the manual for your brake controller will give you specifics.

PS- MPG-wise, expect around 11 mpg with a tail-wind and 7-9 mpg with a head-wind, cross-wind, or when going even slightly uphill

[Jackpine]

Second, you are going to want either Super Springs or air bags to keep your a$$ from dragging. Super springs run about $375 a set and take about an hour to install (they add 2,000# of spring to help keep your leaf springs from getting over stressed), airbags are I think a tad more.


I agree with everything in your excellent post except this one statement.

The whole point of a weight distributing/load leveling hitch is to transfer the trailer tongue weight to the four wheels of the tow vehicle, without overloading either of the axles. Putting heavy duty suspension components on the rear of the truck will keep if from sagging, so much so that the load leveling hitch will make the truck look fine, even though the rear axle is supporting way too much load. You CAN overstress the rear axle of the Tow Vehicle (TV) this way.

If you look at the instructions for any of the load leveling hitches, they say, "Do not use airbags, springs, etc to compensate for the hitch load".

The hitch itself transfers the load toward the front of the TV so that the weight on both axles is almost equal.

The weight distributing hitch will keep the rear springs of the TV from being overloaded.

And, as you mentioned, I think anti-sway control is good to have too, even if you do make sure the hitch load is 12-15% of the trailer weight (a must).

- Jack

[Sburn]

First, I'd recommend installing two 5" electric fans on your transmission cooler, you can either set them up to turn on at a certain temp or run a basic +/- wire setup to the cab and flip them on once you hit 180* on your Gryphons ATF temp gauge.


Agreed, trans cooler fans would be a good choice.

FYI, there's two different sizes of factory trans coolers:

The smaller of the two came with the lighter duty towing package and has about 4 or 5 rows of cooling fins. Factory light duty towing packages have a flat-4 only trailer connector on the rear bumper.

The heavier duty option has a cooler with 8-10 rows of cooling fins and is matched with the dual 7-pin + flat-4 combo trailer connector on the rear bumper.

The heavy-duty (AKA "Super Cooling") was an option on most trim levels and may have been standard on the higher (Lariat/KR) levles.

Upgrading to the larger cooler, if you have the small one, is a simple bolt-on change and the part is about $100 from Tasca Ford Parts or the like.

[TXWolf]

We picked up the travel trailer from the dealer last night, and WHOA!, is it big! LOL I have a few hesitations about it, though.

First off ... my back end of the truck sagged big time. This was expected to some degree, but it makes the truck look really weird. I'm thinking about adding Superleaf Springs to help with the aesthetics.

Second ... I'm new to using an electronic brake, and I'm having a heck of a time adjusting them. They'll act fine one minute, but then the next time that I go to slow down or stop, they feel totally different. As I drove into the neighborhood, my wife says that the tires and axles "bounced" really bad as I was braking. That has me a bit worried about the long-haul effects to the trailer.

Lastly (for now) .... Keeping an eye on the Gryphon gauges .... CHT never went above 220 .... CFT never went about 210 .... but the TFT hit around 219 a couple of times (pulling up a couple of inclines). With the towing package, I have a transmission cooler on my truck, but I'm guessing I might need more of a heavy-duty one? :shrug:

Except for my worries with the TFT, the truck pulled the trailer just fine. I definitely knows it's back there, though! :hehe: I'm going to take it to one of our high school parking lots today, and practice backing up with it, and getting the electronic brakes adjust better. And then I'll take it to the RV storage, until it's time to take it to the coast. :2thumbs:

[Jackpine]

Boy, I don't like it that you say the back of your truck sags. It shouldn't - period, if the load leveling hitch is set up properly. And, if following the instructions in setting up the hitch can't correct the sag, you need a higher capacity hitch, not springs.

Electric brakes ARE somewhat tricky to set up. Ideally, you want it so that you don't feel the trailer either pushing you or pulling back on you when you brake. In other words, for the most part, the trailer brakes stop the trailer and the truck brakes stop the truck. It won't be quite that "perfect", but you should be able to get it close. At about 25 mph on level ground, you want to be able to manually apply the electric brakes only (push the button on the controller) and not have the trailer wheels skid.

The CHT sounds fine. The TFT is worrisome though. I think they DO make higher capacity transmission coolers, possibly with their own fans. Regardless, you're going to have to change the fluid more frequently. If the TFT never goes above 219, yu're probably ok with your current setup.

When you climb hills, try to keep the transmission from shifting. This means dropping it into 2nd or even 1st, so that it's locked in gear. And, unless you're going dowhill, overdrive is probably something you won't be using, but again, let the transmission tell you what to do. If you feel the TC unlocking and locking a lot or if it's constantly down and upshifting, then lock out the O/D.

Have fun!

- Jack

[408F150]

Even with my WD hitch the Super Springs do help. They are NOT load bearing springs when I use them, I just use them as extra support in extremely bumpy areas. I have them set to one of the more mild bracket positions so they basically keep my shocks from over compressing on bumps (I pull my trailer into the dunes at Pismo and it's not uncommon to blow the valves in your shocks from the trailer jumping around). My trailer before I had the springs would fully compress my suspension (This is with a Reese WD hitch rated for 800#) and leave no travel on the springs or shocks. Now I pair Blistein Heavy Duty shocks with my springs and they work great.

Troyer makes a good stacked-fin trans fluid cooler with an automatic thermostat controlled fan. I have one but am yet to install it because the plumbing intimidates me. I can wire stuff all day, ATF lines I'm not super confident with. The only way to help you trans temp besides what was already mentioned is a deeper trans fluid pan so the fluid has more time to "rest" before its recirculated. I've heard the transmission coolers from the V10 SuperDutys are direct bolt-ons. They're much larger but still don't have a fan, so I'd add as big of one as you can get away with.

If your trailer starts bucking your truck around like a see-saw, it could be one of a few things. If you're under-breaking the trailer, it's basically running into your truck when you stop, which shoves your a$$ end down rocks the truck around on it's suspension. If you over-break the trailer, it puts a lot of rearward tension on the hitch and when you release the breaks all that inertia is unloaded forward onto your truck. The final thing that makes them act squirrely when breaking is water in your tank. 800+# of water sloshing around, especially when going downhill, has literally pushed my truck in pulses as it sloshed as I went down a wet hill, if it weren't for ABS and 12" wide tires it coulda been bad.

There should be a brake calibration dial on your controller, the easiest way to dial it in is gradually increase the setting until the trailer stops dipping your rear end as you stop. At that point your truck and trailer are breaking at the same rare and stopping at the same time. Just remember to use Boost or a comparable setting on the freeway or it will sway under moderate to heavy breaking.

This big of a trailer is always going to be a lot to handle behind a "small" truck.

[TXWolf]

I drove the truck & trailer a couple of miles away to a highschool parking lot to readjust the brakes, and noticed that the temps that I am monitoring were all showing to be in acceptable ranges. In fact, the TFT stayed around 196. But then I noticed that I still had the Gryphon set to 87 Custom Performance Tune. :doh: So I changed it over to the 87 Custom Towing tune, and the temps all shot up a bit. Now the TFT was showing 212. :confused: Not sure why there was such a big variance in the temp readings, going from one tune to another.

Anyhow, I was able to fine-tune the electronic brakes to where it felt like the trailer and truck were both braking well. No more "bouncing" axles, and it never felt like the trailer tires were locking up. I was also able to back the trailer up pretty well, which is something that I was worried about. :woot:

I've ordered some Superleaf Springs, to help with the "sagging butt" backend of my truck when the trailer is hooked up. I'm hoping that it helps out a lot. I'm going to call the shop that installed my liftkit this morning, to see what they recommend.

[408F150]

Since you have a lift the shop is most likely going to recommend airbags from what I've noticed in the past. They work just as well, just might cost a tad more.

[Jackpine]

If your Torque Converter is unlocked, you are going to get higher TFT readings than you will with it locked. If the higher readings were observed during your "playing" at the parking lot, I'd say this was normal. You're spending a lot of time in low gears with the transmission doing quit a bit of shifting. This is more stressful than a "cruise" condition to the parking lot. And, it will take a bit of time for the TFT to come up if you start out with a cold truck.

When I had my smaller truck, I could see the engine temp really go up quickly if I spent any time mucking around in low gears doing any "backing and forthing". Since there's little forward speed, there's nothing except the radiator fan to cool things off.

- Jack

[TXWolf]

If your Torque Converter is unlocked, you are going to get higher TFT readings than you will with it locked. If the higher readings were observed during your "playing" at the parking lot, I'd say this was normal. You're spending a lot of time in low gears with the transmission doing quit a bit of shifting. This is more stressful than a "cruise" condition to the parking lot. And, it will take a bit of time for the TFT to come up if you start out with a cold truck.

When I had my smaller truck, I could see the engine temp really go up quickly if I spent any time mucking around in low gears doing any "backing and forthing". Since there's little forward speed, there's nothing except the radiator fan to cool things off.

- Jack

That makes sense ... I'm glad I have you guys on here to point out the obvious for me! :2thumbs: I've been so nervous about this whole thing that my brain seems to want to shut down at the most inopportune moments! :smiley_roll1:

[Jackpine]

Glad to be of help! I'm still concerned that your hitch is not set up right though. Many RV dealerships don't really know what they're doing according to posts on several threads I've looked at.

I think the hitch ball height adjustment is pretty standard, so here's what mine says:

You need to know your loaded trailer's tongue weight to begin with. If you have a 7500-8000# trailer, the tongue weight should be about 900-1200#. I would classify the truck as having "average" springs, so the difference between the height of your ball on flat ground and the inside height of your trailer hitch with the trailer sitting parallel to the ground should be from 1 11/16 - 2 1/4 inches (the ball is that much higher). Then, the equalizing arms and chains should be able to be adjusted so that the compression at the rear of the truck is equal to or maybe just a small amount more than the compression at the front. (In other words the truck rides "level"). (Measure from the ground through the center of the wheel to the top of the fender opening). The instructions for my hitch say if you can't get this, you need a heavier hitch.

They should have given you a copy of the hitch instructions. I'd study them carefully!

- Jack

[88Racing]

I do have to agree with 408F150 super springs concept.

They do help to stabilize and not make the axle compress as much.

I have them on my work truck and it makes driving it through the unfinished terrain at job sites more enjoyable in the 11000 lb truck I drive. I have been running them for 2 years now and no complaints. Even pulling a 24' job trailer is more pleasurable with them on the truck. But unfortunately I don't use a WD hitch at work.

Lars

[TXWolf]

Well, I now have the new stabilizer springs installed on my truck. They're rated for 3000 lbs. I took the truck over to the RV storage to get a visual ... to see if they hold up to the task at hand. Here are a few pics:

Truck and 36', 7330 lb travel trailer:
http://www.fordf150.net/photos/data/500/IMG00168.jpg (http://www.fordf150.net/photos/showphoto.php/photo/40256)


Back tire without the full weight of the trailer:
http://www.fordf150.net/photos/data/500/IMG00174.jpg (http://www.fordf150.net/photos/showphoto.php/photo/40258)


Back tire with the full weight of the trailer:
http://www.fordf150.net/photos/data/500/IMG00172.jpg (http://www.fordf150.net/photos/showphoto.php/photo/40257)


Front tire with the full weight of the trailer:
http://www.fordf150.net/photos/data/500/IMG00173.jpg (http://www.fordf150.net/photos/showphoto.php/photo/40259)


The rear of the truck isn't dropping NEARLY as far as it did without the helper springs ... but is it still dropping too far? What do you guys think? I didn't take it out for a quick trip around the block because we had to be somewhere else soon. I'll do that sometime this weekend.


On another note ... we took my brothers 21' boat for a trip down to the Gulf Coast last weekend. For the most part, I couldn't even tell that the boat was back there. :2thumbs: We drove part of the way using the 87 Performance Custom Tune, and the 2nd half of the trip in Custom Towing Tune. I could definitely tell that I had more power/responsiveness using the Custom Towing Tune. The temps stayed in respectable levels, although I mostly drove on the highways, without much stop-and-go traffic. My gas mileage took a dump (averaging around 8.8 mpg), which makes me start to cringe when I think of how bad the mileage will be with the heavy travel trailer behind the truck. :yikes2: LOL

[gabeyd]

Did you get a picture of the front without the trailer?

It should go down when your trailer is hooked up if your WD hitch is setup correctly. If it stays the same, or goes up, then you need to put more torque on the WD hitch, which would also bring the rear up a bit, as it transfers weight to the front.

Looks good though, nice truck, and nice trailer!

I tow a 32' Cougar with a 2000 Excursion:

http://dalbec.net/save/trailer.jpg

[Kwattro]

Nice set-up TX. I recently bought a 31ft Gulf Stream at 6750lbs dry, and currently pulling over 8000+lbs loaded up with our stuff and people. Below the 9200lbs rated capacity for my truck and below the gross combined rating too. Tows GREAT. I have a Reese weight distro hitch and get 1" to 1.5" sag in the back maximum. Essentially instead of the truck having a slight rake unladen, it sits level with the trailer attached. Handles the weight just fine as far as steering and braking but it's a turd on the hills even with the Edge installed. So I'm on the hunt for a supercharger! Our salesman gave us a funny look when I told him we'll pull with an F-150 but I showed him the worked out numbers and even fully loaded with a person in each seat and more gear than needed I still had very good headroom under the GCVW. I love everything about it, just need power to get up the loooooong hills. Happy RVing TX!

[04FX4]

If you are going to traveling up any larger hills, get a larger tranny cooler.

[Jackpine]

If you are going to traveling up any larger hills, get a larger tranny cooler.

X2! I'm getting pretty high temps just from pulling 3600# up high mountain passes (or 5-6 mile 7% uphill grades on the interstates).

- Jack