travel trailer with quad in bed?

Hello everybody,

I was hoping for a little advice on a towing set-up that I plan on using later this week. I have a 2013 DC V6 4x4 with tow package. Vehicle is completely stock.

I have a Jayco 184BH travel trailer that I have been towing around with no problems at all. The dry weight of of the trailer is 2,690 (dry) and the tongue weight is 305 (dry).

Now, I am making a trip to Glamis with some friends and need to take my quad with me. Its a sport quad so its not as heavy as some bigger ones. Dry weight of the quad is 420 lbs.

I am able to fit the quad in the bed and still use my trailer but i am a little worried about pushing the tongue weight or rear axle weight on my truck. I plan on making the trip as dry as possible (no water, no extra gas, etc) and I will pack as light as possible and put as much as I can over the rear axles and behind of the trailer to keep weight off the front. I'm not worried about pulling the total weight, just the weight of the quad and tongue weight of the trailer over my rear axles. I figure trailer tongue weight ~350 + quad ~ 420 = 770 lbs... or maybe less since half the quad is in front or over the rear axles.. ?

Also, I am using a 600 lbs equalizer WD hitch.

I have attached pictures the first one (with no quad is how my truck sat the day I picked up the trailer with the WD installed). The other 2 pictures are with everything loaded and the WD bumped up a notch to compensate for the extra weight... any thoughts?

 

How close to bumpstops?
How does it seem on short trips?
By the pictures, seems ok. Time for some airbags perhaps a lift?

 

With everything loaded i tried to take a picture but its hard to see. Id say there about an inch, maybe an inch and a half between the bump stops and thd frame. The 5 mile short trip i took today seemed fine. I didnt feel it hit the stops, but i also had my WD hitch cranked up a bit more than i usually have it. The trip is about 300 miles each way.... obviously i will be taking it very easy and slow.

 

if it were me, i'd install firestone ride rites......that would help keep you level and not worry about riding the bumpstops or busting a leaf

 

I agree, air bags are probably a must. But i dont have time to order them and install them before i leave Wednesday. Just hoping to get by this one time, especially since this is usually just a once per year trip.

Thank you for the input though.

 

Bump, for any last minute advice before I leave in the morning. Thanks

 

Since I hate seeing threads that never give and answer or update.... here is an update!

Trip went great. Towed the camper with quad in the back as originally pictured with no problems at all. Didn't feel it hit the bump-stops once on the 300+ mile drive. I drove to the last possible gas station before Glamis to fill my water tanks which helped alot, but I actually ended up making the whole trip home with my grey and black tanks almost full and it still did great.

I will probably invest in some airbags if I end up doing this anymore, but the WD hitch did a great job keep me level (even though I loaded up the bars more that I really wanted to)

Gas mileage sucked, but that was to be expected (11-12 mpg), but the truck had plenty of power cruise at 65mph.

 

Nice setup zonacats, I have the same camper as you. Did you do the axle flip on it? We really like ours.

 

Yep, I did the axle flip myself. The kit was like $40 and it was pretty easy to do. Completely bolt-on, did it in my driveway in a few hours. I didnt want to shell out the extra $2000 for the "baja" edition, so I am just doing the upgrades myself. So far I love it.

 

Glad to here all went well! Just seen thread.
What is an axle flip?
Welcome to T.W

 

What is an axle flip?


Moving the springs from on top of the axle to below the axle to gain more clearance.

 

Thank you

 

Your camper looks familiar. Good job with the axle flip. We've had our camper for a year and love it to this point. Have you had the WD hitch the entire time you've had the camper? If not, did you notice a big difference towing with and without it? I almost bought one with the camper but the RV dealer talked me out of it ... he didn't really think I needed it. We only had one trip the entire summer where I felt like it would have been helpful, but I'll probably pick one up anyway this spring. Thanks.

 

I hope to do the axle flip on mine in the spring,It definitely needs a little lift. I bottomed it out on a rock last summer and did $1200 damage to the blackwater tank. Screwed up my fishing trip

 

Yes, the axle flip is very nice for these trailers. They are so low from the factory.

4x4taco2012; I did purchase the WD hitch from the get go, but not from the dealer. Did alot of research and went with an Equalizer 600lb with intergrated sway control. The dealer set it up for me and pretty much said the same thing... Probably not absolutly neccessary, but if you are ever loaded down with extra weight it will come in handy (which it has). If im just cruzing around with just the trailer i have it set pretty light. I think the biggest advantage is the sway control. I have semi trucks and stuff fly past me sometimes, and high winds, and the trailer doesnt sway at all.

I have only towed it a very short distance to dump the tanks without the WD hitch... It seemed to be alittle more "cushy" or soft in the rear, but it wasnt to bad. Overall however, I am glad I got it.