I pull an enclosed trailer. I do it with a full size Ford E-150
conversion van with towing pkg and 351.
This combo is OK when weights are mentioned, I am at the
upper levels of the "legal" towing weights, including GVW, as
advertised by Ford. It SHOULD be OK.
I will share with you that it just plain ain't enuff to say that it
will tow XXXX lbs. Maybe for you flat trailer guys it will suffice
to live within the weight limits. But to tow long distances with
any success and an enclosed trailer there is more than weight
and tongue weight to consider.
Ask any OTR driver, they can tell you about tow vehicle width.
Ford even mentions it in the owners manuals of their trucks. If
you tow a trailer wider than the tow vehicle, the wind resistance
has an additional penalty. A trailer weighing 5000lbs pulls like
it weighs 10,000 at speed.
My van will pull a trailer to 7,000lbs according to all publicized,
and a total weight of 12,000 Gross. I am towing 6200lbs, My
tongue weight is just under 650lbs. That puts gross right at 11K.
I have equalizers, and pulling against some of those KS winds
when I go up there to visit (wind don't blow in Oklahoma!!) caused
sway even with a sway bar, so I installed a second on the other
side. I have increased my rear spring by adding a leaf, and use 6
ply Pirelli truck tires (the Michelins had too much sidewall squirm,
and actually contributed to sway in crosswinds).
Mine is just an 18 foot Pace, trailer weight 3100. The racecar is
about 1950 - 2000 lbs. Plus I carry tires, tools, etc (somebody has
to support the flat trailer pullers). I can't imagine pulling a 24 foot
trailer with a 1/2 ton anything. I see it all the time, but just simply
can't fathom anything but a casual pull, or once a year long haul.
At Nationals, I saw an (estimated) 24ft enclosed trailer being pulled
by a Ford Explorer - with west coast tags!! Even if he were towing
just a shifter kart in that rig, I don't envy that driver. I question how
he got over the Continental Divide going back - - before Thanksgiving
(if he did).
Suffice to say, I think that to pull an enclosed trailer with less than
a 3/4 ton is really not the hort ticket (says I as I look in the mirror).
One should consider more than just weights when thinking tow
vehicles.
My next one will be a diesel, and even thinking dually. or a class A
or C motorhome on a one ton chassis minimum (gotta watch the
rear overhang on one of these, though).
Really giving thought to a Dodge 24V dually with a slide-in (look
out Solo City - and then I shouldn't have to worry about getting my
"stuff" ripped off - but that's another story).
Any other enclosed trailer drivers have any input?
George
|