tongue length

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daves540
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:41 pm

tongue length

#1 Post by daves540 » Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:15 pm

I have an 18ft open trailer, H&H brand. My tow rig is a F350 with a 10.5' slide in camper. The camper length necessitates a 24" hitch extension tube which by spec. limits tongue weight to 300 lb's. When I run at 300 lbs TW I get dangerous sway. I added sway control that seems to take care of the sway issue.

Question is. What are the Pro's and Cons of redoing my trailer tongue to lengthen it an additional 24" and remove the hitch extension? Seems like the trailer tongue is a better place to add length then using a sloppy hitch extension tube.

Thanks for any info.

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spib
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Location: wenatchee, WA

Re: tongue length

#2 Post by spib » Mon Sep 27, 2010 9:57 am

I have seen guys with big campers tow heavy 28 ft tags , I would look into a better slide in hitch then the one you got
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Dave Koehler
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Re: tongue length

#3 Post by Dave Koehler » Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:54 pm

The tongue won't help. The issue is that you are 2 foot further from the truck axle. Big time lever, tail wagging the dog kind of thing. I had/have the same issue with a short Ford based motorhome. Let me tell you when I tried this the first day I came close to soiling myself. Scary as all get out. I had to go back and hook the trailer up to the dually to verify the difference. You are going to have to add friction bars to that and drive under control at all times. If there is anyway to support/beef up that extension I would certainly do it.
Best get it over and done with choice is one of those trailer toads to be safe and have a pleasant drive.
Dave Koehler
Fuel Injection - Nitrous Master Software
http://www.koehlerinjection.com
"Never let a race car know you are in a hurry"

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