Towing a Bigfoot 25 - Reccomendations

[RKH]

I have a 1ton chevy and tow my 25 ft with our stabilizer hitch no problems whatsoever.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

oh yeah...

I have to admit, I'm kinda a fan of older stuff. new vehicles have too much computer crap on them for me. I don't trust driver assist stuff, and I think its making people worse drivers. my daily driver is a 1993 Mercedes 300CE Cabriolet (convertible).

I like stuff that lasts. this song says it for me...

huh, my previous yooutube section went away, k, try here..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp7HYBMee00

meanwhile, said daily driver has been retired, and replaced with a 2016 Mercedes E350 4Matic wagon which has all that 'computer crap' in it, including Android Auto so I can use my google maps and spotify, and headlights that autodim, and follow around corners, and lane warning and I'm getting kinda spoiled.

[Camper Chuck]

Originally Posted by Bruce H

Get a 3/4 ton or one ton single rear wheel truck with a towing package that includes built in brake controller and large extendable mirrors that include large convex mirrors. I tow mine with an F-350 Ford with the gasoline engine. My fuel mileage is within 3mpg of a 1/2 ton and it is well worth it. Plenty of power, much more stable and safer plus I was able to throw away my much hated "equalizer bars". I have tried several different 1/2 tons and I like this much better.

Bruce - you are towing just off the bumper then (no WDH)? I'm curious because I just purchased a Ram 2500 Mega Cab (160" wheelbase) and have a 25' Bigfoot on order and am debating whether I really need a WDH. I realize everyone will say WDH is safer, etc., but interested in real life experience of anyone towing one with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck without a WDH.

[Camper Chuck]

Originally Posted by Nvboatman

We tow our Bigfoot 25RQ with a 2018 Tundra with tow package 5.7l engine. We live in the West and just returned from a long trip to Idaho and Montana. Averaged 11-12 mpg. I have an Anderson WDH/anti sway. I pulled the trailer quite a lot before we got the WDH, and never once experienced sway, even in brutal sidewinds.
As far as power goes, the Tundra has plenty to get you up and over the mountains.
I also installed airbags on the truck to level everything out when loaded. We are pleased with our setup 👍

Curious if you had towed a lot without the WDH with no problems even in strong cross winds, why did you then opt to add the Andersen WDH?

[Bruce H]

Originally Posted by Camper Chuck

Bruce - you are towing just off the bumper then (no WDH)? I'm curious because I just purchased a Ram 2500 Mega Cab (160" wheelbase) and have a 25' Bigfoot on order and am debating whether I really need a WDH. I realize everyone will say WDH is safer, etc., but interested in real life experience of anyone towing one with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck without a WDH.

I don't need one and will not use one when towing with a 3/4 or one ton. My 25RQ had good balance and always trailed good.

[John in Santa Cruz]

what WDH's mostly do is reduce porpoising when you go over a bump or dip, it makes the ride up front more comfortable on a road full of dips and bumps.

[CharlesinGA]

I have a 25B21RB Bigfoot. Due to the location of the water tank at the very rear, the trailer is rather squirrely even with everything else as far forward as I can get it. That was until I added the Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch. It makes the towing very nice, you almost cannot even tell the trailer is back there. As John noted it eliminates the porpoising or chucking on uneven roads, crossing RR lines, etc

Mine is an extended tongue with the cargo pod, and I am not heavy but I have about 800 lbs on the tongue (measured with a Sherline scale and calculated from scale weights). I don't like having all that water weight in the rear, but many places I go do not have water and I have always traveled with a full tank.

I have a factory class IV receiver hitch and reading the owners manual carefully I found that the hitch, without Weight Distribution, is limited to 500 lbs tongue weight, which adds to the reasons for using the WDH.

The Blue Ox was minimally invasive as far as cutting fiberglass on the parrots beak and the brackets installed far enough forward so as to not interfere with the LP bottles (just barely).



Planning on a 350 or so mile trip in a week and I'll be interested to see how well it tows as I have replaced the nearly new but not enough KYB shock with Rancho XL9000 shocks (adjustable, currently set on 5 out of 9) and I replaced the upper A arms due to the boots being gone off the ball joints, and had it aligned which improved the tracking and feel by a good bit.

Charles

[oldwave]

For our upcoming 25rq we just bought a ram 2500 gasser, payload is 3200 lbs, no plenty of capacity. It was a 2022 low optioned Bighorn. It wasn’t any more expensive than an f150 with medium options.

[damueller]

Good choice. Dodges are cheaper than Ford’s and a 3/4 ton eliminates the need for wdh It is plenty of truck for a 25RQ. That being said, I still like my F150.

[John in Santa Cruz]

yeah, just about everyone I've seen towing a Bigfoot 25 for any length of time has a 2500 class truck, be it chevy, ford, or dodge. mostly diesels., and mostly 4x4, so you can get out of a stuck spot easier.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

yeah, just about everyone I've seen towing a Bigfoot 25 for any length of time has a 2500 class truck, be it chevy, ford, or dodge. mostly diesels., and mostly 4x4, so you can get out of a stuck spot easier.

Decided against the diesel with the cost of maintenance and the fuel and the 9,000 premium. Also while some 3/4 ton users tow without a wd hitch, we went overkill and are getting a ProPride hitch. Should tow like a dream.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by damueller

Good choice. Dodges are cheaper than Ford’s and a 3/4 ton eliminates the need for wdh It is plenty of truck for a 25RQ. That being said, I still like my F150.

I have a 2004 f 150 4x2 that has been maintained. Still a great truck and with 3t5000 oil changes no issues at all with the timing phasers. To get a proper f150 that would tow the bigfoot with what I consider to be sufficient payload, 4x2 5.0 liter or3.5 eco with max towing and heavy duty payload. My dealer had one on the lot, it was the same price as the Ram. F250’s were like hens teeth at this moment. They did have a nice xlt but wanted 6000 over the low 60’s price. I passed.

We will use the Ram exclusively for the Bigfoot, as daily drivers we have file efficient small cars.

Curious what flavor of f150 are you towing the bigfoot with ?

[damueller]

2015 F150, lariat, supercab, 6.5’bed, 4wd with awd on lariat option (real nice in lots of situations), 3.5 EB, max towing, 1800 #payload, 11,000 #s towing, 86,000 miles currently, no mechanical issues.

Handled the 25RQ very well, If I was to go superduty I would get F250 with 7.3 gas. No need for diesel in my opinion.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by damueller

2015 F150, lariat, supercab, 6.5’bed, 4wd with awd on lariat option (real nice in lots of situations), 3.5 EB, max towing, 1800 #payload, 11,000 #s towing, 86,000 miles currently, no mechanical issues.

Handled the 25RQ very well, If I was to go superduty I would get F250 with 7.3 gas. No need for diesel in my opinion.

Thanks.