Towing with a temporary vehicle

BirchyBoy · 07-23-2015, 04:48 PM

Our Grand Cherokee is now going into week three of repairs for electrical issues. When I dropped it of two weeks ago today, I told the service writer that we had a hard date of tomorrow to get it back because we have a camping trip this weekend. I called them this morning from Maine, prior to boarding our flight home, with a status update. He called and said it wouldn't be ready until Monday.

When I called him from Chicago, he said he'd set us up with a rental car from Enterprise. I reminded him that we needed something to tow our camper and he said he'd work it out. I got there today and they had a new Dodge Ram 2500 CC SB ready and waiting.

I haven't hooked up yet, but I know the hitch will be about 6 inches higher than our GC is. The camper will hook up, but there's no way it's going to be level without me buying a new drop hitch and putting my ball on it. The Equalizer hitch just doesn't have that much drop. Will I have any issues towing it 200 miles round trip with it high in the front? Should I do my best to get the Equalizer setup at all to help with any sway? Or can I haul it as-is and trust that the truck has the ability to tow without sway, etc?

For reference, my TT is a '14 238ML and is about 28' with the tongue. I can post a pic tomorrow once I've gotten it out of storage.

Kickin It · 07-23-2015, 05:42 PM

I would be worried about the front sitting high like you said, causing the rear to be scary close to the ground. I would get a hitch to get it close to level or a touch nose low. As far as the sway control and such I wouldn't worry about it, that truck wont even know that TT is back there.

{tpc} · 07-24-2015, 04:29 AM

Can you lower your current setup or is it all the way at the bottom already? If so, but you don't have the tools to do it, I would go to a local dealer somewhere and ask them to move it as low as possible but leave everything else the same, that way you can put it back when you need to.

Or buy the longer shank and do the same. Then come here and sell me the longer shank when your done...mine needs a longer shank as its just a tad high, and I have it at the lowest setting.

I don't have an equalizer...but a drop shank is a drop shank, right?

Or you could keep it for use in case of problems again. Or in case you get a bigger tow vehicle or something.

Now that I just re-read your post, 100 miles one way isn't a lot. It just depends on how nose high it really is. Put as much gear and stuff in the bed of the truck and load it down, and see how bad it really is. My only real concern would be if the back end was too close, or if your somehow overloading the rear axle of the trailer.

bsmith0404 · 07-24-2015, 05:03 AM

I wouldn't worry about the sway stuff too much with that TV, but I would get the nose down as much as possible. As already mentioned, if you haven't yet, drop it as far as you can on the shank and see how much it helped. This may be one of those situations where you don't use the WD bars so the truck will drop a bit more. A 2500 should be able to handle your pin weight and still have plenty of weight on the front for steering control. If you go that route, be sure to check the tongue and tow rating of your hitch without the bars, it is usually much less than when using the bars.

With all of that said....the best answer is to buy a longer shank to get everything set up correctly for the best/safest towing experience.

BirchyBoy · 07-24-2015, 06:16 AM

Thanks all. My trailer weighed in at 4,300lbs on our last trip, so the tongue weight shouldn't be more than 600lb or so without the WDH setup. The RAM is rated for 1,800lbs with the Class V hitch, so I don't think I'll have any issues there.

I will pull it out of storage with my EQ hitch, take it to a close-by parking lot and do some measuring. The EQ only has about one more set of holes it can do down, or about 1.5" more drop. If I do need a longer shank, I will buy a generic (Reese or similar) that is rated for 5k or more and then put my ball on it. I'll then have it for use at a later time.

bsmith0404 · 07-24-2015, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

Thanks all. My trailer weighed in at 4,300lbs on our last trip, so the tongue weight shouldn't be more than 600lb or so without the WDH setup. The RAM is rated for 1,800lbs with the Class V hitch, so I don't think I'll have any issues there.

I will pull it out of storage with my EQ hitch, take it to a close-by parking lot and do some measuring. The EQ only has about one more set of holes it can do down, or about 1.5" more drop. If I do need a longer shank, I will buy a generic (Reese or similar) that is rated for 5k or more and then put my ball on it. I'll then have it for use at a later time.

I wasn't referring to the truck hitch capacity, I was talking about your WDH capacity if you decide not to use the bars. For example, my WDH is rated for 14,000 towing and 1,400 tongue with WD bars. If I use it as a standard hitch without the bars, it's only rated for 6,000 and 600.

BirchyBoy · 07-24-2015, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

I wasn't referring to the truck hitch capacity, I was talking about your WDH capacity if you decide not to use the bars. For example, my WDH is rated for 14,000 towing and 1,400 tongue with WD bars. If I use it as a standard hitch without the bars, it's only rated for 6,000 and 600.

Oh, thanks. We have an EQ 1k/10k; I hadn't thought about the rating of that without the bars. Anyhoo, we've decided to stay at a hotel for the one night during Cheyenne Frontier Days. By the time I factored in everything, it would be about the same cost and a lot less hassle.

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