Kitcat

Don't sweat having a shortbed Dodge and a 5er! We are on our second 5er with our shortbed Dodge. Get a slider hitch and you will have no problems. Flip the axles on your trailer (because of your lift and 37's) and make sure you have tires rated for the pin weight. gOOd luck!

P.S. I have a 16K Reese slider for sale if you want it let me no and make an offer!

a bad picture the day we picked it up...

Good to know. Yeah, his tires are mud grapplers (they just look really big to me)!!! My dad said we could flip the axles, if needed!

Thanks!

The ONLY time I ever had that problem was when I loaded up ISBB's heavy a$$ Samurai in my hauler to go down to Havasu. I loaded up a golf cart, then the Samurai and had a little sway problem on a road going there. Then again you have to expect that if you load your trailer wrong. :gayboy: With 2800 lbs BEHIND the axles you will get that.

Since then I have never had a problem with "the tail wagging the dog". I even load up a Raptor, then the sandrail, THEN another quad behind the sandrail and don't ever get any sway. I don't even have any sway control setup on mine at all either. I am guessing the reason I don't get any sway could be because my truck though. I have a crew cab longbed, 18" wheels w/ E rated tires (less sidewall flex than most tires), and the trailer has quite a bit of tongue weight as well. You can get sway with a 5th wheel too though. (Ask Rhino King :ahhhhh: ) Just remember to load your trailer properly and not to put too much weight behind the axles and you'll be just fine. If you are really worried about it I heard the dual cam sway control setup from Reese is good piece of mind. I haven't gotten any white knuckles towing my trailer yet so I haven't forked out the couple hundred $$ for one.

FYI: I doubt you'd be able to turn any toyhauler around in a cul-de-sac unless the trailer is really small and there are no cars parked on the curb.

Good luck with your purchase. Hope I have been of some help.

Yeah, we will have 2 quads to load for now. My husband widened his Raptor, so it's a few inches wider than my Honda. I was thinking that we'd probably load them lengthwise, not side by side. If we ever got a Rhino, then we'd have to figure that out (one of the reasons why I'm trying to save cargo space). We transport the quads on a 12 ft flat bed Big Tex trailer right now and they fit perfect. So, I'm keeping that measurement in mind for this hauler. Good to know about the weight and axles! My husband works with loading trucks a lot, so he probably already knew this!!! I, on the other hand, didn't!!! :-)

Thanks!!!

I use a double Sway-Away set up with my hitch. It takes away the worry of "the tail wagging the dog". We had more problems towing the 21' trailer with our Suburban than we have ever experienced towing the bigger trailer with our 2500HD. I am lucky, we have a cul-de-sac right across from our drive way that allows me to pull in and just back right up into the Rv parking. Goodluck which ever way you go. It's all good!!!

Good to know about the double sway. I'm new to all of this, so I basically know nothing about trailers! A year ago I wouldn't even go camping and I didn't have a quad!!! So, I'm learning as I go!! :-)

I agree with Pete. I love to have the bed of my truck clear of a hitch. It gives me more options. My trailer is also 34' total length and is no problem to tow. It actually tows better than my old 21'. I think because of the triple axle set-up.

Interesting to hear about the ease of towing the 34 ft trailer. I've been checking out the brands my dad sells today. All of the include: Holiday Rambler, Jayco, Coachman & Keystone. I'll have to see if any of them have a triple axle.

Thanks!!!

I tow a 34ft Sandpiper tag toyhauler. The thing is huge but I have never had any problems towing it. The only draw back I can think of is turning around with it. With a 5th wheel you have a tighter turning radius, but then again when do you ever really have to make u-turns with a toyhauler? The only time I have to do a few point turn with mine is when I dump my tanks at my buddy's back yard. (that sounds funny ) I have never had a problem with it even in RV parks or parking lots.

The extra bed space is nice for firewood, extra bikes, gas cans, etc.

You won't have to buy an expensive hitch either. here's my .02.

Your trailer is really nice! The only thing is that we live in a culdesac, so my husband was thinking that we'd have to turn it around. Because my neighbors at the top of the culdesac park in the street, we have a hard time already turning around with our trucks. The nice thing is that we live 2 houses from the bottom of the culdesac, so we can always back it in and not have to travel too far uphill and park. Or we can park it at the bottom of the hill, but what a pain to load. My neighbors across the street are a**holes and have a fit if we use their driveway to straighten our flatbed trailer to get it in the garage. They claim my husband ruined their driveway with his 4 or 5 tire tracks he's made!!! Our driveway is super clean even with 2 trucks, 2 quads, a trailer and his friends quads that come over!!! Ok - I have to stop venting about them!!!

Thanks for the feedback. My husband was iffy on getting a hauler any longer than 24 or 26 ft.

:gayboy:

I have a tag (tow behind).

the only downside about 5th wheels, unless you spend the extra money and get a really good hitch, is that you can't use your bed for anything, because the hitch rails, on the less expensive models of hitches, remain in your bed.

My neighbor tows a 5ver with the same truck I have (I don't know what it is, but my entire neighborhood rolls d-maxes!!!), which is a short bed, and never had an issue with the hitch, or the trailer. he also has a hitch that allows him to leave the hitch on the trailer pin, with no frame rails left in his truck. there are also other 5th wheel hitches that, when removed, allow use of your bed.

you can still do a 5th wheel in your bed, but it would have to be a slider hitch.

just my .02

Thanks for the reply. So you don't have any issues towing it? How long is your trailer? Reason I ask is because our friends were telling us that sometimes they see haulers in accidents because of the wind (or whatever the problem) and the worst ones are with tow behinds. I think a tow behind is the best option for us & I'd like to get a front sleeper because it just gives us more options.

congrats! to bad i didnt by my truck first so i could have gotten a fifth wheel . but im still happy with my warrior .

What do you like and not like about having a travel trailer instead of a 5th wheel? Do you find the TT difficult to haul???

cool, no towing with a half ton!!!

now you can go big with the trailer

NICE!!!!!!

can I offer some advice???

in case you want to add toys later on, like a mini rail, or a side by side, or even anothe quad, get PLENTY of cargo space!!! that is one thing you can NEVER have enough of in a toy hauler

my neighbor has a alfa toyhouse, and expanded his toy collection, and is now looking to knock out the garage wall, to gain another 9 inches!!!

toyhoalso the front sleepers offer you the option of being on the road, and sleeping in the front bedroom, whereas mine, I can only travel a day to my destinations, or sleep in a motel along the way

front sleepers rock!!!, but the downside is they don't offer the most cargo room, unless you look at a 30 ft front sleepr

Great advice - thank you! I'm glad you mentioned the front sleeper.

Yeah, our friend told us we should really consider a 5th wheel because they're easier to tow. the 2500 is a short bed and it's even shorter than our friend's short bed, so I'm not sure if that's possible. Do you tow a 5th wheel or a travel trailer? My cousins tow a travel trailer (about 26-28 ft long). They go everywhere with it and only had issues going to Pismo, when they got new tires the auto place traded out the tires and since then, they haven't had issues.

We really need it for the 2 of us and our 2 dogs. But, I know we'll be taking friends along a lot of the times.

I am kinda partial to Warrior and or Rage'n (Made by Warrior) products. The companies really do have excellent product support. They will actually have a mechanic and parts availible to customers at Glamis on the "big" weekends. I purchased a Rage'n / Blaze'n just as National RV was selling that division to Weekend Warrior. They were in transition and were still able to help me in everyway posible. Even when the selling dealer wasn't. Just my.02 worth.

Yeah, I've heard some good things about Warriors and I like their interiors. Unfortunately, my dad's dealership doesn't sell them. I know my dad will take great care of us, so I really want to buy from him.

cummins? manual?

Cummins, automatic.

Well, my hubby and I went down to the Dodge dealership and upgraded his truck to a 2500. It is soooo cool! We got a 6 inch lift, 37 inch tires and nice rims included. And we got a great deal, which is even better!!!

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what toy hauler to get. We're looking at the Jayco's and Holiday Ramblers (my dad works at an RV dealership in AZ and those are his favorites that they sell). I'd like to stay around 26-28 ft in length. Has anyone seen the new Black Diamond by Holiday Rambler? I guess they're new. My dad was telling me about them last night on the phone, but they haven't got them in yet. I took a look at the floorplans on their website. I like the Jayco Talon, but looks like they don't have them in the 2007 products.

Where were you guys when they told me to take my dad to Parump. My name is Christy and it's my dad Terry that everyone is talking of. My dad was a humble man and refused the Ambulance because he felt others might need it, had he chosen that maybe he would still be here today. First let me THANK ALL OF YOU for the kind words you have posted here on your site. It's nice to know that strangers who all participate in our favorite past time care about others.

Since Friday evening my family and I have been on a terrible ride. My dad was an AWESOME man that didn't deserve to die the way he did. You are taught to believe in what you are told when you visit a Medical facility and we have learned that that is not always true. I just got off the phone with the lead Coroner a few mintues agao and he confirmed that my fathers accident was indeed going to be ruled an accident, that the lacerated spleen and bleeding of the stomach lining was over looked in the accident and should have been found. His exact words were, "it's an awlful accident (the death) of an accident (them over looking things)." The sad part about all this is that my dad was on blood thinners and just for that should have never been released and then to have a broekn collar bone and 5 broken ribs....what were they thinking! Their follow-up care was to see the family doctor in 4 days, he died almost exactly 48 hrs after his accident. I am one that has always handled things and make sure things were right and it's killing me that I let this get by. I can't bring my dad back but you sure can bet I'll make things right and not let another family have to deal with this terrible tradgey that we are experiencing.

Again thanks from the bottom of my heart for the thoughts and prayers, it means alot to us.

Christy

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

We live in a very transiate(sp?) state - it seems that most of our professions are very green and in a hurry to get this guy out and get another in - Got to turn Invoices.... I dont think we notice it "cause its part of society" and most of the time its to replaceable objects.....

I agree. I went to the hospital a couple times here in Henderson for emergencies. The ER staff just ignored me and after 3 hours, figured out I was in the wrong place and sent me to the OR. During this time I was just hemorraging - no big deal!!! Another time, I got really sick, couldn't stop throwing up. When the ER was taking my vitals, I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Didn't make it and started throwing up in the hallway in a bag my husband brought for me. No one checked on me and my husband had no idea what happened. Several hospital employees passed me in the hallway, too.

I think my vet gives better service to my animals than our hospitals do!!!

I really like Armagossa. The first time I rode in the sand, it was there and the conditions were perfect!!! It was like riding on butter (that's my hubby's saying)! The only bad thing is that there's really no supervision, so you get lots of stupid people riding around without their helmets or riding doubles on quads near the campsites. It's not as bad as Apex, but needless to say, that's the one thing I didn't like. It's not as crowded as Dumont and there aren't really any showboaters there. Although, sometimes it's funny to watch people showboat and THINK they're cool!!!

Bring your own food!!! That's the only safe alternative!!!

I think the guy is still there. Years ago, there was nothing out there. Now, it's been built up in his area.

I am currently going down the road you have been on. started with a tahoe and atv trailer, upgraded to a 19 foot toyhauler, then upgraded to a dura/alli 4x4. since I got my family involved in the sport, the number of toys has grown, and we are currently maxed out in storage in our 19....but with a ranger, and 2 quads, and 3 people in our family......i cant see the number of toys growing any time soon.

I am sure that everyone who has 20/20 hindsight would have started with a diesel and a huge trailer, but, in reality, they are just getting into the sport, and not quite sure if they are gonna do it forever or not.

I think they are sensibly thinking about this, since they did post this thread to begin with.

they will be fine with a half ton, and a smaller trailer. imo

Yeah, we're going to wait for now. Although, after being a Dumont on Saturday and inhaling dust all day, it would have been nice to have a place to sit inside and escape!!!

Kitcat...If you want to save yourself from alot of this and this then definetly start with the right tow vehicle. When I got into the trailer life I had brand new F-150 supercrew w/the 5.4 went down and purchased a weekend warrior 22ft trailer "no problem your truck can pull this trailer" yeah right??? loaded it up went to desert on a hill we hit a strong head wind I'm not kidding when I say I thought we were going to end up going backwards, not to mention the fish tailing it did because of the short wheel base. It got better when I looked at my wife said this is not going work very ugly. Now I have new truck and trailer I cant use went down and purchased a dodge diesel and rolled over $9000 onto the new truck from the other new truck that was only 9 months old. everthing was good......Until last year decide were doing pretty well lets get a 5th wheel went down looked found one hooked up and left so far so good well even though the truck was diesel, the 35ft trailer seem'd claim victory.(03 dodge ok not great) luckily this truck was able to be thrown into our work fleet. I then purchased a 3500 GMC dually (Duramax/allison) The transmission is awsome for towing I dont even feel the 16000 lbs behind me and stopping is also easy.......Bottom line you guys should sit down and try to figure out how far do want to go (more toys, sandrail, rhino,kids) they start eating up alot of space and the weights start climbing fast (Iwas able to feel the difference in just adding gas into the fuel station) someone else also mentioned the ultra-light trailers I was told they were designed for your vehicle situation look in to those. Anything bigger think about a bigger truck......Also the 5th wheel trailers are way easier to pull. Hope something here will help, good luck with your adventure. :surrender:

Yeah, we decided we'd better start with a better truck. We're looking at possibly getting a used truck that's maybe 1-2 years old. My husband has got to sell his Ram, but his sister sold her Silverado to Carmax recently and they gave her more than the dealers would have on a trade in. So, we're exploring our options for now!! I want to get the right tow vehicle, so we're not limited on what toy hauler we can get.

We went to Dumont on Saturday with a bunch of our friends for the day. Some of our friends came up from OC and stayed with us for the weekend. They'd never ridden in the dunes, so it was a new experience for them. This was my first time at Dumont with my quad (yeah - not stuck at camp)!!!

I took our friend's daughter for a little ride near comp. Her dad didn't put paddles on her quad right away, so she was having issues. I don't have paddles either, but at Pismo and Armagossa, I've been fine. Well, I managed to bury my quad and I couldn't get it out of the sand. The stupid thing is that these two people were about 20 feet from me and didn't offer to help!!! My husband saw me all the way from the bottom of comp (about 100 yards away). I sent our friend's kid to get him and he rushed over to me. I've nicknamed myself Damsel in Distress!!! We're getting paddles for me now!!! He saw the 2 people and just shook his head (lots of people passed by me, too)!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEOPLE???

My husband and his buddy saw the buggy at the bottom of the comp, as they were coming down (the accident must have just happened). Some people in our group saw flight for life, but we weren't sure what happened.

I saw some kids playing with the mail at the North Pole - I'm not sure if it was the same kids. Stupid kids with stupid parents!!!

All in all, we had a good weekend - no accidents in our group. :-) :surrender:

Towing a hauler that starts out weighing about 5500 dry with a Tahoe..... I wouldn't do it. Just because they say it can tow up to 7500/7700 lbs, doesn't mean towing a toyhauler of that weight is safe. A toyhauler requires a tow vehicle with a little more wheel base and suspension than a Tahoe to be able to tow it safely in certain situations. I'd tow it with the Dodge 1500 before the Tahoe. Just my .02. :argue:

Thanks! I appreciate your 2 cents! Problem is with hubby's truck, it's 2WD. See, we always do stuff a** backwards!! Actually, hubby wanted a truck last year, so we got him one in April. At the time, we didn't have any atv's and just sold our boat. He had a 1500 Ram, then a Jetta and wanted a truck again. So, he got what he wanted. Then... one month later he HAD to get a quad! I was forced to go to Dumont (I've never done the off road thing, nor camped) and I was really ticked because I got stuck at camp. Our friend brought his extra quad for me to ride, but his 16 year old daughter ended up coming - so no riding!!! One month later we were at the Honda dealership buying me a quad. And then we got a 12 ft flat bed trailer. His truck got stuck in the sand at Armgossa, so we got the Tahoe with 4WD (I wanted a new car & got a GM Supplier Discount). Now that the season is upon us, we realize that having a toy hauler would be nice! In hindsight, we would have got a 2500 Dodge in the first place, but we're not that smart!! But hey, I ended up with a new SUV and a quad!!!

Now you've heard my whole sad story!!!!

I would have to say for a tahoe/SUV SUSPENSION stick w/ a superlite megalight a toyhauler made for a 1/2ton and keep it under 23' long. I have been looking at the Extreme RV's Megalite in a 23' front bath.. Dry weight is around 4500 and im good up to 9k'lbs w/ the big tow / air ride a$$ end on my armada. I might even go smaller but am looking for at least 12' of cargo space.

Yeah, I'd like about 12 ft of cargo space, too. My husband widened his raptor and so our quads probably wouldn't fit side by side. I don't know. I'm beginning to think that we should start with a bigger, better truck and then get the hauler. It's just money, right!! LOL!

towing with a half-ton............................................................................

usually the weight posted in the trailer is not the real weight. See if you can weigh it on a cat scale, to get a sense of how much it really is. i have heard horror stories about the weight of the trailer being as much as 2000lbs more than stated.

a common sensical approach would be to not go over 90% of your tahoe's or dodge's tow capacity,

so if your tahoe, theoretically, had a tow cap of 10,000 lbs, You should get a hauler, fully loaded, ready for the dunes, that doesnt come in over 9000 lbs...that is with full water ,fuel, food, gear, quads, what ever else you plan on taking on your trips.

You should look at what the GVWR, or gross vehicle weight rating, of the trailer is. It shouldn't be over the tow cap of your tow vehicles.

just my opinion

good luck

as far as service in the LV area....have your dad call the mfg, and recommend someone else for service.

Thanks for the insight! Yeah, I want to make sure we don't do something stupid and end up ruining my brand new Tahoe!

Personaly I have a 21' salem that my son in law tried to hook up on and tow witha 1/2 ton Chevy. I wouldn't have wanted to be in that ride. Maybe your dad should call Johnny walker and see what kind of deal he can work with them to make it easier? And lastly don't believe everything you read about certain dealers and what they will do and won't do. That post was started by someone who had a problem 10 days before the first trip they had planned and wanted the dealer to put it ahead of their customers to get it fixed. Go back and re read that post and I think you will see that.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it!!! Yeah, my dad's coming out for Thanksgiving, so we're going to have a serious talk about this. I'll ask him about service in our area.

I like the red frame!!! Very nice!!

:shocked2:

Oh, and also... I noticed on the posts here that Jonny Walker RV doesn't work on RV's that are sold by them. They're the only dealer in town that sells Jayco's (of course). Does anyone know of an RV shop that would work on the Jayco's in the Las Vegas area??? I know we could always take it to Prescott and my dad would take care of us, but that's 4 hours away!!!

:shocked2: