2013 Laredo 303tg towing nightmare 1500

[nitro4you75]

Hi all, so after a ton a research I settled on a 2013 laredo 303tg. The reason I got this trailer (over a 5th wheel) was I wanted to keep my half ton. I have a 2011 Chevy crew 1500, towing package bette rear for towing etc...

Reece Dual cam system 1200 lb bars

Ok so the 1st trip out was a white knuckle nightmare this thing swayed like crazy and was worse when trucks passed me. Going over 50 was a challenge!!

Keep in mind I had a Rockwood 8317ss which with the same truck towed like it wasnt even there.

I tried adding and removing links, raising pin and lovering pin give or take an inch or two and no real difference was made.

Trip 2 I added a Timbren kit as I thought it was a weight issue as i fely like I was on a carnival ride the first trip....drove it straight to the dealer and said they need to set it up as its horrible.....they made major adjustments said I should be good and off I went ..SAME THING......3 hour trip of white knuckles and I had to peel my wife and kids off the roof from being so scared. Timbren made no difference and merely made it feel like a short pogo stick.

Im at a loss here as far as what to do.....I got this trailer so I could stay with a half ton truck. IS this just clearly too much trailer for a half ton?

My Dad has a 3/4 ton im going to borrow and if it solves all my issues im going to be very upset as ill need a new truck too and I could have got a 5th wheel. ......suggestions??? Please help !

[Festus2]

Trying out your dad's 3/4T is an excellent idea and will give you something to compare. You'll probably have to readjust your bars and settings on your hitch and go for some trial runs on the freeway.

My initial reaction - without knowing any of your weight numbers - is that this Laredo might be too much for this 1500 but that is just my gut feeling - not based on factual data.

Did you, by any chance, do some number crunching before you bought the Laredo or were you told my the salesman....."No need to worry, your truck can handle the Laredo. No problem."?

It might be worthwhile to get a more accurate picture of your whole setup and take the 1500 plus the Laredo to the scales and get it weighed. Those results will provide you with a lot of essential information.

[nitro4you75]

Im going to do it tonight and report back. ...Yes the dealer said that!! haha....however GM claims I can pull 10200lbs GCWR. Ill give the scales a shot as a last resort unless it should be my first. .....need to find a scale now.

[therink]

I hope this all works out for you. I am betting it is a combination issues starting with the truck tires. Good 10 ply E rated tires on the truck provide a stable platform for reducing side to side movement. This side to side movement with underrated tires can initialize a swayccondition especially with a long trailer. I think that payload on the truck may also be a contributing factor. Good luck and let us know what the scale says.
Steve

[Nkbrisson]

If your gcwr is only 10200 then it really looks like your truck is not enough truck for that trailer, the specs on the trailer are 7473 dry and 900lbs hitch, that with a Chevy 1500 gvwr around 5800lbs and assumed payload of about 1400lbs that trailer is about 3000lbs to much for your truck, now these numbers are based on online numbers, your truck and trailer combo might yield different numbers. Check the yellow sticker on your drivers door to determin your gvwr and axel weights and cargo, your gcwr should be in your manual.

[lightning79]

Yeah, I agree with Nkbrisson, 35 feet would be a little much for me to pull with a half-ton.

[concours]

I had a 2009 Titan which is more truck than a GM 1/2 ton and a 26 foot TT was enough yes it pulled fine but the set up had to be perfect to control the sway. Look out for the semi's approaching from behind

[Charli]

I previously had a 29' model Springdale trailer with a 2009 Ran 1500. Never went to a scale and was a complete newbie at the time so wouldn't have known what the numbers meant anyway. Everyone told me i had enough truck and the hemi pulled fine but the sway was a nightmare. When semi passed me unexpectedly the push / pull was a truly scary experience. I was advised to put on E rated tires but I eventually just switched to my current setup below.
Based on my experience and reading other on this site I do believe that regardless of setup, tires, airbags, etc. a 30' trailer is just too long for a half ton. With all that length behind you just need a little breeze to get the tail wagging the dog. 1/2T is just too light.
As I become more educated on wts, thanks to sites like this, I wish I would have got a 1T as I am now finding even the 3/4T has limits if I want to got to a bigger 5er.
Oh well. It's only money, right.

[nitro4you75]

Ok, got 10 ply E range tires this AM....running 50lbs on all 4 at the moment. I will be taking it out Tuesday next week to try it out and see if it makes a difference. Ill do 80 in rear and 60 in the front.
Im 5 mos away from getting a new truck and I wanted to stay half ton...if I was to go to 3/4 I would have got a 5er so hopefully I can dial this in.

Nkbrisson - looked at door sticker - GVWR=7000 GAWR/Fnt=3950 GAWR/R=3950 & GCWR=10200 ....that being said look any better?

[BlindGuyNAR]

Staying with a 1/2 ton should be ok, but consider a Hensley or Proride hitch.

A lot of $$$$ for sure, but cheaper than a new truck and let me tell you there was NO sway. I know Hensley has a 60 day no ?'s asked return policy and Proride might be the same. So there is no risk in trying it. Well aside from the fact you'll want to keep it any pay for it.

Seriously semi's, 65 mph cross winds, bridges, lane changes, nothing caused anything. My 5th wheel with an f350 has more sway than my TT did.

BTW. I was pulling 33 ft @ 8000lbs with an 07 f150 CC 4x4.

I'm only giving my experience here.

The one draw back is hitching up. Backup cam is pretty much a must. I just takes practice and my wife got REALLY good at it.

[GaryWT]

My 35 foot tt does fine with my half ton. Previous trailer was iffy at times. What size axles do you have? I fely my axles on the last trailer might have been bent leading to problems. This trailer has the 2.5-3 inch axles.

[audio1der]

Have you read through the detailed posts on rv.net regarding the Reese DCSC setup? They were a great help to me; the DCSC eliminated our white knuckle sway. Just wondering if the dealer doesn't know enough to set it up right, and no one will care as much as you do yourself.
(My dealer setup & installed my hitch without factoring in truck height, and didn't bother using the supplied shim which led to play between the hitch head and shank, and was multiplied by the length of the trailer.)

[Nkbrisson]

Ok, got 10 ply E range tires this AM....running 50lbs on all 4 at the moment. I will be taking it out Tuesday next week to try it out and see if it makes a difference. Ill do 80 in rear and 60 in the front.
Im 5 mos away from getting a new truck and I wanted to stay half ton...if I was to go to 3/4 I would have got a 5er so hopefully I can dial this in.

Nkbrisson - looked at door sticker - GVWR=7000 GAWR/Fnt=3950 GAWR/R=3950 & GCWR=10200 ....that being said look any better?



The problem here is that you gcwr(gross combined weight rating) is to low, your axels are ok for that load but the rest of the truck is not, you have 10200 max combined weight minus truck curb weight = total allowable trailer weight.

So 10200-5800est.= 4400lbs max trailer weight
Your Trailer is 7300lbs dry, so the killing factor is your gcwr is to low. If you had a 15000+lbs rating you would be ok.

Most brands when properly equipped 1/2 ton could handle this load, a 3/4 ton would be much safer as well open the door if you ever upgrade in the future.

Hope this makes sense to you.

[nitro4you75]

Ordered the ProPride Hitch today....heard so many good stories. THe only reason I didnt go with Hensley Arrow was adjustable ball/bar and it seems the Propride engineer is the one who made the Hensley...(I read the Saga) ...so ill see how she does and report back.

[bmallak]

I Thought about that hitch also. I have the same trailer but tow it with a chevy 2500HD crew cab and use a blue ox sway pro I bought used. I have not towed at freeway speeds yet and am still making some adjustments. I look forward to hearing about your experience with the propride.

[rhagfo]

Ok, got 10 ply E range tires this AM....running 50lbs on all 4 at the moment. I will be taking it out Tuesday next week to try it out and see if it makes a difference. Ill do 80 in rear and 60 in the front.
Im 5 mos away from getting a new truck and I wanted to stay half ton...if I was to go to 3/4 I would have got a 5er so hopefully I can dial this in.

Nkbrisson - looked at door sticker - GVWR=7000 GAWR/Fnt=3950 GAWR/R=3950 & GCWR=10200 ....that being said look any better?

Why, Why the insistence on keeping the 1500!!
You really seem to have too much TT for the TV! Pulling your trailer to the campground should be any more worrisome than driving your car to the grocery store!

Sorry to be so blunt, but it looks like you should have upgraded the TV first.

[Javi]

Ordered the ProPride Hitch today....heard so many good stories. THe only reason I didnt go with Hensley Arrow was adjustable ball/bar and it seems the Propride engineer is the one who made the Hensley...(I read the Saga) ...so ill see how she does and report back.

I went through all the steps you have including, the expensive hitch.... and all I achieved was to spend good money after bad.... still ended up with a F250 in the end.. which by the way did not need any thing special to easily pull my trailer... including that expensive hitch

[Big Boy w/ Big Toys]

Ok, got 10 ply E range tires this AM....running 50lbs on all 4 at the moment. I will be taking it out Tuesday next week to try it out and see if it makes a difference. Ill do 80 in rear and 60 in the front.
Im 5 mos away from getting a new truck and I wanted to stay half ton...if I was to go to 3/4 I would have got a 5er so hopefully I can dial this in.

Nkbrisson - looked at door sticker - GVWR=7000 GAWR/Fnt=3950 GAWR/R=3950 & GCWR=10200 ....that being said look any better?

Nope that makes any money you are going to spend on the 1500 even more worthless.

Searching net I found a GM 1500 weighs in around 5500 pounds "DRY"(this was averaged from a couple of different sites)....no fuel, passengers or gear. So 28 gallons of fuel is almost 200 pounds, 2 adults/2 children...gonna guess at 450, plus the dog, so roughly 650 pounds before u hit the road.

So now the Laredo weighs 7500 "DRY" so add in 335 pounds for water, 60 pounds for battery, 60 pounds of propane leaving 1055 pounds for clothes, food and misc other required gear and kids stuff.

With just what is mentioned above you are at 13905 pounds gcw (gross combined weight) and you still have more to go. For the record the 10700 trailer rating is only if you have the NHT enhanced trailering package.

Recommendation would be a larger truck....if not in the cards then consider running dry in all your tanks and look at gear placement and storage thru out the trailer.

Many times sway is from lack of tongue weight or improper weight distribution in your trailer. Last thing is check your trailer tire pressures many times the sun will hit one side and not the other making a difference side to side.

I have worked with problem trailers before. I can even remember one trip when I was a kid and Dad had his hands full coming home from a trip. He thought it was water sloshing in the tanks, so they got emptied, all of them. Back on the road and the sway was worse. Well long story short, Mom had been collecting "some" rocks :surprise: for the yard.....still hear that one from Dad from over 30 years ago. I learned from then I would never tow a trailer that swayed.

I towed from Alaska to Phoenix, Az and back last year and we hit every kind of weather, head winds, cross winds, swirling winds and some of the worse road conditions but my trailer NEVER made me feel uncomfortable towing down the road. How comfortable was I....I let my 16 year old drive from Salt Lake City, Ut to Boise, Ia. One of her many times behind the wheel after that stretch. The only warning I had to give her was to allow more room when passing at posted speed limits as she was going to blow someone off the road, especially in heavy cross winds.

[donnie_o8]

I have a thread in here " bad sway .. real bad" that has some great advice in it from the folks on here. I also pull with a 1/2 ton and have a 34' trailer. Could not get it to pull right for anything. Had a dealer help me fix it refix it and refix the refix... still no good. I have ten ply tires already on the truck. I think the big thing with these light weight trailers is just that ...They are so light with the big mass of the body they are gonna wiggle a bit. But anyway I went last week and got a "Blue Ox Sway Pro" set up and it made a world of difference. I Pulled it over the holiday weekend with great results even as windy as it was. I run my tires at 65# when towing and 50 when just driving the truck weekly back and forth to work. Seems to be working fine. I still feel it when a truck comes up close behind me or passes me but I think you will always feel that. With the new hitch set up it just moves me over a little bit but nothing like it was before. Kind of sucks me in just a bit then push me away. Nothing violent at all. With the other hitch set up it was bad real real bad.

[nitro4you75]

Ok all so after the E Range Tires, the Airbag addition and the ProPride P3 Hitch it am AMAZED on how this pulls. I went from being willing to go t a 3/4 and a 5'er or just packing it in. I honestly feel as though the trailer isn't even there. (minus the strain up a hill of course). Truck tracks straight as an arrow, semis pass me and I dont even know they are there. I was around 70mph and zero issues in wind. I cannot say how impressed I am with this setup. For anyone who is experiencing what I was this hitch is a MUST HAVE! The main reason I wanted to stay with a 1500 was that fact that if I got a 3/4 I would have bought a 5th wheel. I wanted to stay in the smaller class and not be tempted to go that route. .....looking forward to the new silverado 1500 you can get the new 6liter and way more power, axles are bigger, payload etc....that will be my next ride.

[Daryl]

Had a 2011 303tg that we pulled with a F250. Even with this truck, sway was always an issue. Personally, I think the length of this camper gives it an inherent tendency to sway. Dealer installed a Husky W/D set up using friction plates, which bordered on the verge of uncontrollable. Upgraded to the Reese cam like you have which made a nice improvement, but still swayed in winds and the passing of 18 wheelers. My next step was the Hensley hitch but never got there since we ended up trading for the same floor plan in a fifth wheel.
I did a lot of research on the Hensley along with their competition, which I found were related if not identical products, and talked to various owners that had used the product with great success. Again, not cheep, but cheaper than a upgrade on a truck.
Another thing that might be worth investigating would be putting air bags on the rear of the truck. These will not increase the towing capacity of the truck, but do help stiffen the rear end up as well as help in keeping the truck and trailer level during tow. I know this is what the weight distribution hitch does, but this trailer has a heavy tongue weight, thus putting a lot of downward force on then rear end of the truck. I noticed a more stable an less bouncy ride when installed on my F250. I found, and almost everyone else here will probably agree, your best and most stable ride will occur when the trailer is level while attached to the truck and equal distribution of weight exist between both axles on the trailer. Airbags greatly helped in this area.
The 303tg is a really nice camper, and I remember the frustration I had with ours initially with the sway issue. I hope you find a comfortable solution so you can enjoy your new rig.

[TrailBlazer]

I am towing a 303tg with a ram 1500 and a equalizer hitch. Straight as an arrow no sway doing 65 in the right lane, even with semis going by. I would bet the hitch wasn't set up properly. Tires and a bigger truck don't solve a sway problem if the hitch isn't set up right. I feel safe towing my 8000lb trailer with this truck!