Towing a horse trailer with TC

[Geewizard]

Who on this forum has towed a two-axle horse trailer with the TC on the truck?

Did you use any kind of hitch extension to do it?

thanks

[Geewizard]

I agree, mkirsch. I'd be gutting it out with my truck to haul the TC and pull the horse trailer.

I have used a short extension to pull my ATV/snowmachine trailer and it worked fine.

[mkirsch]

Probably a wise decision. I know you said "9900lbs towing capacity" but that's with NOTHING in the bed of the truck. While I'm sure it's been done before, it's still asking pretty much everything your truck can give and then some.

On the extension, you can frequently if not always run a 6" shorter extension than you have overhang. The ball can be right underneath the rear edge of the camper, or even a few inches forward, without causing a clearance issue with most trailers. For example with my 18" overhanging camper, I'm using a ~12" extension.

[Geewizard]

Thanks all. I don't think I'll do it at all. Just too risky for the horse. Towing a boat or cargo trailer is one thing.

[burningman]

Actually it’s in a 300” wheelbase Peterbilt 389 and a 51’ horse van. 14 is way too many for a gooseneck.
Hitching up closer to the truck axle rather than way out behind it, is in fact better.
A whole lot better. That’s why fifth wheels tow better than bumper pulls.
And that’s why nobody tows on an extension when their camper is off... because the physics are all wrong.
On a big dually with a 4-1/2 ton camper towing a light trailer, it’s fine.
But this is a Toyota with a camper pulling a horse trailer.
It matters a lot more in this case.

[jimh406]

burningman wrote:
I haul horses up and down the west coast, 14 at a time, I’m very familiar with what important cargo they are.

Yeah, and I bet it’s on a gooseneck, so what does that have to do with using a super long trailer tongue. 😉

It’s clear that you prefer to extend every trailer tongue on every trailer you use. Others, buy a very good product so they can extend “once”. One’s not better.

[hornet28]

burningman wrote:
If you’re concerned for ultimate safety of the horses, stretch your trailer tongue and hitch directly to the truck, don’t use a hitch extension at all.
No one drives around towing on a hitch extension unless they have to... gee why is that?!!

I haul horses up and down the west coast, 14 at a time, I’m very familiar with what important cargo they are. A horse trailer on a hitch extension behind a Toyota... I wouldn’t do it.
Extensions are always recommended here because they’re a store-bought solution the camper dealers sell. No one wants to do a little welding and custom work.
The people who say it’ll hit the camper and won’t work haven’t ever done it.

^^^^^X2 Very sound advice, The one the horse trailer manufacturer made for me years ago was very simple and bolted on so it wasn't a permanent deal and could be removed if hauling without the camper. The extra length made the 4 horse trailer back even easier so I never removed it. I wasn't the only one using such an extension way back in the 80's. An tongue extension is much sturdier and doesn't begin to flex like a hitch extension can

[burningman]

If you’re concerned for ultimate safety of the horses, stretch your trailer tongue and hitch directly to the truck, don’t use a hitch extension at all.
No one drives around towing on a hitch extension unless they have to... gee why is that?!!

I haul horses up and down the west coast, 14 at a time, I’m very familiar with what important cargo they are. A horse trailer on a hitch extension behind a Toyota... I wouldn’t do it.
Extensions are always recommended here because they’re a store-bought solution the camper dealers sell. No one wants to do a little welding and custom work.
The people who say it’ll hit the camper and won’t work haven’t ever done it.

[Kayteg1]

Geewizard wrote:

FireGuard wrote:
You will be pushing it if you plan on towing that with your Tundra?

9900 lbs max towing capacity.

And 990 lb tongue weight?
Deduct 500 lb for light camper weight, multiply by 50% when using stinger and what you have left is 200-300lb tongue capacity.
Not really much for horse trailer.

[Geewizard]

FireGuard wrote:
You will be pushing it if you plan on towing that with your Tundra?

9900 lbs max towing capacity.

[FireGuard]

You will be pushing it if you plan on towing that with your Tundra?

[ajriding]

A class 5 hitch with long extension can handle 1,200 lbs tongue depending on the hitch. Horse trailers tend to have the wheels all the way to the rear which puts a lot more weight onto the front of the trailer - where typical campers cargo trailers have axles more towards the center than the rear.

Use a longer trailer tongue if you can. You can have those extended by a welder. The risk is hitting the camper in turns (and when off-roading, which horse ppl dont seem to do other than a field).

Most extensions only see 300 pounds or so from campers or cargo trailers which is not as great as a heavy horse trailer with horses will make

[Geewizard]

Buzzcut1 wrote:
well one of the above posters referenced me. I have a superhitch, 48" supertruss, Husky weight distributing hitch with 1200 pound bars. If I was going to do it all over I would only make one change. Superhitch Magnum (not made when I got my setup). You are towing a trailer with live animals. Its a completely different consideration from those towing box trailers. I am not risking my horses lives to save a buck. The superhitch, 48" supertruss with a WD hithch is rated to safely deal with a 1200 pound tongue weight. nothing else comes close.

Thanks Buzzcut1. The key words here are live animals. I'll look into the Superhitch and Supertruss.

[Buzzcut1]

well one of the above posters referenced me. I have a superhitch, 48" supertruss, Husky weight distributing hitch with 1200 pound bars. If I was going to do it all over I would only make one change. Superhitch Magnum (not made when I got my setup). You are towing a trailer with live animals. Its a completely different consideration from those towing box trailers. I am not risking my horses lives to save a buck. The superhitch, 48" supertruss with a WD hithch is rated to safely deal with a 1200 pound tongue weight. nothing else comes close.

[hot_rod]

Years ago I hauled an 10 1/2" camper and a 4 horse dressing room trailer. I had a 40" extension built for the trailer tongue and ran that for about 8 yrs