eisenhauer01

I am thinking about towing a camper from central NC to Oak Island, NC (outer banks)..

question 1. Anyone with experience chime in on towing a camper or something larger than just an average ski boat with a truck lifted like mine.

question 2. In the past my truck has had a brake controller in it in the past.
It doesn't have one in it now. There are wires there to hook it up and it has both connectors back there (class3). Is there any particular brake controller yall would recommend? i expect maxxman to comment on this thread since he is the towing man on this forum. lol

maxxman04

fine!!! i'll put in my 2 cents. alot of people will tell ya a tekonsha products "prodigy" series controller. personally, i've used this with less than satisfying results. but that was just me. i'm used to the old school kelsey energizers, which aren't made anymore.
as far as towing with your truck, it depends alot on the size and weight of trailer. and of course how you setup the hitch. i've towed 6000 pound camp trailers with an old s10 with 4.3. not a problem. i have seen half tons catch alot of sway, but partly because trailer was too big, hitch wasn't set up right. how big is trailer?

MikePA

Any good trailer place can install a brake controller and they probably will have a ball mount with the right drop for your lift. Go to etrailer.com to get an idea of costs and other good information.

eisenhauer01

well, i will look into brake controllers a little later. and as far as the drop for my lift. i already have a drop hitch that is perfect for my truck. I was talking more along the lines of towing with my lifted truck.. a few people I know have told me that they wouldnt recommend me towing a camper with it because the center of gravity is a lot higher off the ground than stock. The camper i want to pull does not have weight distribuition or sway control right now but i want to get a weight distribution / sway control hitch setup for it. i just want to know why towing with my lifted vehicle is not as good as towing with a truck like mine sitting factory.. what do i need to know?

maxxman04

again, it still depends on the size and weight of trailer. a heavier trailer will pull the back end of truck down more without the weight distribution setup. this can cause the back of your rig to sway more because you center of gravity is higher. if you had good helper springs, or good air bag setup, this would help to keep the back end up, which changes center of gravity. however there is a point where there is too much weight. this will cause too much tongue weight which even weight distribution hitches can't even help. example. had a friend with half ton suburban. could not tow anything bigger than about 25'. yet his trailer was 29'. with weight dist and sway control, he still all over 3 lanes of freeway. we stopped, swapped trailers. with my 94 light 3/4 ton (3/4 ton 6 lug) i didn't need to use the sway, still used the weight bars tho. towed just fine.

eisenhauer01

dang that is crazy. Yea i was lookin at my truck the other day and i noticed someone had a fifth wheel hitch in it some time in the past. but i also noticed some small coil springs that sat on top of the rear leaf springs and they were attached to the center of the leaf spring, and the very back of the leaf spring. I think these are for towing? correct?

maxxman04

curious to see a pic of these springs. not sure i've seen them before. i would assume they are some kind of helper spring for towing.

MikePA

Your thread title, Towing & Brake Controller Question, confused me into thinking you were interested in information about a brake controller. What the other people told you is true. Lifting a truck raises its center of gravity which makes it more prone to roll over, whether the cause is sharp turns taken too fast or trailer sway making the truck unstable. How much more unstable than a stock truck is hard to determine. The most you can do is what you've already listed. A lot of it also has to do with the weight of the tow vehicle and the weight of what you're towing. Overload springs can't change that. What's the GVWR of your truck? What's the GVWR of the trailer? What's the tongue weight of your trailer? What's the towing capacity of your truck? Your hitch?

eisenhauer01

hey guys, sorry i haven't posted on this post in a while.. but the time is almost here. i am planning on pulling the camper down to the beach on Friday the 18th (next Friday) i got a new prodigy brake controller (yea, i know maxxman lol) but anyways.. here is my dilemma..
I have not installed my brake controller yet just so you know for this. I went to move the camper today just in the driveway, I plugged the 7 prong into my truck and went to move it and the electric trailer brakes were fully on and the truck/camper would not move. I unplugged the 7 prong and it moved fine. I checked the prong on the connector on my truck and there is no power on the brake control prong and there is 12 volts on the aux power prong.. as there should. So why would the trailer brakes be fully on? think it is something in the wiring on the camper?

maxxman04

that be my answer, the trailer wiring is goofed up.