[QUOTE=horatio102;2231267]How much does your Nissan weigh? 350 ft-lbs is still a fair amount, how heavy is your trailer that you tow? QUOTE]


my trailer is 7200lbs.


What about the 5.7ltr Hemi as the cummings diesels in the UK are as rare as rocking horse ****

 

WHOW, WHOW, WHOW...stop hating on the 1/2ton 5th wheel towing!!!!

I have a '96 28' 5th wheel prowler that weighs 5800# empty.
I've redone the whole bed room with hard wood flooring and 2"x3" framing (after water damage). Prolly closer to 7000# packed and ready to camp.

I pulled it with my '98 5.9L 1/2 ton Dodge. 245HP @ 3200 - w/3.90 gears.
I had no problems pulling it. I could set the cruise with OD off.

My fear was stopping it.

I bought my '07 to tow this same camper.


WITH THAT SAID, I would not do this wieght without using a 5th Wheel/Gooseneck setup

 

In many states a 5th Wheel on a half ton truck is illegal... Most have a minimum GVWR that is above any half ton truck...

 

I think we're dealing with a GVWR of around 7800 poinds for a 1500, give or take a couple hundred. I don't know what kind of weight a 5th wheel puts down on the truck, but I believe that it's more than you would have with a normal hitch setup.

I think you're putting around 10% of the trailer's weight on the tongue with an ordinary hitch, but maybe around 20% with a 5th wheel.

Do these 5th wheels center over the rear axle?

 

Back at the OP ... I think FIRST you have your numbers screwed up. You keep referencing 3300lbs GVWR but you first started with 6K. Your truth is probably something like this ... the tag on the side of your camper says 3380 or something as such. This is likely a factory apprx. If you have awning, propane, battery, fluids (water) and supplies, you are probably close to your 6K you mentioned before. Best thing to do is weigh it at the scales.

NOW ... let's talk engine. As Hammer pointed it out, the lovely lil 4.7 is not going to yank the tires from under the trailer no matter what you do to it. It's true torque/hp lie in the upper rpms range ... that's why you are seeing 4500rpm when towing. The computer is trying to get you to the best rpm for what you are doing.

NEXT ... don't tow in OD, not in your situation. 6K is a heavy load, OD is not useful because it drops down too low in the rpm. Now, if you are towing in 3rd and it is dropping to second to maintain that 4500rpm, a tuner would help you adjust those shift points some.

WHAT you won't get out of the 4.7 is a towing rig that lumbers along under 2500rpm ... particularly over tall bridges, long uphill grades, etc. If you can get yourself comfortable with towing at 50-60mph, you may find that the upgrades mentioned by others would be helpful.

MY truck, 4.7 w/manual trans is not that much different. I cannot tow in 5th gear, must be 4th or lower ... however, with the manual I have a different ratio selection than you so I don't bang on the 4500rpm mark. My trailer is 5500-5700 lbs loaded. I travel 55-60 on the flat and as it goes to incline, I downshift to 3rd around 45mph and bang on 3300rpm as I need to.

In my case, I had the truck before the trailer ... I don't want to buy another truck. But I don't expect it to do what a diesel of big block can.

 

5th wheel hitches are supposed to center over the rear axle - it's a leverage thing as well as a load balancing thing.

There are 5th wheel trailers that are WELL within the weight limitations of 1/2-ton trucks. It's not illegal to tow one of these so long as you're within the weights printed on the build sheets on your truck.

My girlfriend's dad's neighbor has about a 14-16' 5th wheel travel trailer. It's ridiculously small - but there are advantages.

1) The overall length is shorter. A 15' tow behind would have another 3' of tongue sticking out, plus the length of the hitch, plus the length of the truck - let's say 20' for the truck and 1' for the hitch... that's 39' total length. A 5th wheel is going to give you less floor space, but the mattress is up over the hitch instead of taking up space on the floor, so it's a net zero on the loss of floor space. A 15' trailer is just that, 15' long, plus the 20' truck, MINUS the overlap, a good 3-4' or so, making the overall length about 31'. That's about 8' less space required for parking.

2) They're more maneuverable. That's just the physics of it, they turn better in parking lots.

3) They handle better at speed. Since the pivot point is directly over the axle, instead of 3-4' behind the axle, trailer sway doesn't have the leverage on your truck that a bumper pull would.

The downside is that they take up the bed of your truck, and the hitch costs a lot more. Shortbed trucks especially - you need a sliding hitch, and they can cost upwards of a thousand bucks depending on how fancy you get.



Ok, back to the subject - I know my truck's payload is 1989 pounds, according to the sticker on the door. That means I have 1989 pounds that I can legally put on the truck's tires - tongue weight of the trailer, hitch, side steps, winch bumpers, tool boxes, women and children, dogs, luggage, Super Big Gulps, everything. Half-ton trucks should be a little bit less (gas 3/4 tons are about 500-600 higher due to the weight of the Cummins).



The difference between your Nissan diesel's 350 ft-lbs and the 4.7L's 300ish (or whatever it's at now), is that the 4.7 is an overhead cam engine that makes it's peak power closer to 4000 rpm, versus your Nissan's diesel which I would bet hits peak power closer to 2000-2500 rpm. The 4.7 is going to have to work harder to get rolling, and it needs to keep the RPMs up to stay in it's most efficient power range.

Like I said, I towed a late 70's ford pickup on a ~20' car hauler, and it did the job ok (even with 6.5" of long-arm lift on the jeep) but it certainly wouldn't be my first choice. That was about a 6000-6500 pound load.

I've towed 3500 pound race cars on 2000 pound trailers with tools and spares in my other trucks - an 02 Dakota quad cab 5.9 4x4 and an 86 w250 with the 5.9, both autos.

They did the job really well, I pulled the Grapevine in the 86 at 60 mph in 2nd gear... and it had about 350 ft-lbs on tap, or so. The Dakota never gave me a problem towing either. That motor was better suited to towing than the 4.7 was in my Jeeps though.

Don't get me wrong, I love the 4.7, I've owned 3 WJs with it, but it's a car engine and I'm perplexed as to why it was stuffed only in trucks.

 

fwiw, I have a 5.7 Hemi with 3.55 gears. I also have a 4000lb travel trailer.

I have a hell of a time keeping 100kmph with a head wind, and my fuel mileage was the pits. I'm sure if I had the 3.92 gears, I would have been able to tow much easier.

Instead, I bought a CTD and I need to keep re-assuring myself that the trailer is still there. lol.

I don't have much knowledge of the 4.7, other than its LESS than the HEMI for power and torque. As it has been said, you won't win ANY races.

Buy a CTD if your going to be pulling that trailer further than the end of your driveway. You won't regret it.

 

what do gear changes do for gas milage when not towing? I have 3.92 gears if I went to 4.10 what would happen to my mpgs? If I am reading right 4.10s would make towing larger loads easier?

 

I have a 2002 ram 1500 with the 4.7 and 3.55 gears, had a bumper pull travel trailer 6800# loaded with a Polaris 700 atv in the back of the pickup total weight of approx 7500#. Put on Firestone Air Ride air bags, JET performance chip. Pulled twice 500 mile round trip and then traded it for a 5th wheel and a trailer to pull behind it with the ATV and lost about 2700# added cold air intake and have no problems pulling. Yes the rpm's go to 4000-4500 on hills but that is typical for these. A 6 liter chevy has the same issues with pulling too much weight. Happy with my 4.7.

 

That's a lot of weight for that truck...I would change your tranny oil quite regularly.