Half ton towing???

I am looking to purchase a Sundance. One thing that struck me as odd is that on the Heartland Sundance Site I read that these 5ers are towable by half ton trucks.

I was just wondering if any of you new owners are towing with a half ton and if so, how is it working for you?

Hi Bill

I have been towing my 2800RLS with a Chev Silverado 1500HD 6L Gas . Now this is realy a little bit heavier built truck than a 1/2 ton really it is almost the same as a 2500. Towing with this truck was pretty good and I would say quite acceptable. No problem with handling issues, steering , braking etc. With the trailer loaded it would settle the rear end about 2 to 3 inches and still left lots of travel on the springs. Actual hauling of the trailer on level roads was good being able to maintain highway speed with no problem. It took very little uphill grad to start the transmission to start looking for a lower gear to keep the RPM's up. The 6L engine likes to rev to get in its torque band and that appears to be around 2800 and up running 60 to 65 MPH in high gear the RPM's would only be about 2100 well below the good torque range. We never found a hill that we couldnt get over although some required 2nd gear and a bit of patience.
I personaly would not want to tow this size trailer with any less of a truck for any extended driving. Short weekend hauls were fine all day driving became a little taxing.
The limits of a standard 1/2 ton are being pushed to there max when hauling these trailers. I would not want to have any thing smaller than a 6L. Tire size and rating should be considered as this will affect handling characteristics drastically . Stock tires on a 1/2 ton can be automobile tires I would never haul a 5er with these tires.
Hope this information helps

Have Fun and Be safe

Rick

PS we traded for a 2006 2500HD D/A

Kentucky Bill,
first good luck with your Sundance if that's how you go.
Secondly, a half ton truck would have to be speced (sp) out really well to do the job. I didn't see too much on axle ratios on the forum which after braking is probably more important than horse power and torque. Get a humongous engine with the wrong axle ratio and you are going to hate the truck. It seems you are doing your homework and asking the right questions.Also, I have never heard anyone say their truck was too big or too powerful for the load they were towing but then I have only been at this since 1972.
Good luck with whatever you purchase,
JoeW

we towed a 23 1/2 ft 5ft for 9 years with our 1/2 ton. Loved the truck, but it was at the limit for the job. A 3/4 ton heavy duty does not cost too much more that a 1/2 ton

I wouldn't even think of trying any of the Sundance with a 1/2 ton pickup. If you take there lightest GVWR is 11,175 lbs at 18% That gives you 2,010 lb. Pin Weight. I don't think there's very any 1/2 tons rated to carry that.

Trap

I'm with Trap on this one. I had a 2500 when I bought the Landmark but was not happy putting 3000# plus in the bed with two rear wheels. I traded up to a 3500. More truck is better than just trying to get by!

Ken

Half ton towable

As I said in my first post I, have been looking at the Sundance and had visited the Heartland Sundance site where I read "The Sundance is perfect for half ton truck owners." When I looked at the wts. listed for the various models I felt they were pretty heavy for a half ton truck, so I was courious if there were many people actually pulling one of these 5ers with a half ton.

I have a 3/4 ton gasser and would not feel comforable towing some of the Sundance models, but I have seen some half tons on the road pulling some really big rigs. Talked to a fellow the other day that said he saw a half ton pulling an Everest.

Bill

The pulling is not all the issue, it is the problem of keeping control during going down hills or fast stops with the push of these large coaches. I know the brakes on the coaches are to be the answer but the pushing this light weight truck and keeping control is a major problem. More weight from the larger pickups adds a lot of confort for control of these large coaches. Evans & Lana

Evans & Lana Waller said:

The pulling is not all the issue, it is the problem of keeping control during going down hills or fast stops with the push of these large coaches. I know the brakes on the coaches are to be the answer but the pushing this light weight truck and keeping control is a major problem. More weight from the larger pickups adds a lot of confort for control of these large coaches. Evans & Lana

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Sorry but I have to disagree with this posting in part. The trailer brakes if they are working properly should stop the trailer and also provide the truck with some extra braking. I know that when I apply the brakes when towing I can feel the trailer slightly tugging back on the truck IMHO I think that is the way it should be. The second part of this post is how much difference is there in a F150 or a F250 or a 1500 or a 2500 In the weight of the truck to assist in handling remember the extra weight of the truck also takes more braking by the truck . Handling wil be more affected by suspension and tires and speed. Going down hills(at too fast a speed) or fast stops with any size of tow vehicle is dangerous. The spec's for a half ton by the factory that makes them indicate what they can haul and I dont think any of the big 3 would put those specs on a vehicle if they were not capable of handling them.
The original poster was asking about the Sundance not a 34 foot Landmark or Bighorn. Again only the smaller Sundances will fit under the half ton specs. I think that has to be kept in perspective.

I am in no way saying that a half ton(or any truck) should be used to haul a trailer that is too heavy for it but how the half ton is equipped and what actual Sundance model is being considered to tow has to be looked at . Some of the Sundance models will meet the factory specs for a half ton.

Stopping, handling for any combination of truck and trailer is a serious matter and we should not expect to drive them like we would a sports car. Speed is probably the biggest contributer to accidents when trailering or not trailering. when starting down a hard hill drop back on the speed at the top dont put yourself in a panic position. When on the highway maintain a good following distance so a panic stop is not necessary. Drive defensively as if every vehicle around you is going to do something stupid to put you in a bad situation that you wont be able to get out of regardless of what you are driving.

Have fun and be safe
Rick

Rick NB i was just going by the info on Heartlands website and the GVWR of the smallest 5'er is over 11k and that's to much weight for a 1/2 ton.

Trap

I have had 4 different trucks in the last 4 years, mainly due to me upgrading rigs.

I remember the first toyhauler I bought, a Tailgator by Keystone, I had a 1500 Chevy Avalanche. I got a great deal on it and picked it up in Indiana. We hooked it up and the first thing that happened was that it compressed my rear end so far down it almost touched my my trounce shock. That was with weight distribution. I dealt with that for a year, until it got worse with the motorcycles in it. I traded in the 1500 and purchased a 2500 Avalanche and it worked fine.

I was at the 2005 Daytona Bikeweek and really on a whim traded in my Tailgator for a Keystone Raptor Toyhauler. Guess what , towed that for about a year and traded in the 2500 for a Ford F350 Diesel. This combination worked great.

Then we took custody of my 2 year old grandson and cut wayback on motorcycle rallies and started doing more camping with him. Sold the Raptor and bought the Big Horn. I now have a Chevy 3500 DRW. I have not towed yet but hope this will be the end all.

Anyway I have towed all kinds of combinations. The more truck the better. The towing power of a diesel CANNOT be matched. The Chevy diesel is the quietest and I feel the beefiest transmission. I also would not rely on the trailer brakes. Pound for pound the are not as good a system compared to any truck system.

I have seen some pictures, even on this web site of trailers with too much pin weight for the trucks they are hitched to. Take it from me I have pulled with adequate trucks & inadequate trucks. There is a difference.

Is it big enough?

JoeW4300 said:

I have never heard anyone say their truck was too big

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If you are worrying about the 1/2 ton being too small, then it's too small. You will never be comfortable with it. And if you plan to go larger down the road in a few years, which most people do, get a truck that will do the job on your next purchase. JMHO

John

1/2 ton Trucks

We are pulling our Sundance 2900MK Fifth Wheel with an F250 Super Duty. It pulls the camper very smoothly that even the dear wife drives it and loves it. We do not get the sway that we used to have with a travel trailer. Yes, bigger is always better, however, I do not have a problem. Hope this helps.

1/2 ton pickup will pull 11,175 lbs,it the way you drive the truck..

steveo said:

1/2 ton pickup will pull 11,175 lbs,it the way you drive the truck..

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You can drive the truck any way you want..if you're overloaded, you're overloaded. What do you do when someone pulls out in front of you and you need to swerve? Will your overloaded springs and tires do what you need them to do? There are a few 1/2 tons that just came out that have the load capacity for some of the smaller 1/2 tons but not many. Mainly the new Ford F-150 with the Max Tow package or whatever they call it. I don't think there is a single part on the average 1/2 ton that wouldn't be overloaded, that includes, tires, frame, springs and brakes. If it doesn't feel good going down the road why fight it...Don

Would be interesting to hear back from Kentucky Bill since this post was from 2006, I wonder what he ended up doing.
I tow a 21fbs (6000 lbs loaded) with a 2003 dodge 1/2 ton (hemi with tow package). It does fine at 6k and is rated for 9k towing capacity, but I would not feel comfortable at that weight. In fact, when I'm in the mountains (colorado/Idaho/Montana..etc.) I really would like a 2500 diesel.

I towed with 1/4 ton truck, 1/2 ton and 3/4ton trucks and its all the same as far as braking, my 1/4 ton truck and 6K trailer had the best braking of them all and I traded up because I had tires turning on the rims at 35psi pressure. When I applied the brakes hard the weight of the trailer coming down on the rear prevented the tires to slip and the brakes were so good that the rims turned on the tires. The 1/2 ton GM spring carried the small trailer well but the rear suspension felt to soft for the 500Lbs pin weight of the 5th wheel. Then I trade up to a 3/4 ton with 2000 lbs pin weight trailer and the new diesel drove like a cadilac with trailer hooked up.
I would not put more then 700-900 lbs pin weight on any 1/2 ton, because looking at the wimpy springs the ride will be bouncy, depending on the shocks to hold the trailer weight and air bags DO NOT HELP THE RIDE.
In our province of NB Canada, I see all the Sundance trailer pulled with 1/2 tons and they seam to give satisfactory rides, it could be the design like my BC which is fantastic to tow, but it scares me that so many 1/2 tons are pullinfg these 33ft long Sundance trailers that weight as much as my previous 5th wheel. When I hitched the previous 33ft unit on the 1/2 ton the rear tires went so far down that I knew the ride was going to be awfull. My experience with it was that the 50 lbs in the rear tire was never enough to carry or provide the braking for the Sundance trailers, I say that due to my experience with the 1/4 ton truck with 35psi rear tires and rims.
I have a friend with a F450 pulling a 16000lbs trailer with 35psi air in the rear tire because the truck is way to rough, so my theory applies for all trucks, the air capacity providing tire to wheel grip has to be accounted for.

I pulled with a half ton truck and it was white knuckle most of the time, the truck pulled just fine and the brakes of the camper stopped the truck just fine. The problem was the truck was just too light whenever I hit a bump I could feel the camper throw the truck around and then when I was either passing ar being passed by a semi I felt like I was going to be sucked into the semi. I have swicthed to a 3/4 ton and would never switch back. In my experience a half ton is not enough truck for a Sundance.

Kentucky Bill said:

I am looking to purchase a Sundance. One thing that struck me as odd is that on the Heartland Sundance Site I read that these 5ers are towable by half ton trucks.

I was just wondering if any of you new owners are towing with a half ton and if so, how is it working for you?

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Bill, We own a 2011 Sundance 2800RL which is the smallest Sundance 5th wheel unless you move to the "XLT' line in the Sundance. My current truck is a F250, but used a gas F150 for our TT before this unit. I would not recommend pulling the 2800RL or anything else in this line with a 1/2 truck. The specs show the "XLT" line a couple thousand pounds lighter than the 2800RL (8700#), but with that said I think you'll still max out the F150 for sure. I've never owned a Chevy or Dodge so won't even try to speak to their capabilities. Best of luck.

Tom

Before attempting to pull any trailer make sure the tow vehicle has the manufacturer's GCW Rating that's sufficient to handle the towed vehicle when both are fully loaded. Exceeding the Gross Combined Weight Rating could become a serious liability if involved in an accident. That also applies to the other weight ratings specified by truck and trailer manufacturers.