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Old 07-18-2017, 02:26 AM   #1
Chippewa93
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Passport 3320BH Tow Vehicle

Any Passport 3320BH owners pulling with a half ton? My scale weight is 7,000 lbs with an equalizer hitch and I'm concerned it may be too much. Not necessarily the pulling (5.7 HEMI) but the stopping of the trailer. Will a 3/4 ton help improve the braking?


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Old 07-18-2017, 02:46 AM   #2
ctbruce
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Quick question. Is that weight your loaded weight?

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Old 07-18-2017, 03:48 AM   #3
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The short answer, yes. You currently have a trailer that outweighs your truck. That in itself is not bad, many of us do, hard to find a tv that weighs over 15k lbs. but anytime you can have a TV that outweighs your trailer, with bigger breaks, different power train designed more for towing it will improve many aspects of towing not just braking distances.
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Old 07-18-2017, 03:52 AM   #4
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That coach's dry weight is approximately 6600 lbs. Loaded, it could be well north of 7000 lbs. The truck, in general, will be underpowered in its powertrain and braking abilities. Ram 1/2 tons are also known to have the least amount of payload amount the big 3.

If I were you, I would invest in a three-quarter ton truck were you have plenty of reserve in payload, gcvw, gvwr, gawr, towing capacity, braking, and engine torque.

Good luck.
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Old 07-18-2017, 05:00 AM   #5
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The 7,000 lbs is fully loaded ready to camp. The spec sheet in the truck from Dodge says 8,600 max towing. So a 3/4 ton has better stopping power?


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Old 07-18-2017, 06:52 AM   #6
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Not to argue with you, but I think you really need to go back to the scales and reweigh your trailer. The specs for the 2015 model are listed as "TBD" but the 2016 model 3320BH (basically the same trailer) indicates that the shipping weight is 3320BHWE 6947 pounds. By the time you add a battery, hitch attachments and propane, you're going to be well north of 7000 pounds. So if you're saying that "fully loaded, ready to camp" your trailer weighs in at 7000 pounds, that scale weight may not have been accurate. I'd say you'll be much closer to 7500 possibly 8000 pounds "ready to camp".
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Old 07-18-2017, 07:42 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by bsmith0404 View Post
The short answer, yes. You currently have a trailer that outweighs your truck. That in itself is not bad, many of us do, hard to find a tv that weighs over 15k lbs. but anytime you can have a TV that outweighs your trailer, with bigger breaks, different power train designed more for towing it will improve many aspects of towing not just braking distances.
using this logic, almost everyone would need a big diesel dually (7-8,000 lbs). There is no reason on earth your tow vehicle needs to weigh more than your trailer. If that were the case, I would need a big Peterbuilt with a large sleeper cab to pull my 417 that weighs a little less than 20,000 lbs. I don't disagree with a lot of the WP on here, but you must keep it within reason or you just run people off.
now I will wait for my slap on the hand.....
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Old 07-18-2017, 08:00 AM   #8
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We tow with an F150 V8 (factory tow package, 3.73 rear). According to the scale, with the trailer and truck fully loaded, we are more than 2,000 lbs under the tow rating for the truck and about 1,500 lbs under the GVWR. We are quite comfortable towing with this setup.

The scale weight tells us we have about 650 lbs of stuff in the trailer, above the "shipping weight" (assuming the shipping weight can be believed, we never weighed the trailer dry). We have everything we need, but we also tow with all the tanks empty to keep weight down.
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Old 07-18-2017, 08:20 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Chippewa93 View Post
The 7,000 lbs is fully loaded ready to camp. The spec sheet in the truck from Dodge says 8,600 max towing. So a 3/4 ton has better stopping power?


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Another question, I'm full of them today. Is the 8600 the door post sticker number or from Dodge advertising brochures?

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Old 07-18-2017, 09:19 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Mandolin View Post
We tow with an F150 V8 (factory tow package, 3.73 rear). According to the scale, with the trailer and truck fully loaded, we are more than 2,000 lbs under the tow rating for the truck and about 1,500 lbs under the GVWR. We are quite comfortable towing with this setup.

The scale weight tells us we have about 650 lbs of stuff in the trailer, above the "shipping weight" (assuming the shipping weight can be believed, we never weighed the trailer dry). We have everything we need, but we also tow with all the tanks empty to keep weight down.
Please take a look at the part in red. Either you mistyped something or you're completely wrong. NO WAY is it possible to be 1500 pounds under GVWR on a truck with a 1600 pound payload when you're hitched to any trailer and have passengers in the truck.
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Old 07-18-2017, 09:30 AM   #11
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Another question, I'm full of them today. Is the 8600 the door post sticker number or from Dodge advertising brochures?

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Old 07-18-2017, 09:48 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by Racebug View Post
using this logic, almost everyone would need a big diesel dually (7-8,000 lbs). There is no reason on earth your tow vehicle needs to weigh more than your trailer. If that were the case, I would need a big Peterbuilt with a large sleeper cab to pull my 417 that weighs a little less than 20,000 lbs. I don't disagree with a lot of the WP on here, but you must keep it within reason or you just run people off.
now I will wait for my slap on the hand.....
Okay, I'll slap your hand. I didn't say the TV had to out weigh the trailer, just said it's better. The OP asked if a 3/4 ton truck would stop better than the 1/2 ton. My point was simply that yes a TV that weighs more than the trailer it's towing will stop it better than one that weighs less than the trailer it's towing. He asked a very basic question. And to take it a step further, yes a 1 ton dually will stop it even better and a Peterbuilt even better.
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Old 07-18-2017, 11:17 AM   #13
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I have the 3350BH which is the nearly identical twin of the 3320BH. These things are beasts at over 37ft but still light. I pull mine with a '13 F150 Ecoboost 145" wheelbase, but had to do some modifications to the truck to feel comfortable while towing. After many trips to the scales after tweaking, I'm at a tongue weight of about 1000 loaded which includes the weight of my WDH, and trailer weight of about 7200 lbs. If I could offer 1 piece of advice it would be to hit the scales and see how things look. Some say that their delivered weight was way off from the specs found online, but I found that mine were nearly spot on. Specs showed 6550 dry weight and the scales printed out at 6625. Guessing this was the battery as I've read that listed dry weights normally include full propane (could be bad info though, but the scale tickets won't lie to you).

My TT pulls fairly well after adding new shocks, Timbrens, and Hellwig sway bar. The rear suspensions in these 1/2 tons just don't feel sturdy enough for 1000lbs hanging at the bumper. I felt like the rear was floating around. Timbrens took care of that feeling 100% and I've been happy with them.

The thing I noticed early on with this TT is that the wind and passing semis will not be kind to that much surface area and may make things feel uncomfortable at times. I didn't really like this and did upgrade my hitch, but alot of others have great results with Equalizers, Reese DC, and others. I hate to push the high dollar hitch to others as it may not be needed depending on how things feel to ya.

Edit: Adding pic...

Another edit: bsmith0404... legitimate question as I've seen so many posts over time saying that a bigger truck would stop a TT better. Is this a safety 'saying' that it would stop better during a brake failure of the trailer? I agree that adding 1000lbs of mass to a 1/2 ton truck (by going 3/4 ton) should give it a little more leverage, but in an emergency situation, its still going to lose the battle. In normal travels, the trailer is stopping itself if adjusted properly. I've never understood the logic of a bigger passenger truck having better stopping power.

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Old 07-18-2017, 01:25 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by drew999999 View Post
I have the 3350BH which is the nearly identical twin of the 3320BH. These things are beasts at over 37ft but still light. I pull mine with a '13 F150 Ecoboost 145" wheelbase, but had to do some modifications to the truck to feel comfortable while towing. After many trips to the scales after tweaking, I'm at a tongue weight of about 1000 loaded which includes the weight of my WDH, and trailer weight of about 7200 lbs. If I could offer 1 piece of advice it would be to hit the scales and see how things look. Some say that their delivered weight was way off from the specs found online, but I found that mine were nearly spot on. Specs showed 6550 dry weight and the scales printed out at 6625. Guessing this was the battery as I've read that listed dry weights normally include full propane (could be bad info though, but the scale tickets won't lie to you).

My TT pulls fairly well after adding new shocks, Timbrens, and Hellwig sway bar. The rear suspensions in these 1/2 tons just don't feel sturdy enough for 1000lbs hanging at the bumper. I felt like the rear was floating around. Timbrens took care of that feeling 100% and I've been happy with them.

The thing I noticed early on with this TT is that the wind and passing semis will not be kind to that much surface area and may make things feel uncomfortable at times. I didn't really like this and did upgrade my hitch, but alot of others have great results with Equalizers, Reese DC, and others. I hate to push the high dollar hitch to others as it may not be needed depending on how things feel to ya.

Edit: Adding pic...

Another edit: bsmith0404... legitimate question as I've seen so many posts over time saying that a bigger truck would stop a TT better. Is this a safety 'saying' that it would stop better during a brake failure of the trailer? I agree that adding 1000lbs of mass to a 1/2 ton truck (by going 3/4 ton) should give it a little more leverage, but in an emergency situation, its still going to lose the battle. In normal travels, the trailer is stopping itself if adjusted properly. I've never understood the logic of a bigger passenger truck having better stopping power.

Attachment 13407
I have my brakes set so the trailer pulls the truck back during normal stopping as well, but in an emergency situation the larger mass, brakes, suspension etc on a larger tv will stop/control it better. If you've ever had to do an emergency stop, you will know that the trailer will try all kinds of stuff back there, the more you have to help control it, the better.
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Old 07-18-2017, 01:56 PM   #15
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I'd say you'll be much closer to 7500 possibly 8000 pounds "ready to camp".
Agreed! I own a similar length trailer that's about 600 lbs lighter dry. It weighed in at close to 7300 lbs at "go" time. I was right at my limits with my previous 1/2 ton TV.
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Old 07-20-2017, 08:55 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by Chippewa93 View Post
Any Passport 3320BH owners pulling with a half ton? My scale weight is 7,000 lbs with an equalizer hitch and I'm concerned it may be too much. Not necessarily the pulling (5.7 HEMI) but the stopping of the trailer. Will a 3/4 ton help improve the braking?


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I was in the same situation as you are in now. My advice to you is , don't waste your money on mods for the truck. Save your money and just upgrade to a 3/4 ton. That trailer is way to long for your truck. You can read my post and see what I went through. I spent a lot of unnecessary money.
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Old 07-20-2017, 01:18 PM   #17
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I was in the same situation as you are in now. My advice to you is , don't waste your money on mods for the truck. Save your money and just upgrade to a 3/4 ton. That trailer is way to long for your truck. You can read my post and see what I went through. I spent a lot of unnecessary money.
As a fellow owner of an F150 Ecoboost (I see that's what you were running before your upgrade), pulling a 3350 can be done safely. Not sure I'd pull a 1000 mile run with my setup, but for weekend getaways or for an occasional few hundred mile run, a properly setup 1/2 ton can drag a longer TT down the road with ease and safely.

I see that you had a newer aluminum body F150. I've seen a ton of theads on issues with this generation of trucks as they are not only lighter, but I've also read that they possibly spring'd a little lighter in this gen than the steel bodied F150's. I've never personally towed with on of the newer Fords, but there are quite a few threads of people upgrading F150s and having towing issues with the new truck vs the old truck (same trailer and hitch).

The one thing that I do see as a possible limiting factor with the OP is that I believe the Rams run coil springs as opposed to leafs. If you do decide to attempt to get the RAM to do the job, you may want to look into something to help stiffen things up. (Bags, Timbrens, etc. There are quite a few options out there). I think they come standard with a rear sway bar which helps. I have a buddy that pulls a smaller 5th wheel with a 1/2 ton Ram and has no issues. Not sure I'd try a 5er with my truck, but I'm pretty comfy pulling my 3350BH. Pulled nearly 150 miles a few weeks ago in 30mph winds with no issues staying between the lines.
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Old 07-20-2017, 05:31 PM   #18
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Passport 3320BH Tow Vehicle

My F150 pulled the trailer ok. It was when there was an accident in front of us and I had to slam on the brakes and swerve to the emergency lane that is when I started to figure out I had a little to much trailer behind me. Then on the way back I faced some bad storms that wouldn't let up for a couple of days and I had to drive thru it to get home in time to get back to work. Had a few white knuckle experiences that I do not want to have ever again! If you are only driving only In MI you might ok.
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Old 08-12-2017, 08:57 AM   #19
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I see that you had a newer aluminum body F150. I've seen a ton of theads on issues with this generation of trucks as they are not only lighter, but I've also read that they possibly spring'd a little lighter in this gen than the steel bodied F150's. I've never personally towed with on of the newer Fords, but there are quite a few threads of people upgrading F150s and having towing issues with the new truck vs the old truck (same trailer and hitch).
My 2016 F-150 was scary when towing more than 6000 pounds. The ecooboost was great but when towing the truck did not handle well at all. After numerous trips to the scale and hitch adjustments by myself and two different dealers, I made the upgrade to a 3/4 ton. I haven't had an issue since.
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Old 08-12-2017, 10:21 AM   #20
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In normal travels, the trailer is stopping itself if adjusted properly. I've never understood the logic of a bigger passenger truck having better stopping power.
This is not the first time I've seen this type of question asked and your reply is exactly my reaction but I haven't said anything before. But because this comes up again. I have to ask and I hope the answer isn't yes. Are there people towing with out trailer brakes and or a controller ?
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