Mg05

Just wanted to give a little review of my experiences with different engine choices.


Little background, I have recently traded my 2014 stx sport 4x4 5.0 supercrew with 3.55s for a 17 stx 4x4 3.5 eco supercrew with 3.55s. I pull around a 5000 lb 24 foot travel trailer. I have a equalizer wdh, and I didn't have time to adjust for new truck. So the set up might need some work.

I bought the 14 before I bought the camper, and I tried to size the trailer appropriately. With a payload of 1562 I was a little worried I was overloaded. I felt some bounce in the ride, but overall a good experience. I bought timbrens to try to stiffen it up, but didn't notice much improvement. As everyone says, the 5.0 pulled well but like to downshift.

My 17 is much stronger at highway speed. With the 10 speed it liked to tow in 7th or 8th. The shifts in the 10 speed are hard to even notice, and it pulls great at that speed.

I didn't push the eco hard as it is fairly new, but there did not seem to be much difference in accelerating to the speed limit.

I did make a discovery. With the added payload, I decided to fill my water tank on the way to camp. The truck rode perfectly. I attributed this to the new truck until the ride home. With the tank empty, the truck acted just as the 14 had with a bouncy ride. I think with the design of my trailer, there is not enough tongue weight.

All in all, the towing experience is much better in the 17. It improved on all the nit picks I had with the 14. Fuel mileage unloaded is slightly better in the 3.5 and towing mileage seems to be about the same.

GlenPxC

Towed our 2900# camper for the first time with my 2016 5.0 and I too noticed a lot of bounce. Will have to try filling the freshwater tank and see if that helps. Thanks for the review.

charles_slc

You really need to make a run through a scale with your truck & camper fully loaded for camping. Actually 3 runs....the procedure is outlined on other posts...
1) truck only
2) truck + trailer w/o WDH connected
3) truck + trailer with WDH connected

That will give you hard numbers instead of guessing.

acdii

Replacing the stock shocks in the rear with Bilstiens or Fox should help tame the bounce. The stock shocks are horrible. The only time I had a decent ride with them was when I had 1000# in the bed.

+1 on scaling it too, you could be light on the tongue. Mine runs @ 11% TW and rides nice.

smokeywren

It sounds like you don't have the spring bars on the WD hitch properly adjusted for your actual tongue weight without water in the fresh water tank.


The set-up procedures for towing a trailer with a WD hitch are on page 34 of the 2017 RV & Trailer Towing Guide. Basically, you want the distance from the ground to the front fender well to be the same, or not more than 1/2" higher with the trailer than without the trailer. You adjust that height by tightening or loosening the spring bars on the WD hitch.


So I agree with charles_slc. You need the scaled weight of the truck alone as well as the scaled weight of the wet and loaded rig with the spring bars tight. And when you get the weights, also get the the measurement of the front fender well to the ground, with and without the trailer.


The third weight, of the rig without the spring bars tight, is to determine actual weight distribution your WD hitch is doing. The difference in weight on the front, rear, and trailer axles, with and without the spring bars tight, will tell you how much weight is being distributed by your WD hitch. The goal is 20% to 25% of tongue weight distributed to the front axle, another 20% to 25% of tongue weight distributed to the trailer axles, leaving 50% to 60% of tongue weight on the rear axle.


How do you get tongue weight? Best is with a tongue weight scale, such as a Sherline Tongue Weight scale. https://www.etrailer.com/Tools/Sherline/5780.html


Without a tongue weight scale then you can use the weights above to determine tongue weight. Determine the combined weight on the two axles of the tow vehicle, with the trailer but without the spring bars tight, and with the tow vehicle without a trailer. That is the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of your tow vehicle, with and without the trailer. Subtract the GVW without the trailer from the GVW with the trailer but without the spring bars tight. The answer is tongue weight.

Mg05

Thanks guys for the tips. I do have some of that info from the last truck. I bought this one a week before the first trip of the year and did not have enough time to check my set up. This is the weigh slip with the 14 and bars hooked up. I did not get an unloaded weight.





I had went through the set up procedure on the 14 in the equalizer manual and had about 1/2 drop on the front end. in retrospect, I might have been taking too much off the rear. My trailer has 2-25 lb lp tanks and one battery on the tongue but I only have a small pass through storage area up front. Most of our food and packing is placed towards the rear and in the bunks. I don't really have any way that I can think of to load towards the front other than the fresh water tank.

I have read a lot of people who didn't like the shocks, but I don't think it is my issue because both trucks acted the same.

acdii

Wow those are some really good sticky tires to hold all that up like that!

Looks like your weight is right on the nose, and should be fine with the new truck, you didn't post it's payload. The 14 should have been a 7100# GVWR truck and you were just under it, so if it was bouncing where the truck felt like the trailer was picking it up when going over hard bumps, then I agree with SW that the bars are too tight, or they could be too heavy, like using 1000# bars for a 600# TW, when 800# bars are more appropriate.

I would still recommend taking the truck by itself and getting a weight with everything in it you would take, then take it with the trailer hooked up, this will give you a clear picture of how much weight you are putting on the axles, then one more pass with the bars off to see how much you distribute forward and rearward. With what you have shown, TW is not an issue with your setup, most likely just too much spring in the bars.

atwowheelguy

This the story the scale will tell after the three passes across it.

Mg05

Are the pictures upside down?? They are right side up for me.

i do have 1000 lb bars. I wasn't aware too much was bad in this case. Would it do better with lighter bars?

The payload on my 17 is 1995

smokeywren

I don't think so. With the heavier spring bars, you simply don't tighten them as tight as they will go. You can determine how tight to get the spring bars by the difference in the height of the front fender well off the ground. That distance should be between zero and one-half inch higher (rise) with the trailer than without the trailer. You said you had a half-inch drop on the front end, which indicates way too tight spring bars. So with the spring bars properly tightened, you'll probably be golden.

My ProPride hitch spring bars are rated for up to 1,400 pounds tongue weight, but my wet and loaded tongue weight is only about 650 pounds. I asked ProPride if I should replace the spring bars with lighter-duty spring bars, and they said no - that I should adjust the spring bars to handle the actual tongue weight, without getting them too tight. So that's what I've been doing for thousands of towing miles, and my rig tows great. Of course, a ProPride hitch is a lot more sophisticated than an Equal-I-Zer, but I'll bet the same rules apply as to how tight to get the spring bars.



The picture of the scale ticket is sideways. The picture of the rig is upside down.