Capt. Caper
Whitefield N.H>
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Joined: 05/31/2003
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ramlinwillie wrote:Here's my set up, I put on a tow beast with 34 inch extention, and towed it 370 miles round trip over Berthoud pass and back. I drove 55 because of fuel milage which was 13mpg, and I could not tell it was back there until the u-turn curves going up Berthoud, then only because I could see it in my mirrors.
I could not tell a difference in stopping either, but I'm sure it added to my braking distance, just like always I have a lot of distance between vehicles.
Do you have an 820 there? I was wondering if the Tow Beast and it's extension will clear the 820? I have an 08F350 and want to tow 3500 lb. GVWR snowmobile trailer. But the most it will weight will be 3k.
08 F350 Super Duty,SRW, 6.4 PowerStroke, Super Cab,Lariet,4x4, 3.73 LS,Short Box. Air Lift Bags,Happy Jack's, Gator Guard bed liner, Penda bed mat.
04 Lance 820 2 55 watt solar panels,2 grp. 29 batteries in generator compartment..
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were outta here
fresno calif
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Joined: 08/29/2004
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Hi everyone, I looked again at my stock hitch today on the truck and I was wondering if I would be ok with extenison, chains on the sides with the stock hitch? The jeep is about 4,000 and hitch rating is 7500. So I was thinking all I need is an extenison,chains instead of buying a whole new hitch asm,I have not measure the overhang from the camper but I believe it's close to 42, I will measure tomorrow. I will have to take pictures of my set-up and post them for you guys. Thanks Joe b. for the infor on the chains. Micheal
Micheal D Poulsen
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rickjo
SW New Mexico
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Joined: 01/20/2007
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were outta here wrote:Hi everyone, I looked again at my stock hitch today on the truck and I was wondering if I would be ok with extenison, chains on the sides with the stock hitch? The jeep is about 4,000 and hitch rating is 7500. So I was thinking all I need is an extenison,chains instead of buying a whole new hitch asm,I have not measure the overhang from the camper but I believe it's close to 42, I will measure tomorrow. I will have to take pictures of my set-up and post them for you guys. Thanks Joe b. for the infor on the chains. Micheal
That's what I did and it works wonderfully. Make sure the chains use eyebolts, etc. that can't open up. That was my only misstep but it's fixed now. Just got back from 1600 mile trip to CO with perfect performance over mountain passes and all. And Ouray was a blast, I'm gonna have to add to that recent topic.
Rick
2004 F-350 4WD Crew Cab Dually w/ Airlift air bags, Luverne brush guard, side steps and splash guards.
2007 LanceMax 1181 loaded, wider aftermarket custom mattress (driver's side locker omitted).
"Leave the trail a little better than you found it."
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mowermech
Billings, MT
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Joined: 06/28/2003
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joe b. wrote:This past summer I towed my Jeep Wrangler to/from south Florida to Colorado behind my Dodge/camper setup. I installed a Reese Tow Beast with a 41/42 inch stinger. (extension) This hitch has a 2 1/2 inch receiver. Based upon some input from this forum I added some 1/2 inch side chains to help relieve the side loads when turning. Not sure they were needed or not. The trip out and back were trouble free. Just always have to remember it is back there when stopping, turning, parking, getting fuel, etc. With my Cummins, I got about 12.5 mpg towing, instead of my normal 14.8/15 mpg with just my camper loaded at 55 mph for the trip.
I suspect that the Super Hitch is a better product but I found the cheaper Tow Beast hitch to work just fine for me.
Here is a photo of my setup prior to putting the TC on the truck.
That is very similar to the rig I built. I got the hitch tube from Northern tool, cut it to 41 inches, cut down an old ball mount for the splice to attach the tube to the hitch, used 3/8 chain and forged turnbuckles, fabricated the attaching points from 1/4 by 2 inch steel flat bar. My Caribou camper had an attaching point under the back bumper, so the extension was attached there with a 1/2 inch bolt. It worked quite well on several trips last year. This year I traded the camper for a C, so the extension is laying on the concrete in front of the garage at the moment. I don't know what I will do with it.
CM1, USN (RET)
'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, Std. cab, LB, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 273,000 Miles
'99 Monaco McKenzie 32' triple slide
'95 Tioga 29H Ford-based Class C
Daily driver: '06 Jeep Liberty CRD
Towed: '06 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited
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ramlinwillie
Littleton CO
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Joined: 06/27/2004
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Capt. Caper wrote:ramlinwillie wrote:Here's my set up, I put on a tow beast with 34 inch extention, and towed it 370 miles round trip over Berthoud pass and back. I drove 55 because of fuel milage which was 13mpg, and I could not tell it was back there until the u-turn curves going up Berthoud, then only because I could see it in my mirrors.
I could not tell a difference in stopping either, but I'm sure it added to my braking distance, just like always I have a lot of distance between vehicles.
Do you have an 820 there? I was wondering if the Tow Beast and it's extension will clear the 820? I have an 08F350 and want to tow 3500 lb. GVWR snowmobile trailer. But the most it will weight will be 3k.
Capt Caper,
It's an 821, same as 820, but with a slide and no problem with clearance.
04 F250 FX4 CC Lariat SB, Rhino Lining 6.0L V-8 Diesel 5-speed TorqShift® auto trans. Camper Package- Heavy Service Front Springs, Rear Stabilizer Bar,Auxiliary Springs, Rancho RS900X, Air-ride bags, Goodyear 245/70R19.5G, 04-Lance 821, Happijac Tiedowns.
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Dome
Southwest Washington State
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Joined: 05/25/2007
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Just completed a 2400 mile trip flat towing my Jeep. No problems the system works great.
Not sure what you all do for brakes, but in Washington St. if you are towing over 3k you must have some kind of braking system on the towed rig. I have a BrakeBuddy systen and it works great. I'm sure it differs in each state. Might want to look into your state laws.
Good luck
Steve
* This post was
edited 09/17/08 08:56am by Dome *
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jefe 4x4
Nevada City, CA
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Joined: 01/21/2004
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Dome has about the best flat tow set up you can do. Camper ends at the bumper. Short tow bar. Long bed truck. In essence, shortest distance from the rear axle of the truck to the ball (pivot), less leverage to deal with. Brakes are a big deal, especially if you're in the mountain west.
I've never had good luck flat towing. Two near death experiences, just by default not by design. Of course my CJ-8 weighs 5000 lbs, with 37x13.50 tires on 10" wide rims, big heavy parts, and lots of armor. The smaller the tires on your Jeep, the easier and less problematic it will be to flat tow. *on edit: I've often thought it would be good to have a set of the smallest, lightest, like stock tires/wheels available for flat towing. Less rolling resistance, and less braking effort needed, and they won't do the 'tail wagging the dog' effect you get with the big boys.*
Sooner or later, especially if you lug your jeep a lot, you will be looking for a car hauler to tow it around with. I breathed a long sigh of relief when I started trailering. Mine's a 14', lightweight, the same length as my Jeep. You can see it in my sig below.
regards, as always, jefe
'01.5 Dodge 3/4T, CTD, HO, Qcab, SB, 4x4, 6spd, D60, D80+Pwr Loc,
camper&tow pkg,Titan V, 285/75R-16 frnt, 33/14.5 Nitto super singles rr,
Rancho 9K's, Warn M15K winch. tows Jeep CJ8 rock crawler on 14' trailer
'98 Lance Squire Lite 165s, 8' 6" X Cab
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Too_Tall_Ford
Reno, NV
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Joined: 10/02/2006
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Here is my setup.
Last weekend was the first time flat towing my Jeep any distance. My setup isn't meant to tow anything with tongue weight as I don't (at least for now) plan on towing a trailer with my camper on. I don't have a picture of my hitch itself but I will explain it.
I bought a 48" long piece of 2x2x1/4 tube. If forget the exact dimension of the sleeve portion but the inside diameter is exactly 2x2 so it fits right over the extension and is made specifically for that purpose, it was about $17/foot too. That piece is 12" long, 7" of that length are connected to the 48" extension with (2)bolts securing the sleeve. The extension and sleeve are connected to the camper for stabilization only, not made to hold tongue weight and flat towing the Jeep there is hardly anything.
I made my extension for this specific application and it worked very well, spending about $60 total for everything.
I ended up removing the rear driveline from my Jeep for the tow. I can see going with the Warn FF conversion on my Jeep soon as I will be bringing it camping more often and won't want to keep crawling under there taking the driveline on and off.
2000 F350 DRW 4wd CC 7.3l PSD
37" Tires w/ 5.13's
Suncoast 4R100
2007 Host Yellowstone
Democracy is 2 foxes and a sheep deciding on what to have for lunch, liberty is a well armed sheep contesting the vote.
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joe b.
Florida
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Joined: 08/24/2002
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Too Tall, just out of curiosity, why did you remove your rear drive line to tow? I am on my 14th Jeep, since 1973 and have never removed the rear drive line on any of them, not intentionally anyway, I have always just put the transfer case in neutral and the tranny in either park or 3rd. gear if it is a standard transmission. They have all towed just fine. I towed my TJ Wrangler from Florida to Colorado and back this past summer. We spent almost 2 months running the Jeep trails, primarily in the Ouray/Silverton/Lake Granby areas.
joe b.
South Florida, Stuart
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
Driving a Dodge/Cummins
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http://www.picturetrail.com/jbpacooper Alaska 2004 - Alaska 2006 - Colorado photos
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Too_Tall_Ford
Reno, NV
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I wanted to be safe and not destroy anything. I heard about putting the tcase in neutral and the tranny in gear but only for short distances.
I still want to get the Warn FF kit and just unlock the rear and not worry about it.
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