How will it tow?

[sascher]

I have studied many of the excellent posts on this site for months and have formulated a plan to begin renovation of my old AS. One large question remains before I begin. How well will a 71 Sovereign pull with either a 99 f 250 ld or a 84 f 250 diesel both 4x4? I do not want to waste my time if it will not pull comfortably in Kansas' normal 30 mph crosswinds. The hitch is a Eaz lift with 1000# bars and a Eaz sway bar. I regularly pull a 24 ft gooseneck stock trailer or 24 ft gooseneck flatbed with these trucks. My previous experience pulling "on the ball" with pickups is not good. I found pulling bumper hitch implement or stock trailers to be very unpleasant and felt unsafe. However, my goosenecks and fifth wheel trailers seldom cause any concern, even in heavy crosswinds. I have only pulled the AS twice--once with a 74 Chev Monte Carlo, not an experience to repeat, and once on the bumper of 6 cylinder f250 very slowly. Please, will this work or should I put the AS back in the hedge row. (I don't MIND being slow, just not unsafe.)

[Al and Missy]

Not familiar with that hitch, but based on price alone, may not perform as well as others typically discussed on here. But I'd think that trailer would tow fine with either TV. Worst case you might want a different hitch. The only way to know for sure is hook it up and try it out.

Al

[arktos55343]

I pull my 25' Trade Wind with a 2003 F250 Super Duty V10 manual. It pulls like a dream. But the heavy duty suspension of the F250 gives the AS a bumpy ride...which is not good. I am considering an Airsafe hitch, so the tongue of the AS actually rides on a commercial grade airbag and is effectively disengaged from the harsh up and down movement of the truck. Of course, the heavier I load the truck, the smoother the ride.

[sheriff1]

We just did 9000+ miles towing a 34' Windjammer with an 01 F250 crewcab 4X4, automatic, v10, same WD sway setup. Got caught in 60 mph side winds in Nevada, slowed down a bit but no problems. It was enough wind to deploy the steps on the RV! Truck was a bit short on power leaving West out of Denver CO @ 7%+ grade.


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[dkrug]

We pulled our 1977 31' Sovereign with one of our F250s and with a 3/4 ton Suburban. Can't remember what year F250 we had at the time. We have pulled all the trailers we have with an F250 crewcab diesel. Stock trailers, Airstreams and equipment trailers. I am not familiar with your hitch. Our experience with high winds and our Airstreams has been no problem.

[J. Morgan]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124322

[sascher]

Thank you for your very helpful responses. I feel much better about trying to tow the AS. What I take from this is that towing "on the ball" will likely be unnerving if any adverse conditions, no matter how slight, are encountered. Towing a 31 ft AS would likely be easier than most other comparable trailers. The use of a WD hitch with primitive sway control will make it tow even better. If this is still not as pleasant as I have become accustomed to with goosenecks and fifth wheel trailers, then ha/pp hitches are available. As I am cheap, I must note that a new pp hitch costs more than my TV, AS, and WD hitch combined.

[bwoodtx]

I have an Easy lift hitch that I use to pull a 24' Argosy. I handles the trailer well. If you are concerned about sway, add another sway bar. That should help. A friend of mine has two on his hitch and he says they work great.