Well, be sure and compare the weight of the truck to the trailer loaded. And consider the amount of surface the trailer will be presenting. Contrary to what many may think about the V-nose trailers out there.. those that have towed both flat and V-nosed trailers will tell you that the V-nose can be a squirrelly deal under certain conditions due to the way the air flows around it. Especially when being passed on the highway by a big truck.

I am here to tell you my next trailer will be a flat nose. My New V-nose 24 ft total length is a witch to pull. But admittedly, it is taller than most trailers you see out there. (8ft tall inside, 11 ft total) See my profile page for pics. It really moves around and even though the Ram is 5500 pounds, it can be moved around by that trailer with no problems. I am adding Anti Sway this week.

The point is, you want the truck to be as heavy or slightly heavier than the trailer if possible.. otherwise the trailer will drive the truck, not the other way around.

If it were me and I was looking for a new truck, I'd be getting the cummins diesel, and going for at least a 3/4 ton.. and a 1 ton duelie if youcan afford one.

 

Unfortunately, for me to get the trailer, the wife has to get the truck. Cummins would be my first choice, but she doesn't like diesel (whiner). It's definitely going to be flat-nose, and I learned from all the years my Dad towed trailers to get anti-sway. The problem with having a 34 foot RV, is everbody looks to you for a place to stay if the weather is bad. This time the wife said get something big enough for us, everyone else can just get wet and cold. At one point had considered loading the atvs sideways on the truck bed and getting a hard side pop-up. Those things weigh about 2300-2800 pounds. Light weight and low profile, but if the truck bed is full, you're really limited on storage space int the pop up.

Curious if anyone with a toy hauler has any odor problems from the atvs or bikes riding in the trailer.

 

Ah just take her down to the dealer and put her behind the wheel of a new Crew cab dualie... Once she gets that trucker feeling, and the king of the road attitude going... you are golden... Plus, it will have enough power to pull ANYTHING without breaking a sweat. You are not going to pull 10 MPG with any gas engine out there towing a trailer over 5000#.

I really like the toy haulers, but they are pricey, and not optimal in either category. I know others say they can put a bunch of machines in them, but I wonder... I for one really hate spending time and energy dragging them sideways inside the trailer. Too much work for these sorry old bones.
Am not comfortable with standing them up on end either. Some guys swear by the method... but again, too much work for me to get them up in the air. I have had to panic brake a tow rig before, and it was not pretty when I looked in the trailer. I can't imagine the damage that a 700 lb ATV can do on the inside of my trailer if it were to fall over from a panic stop. Not to mention the loss in resale value as a result.

When I go riding, I end up loading everything by myself. The 10 year old is good for chasing parts, drinks tools etc, but when it comes to lifting an ATV up and turning it sideways.. it is strictly a dad thing.

I have really re-thought my next trailer deal... I think I am going to go with an open trailer like a Triton that I can hang 5 or six off of it. Side load and drive off capability. That way, I don't have to bust a gut loading and unloading it. My enclosed trailer is used for my business, and is not ideal setup for hauling the quads. I also have an old All Aluminum snowmobile trailer that I can get 3 machines on... and it is in great shape... I guess that will have to do for a while until I can sneak that new Triton into the back yard without the Mrs noticing. With her new house in the works, I will have some leverage... until of course I show her the plans for the new shop out back...

 

Dont even get me started on their pressure washers. We averaged between 35-40 of these genajunk washers a week for warranty in the summer. They would have a very well known problem (by the company) the parts were on back order for 3 months and they wouldnt pull the remaining units of the sales floors. And it wasnt like it could happen, part of the pump broke off first or second use of every one sold. We had over 200 of these damn things piled up every where waiting for parts.

It was a great learning experience working their, we did warranty for 2 dozen companies from power tools, air compressors, generators, power washers, hydraulics, pnuematics tools, and repaired just about everything. I am lucky now I know what to buy and what not to!!!

 

I hear ya... I bought a 3000 PSi Pressure washer, and they replaced the pump 4 times. the last time, they put a commercial unit from another mfg on it, and it has been good since. The fuel tank petcock still leaks down onto the air filter though. It runs and works fine now.. but it was a real fight every time I wanted to use it.

Not sure if the pumps were junk, or if water was freezing in the unit over the winter and caused it to crack, but you could bet it was not going to work when you needed it. Since they put the commercial pump unit on it, it has not given me any mroe problems. So it has to be the quality of the parts used.

 

Many of my riding buddies have toy haulers and nobody complains about fuel smell. Just make sure you turn off your fuel petcocks and/or drain your tanks if you (or the Mrs.) are really worried about it. And everyone tows with the quads 4 down. I'm with draggin, I wouldn't want to panic stop and have a strap snap and drop the weight of a quad on the plywood floor of a TH.

I'd definately try to talk the wife into going for the diesel. Have her test drive the new ones. Big power and low noise. It's amazing how quiet they are. They aren't your Daddy's diesel anymore. (A little play on the old Old's tagline). You get better fuel mileage, whether towing or not. My friend can get better mileage than me (if you can keep your foot out of it) with an '02 7.3L PSD and I'm running a 4.6L V8 gasser. Note: they do have a bed cover, so they gain a little there. But still, look at the stats! Much more capacble truck. Diesel is running more than gas now, but it's still cheaper after mileage is taken into account.

Not to start a weight fight, but there are only a very few TH's that a 1/2-ton can actually pull. Most people don't buy the Titan (or F-150) as speced that can tow what the manuf. claim. Just in case she needs a little persuasion to go big on the truck. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] You don't want to get in a situation where you're upgrading truck and trailer because you're not happy with either. I know a family that just bought trailer #3 and TV #2. And they are on Year #3.

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Well if you look at my profile, you will see my new trailer that I intend on using in my business, and occasional ATV trip... Weight is around 4500. It is extra tall, so that accounts for some of the issues, but it was a bear to tow. I thought the Hemi was pretty stout, but the trailer brought it to it's knees. I absolutely could not pull overdrive with it. The gearing is such that with OD on, I am turning just under 2000 RPM. WIth it off, Just under 2300 RPM. It makes a huge difference in gas milage. I was getting roughly 200 miles a tank full. At $65 a throw, it is a tough pill to swallow.

As for Motor home pulling a trailer Vs a toyhauler trailer/tow truck... it is a toss up. Personally, I like comfort.. and the motor home gives me that. I can't see me running into town for an evening's entertainment. I do that at home. When I travel to the great outdoors, I want to leave all that crap behind. I do recognise though, that my wife is on holiday too, and we do not expect gourmet meals. I do much of the cooking any way, as it tastes a whole lot better on the grill, and that is my department my wife always tells me. ( I think she is slacking, but I must admit I like grilling out)

Point is, we share the duties, and have the luxuries of our home with us. As for neighbors coming over.. and mooching... Well, I set up a awning with a screen room. They are welcome to throw a bedroll in there, but as for the motor coach, that is strictly our home away from home. We do invite family on our trips, but there are limits to our hospitality.

 

Nice "toy" DB. I can see why you have issue w/ OD. That's a LOT of frontal area, even if it's a v-nose. I'm just pulling a wild haired guess out of my behind, but I think the problem with trucks passing is this:

The large trucks create a large bow wave of air in casting off the side. That wave of air probably is close to the same angle as the V-nose. With a flat front, the wave it's the corner of the trailer and goes across the front of the trailer and the rest goes down the side. With the v-nose, the wake actually hits the nose side (for lack of a better term) with a blunt hit. It's not split by the corned. Bascially like running into a wall head on, rather than at a 45d angle.

I know that Ford, and I assume other manuf. calculate the towing load with an eye at the frontal area of the trailer. If you go past that point, you have to decrease the weight. Air restantance, drag, is the biggest consumer of energy over 40-60MPH.

What gears are you running? Sounds like a mid 3 gear, like a 3.55 (Ford's "mileage" gearset.) The OD bogs down the motor too much with all the drag from the trailer. Let the motor spin faster, puts out more power, but is using less fuel. It's funny how that works. And todays gas motors (hell, even the diesels) seem to work better (develope more power, more efficiently) when they are spinning faster.

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You may be right. The problem that really vexes me is as the truck is passing, and before they get even with me, the truck creates such a low pressure area that it actually wants to suck you into them. It can move my trailer 3 ft or more until they get even with me and the sucking stops with a pronounced release. Since at that point, I am steering away from them to attempt to not make contact, I then find myself shooting the other way away from them. 3 ft of sucking movement makes one heck of a wobble at speed.. which then translates to the truck's back end. In 12 hours, I only had to hit the trailer brakes slightly one time, but it was a sickening feeling.

I was fighting a head wind most of the day. In the evening, I was able to pull OD on flats, and maintain 65 MPH. Up until then, though, it was doing OK with the OD off. I picked up 2 MPG to over 9.. but it still is a long way from the 19-22 I was getting without the trailer. I think I have a 326 gear... I know it is not the towing gear... The owner's manual says just to take it out of OD, and it seems to work just fine, have plenty of power etc.

I am looking at getting a tall wedge topper for the truck now, so it will not present such a large frontal area. I am also getting my load equalizer hooked up as well, and that should help. Also, the MFG's yard delivery person didn't know what the tire pressure was supposed to be. I found out much later that the tires only had 35 lbs in them, and should have been around 50. That would add drag as well, and could have added to the sway motion. I was a little PO'd over that, but I guess it is just one more f-up the factory made in this whole custom trailer process.

I tell you, I cannot in good conscience recommend PACE American to anyone looking for a custom job. They just do not have the brain matter to pull it off. At least that is my experience with the GA plant. I am greatly displeased with the customer service and the washing of their hands when they make a mistake. They were 4 months late in production, made several major errors on the trailer, played dumb country boy when they the mistake was pointed out to them, and refused to fix it. So much for customer care I guess. Thankfully, the dealer I purchased it through took it upon himself to make things right... Plus, they charged me $200 for teh priviledge of coming 800 miles to their plant and taking delivery there versus them delivering it to my dealer. What a crock.

Any way, I intend to get a crew cab dualie just as soon as everything settles down after the move to GA. Really looking forward to getting away from this madness in the nation's capital.

 

It's amazing what air on the road will do. Big high profile vehicles have it the worse. And some of the big rigs out there create some vicious air movement.

3.26...dang. That's what the Sonoma I used to drive had...and it had dinky little tires (15" rim, like a 225/65/R15, IIRC). Truck did pretty decent, but it was running the 4.3L V6 (TBI, not the Vortec, it was a'91). No wonder you were getting good unloaded mileage. And I thought 3.55 was bad.

That shell should help out a lot. You aren't having to move air twice (over the cab, then from the bed height to the top of the trailer).

Tire pressure is a HUGE eater of mileage and performance. I could tell on my old car ('01 Daewoo Nubira) when it was time to check the tires. It would get really sluggish.

I've never had to deal with a big trailer company. We had a custom hydraulic made at a local company. They've provided good service, but that's only been to replace a hydraulic pump, but we can't seem to keep seals in the rams, but then again, dropping the dang thing at 60MPH on the highway and having it nearly flip *MIGHT* have something to do with that. It tows funky empty (need a good 5degree tongue height). So we go through 2 rear in the time we go through 1 front tire.

Looks like a nice home you're building. I knew a couple people who lived in and around DC. One didn't talk much about it (he was an instructor, and an XO at the local Marine base) but used to give the other lady (one of the students) a bad time. She had a pretty good accent. She was GLAD to be gone from DC. Hated the traffic. I think they lived in northern VA. I'd like to go back to VISIT. I can't stand big cities to live. I enjoy driving, but don't want to spend my life on a 4-lane parking lot.

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