Towing new camper

[spieghts451]

Jason...
Your trailer may weigh 4800 lbs "dry", but you have to add weight right from the start, depending on how the manufacturer includes "dry weight". Most usually do not include the battery/batteries and the one or two full propane tanks to their dry weight. As an example, my trailer has two 30 lb propane tanks when filled are 50 lbs each. Then 2 batteries at 45 lbs each. That adds almost 200 lbs to the tongue weight. Then add the weight of all the stuff your going to carry, food, bedding, clothing, ect, and you can see how quickly weight adds up.
Its not so much the weight of the trailer and items added, as you will probably still be way under the 7500 lb weight, but you need to be concerned with the tongue weight. Yoy don't state what brand/model trailer you bought, or the "dry" tongue weight.
My 24 foot Jayco, with tanks and batteries and weight loaded into the forward storage compartment is very near the 750 lb tongue weight rating....and that rating is the rating of the hitch platform.
I'm at around 7000 lbs total and running around 725 lb tongue. I have a weight distributing Blue Ox hitch with 1000 lbs rated bars.
I have added better shocks, Sumo Bump stops, a Roadmaster Active Suspension set up, and am addind a set of 1 inch spacers on all 4 wheels for a little extra stability.
The Ranger does fine towing, has plenty of power, but the biggest factor I have found is wind, especially cross wind. The set up tends to be a bit "squirrily" in windy conditions. I'm hoping the addition of the spacers and going to a better set of higher rated tires will cure it as the stock tires on my 2 wheel drive are only very light duty c rated tires that I can "feel" flexing when driving.

It’s 26 foot, tracer by forest river. I bought a 10,000 weight distribution with sway control made by Curt on Facebook market place. I’ll be fine I guess. I’m gonna go slow and just let the angry Baton Rouge racers be mad. I have to tow it over the i10 Mississippi River bridge right off the bat leaving dealership. Then 30 miles later I get to tow it back over the Mississippi on the sunshine bridge. Very steep, very narrow, very gonna worry the crap out of me. But I’ll just chain smoke and go slow and hopefully have enough power to climb up those two steep bridges.

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[pbethel]

?

I keep trying. And failing.
Sarcasm.

 

[HAMMERTIME]

Listen to the advice given on the thread and enjoy your travels. I sure do with mine. 30,000 kms pulling my TT and still loving it!

 

[JimJa]

Recently returned from a trip of about 1000 miles round trip from my home in WY to central UT. Three ATVs on a 1650 pound trailer plus three adults. Total tow weight was very close to 4000 pounds with 550 pounds of adults in the truck. Included were 20 gallons of extra fuel plus all our stuff for an additional 200 pounds. Squat was about 1 1/4".

I do not tow enough to install a factory brake controller so used a Curt brake controller. I live at 7500 feet and our destination was 5500 feet. There are several serious and long hills (One 20 mile uphill) in between.

Truck pulled w/out problems and was able to accelerate going up those long hills. MPG was right at 13 and tow speed was 65-70. No movement in the temperature gauge. Very pleased with the truck's ability to move that load. The trailer is dual axle and only one axle has brakes. The Curt needed to be set at higher than what would be considered normal but worked fine. The braking action could be felt nicely w/out locking.

 

[spieghts451]

Jason...
Your trailer may weigh 4800 lbs "dry", but you have to add weight right from the start, depending on how the manufacturer includes "dry weight". Most usually do not include the battery/batteries and the one or two full propane tanks to their dry weight. As an example, my trailer has two 30 lb propane tanks when filled are 50 lbs each. Then 2 batteries at 45 lbs each. That adds almost 200 lbs to the tongue weight. Then add the weight of all the stuff your going to carry, food, bedding, clothing, ect, and you can see how quickly weight adds up.
Its not so much the weight of the trailer and items added, as you will probably still be way under the 7500 lb weight, but you need to be concerned with the tongue weight. Yoy don't state what brand/model trailer you bought, or the "dry" tongue weight.
My 24 foot Jayco, with tanks and batteries and weight loaded into the forward storage compartment is very near the 750 lb tongue weight rating....and that rating is the rating of the hitch platform.
I'm at around 7000 lbs total and running around 725 lb tongue. I have a weight distributing Blue Ox hitch with 1000 lbs rated bars.
I have added better shocks, Sumo Bump stops, a Roadmaster Active Suspension set up, and am addind a set of 1 inch spacers on all 4 wheels for a little extra stability.
The Ranger does fine towing, has plenty of power, but the biggest factor I have found is wind, especially cross wind. The set up tends to be a bit "squirrily" in windy conditions. I'm hoping the addition of the spacers and going to a better set of higher rated tires will cure it as the stock tires on my 2 wheel drive are only very light duty c rated tires that I can "feel" flexing when driving.

My camper tongue weight is 550

 

[spieghts451]

If that had been the original question. The best advice to give you would have been to find an experienced friend to do it for you. You are definately jumping in to the deep end of the pool.

I ain’t got no friends. It’s about half and half. Half the people who responded said I’ll have no issues, other half are more worried about my ability and have nothing bad to say about Ranger.

 

[Grumpaw]

My camper tongue weight is 550

OK...not trying to be picky, but is that the dry hitch weight as posted by Forrest River ?
By dry, try to figure out if that included battery an full propane tanks....most manufacturers ship their units without batteries and propane tanks.
If that 550 is without, you need to add the following approximate weights directly to the tongue, depending on how the trailer is outfitted...
Battery, about 45 lbs each.
20 lb propane tank, filled to 80% weighs around 30 lbs.
30 lb propane tank, filled to 80% weighs around 50 lbs.
It becomes very easy to approach or get to the 750 advertised maximum tongue weight.

Your experience/ability does come into play. It is very easy to tow a small, light weight trailer, even for a novice. Getting into a larger rig with more weight takes some experience.
The Ranger is up to the task, IF you set it up right, know what it's limits are, and what your limits are.
As it comes stock, the Ranger, in my opinion is not set up to tow a maximum weight travel trailer.
It needs some suspension up-grades...shocks, some better springs or a Roadmaster Active Suspension set up. some higher rated load class "D" tires.
Your weight distributing hitch must be set up properly....guess work is a big NO-NO.
And, yes, I know what I'm speaking about from long experience. Myself and several others here tow large travel trailers and haven't had any problems that have been posted.
My rig.....

 

[Big Blue]

My camper tongue weight is 550

That sounds very much like a dry tongue weight from the manufacturer for a 4800lb trailer. As @Grumpaw said there are things that add to the dry weight of the trailer that may not be included. The tongue weight should be between 10 and 15 percent of the trailer weight.

 

[seanellaz]

In my experience I was quite surprised. I have a camper similar to yours and tow it with a '20 FX4 SCREW. My foremost concern was having enough torque for towing, but that fear vanished instantly..... the little turbo CAN do. Some issues to watch for though: these trucks weigh in at around 4500 lbs. which in your case is lighter than your TT, they are also short in the wheel base. These can lead to a slightly unstable feeling when you're towing in the wind or a big rig is passing by you. A Sway Bar will help alleviate some of that. A properly installed Weight Distribution Hitch will keep your front tires firmly planted, and definitely install a brake controller. Also, if you see a response to your post by the one called Grumpaw, read it, reread it, and then do what it says. After following his advice I had a trouble free cross country trip.

Sway control definitely, Weight distributing hitch also definite with this heavy of a trailer. The latter will really help keep the truck level and improve driveability. Here is an all in one sway control and weight distribution hitch: https://www.curtmfg.com/part/17601

 

[spieghts451]

Ok. I just bought a 26 ft camper that weighs 4800lbs dry. I have 2019 ranger with towing package that has 7500lbs towing capacity. How’s she gonna do?

Ok update the ranger pulled the camper just fine as long as I stayed under 55 mph. At 55 mph the trailer sway was terrible. I definitely wouldn’t want to tow the camper for hundreds of miles.

 

[dtech]

ok looking for the board's approval and any advice/recommendations, have read thru some of the towing threads. My Ranger is a 2019 Lariat off road and tow package.

I am close to buying a Grand Design Imagine 22MLE, uvw 5,176 , gvw 6995 , hitch 490. Plan on going on some longer distance trips. The no that concerns me is the gvw but I'd try to keep it loaded to 6200 lbs.

other option is a Rockwood Min Lite which uvw is 450 lbs less

thanks

 

[Grumpaw]

ok looking for the board's approval and any advice/recommendations, have read thru some of the towing threads. My Ranger is a 2019 Lariat off road and tow package.

I am close to buying a Grand Design Imagine 22MLE, uvw 5,176 , gvw 6995 , hitch 490. Plan on going on some longer distance trips. The no that concerns me is the gvw but I'd try to keep it loaded to 6200 lbs.

other option is a Rockwood Min Lite which uvw is 450 lbs less

thanks

Weight's, tongue weights, and sizes of the rigs you listed are both easily handled by the Ranger.
How easily depends on how you set up the Ranger, the type of hitch, the way the weight is distributed in the trailer, and most important, your experience.
Not trying to deflect, but there is a lot of info in the towing section from us who tow, what we tow, and how our rigs are set up.
Any of us, I'm sure, would be happy to answer any specific questions you have.
Several of us tow rigs that are larger and heavier than what your looking at, myself included, and have no problems.

 

[mtbikernate]

Several of us tow rigs that are larger and heavier than what your looking at, myself included, and have no problems.

Yeah, driver experience and how much you're willing to sacrifice fuel economy/range are probably going to be bigger factors.

 

[Grumpaw]

Yeah, driver experience and how much you're willing to sacrifice fuel economy/range are probably going to be bigger factors.

YES !!! If your planning on a decent size trailer, than one thing to totally forget about is fuel economy/mileage. It is something you just have to accept as a part of towing.
Any trailer over 20 feet will drop your mpg to 10-12 mpg at speeds of 55-65...maybe a small bit more or less depending on terrain, wind, grades, even type of fuel used. But 10-12 mpg is what you should figure on.
That way you'll be happy if a bit more, but not shocked if it's a bit less.

 

[brroberts]

If you have sway, weigh your trailer and get tongue weight ready to tow. I second read the towing threads. I tow 1000’s of miles a year and don’t have sway no matter which trailer I tow. There is info on the forum for hitch and trailer weight set up to allow you to tow safely. The truck can tow that rig IF set up properly.

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