We had great success with a Blue Ox Sway Pro set up. That was before we went to a fifth wheel.

 

You CAN tow a trailer of that size with your truck without anything more than a simple ball mount installed in the factory receiver, I do it all the time, BUT, an equalizer hitch will give a better ride and a more level ride. As to assembling the hitch each time, to a certain extent you do, but after you get it set up properly the first time, you can duplicate that set up the next time fairly easily.

Now, my strong suggestion is to look at a 5th wheel, they tow and ride so much better than a bumper pull trailer, you won't regret it. And, if you want to stay with a lighter weight trailer, there are LOTS of great 5th wheel trailers that are designed to be 1/2 ton towable that will tow super easy with your 2500.

 

If you have the money Propride is very good. Haven’t personally had Blue Ox but most people seem really happy with them and are a decent cost. Have also tried Reese and wouldn’t recommend them.

 

So going to be possibly buy a travel trailer for vacation purposes. We are looking at travel trailers roughly 36-38ft long and max weight of 10k. I never pulled a travel trailer and was wondering what hitch should I get or do I need one? Also if I do need hitch distribution with sway control do I have to assemble it every time? Looking at the Anderson sway control hitch or are there any good recommendation for our 2018 ram

You CAN tow a trailer of that size with your truck without anything more than a simple ball mount installed in the factory receiver, I do it all the time, BUT, an equalizer hitch will give a better ride and a more level ride. As to assembling the hitch each time, to a certain extent you do, but after you get it set up properly the first time, you can duplicate that set up the next time fairly easily.

Now, my strong suggestion is to look at a 5th wheel, they tow and ride so much better than a bumper pull trailer, you won't regret it. And, if you want to stay with a lighter weight trailer, there are LOTS of great 5th wheel trailers that are designed to be 1/2 ton towable that will tow super easy with your 2500.

I know I can tow with just the ball but want to make sure it doesn't sway to much. We be hauling to Tennessee in April. 5th wheels is out of our budget for bunkhouses. Looking at some pumas which check things off for room and function. If there a good bunk house that is 25k that has a separate room in a 5th wheel I be down as I have that hitch

 

I know I can tow with just the ball but want to make sure it doesn't sway to much. We be hauling to Tennessee in April. 5th wheels is out of our budget for bunkhouses. Looking at some pumas which check things off for room and function. If there a good bunk house that is 25k that has a separate room in a 5th wheel I be down as I have that hitch

Sway isn't an issue, I never have any sway pulling travel trailers. And, your truck has sway control built into it.

Now, if your wife is like Lucy, and she fills the trailer with souvenir rocks, all that goes out the window.

I'd keep looking for a 5th wheel, maybe find a repo or lightly used one, they're out there but you may have to broaden your search area and drive a bit to get a good one.

 

I have been full timing in a 26TT for 3 years now, with my 2500. With a motorcycle in the bed, extra fuel, generator, ext propane and ramps, when I drop the camper on the truck, truck only drops 1.5 inches, so it levels it out. That said. I can tow it like I stole it, till getting near a semi, or cross winds. Sorry, mine is about 8,000lbs. I started with one of the brake style sway things, then added another, and no sway at all in any condition with the 2. The brake style is easy to mount, one does need to buy the ready hitch or have a welder or know a welder, or go to a welder. Ill go take a couple picks.

 

With a long 36-38' trailer I would definitely want a Weight Distribution Hitch with good sway control. We use an Equal-I-Zer, and it works well. Our trailer has a high 15% tongue weight, but even with that there was a big difference on a gusty day trailering with just a ball mount.

 

Our TT doesn’t sway much but we also have the equalizer. It can be noisy if you don’t grease it thoroughly and also make sure you retorque the socket bolts occasionally, especially when new. The optional jackets for the bar L brackets and taking the sockets off to thoroughly grease keeps the noise down.

 

This works great for me.
Im a winter Texan right now, and 1/4 mile from the gulf coast, can ya see all the rust from the salt water/air. The poor dual sport bike is taking a beating with the salt water. But it beats camping in the snow, and almost half price of Arizona, unless one likes to stay in the BLM lands. I also had to touch up all the rock chips on the truck, as they started to show rust color.
I would have gotten a 5ver, but still had the Harley back then and didn't want a toy hauler, but now with the dual sport kawi, I could hang the bike off the front of the truck and do a 5ver now, but my setup still works for me. I got the 2500 cumins just incase I get married again and need a bigger camper.

 

Can't back with those friction sway control and they provide zero weight distribution.

 

I’ve towed TT more with my 1500 and some with my 2500, I’ve used the Reese dual cam lift/sway control for 30yrs. On suggestion on a TT...changing the tires to a D rated tire, most come with a c rated tire, this will make a big difference in any type of sway.

 

Sway - mostly is a problem on trailers with too little tongue weight. Weight balance to be free of sway is usually given as tongue weight should be 10% of trailer weight. Usually, sway doesn't seem to much occur until tongue weight gets below about 7-8% of trailer weight - it's about guaranteed below 5%. Dual axles will tend to dampen/reduce sway. Weight distributing hitches are nice where tongue weight gets to be too much for the rear suspension -it uses torsion bars to move some of the load to the front axle.

On a dual axle trailer it is very important that the trailer ride level. Otherwise, you're putting a disproportionate amount of the load on the front axle/tires if the front of trailer rides low, or the rear trailer axle/wheels if the rear of the trailer rides low.

Your picture seems to indicate you have a 5th wheel trailer. You could pull a 10,000 lb bumper pull TT with either of your trucks. A 5th wheel trailer requires the corresponding receiver be installed in your bed.

 

Yes I had a 2009 heartland bighorn.. IAM not worried about weight at all in the TT world, I have just heard issues where they sway more. This is the reason I am looking at possibly for a weight distribution hitch as they do help sway as well. Guess I should buy the TT first and try with just ball hitch and see how it goes and then determine if I need something for sway.

This is the TT we are looking to get
https://www.demontrondrv.com/inv/2020-Palomino-Puma-31DBTS-Conroe-M38221/

 

We use a Blue-Ox Swaypro. My tongue weight with my trailer is 800-1200# depending on how I have it setup. I have 2 sets of bars depending on how heavy I have it loaded; 1000# and 1500# bars.

Used this setup on my F150 and use it on my 3500 once we upgraded trucks. I'm VERY happy with this setup. I have ZERO sway issues with both trucks. Previously used an equalizer hitch on a rental travel trailer and we saw a TON of sway when going by Semis.

 

To the OP. Go to some of your local RV shows this spring. Where I live they usually have some very good deals on last years inventory. They also have a lot of trade-ins that are only a couple of years old and are like brand new.
Good luck to you in your search.

 

FWIW, we paid 28% below sticker for ours. We bought a 2019 in May of last year.

There is a LOT of room for negotiations in the RV world. They were not going to come down that far, till I pointed out that there was another dealer a state away that had a much better price and that I was willing to drive there to get it.

 

"We are looking at travel trailers roughly 36-38ft long and max weight of 10k". Be weary of lightweight rvs! Mine is <32' and it weighs 12k empty/15k loaded. I started out with lite rvs and worked my way up to this tank cuz all the lites wouldn't hold up even to weekend trips. I went off-road with this one all the years I lived in Az. without a hint of any problems.
I'm done... I just want to warn you. Good luck! Craig

I thought it was in my sig. FWIW, I have a 2008 Sunnybrook 30RKFS 5er. It has a 16" boxed frame and NOTHING has ever come apart or even loosened up.

 

I had the Andersen on our old Travel Trailer. I was nice and quiet. Worked awesome. The chains were easy to set up. Nice thing is the hitch can be used as a traditional hitch for other trailers unlike weight distribution hitches with their weird angles.

Also, for that length, I would consider a fifth wheel. It will tow way better.

R.K.

 

Well wife wanted what wife wants. https://www.funtownrvhouston.com/product/new-2020-cruiser-fun-finder-xtreme-lite-32bs-1119888-29

Coundt get them to come down alot just 500 and did get a husky ts for "free" and they install and hook it up and walk me through the process. Figure that would be better then me trying to figure it out.

 

We had a similar trailer as the one you're looking at. The problem we saw was the lack of counter top space in the kitchen. If you can find a similar model with a slide out kitchen that gives you an island, get that one instead. You'll see what I'm talking about in a few camping trips with the unit you're looking at.

R.K.

 

Looks like a nice TT

 

it checked everything on my wife's list. I give the husky a chance since it's "free"...other wise I look at the ones mention here

 

When a trailer is "light" that weight savings had to come from somewhere. Carefully check out the frame, spring hangers etc. Research the make / model you are looking at to see if there have been any reported frame or frame related issues.

If buying used - research the types of RV roofs and carefully check out the roof of the RV you're interested in buying.

Also look at the tires on the unit you're buying - Does the specific tire on your trailer have known issues? Look at the date codes are they ready to age out?

For me I find that a 36' TT is really long - a similar sized 5th wheel has more interior room, is easier to pull and easier to back up.

Good luck on your new adventure

 

I had a 34' Coachmen 300bhs. Had the bunkroom, etc. Towed it with an Equalizer hitch. With trailers that long, you can get some sway mostly from there is so much trailer length past the axles. I pulled it with a Ram 1500 at first and even though the numbers checked out (barely), it was marginally OK. With a 2500, you won't know it's even back there. Pulled it all over the country with no issues. Good luck!

 

Congrats on the new trailer! Tires on your new TT should be the first upgrade. You'll find that the tires the manufacturer installs are just barely over the trailer GVWR. If they are ST tires you can be sure they won't last long even if you're not towing a lot. I've had them fail while sitting in the driveway with only a few thousand miles on them while the tread still looked like new. Use an LT truck tire if you can.

 

I'm with the folks who can't or won't recommend a Reese hitch. Wow, did I scare myself with a brand new heavy duty Reese (can't recall which model now)! I watched the installation and didn't like the bolt placement right from the start! All the bolts mounted in tension, none in shear, and none toward the rear of the hitch frame at all. Yeah... it started popping bolt heads off. Pretty lucky no one got hurt. Not a Reese fan here!

In my opinion, and I have at least 400k miles of trailer towing behind me, this is the very best ball mount a person can add to a proper hitch: https://www.equalizerhitch.com/

As for the crowd who says "ah, we don't need no stinking load distribution or sway control..." I say, That's only because you haven't needed it yet!" Load distribution balances the tow vehicle, which makes towing much safer; sway control dampens side-to-side oscillation which can easily lead to a jackknife situation. The latter can be caused by wind, poor loading of the towed vehicle, being passed by a big rig, etc.

I refuse to tow anything approaching 5000lbs without load distribution, and if I'm going any great distance, or towing all the time on the interstate, anything over 5000lbs gets load distribution and sway control.

Another neat thing about the Equalizer is a person can leave the torsion bars on the ball mount and just swing them out of the way. They are under some tension so they will stay where you swing them. When the hitch is not in use, just swing the tips of the bars around until they are just under the bumper. They will guide your knee away from the ball mount as you walk around the back of the truck! Just don't forget to use a locking pin for the ball mount. They are stolen regularly.

 

Largely agree, FrankSummerlin, except that I'm a big fan of the Reese Dual Cam.
For the receiver itself, I have come to like the Torklift. Its 30K rating comes largely from some eight bolts per side...in shear.

 

I am not familiar with that set up. If it stays on the truck, doesn't twist or bend, doesn't pop bolt heads off, you probably have a good product.

Ironically, I towed 190K miles on the stock Chevy hitch mounted to a 3500 Silverado. "But you can't do that!" I did it pretty safely with a very heavy trailer, that is until one day while loaded one particular idiot caused some extreme evasive maneuvers. The stock hitch receiver didn't break or fail, it just twisted.

The stock hitch came off and this Reese receiver went on. I survived one loaded trip up the West Coast with it, stopping twice for repairs. One of the repairs required keeping everything hooked up except the load distribution bars and bending the hitch back into position with a floor jack, adding higher grade bolts, and then hoping upon hope that the high grade bolts didn't rip through the frame mounting holes! I returned to the installation location with a bad receiver and a bad attitude.

The next hitch was custom welded to the frame by some real pros. Amazing. The next parts were being cut on a plasma table next to my truck while the other parts were welded in. New custom hitch receiver in two hours. Beautiful work. "But you can't do that! You'll ruin the frame! Chevy won't warrantee that!" I did it, never regretted it, never had an inkling of an issue, and I'd do it again tomorrow if I needed a new hitch receiver.

 

I've towed with the Equal-i-zer WD hitches and they perform very well. Make sure it's the E-4 (WD+Sway), The fastway and E-2 are the cheaper and WD version (limited sway control) models.

Blue Ox is popular.

That Husky TS looks nice, and very similar to the E-4 (better version knock-off?). I'm sure it will do great.


FWIW, the Hensley Arrow is hands down THE single best WD/sway control hitch money can buy. Stupid expensive. Complex. Not needed for an HD truck.

 

Get the Pro Pride and you will never look back. I have it and that thing is amazing!!! I will never go back to a ball. So much more stable.

 

I went to the rv show here in Houston and they had this travel trailer gooseneck conversion hitch...thought it was pretty awesome but 2k. We pick up the rv Friday and will do the walk through, my wife and I arnt newbs on trailers as this will be our third one just our first travel trailer. I have had 2 5th wheels in the past a 98 hitchhiker which I still have and a 2009 bighorn. I know they make trailers with islands etc if I had the budget I be buying a grand design reflection or a 50-60k 5th wheel but we set a budget of 30k as we will only use it for trips.

Thanks for the tips on the tire I actually didn't think about that. I see what they are and look into possibly upgrading them. For lack of kitchen space the outdoor kitchen makes up as we be out camping and I be bringing deer meat and or other items to grill mostly. Max we will be in it is 2 weeks so wife compromised on counter space but out hitchhiker has less and we lived in that one for a year

 

The people I know that tow all the time, and I mean all the time, try to go to an LT tire on their trailers. Like what is on our trucks. An E rated tire.

Like these -- https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...907&width=225/&ratio=75&diameter=16&rearWidth=225/&rearRatio=75&rearDiameter=17

NOT recommendint those particular tires, just giving you somewhere to start. And the ones that come with the trailer should be good for a while. sometimes. usually. often. maybe