double trailer towing

[carey965]

so i have a dilemma the wife and i like to camp, she has a disease that makes her need a toilet when i go camping the boat comes

now i have a 06 f150 5.4 with a tow rating of 8700lbs

we were looking at trailers and me thinking i need a 5th wheel to be able to tow the boat, i have found out that certain tag alongs will be strong enough to add a hitch and pull my boat

the trailer i am looking at is approx 4500 lbs and my boat loaded is about 3000 so that puts me well within what my truck can handle with people and gear

now i know i would need a higher rated reciever and a sway control type hitch and i was also thinking about getting a power programmer to help out
is this a really bad idea or what, i have seen lots of people say either way so thats what i am concerned about
now this is only a once in awhile type thing and generally we would be able to get a 2nd vehicle to tow the boat but i want to have the option if i need it

and the trailer is a tandem axle electric brake unit and my boat is a single surge brake

 

[Thalasso]

Re: double trailer towing

Regardless of the tow rating of the truck, i think the first vehicle needs to be on a fifth wheel.After that a license requirement might be needed depending on DOT or state laws.

Edit.

I see your in Canada. God knows what the requirements are there.

 

[carey965]

Re: double trailer towing

I heard has to be under 75 feet and you have to use a truck and not an suv

But pass that there is nothing else i need.
Just wondering if anyone has towed 2 trailers and what issues you encountered

 

[BillaVista]

Re: double trailer towing

RV Information for Drivers - Towing More Than One Vehicle

 

[carey965]

Re: double trailer towing

So thats what i thought. Im in the letter of the law and within my vehicles limits
I may even go buy stock rims and tires just for a little more ability

Im just wondering what other peoples opinions are

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: double trailer towing

the numbers you posted are NOT "well within" your tow capacity because you are looking at dry weight... 1200 lbs is TINY when you start filling up an RV... water propane food clothes etc add up fast... I double tow regularly and at a MUCH higher weight than you are looking to tow but I have a crew cab diesel dually.... Having had a few different setups, I have my own requirements learned from experience and sometimes scary experience... I will only double tow with a fifth wheel in front and the lead trailer MUST be double or more the length and preferable double the weight of the second.

the second trailer should have a much higher tongue weight than it needs to be pulled by itself... possibly as high as 20% tho the strength of trailer's construction must be considered.

The added stability of the dually helped a LOT again a LOT!

As I said these are my own rules... I have found that this eliminates the scary stuff


There are a few exceptions I would consider but they come with speed penalties... My current setup (38' triple slide 5th wheel and a Jeep on a tow bar) weighs over 29,000 lbs and is rock solid stable at 80 mph.... I have 12 tires on the ground with brakes and 4 without and can stop as well as many cars tho it makes a hell of a mess in the RV..... Ideally I would have brakes in the jeep too but I don't yet.

 

[carey965]

Re: double trailer towing

I would love a dually. But as of right now thats not much of an option
If i would have known this was in my future i would have looked at them. Even a 2500 would be awesome

And also when i was looking all i could afford was the 6.0 ford and i hate that motor

And what i was looking at was 4500 with everything. Propane and what not.
So i would have about 1200 for food and beer lol

I dont know tho

 

[90stingray]

Re: double trailer towing

I have seen many half ton trucks pulling 5er and boat behind that, around these parts. This is Kansas.... pretty much flat, so that may play a part of it. I don't know how far they are going, but it sure looks overloaded to me. Personally I don't think I would be doing that without a 3/4 ton and a diesel. That 1200 lbs will go away fast, like mentioned earlier. I wouldn't do it... but it doesn't mean you can't. What about making 2 trips? Take the camper out Thursday evening and get it all setup. Then Friday after work, you can pull the boat out to the site.

 

[Outsider]

Re: double trailer towing

My current setup (38' triple slide 5th wheel and a Jeep on a tow bar) weighs over 29,000 lbs and is rock solid stable at 80 mph.

I thought you said you eliminated the scary stuff. Sure would scare me when you passed at 80 mph ...

 

[frantically relaxing]

Re: double trailer towing

I used to have an '84 Ford custom van pulling a 19' travel trailer that pulled my Harley on a snowmobile trailer. Us and that combo went on many a vacation. The ONLY issue we ever had, and it was a weird one, the left taillight on the Harley trailer burnt out, leaving half the filiament dangling. I didn't know this at the time. When I turned the headlights on, the dangling filament flipped up and snagged the BRAKE LIGHT filament. This back-fed voltage to the electric brakes on the travel trailer! Not a lot of voltage, I didn't even notice, but after about 20 miles of slightly dragging brakes, the left side trailer brakes caught on fire! NOT a good night--

Now that could happen with any tow setup, just sayin... --but aside from that, we spent many a great camping trip able to cruise around on the Harley too.

I remember my uncle used to pull a 28' Fifth wheel and his 19' Starcraft behind that, with a 460 Ford pickup, for YEARS, without issue...

Towing stuff is easy. STOPPING stuff you're towing is the hard part. If you can stop it, then you can tow it...

 

[sphelps]

Re: double trailer towing

How about a truck bed camper so your just pulling the boat . I have been thinking about one for a tow rig . But you may need a 3/4 ton for that..
http://www.livinlite.com/truck-campers.php

 

[PS94]

Re: double trailer towing

It'll be scary. Your truck is too little for that much weight hanging off the back of it, even with brakes... and the 5.4L (even the 3 Valve in your truck) is anemic at best..You won't have a good time. If you're going on short trips, it'll be ok, just go SLOW on any hills, up or down..

If you can afford a 6.0L, I wouldn't shy away from them, unless it's had a retard driver, who didn't care for it, and 'chipped' it.
If you get one that was maintained, (7000km oil changes), not driven by a tool, (no chip or flogging), pick it up cheap, because everyone is scared of them...do the EGR delete, and, as time/money permits, do the head studs. If you do a 4" turbo back exhaust, she will pull stumps and do it reliably.
I've owned fords my whole life, and did the whole "B-Train" towing..I've owned 04+ 5.4L, and hated em. Loved the 6.0L PSD(had 2 in the 300,000km club), and love my current 6.2L gasser....

 

[carey965]

Re: double trailer towing

What i would like is a chev with the 8L or the duramax 2500 maybe in a couple years

My old ambulance was a pos it was a 06 e350 6.0 cutaway nothing but problems. I just picked up a 07 duramax for work and it is awesome

 

[Noltz]

Re: double trailer towing

Here's what you want to do. Call the Port Hope Police Services at (905) 885-8123 as per their website. These are the enforcement guys. These are the guys who hand out the tickets, so even if their info is wrong (and in the world of Firearms up here, the cops are wrong a lot), it's my opinion to ask the cops what the laws are. When I was looking for info on trailering and towing Jeeps, rather than continue to get contradicting info from various Ministry of Transport officers I called the Hamilton Police and asked to speak with "whoever knows the most about trailers and towing, so I can make sure I'm in compliance before I head out this weekend."

Document who you talked to, date and time, and do it by their book or better

 

[carey965]

Re: double trailer towing

I may give them a shout.

Isnt it the mto in ontario the ones that hand out the tickets

 

[Noltz]

Re: double trailer towing

MOT, MOE and OPP all do their own blitz's around here. I've always seen local police at MOT safety inspection blitz's though, so my suggestion is based on that. But to be 100% sure you'd need to contact PHPS and MOT about their requirements when tandem towing. Alternatively you could stop at a highway inspection station (the ones for big trucks) and ask if there's somewhere you can bring you vehicle to have your setup inspected without worry of getting a ticket if something is amiss. I think if you could get a statement from the MOT saying your setup is safe and legal you could show any concerned officer that it's been inspected and complies with the rules and regs.

 

[carey965]

Re: double trailer towing

Thats actually a good idea. I may have to do that.

That way i can get a fully loaded weight of it to see where i am as well

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: double trailer towing

My current setup (38' triple slide 5th wheel and a Jeep on a tow bar) weighs over 29,000 lbs and is rock solid stable at 80 mph.

I thought you said you eliminated the scary stuff. Sure would scare me when you passed at 80 mph ...

I'm not concerned with what may scare the inexperienced around me.... I'm concerned with what scares me..... If someone else is scared maybe they won't pull out in front of me.... Where I run 80 I'm not passing very many people because the speed limit is 75

 

[Nbailey2008]

Re: double trailer towing

Smoke on the water is right. The rear trailer has to be significantly smaller and lighter than the front trailer. This is because you have not only doubled, but quadrupled the considerations of tongue weight that you must calculate. I differ with his post only in the fact that increasing the tongue weight of the trailer in the rear too much will negate the tongue weight of the front trailer significantly. The problem with towing two trailers is that any tendency to fishtail or float the rear of the tow vehicle is greatly exaggerated. I have seen many double loads snaking down the road in two or more lanes with the back trailer flapping like a flag. The solution to this fish tailing problem is to greatly increase the tongue weight on BOTH trailers to keep them dragging straight. Even though you think you have enough GVWR to allow for the double load, you don't have the maximum tongue weight requirement that you would need to tow this correctly. I think the 20% figure is accurate for the tongue weight of both trailers and you will find that exceeds the payload of your half ton even with a fifth wheel setup. You could get an air bag system that would help, but you are still beating up your transmission.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: double trailer towing

I agree with ^ for two smaller trailers or two that weren't as far apart in size and weight..

In my case my first trailer is a 5th wheel @ 15.000 lbs, 38' long with about 3000 lbs of tongue weight... makes no difference if I tow a boat with a couple hundred lbs on the tongue behind it or my jeep with a tow bar and no tongue weight

300 lbs of tongue weight on my second trailer would take about 100 off my first one and add 400 to it's axles so it indeed does make changes but being a fifth wheel it isn't nearly as sensitive to tongue weight and of course it's big and heavy

sometimes the Jeep dances around a bit on rough roads or when a gust of wind hits and I can see it with the camera I mounted on the back of the rv but it never sways enough to be visible in the mirrors (it's not as wide as the rv) or to be felt in the truck... the rv never (visibly) sways at all.

the further apart the trailers are in size the less the second affects to first and thus the tow rig.


interestingly tho this all brings up another point... many RV's have very little extra capacity once loaded... adding tongue weight to the rear adds about 130-150% of that weight to the axles and tires of the RV... make sure it's up to the added load....

Also, very few RV's have the ability to adjust tongue weight... If the second trailer is throws things off too much you MAY find that you need to add ballast to the front of the RV to get tongue weight right thus further increasing the demands on the tow rig.

Long story short, I don't think you have enough truck BUT if you choose to go forward, at a minimum, I would suggest heavier shocks IE intended for a 3/4 or 1 ton version of your truck, load range E tires, and air bags for the rear axle.