Do any of you pull enclosed trailers with a 1/2 ton truck?

[jp111]

TRailer

My only experience in towing enclosed trailers with a half ton chevy is with a friend. He has a nice worthington 4 place enclosed it is a deck over with little tires and is only 5 1/2' tall it has the long v-nose. When we used to race snocross he would only haul 2 sleds. While the truck did ok on the flats, when we would start to get in the hills I would swear when the trans would down shift it was going to come out of the truck. It would go from loping along to almost red lining the engine. He had air bags and a chip in it and while it would haul it I never felt comfotable. I hitched my 4 place featherlite to it and it was scary how poorly that truck handled it with 4 sleds in it. Needless to say he upgraded trucks after one year with that trailer to a 2500 with a deisel.
We usually pulled our featherite which is not lite with a deisel excursion with weight distribution and a anti sway bar. It made a huge differnce.
I know tow with a 2011 f-350 deisel, my buddys still has his worthington and you dont even know its there, I still have the featherlite and you can tell its there more than his trailer but the truck pulls it like nothing is there.
While I believe a flat nose trailer is the best in the wind, if you want a v-nose the longer or sharper the better. Also if you can get one with a nose that is also sloped down it goes along way. THe trailer I like to tow bst from my fleet is a 28" enclosed all aluminum car hauler.
It all comes down to what you can afford and still being safe. Remember if your hauling four sleds you are probably hauling 3 more people in your truck, thier saftey is most important. If you lived closer I would gladly let you pull my trailer loaded.
Check out Sno-Pro trailers, they have some nice reasonably priced light weight trailers.
Good luck in your search, and post some pics of your rig when you get one.

 

[ruffrider]

We have a 3 place 24' enclosed inline and we split the towing between our diesel truck and our 09 Tahoe 5.3. The Tahoe sucks for towing it. We only use it because its much safer in the snow with the Auto 4wd. Its not so much an engine problem, I think its the transmission. I live in northern New England and we have lots of mountains and hills. It really struggles going up those hills...always wants to switch gears so it revs like crazy. My advice is to go with a 2500 gasser or an older used diesel unless you're a flatlander, which you wouldn't have a problem with a 1/2 ton.

 

[Rockstar]

I agree with what Crewcheif said earlier. You really want to have a good LT series tire for towing. A good C range 6 ply tire IMO is a must to eliminate sway in the sidewall.

Does anyone on here have the new Ecoboost ford F-150? I've heard a ton of good things about that engine. I drove a Ford Flex with one and it was a Torque Monster. Also the fuel milage reports I've heard are around 20 MPG.

 

[teamyamaha]

I have 3 friends with Eco boost F150's. They pull mid sized campers and 4 place open trailers and say they work well. I personally have only driven their trucks without trailers. If I didn't have a f350 I would look at buying an Eco boost!

 

[LJ 452]

My 2000 lbs difference is based off of the RAM line as well as a Diesel as that's what I have. GM may be less of a difference since the front end is very simular. On the Dodge and Ford they use a solid front axle which adds a tremendous amount of weight when compared to the (mostly aluminum) half-shaft front end of the 1/2 ton. The Cummins Diesel engine alone weights about 500-700 pounds more than the fully dressed Hemi.

 

[Sasquatch]

3/4 ton Dura Max Deisel is 1,200pds heavier then my 2010 1/2 ton 5.3 6 speed. The 5.3 6 speed tows and shifts so well.

My 2003 4.8 with the 4 speed towed fine but the 2 gear down shifts to 5,000 sucked. Secret was to pull it into 3rd and leave it there. 2nd gear shifts are greatly reduced that way.

I'd tow a 7,500pd plus trailer with my GMC anytime my only concern with it would be the P rated tires it was saddled with from the factory. My next set will be on soon as these are near worn out. Looking at a stiffer sidewall higher load rated tire more in line with the 9,200pd tow rating it has.

Its allways back to the what do you use your truck for? Last thing I want is a 3/4 ton, daily driver, holiday driving truck. So I'll stay with my two place, v nose, wheel outside 19ft trailer. It tows and handles excellent. I'd consider a 25ft wheel outside body v nose to haul three sleds. Past that I'd be looking at a 4 place all aluminium clam shell type trailer.

 

[SRXSRULE2]

I tow my 23x7 Aluminum behind a 2010 F150 no problem. Can tow at 70mph but more fuel efficient at 60mph. Have 5.4, 6 speed and 3.73 gears. Fuel consumption is around 18- 19L/100km> Have towed this trailer with an 09 F150 and 3.55 gears. Mileage was minimally better with 3.55's but the 3.73's keep the engine better in the power range. It was almost better to be in 5th gear with the 3.55's. Ecoboost Trucks have lots of power and get great mpg empty. Towing changes everything and the 5.0 will get better fuel mileage when loaded. In the picture attached, I had my Viper, an SRX, a rengegade and a polaris xc. No helper springs in the truck, no bags, no weight distribution hitch. Trailer and cargo around 5000lbs.

 

[ArcticWhite]

Thought I'd supply an update to this thread. After all the responses, I bought a 2012 Dodge Ram Hemi Sport 4x4 and a Stealth all aluminum 7x23 v-nose. The trailer fits one 174" sled and two 163" sleds. I've done two winter snowmobile trips from Saskatchewan to Revy with this configuration. Truck is set up with air bags and studded 8ply winter tires (stiffer sidewalls typically used for 2500 trucks).

In this configuration, even in bad mountain conditions, as well as the high winds when you are just entering the mountains, the trailer NEVER does anything to disrupt the truck. Most of the time you never even know it is there. On the flatland, no matter how windy, it can easily maintain 70mph. Passing still has lots of power.

I am actually looking to go up to a 7.5x27 4 place trailer with heat, seeing how well the truck does in towing this existing trailer.

You definitely do not need a 2500 or 3500 diesel truck to safely tow a trailer of this size. I've been extremely happy with this setup.

The only downfall is gas mileage. Towing at 70mph on flat land, gas mileage is 8.5 to 9mpg. A diesel would likely do much better in the same conditions.

 

[SRXSRULE2]

The all aluminum trailers make all the difference in the world. The heavy POS all over the road steel trailers aren't the way to go.

 

[Irv]

Thought I'd supply an update to this thread. After all the responses, I bought a 2012 Dodge Ram Hemi Sport 4x4 and a Stealth all aluminum 7x23 v-nose. The trailer fits one 174" sled and two 163" sleds. I've done two winter snowmobile trips from Saskatchewan to Revy with this configuration. Truck is set up with air bags and studded 8ply winter tires (stiffer sidewalls typically used for 2500 trucks).

In this configuration, even in bad mountain conditions, as well as the high winds when you are just entering the mountains, the trailer NEVER does anything to disrupt the truck. Most of the time you never even know it is there. On the flatland, no matter how windy, it can easily maintain 70mph. Passing still has lots of power.

I am actually looking to go up to a 7.5x27 4 place trailer with heat, seeing how well the truck does in towing this existing trailer.

You definitely do not need a 2500 or 3500 diesel truck to safely tow a trailer of this size. I've been extremely happy with this setup.

The only downfall is gas mileage. Towing at 70mph on flat land, gas mileage is 8.5 to 9mpg. A diesel would likely do much better in the same conditions.

Good to hear your Ram is doing a great job!

I just purchased a 4x4 Bighorn QC Hemi this past June and love it so far.

On Friday, I towed my boat to the marina and imo, it did it far easier than my previous 09 Sierra with the 5.3.

Only thing now is, I will have to get another drop with my receiver as my current 2" drop wasn't enough imo.

 

[04JRB]

Your comment about wind was interesting. I tow a much smaller enclosed trailer and am very cogniscent about high winds when travelling after an incident 2 yrs ago. High winds right on the beam caused the trailer push and pivot right on the ball and point the vehicle into the oncoming lane. Thank god I room to correct it, there was a few tenths of a second where I was not in control though. When the wind is up I drop the speed considerably to be safe. I have recently upgraded to a much heavier vehicle since which should help anchor the trialer better.
Again, its not so much the trailer weight of the encolsed rigs, its the surface area and bulk that present a problem.

MS

I bet that freaked you out!
I had something similar happen on my last trip of the year last February. High winds, and rain the night before. The temps dropped really quickly over night causing patchy black ice. That wind gust (wind was enough to blow small trees down) moved my rig over 4-5' laterally. scared the #*$&@ out of me. I had to pull over after that due to soiling my linens, lol. it took all of that 2 lane road to reel it in, cant believe the sleds were still right side up in the trailer and I didn't break a bead on the tires. not something I want to experience any time soon.

 

[almond1000]

I have a 7x16 haulmax with a 3' v nose, it is a steel trailer with duraplate exterior and 3/8 plywood interior with cabinets and storage for all the gear inside, so it is a hefty trailer for its size, weights in at 2800 lbs empty,and I would guess around 4000 lbs loaded, last year my 2010 f150 with a 5.4 had no issues pulling it or stopping it but the fuel mileage was in the 9mpg range, over the summer I ran across a f350 with a diesel, I picked it up just to pull the trailer, went to a few swaps the last couple weeks and with 2 sleds and all the parts the f350 got just short of 17mpg pulling it