I am hoping that this week I will be getting a new camper. I am going to have the owner of the company I work for go with me to look at it with me when I go pick it up. My question is weather I need to upgrade my trailer hitch. I have a 2011 with the 5.0, 4 WD. My hitch is rated for 5,000 pounds and the camper weight approx 2,500-3,000 pounds. It is a bumper pull. When I went to the dealership the other day to look at some, the salesman had tried to tell me that I needed to get an anti-sway trailer hitch for my truck. The trailer that he was trying to sell me was approx 3,000 pounds. The one that I am looking at now is 17' long. The way that the salesman was talking, it's not safe to tow the camper without the hitch upgrade. I have never towed a camper and it's been years since I have towed anything with that kind of weight, and even then it wasn't my truck or trailer so I ha

ve no idea what was used. I have attached a picture of the camper, its not the exact one or year but same body style and brand and it's similar. Do I need to upgrade or is it required?

 

The problem with a bumper hitch the ball is up to high so the trailer rides nose high behind you. If you have a receiver hitch you can get various sized drops so you can tow the trailer ever so slightly nose down which seems to work best for most folks. If your tongue weight is enough, you won't have sway issues.

 

How far are you driving? You more than likely will want a wdh hitch with sway control. It will certainly pull better. You likely will be able to get home with what you have, take it slower.

 

They're upselling you. Unless you severely load the trailer with over a ton of junk, the truck will pull it easily without WDH or any sway control. Just keep a few hundred pounds of tongue weight, and drop the ball so the trailer rides fairly level. If the ball is too high, you'll drag the trailer's rear bumper; if it's too low, you'll strike the trailer jack.

 

I don't see any sway control needed on a pop-up. I pull a 4000# hybrid and have never had, or even felt, sway out of mine. Well, there was that one time on the ice and I was only doing about 20mph - totally different story.

Is it actual bumper pull or does it have a receiver that will allow you to insert a drop hitch so you can get the trailer level? That would be my biggest concern.

 

Glad you are trying to figure this out now.

Your truck has a payload capacity and a Gross Combined weight rating. Look at the yellow sticker on the B pillar drivers side.

A 17-20ft probably has a claimed dry weight of around just under 4000lbs. Add 1500 as payload to trailer for propane to food to cloths, chairs etc. (all guesses here), which means 600-750lbs +/- needs to transfer on to the truck as hitch weight.

Now take the truck payload capacity and deduct the trailer weight transferred to the truck. Thats whats left for you, family etc in the truck.

I can't see WDH hitches etc being needed based on what you say.

 

For a trailer with a dry weight of about 3000lb and I assume at least 1000lb payload, a WDH is not required per Ford's specifications, but some still appreciate having one. A WDH will both mechanically reduce sway and balance the truck so the proper weight percentage is over the front wheels. This helps your truck perform similarly to how it normally does, instead of with excess understeer due to the trailer shifting weight from the front to rear axle.

Whether or not you run a WDH is up to you, but your combo will certainly be easier to drive and safer with one.

I use one with a 2700lb GVWR pop-up. I can load heavy gear (generator, wood, tool box, cast iron grill, pans, dutch ovens, coolers for a few weeks) into the bed of the truck, the WDH pushes all that weight and the weight of the trailer back onto the front axle so it handles pretty close to how it does unladen. Feels like I'm driving a heavier truck instead of a truck that badly needs an alignment or was built in the early 90's.

 

I do have a receiver hitch. I would never consider a bumper pull on a camper. The hitch capacity is 5,000 pounds

 

From the sellers house to mine, it is about 20-25 minutes on back roads. I can't store it at my house, I am going to ask my boss if I can store it at the station. That is about 15 minutes further from my house. I will mostly be using it going from Ohio to Tennessee and Alabama, to include the hills and mountains in Kentucky and Tennessee

 

I think this one is considered a hybrid as well. It isn't a fully pop up, just the ends pop out. It is a receiver hitch