waterboy222

Picking up a bed-mounted cab-over style camper for my F250 so that I have somewhere to stay during my races. Ive found a few that dont extend past the bed of the truck but many of them stick out past the tailgate and over the bumper. Which would cover up the hitch.

I wont be towing the boat but my fourwheeler trailer fully loaded with both bikes weighs in just over 5k.. These hitch extenders that come with the camper are about 3' long and slide into the reciever much like a regular ball would. But it says it limits towing to 6k#.

Not so sure his setup looks that safe. I believe its called a Reese Tow Beast

http://www.etrailer.com/pc-EXTENDER~45292.htm

Thats the best picture I can find of it short of whats in the brochure.

has anybody used these? They DONT bolt up to the bottom of the camper. They just get pinned into the reciever and stick out however long you need it (able to be trimmed by a technician at the dealership).

some of you more experienced guys speak up here. The shorter camper loses a LOT of space and running water but the entire point of a camper vs a trailer is so that I can still pull my 22' trailer behind me.. and possibly the boat.

Sydwayz

These extenders SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the capacity of your hitch. Definitely NOT recommended. They will stress the rear most portion of the hitch, and you well end up with a hitch that looks like Tank's from last week, and they will significantly alter the weight balance of the front end of the tow vehicle, even with a WD setup. This would render the front wheels with much less steering and handling control; basically turning your rear axle into the fulcrum point of a teeter-toter.

Just for example, I have a full WD setup with a solid steel drawbar. The drawbar has two holes that are about 3" apart, for you to adjust how deep into your receiver you want to insert the drawbar. The deepest setting is good for 12K lbs. The shallow setting is good for 10K lbs. This is clearly marked on the drawbar and in the manuals. You are talking feet, not 3".

If you were pulling a small open utility trailer with a couple dirt-bikes, OK. But definately not a 5K lbs. enclosed trailer or a boat such as yours. Surge brakes would also be a deathtrap waiting to happen.

I would look into a toy hauler trailer (camper in the front/cargo-garage in the back) with a trailer hitch setup, or better yet, 5th wheel.

If you do go with a slide-in camper unit, you definately want to have individual rear airbags as well. Make sure they have separate fills for each side, not one fill for both bags.

waterboy222

the airbag situation is being addressed. I forgot to add that in there I really dont want to get into a big 5th wheel toy hauler situation because of price being such a huge factor.. I can get this camper with everything in need for under 10 grand. id be HARD pressed to find sleeping quarters with 2 or 3 atv storage plus camping gear, food, and firewood..

the trailer is an open utility style trailer but with two 800# quads and enough firewood for the weekend plus all the toolboxes and extra parts, we are about 5k or so..

They make a model thats short enough to fit in the bed withuot covering up the hitch, that may be the route i got with it. Then at least i could still pull the boat, but id HAVE to have airbags installed to level out the ride.

These systems seem really weak all around. I cant see that theyd be very strong at all..

monstermaker

Yes, you can use an extended hitch, just use a good one, like this http://store.towshop.com/store/more_...roduct_ID=1014

I have used these, and you AREN'T going to break one.
However, I will say that a long wheelbase truck will help a LOT, at least an extended-cab if not a full size 4-door.

But there's another option, the one I ended up doing, that I never hear anyone talk about: Stretch your trailer tongue. I had an 11 1/2 foot (biggest they make) camper on my crew-cab dually, and needed to pull a 10,000 pound trailer... so I cut the tongue, welded 4 more feet of heavy c-channel below the original pieces, and added crossmembers and triangulation brackets to prevent twisting. Now, it reaches under the camper to my hitch, and tows like it wasn't even there, without weight-distributing spring-bars on the hitch.
Yes, the trailer is now longer and turns wider, but it also tracks better on the freeway. And yes, the tongue is a little low, but I have yet to have a problem because of that, and I've towed it many thousands of miles.

Oh... when I was using extended hitches (with various camper/trailer setups) I almost always found that there was plenty of room to use a pretty short extension and let the trailer tongue reach under the camper a bit. Check everything carefully though.

CCstinger260

[QUOTE=monstermaker;2336192]Yes, you can use an extended hitch, just use a good one, like this http://store.towshop.com/store/more_...roduct_ID=1014

/QUOTE]


Their ad doesn't say so, but the "truss" is to hold your hernia after you try to pick up that hitch...


Kidding aside,extending the trailer tongue works tons better and is way safer. I did the same thing with my m/c trailer back in the 80's so I could pull it behind my dually with the camper on the back.