DieselDawg

Mine is 33'1" tip to tip. Have pulled it many miles over the past 9 months. Definitely Brake Controller and I always upgrade from the "P" rated tires to something more substantial...



http://www.jayco.com/products/travel...e-hawk/29reks/

Bodnar

Very similar to mine weight wise actually http://www.starcraftrv.com/travel-tr...floorplan-main

Bodnar

maybe this is a dumb question, but like i said, I've never owned a truck before. If I do not have a trailer brake CONTROLLER in the truck, does that mean i have no trailer brakes? I cannot see that being the case. i.e. if I hook up my trailer, will i be solely relying on the truck brakes for stopping if i don't have a trailer brake controller?

Thanks again guys!

tcp2

Without the controller, you have NO TRAILER BRAKES. The controller is the only way to get voltage (variable depending on brake forces) to the actual brake magnets on the trailer.

Bodnar

hmm, good to know, cheers!

BlackKnight81

No such thing as a dumb question - that's what makes this forum
so good - a lot of nice people always willing to help ! Good Luck

smokeywren

If by EQ you mean Equal-I-Zer, then that's as good as it gets for less than $1,000.


But if you have 800-pound spring bars, that's probably not quite enough. If you load your trailer light so it grosses 7,000 pounds, then your hitch weight at 12% average tongue weight will be 840 pounds = overloaded hitch. If your trailer is similar to mine with 15% tongue weight, then you'll have over 1,000 pounds tongue weight. If your sweetheart loads the trailer to a more likely 8,000 pounds, that's 960 pounds tongue weight if your trailer has average tongue weight percent, or severely overloaded over the 800 pounds rating of your hitch. And if you load the trailer down to the GVWR of 8,500 pounds, that's 1,020 pounds average tongue weight, or over 1,200 pounds tongue weight if your trailer has the higher than average tongue weight of 15% of gross trailer weight.


Unfortunately, Equal-I-Zer says their 1,000 pound spring bars must be used with a hitch head also rated for 1,000 pounds tongue weight. And their 1,200-pound spring bars must be used only with the head that's also rated for 1,200 pounds max tpngue weight. You can buy a new hitch without the adjustable shank and save around $100, but otherwise you need the entire Equal-I-Zer hitch rated for at least 1,000 pounds tongue weight.


It's okay to have less tongue weight than your hitch is rated for, but not more. So fo that trailer I'd want the Equal-I-Zer hitch rated for a max of 1,200 pounds tongue weight.

humblerb

I had to read this a couple of times to see what the trailer weight was. Thought maybe I had missed it.
If you are 31' tip to tip, your official trailer length is probably 28' to 29'.
I have a 29' (34' bumper to tongue) that only weighs 6,000# dry. Loaded, it scales around 7,200#. I have a 2012 F150 EB with whatever the gear ratio above 3.15 is (3.33/3.35??). Properly dialed in WD hitch, and I tow this with relative ease.
Just because a TT is over 30' doesn't mean it is a heavy trailer.
I have towed with a Prodigy and with the Ford integrated brake controller. The Ford controller is the only way to go.

smokeywren

Available axle ratios for your 4x2 were 3.15, 3.55, and 3.73, so yours is probably 3.55. 4x4s had 3.31 instead of 3.15 standard, but 3.31 was not available in a 4x2, and 3.15 was not available in a 4x4.

itguy08

As a new camper owner with a large rig, there is lots of good advice in these posts.

Be mindful of your weights, get that brake controller installed, and get a good hitch. Also have a Plan B of a bigger truck in case you don't like the way it tows.

Enjoy and post up some pics in the camper thread!