I have a 03 GMC Z-71 and a 20' enclosed trailer that I just bought but I have never had them hooked to each other(long story). Anyways, I'll finally be needing to use them in a couple weeks and was wondering what is the prefered "angle" to pull the trailer? The truck has the factory 12,000 lb hitch, the trailer is rated for 10,000 lbs but this truck is rated for 8,800 lbs so that will be my limiting factor. What I'm wondering about is what amount of a dropped hitch(if any) to give me the proper rake on the trailer. I know no one can guess what drop I need (I can get a 2", 4" and 6" dropped hitch) but if someone could comment on if the trailer should tow level or with the front slightly up or down then that would help me alot in getting the right hitch. Thanks.
You want your trailer level. Level yor trailer, and measure to the top of the hitch, that'll help you with your drop hitch dimensions. Depending on the weight you'll be hauling, you may want to look into a weight distribution hitch, and a sway controller.
I tow a heavy toyhauler with a 2500 HD and I have the best results if I have the tongue a little down. If you allow the tail to be to far down, you will have more fishtailing. Level to a little down should get you the best result. I also have a car hauler trailer and I watch the back of the truck when loading different vehicles and when the back of the truck sets down a little, I stop the towed car at that point and strap it down.
Lintmann I like to have trailer loaded sitting mostly level. As long as you don't have the trailer at any extreme angle front way low or back way low no problem. The most important thing is to have a good weight distribution hitch and a good brake setup. And of course your load secured well. What size motor do you have and rear end ratio? If you have an auto trans make sure you check the owner manual. Sounds like a lot but nothing worse than having trouble on the road. Hope this helps I pulled a trailer up your way a couple years ago [ Grande Prairie ] nice country. Ron
there are many things which affect this including height of receiver hitch on truck are you going to carry the same load usually (tounge weight is very important not enough and you will be changing your underwear) type of hitch - simple draw bar or weight distribution trailer should be level with load - a few inches difference in the location of the load can affect handling dramitically rear air bags can help to level the load especially if you set them up to be self leveling (my expedition has a factory self leveling rear air suspension and it is a pleasure to tow with . load the trailer and when you start the truck the computer levels the truck so the steering doesn't float .
Great advice, thanks guys. So I think what I'll do is buy the three different hitches and then trial fit the empty trailer until it sits as close to level as or slightly nose up as possible. Then once I get everything home and load the car to get a bit of tongue weight it should be pretty close to level. For the ones that asked, My truck is an 03 GMC extended cab 4x4 with the 5.3 and if I remember right, 3:73 gears. I remember looking up it's towing capacity in the owners manual and it was rated at 8,800 lbs. For a hitch all I have is the factory 12,000lb GM one that came with the truck. The brake controler is a factory GM plug and play unit and the trailer brakes should still be like new as it's a 05 model and has rarely been used. Just another question, what is the problem if I have too much to too little tongue weight? Any other pointers? It's a 12 hour haul each way!
Your ***hole will pucker the upholstery real badly. Mostly because you will be scared out of your wits. Seriously, what will happen is this: The truck will fishtail violently just before you lose all control and roll into a ditch. So you might not actually have time to be that scared. Cosmo
If you have too little tongue weight and ever get p***ed by a 18 wheeler on a 4 lane road, you might have a hole in your seatcovers afterward.. First they **** you in and then they throw you out. That's the calm part. With too much weight on the rear, what comes next is white knuckle time. You can go into a violent fishtail. If you're going down hill it seems to be worse, because you can't pull out of it like you can going up hill. Just take some time to road test your set-up and adjust it.
and too much tongue weight you lose steering ability..bad deal on tight freeway turns..or even at speeds much lower if you have it way tongue heavy..not to mention you are over loading the rear axle of your tow vehicle, and the hitch and tow bar. When you want to tow behind a vehicle, you'll need to know the minimum and maximum capacity that your car or truck can haul for the trip. If the tongue weight is too light, the trailer could sway while driving; if it is too heavy, you will have difficulty steering and maneuvering the towing vehicle safely. Experts agree that an acceptable tongue weight is between 9 and 15 percent of the gross trailer weight (GTW). You can perform a simple calculation to find out what the ideal range is for your vehicle. Calculate your ideal tongue weight range. Multiply the GTW by 9 percent and then by 15 percent to determine what your ideal range for the tongue weight is.
For an example, my toyhauler trailer weights a little over 9000# and my tongue weight is in the 900# to 1000# range. With this weight, I use a weight distribution hitch and sway bar set-up. Also be sure you have a trailer ball and extension that is rated for your weight. Check the rating on the extensions. I have a weight distribution hitch and sway bar set-up and it took me several test trips, until I got it calmed down and towing smooth.
Do yourself a big favor. Buy a weight distribution hitch with an adjustable head. Then you have the adjust-ability needed to get your trailer set up right. I don't think a 1/2T is heavy enough for your trailer without using a WD hitch. As others have said level or slightly tongue down
Is a weight distribution hitch something that can be added to the factory hitch or is it a completely different set-up? I'll look into one. I realize that my truck is too light to haul at the trailer's max weight but I won't be up there anyways. I figure the empty trailer to be in the 3000 lb range and the car is about 3200 lbs so I'm looking at towing about 6,200 lbs max. So from what I'm learning here I should try for about 600 lbs on the tongue for this particular tow, right?
Is 8,800 the GVW or GCVW? The GCVW or gross combined vehicle weight is the weight of the towing vehicle plus the towed vehicle and load. If it's GVW you're probably fine, but if it's GCVW you've got about twice as much trailer as it's rated for and you'll likely have some exciting moments, weight distributed correctly or not. And of course, we NEVER, ever overload anything, do we? Easy Lift hitches and GVW aside, load the trailer with anything close to the rated capacity and that 5.3 gas pot is probably going to be a real dog to drive (kind of like the worn out 360 in my 3/4 ton Dodge 4 X 4). Not a deal breaker, but you'll have lots of time to play "Will he make it?" on those long uphill pulls.
Thanks for the link for the WD hitches, it sure helps! I think it is GVW..... To double check I just checked http://www.trailerlife.com/images/downloads/03towingguide.pdf and it also shows 8,800 lbs for a tow limit for my truck and power train combo so it must be right. I know this truck isn't an idea tow vehical but I only tow once in a blue moon and in fact this will be the first time with this trailer. My compromise was having a truck that will be close to it's limits while towing but a really good everyday truck otherwise as opposed to a really good tow vehical and bouncing around burning lots of gas in a 2500 HD the other 364 days of the year. Hope I don't regret it. At any rate it looks like I'll need a WD hitch for anything over 5,000 lbs so now I'm hitch shopping.
WD hitch is a great idea, error on too much tongue weight -vs- not enough. Someone mentioned 150 lbs or so, if you do that little let me know what roads your traveling so I can be sure to NOT be on them. As mentioned many times, not enough and your going to need lots of underwear. Too much and steering will be a bit light but you won't just get crazy ugly near as fast. WD will help control the too light on front which is why it is suggested. Depending on what engine you have you should be OK. I towed an 18ft enclosed 2k miles or so with a chevy tahoe. I have a 24 ft now and tahoe still tows safely with a WD hitch, it just doesn't have the guts to tow very fast.
Dont forget a brake control trailer brakes will make a huge difference in stopping. If you get the weight distribution hitch get the sway control that goes with it. It will take away alot of the swaying you get when you meet a semi. Pay attention dont get to comfortable you will get along fine pulling the trailer with youre pickup. My 70 year old mother pulls a 25ft camper with her 2005 tahoe with a 5.3 and gets along good.
I recently upgraded from an 18 foot open top trailer to a 24 ft enclosed, learned lots and continue to... You mentioned not being worried about the brakes' condition since their only 5 yrs old and not used much. BIG mistake, never take them for granted!!!! Once you have the brake controller set up (look at Tekonsha products) you should be able to stop the whole rig with the controller lever. Going only a few miles per hour, using the lever alone (no foot brake) the trailer brakes should stop you in a reasonable distance. This is a good guide for setting the trailer brake bias. Be sure your ball and drop mount are rated appropiately! Meaning they can be used for at least 10,000 lbs plus. Get mirror extensions as well. Good luck.
I used to have a 1500 pickup with a 5.3 and pulled a heavier car in a trailer similar to yours. I used a weight distributing hitch and I found I needed to have plenty of tongue weight. Be sure to inflate all your tires to the maximum pressure listed in the sidewall and travel at a reasonable speed. If you don't already have a brake controller, here's a really good one. I got one and it works perfectly. It's way better than the regular time delayed ones. http://www.brake-controller.com/index.html
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