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Backing trailer down a hill

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ansells09

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Hey all. I have a ‘20 3500 6.4 gas. My driveway goes downhill towards the house and it’s fairly steep but levels out at the bottom. I have a 8k pound travel trailer that I park at the bottom of the driveway and I don’t have any issue at all backing the camper down. Well today I rented a dump trailer and got 8k pounds of rock and the trailer was around 3k, so around 11k total. While backing down the driveway the front end of the truck lost traction and I had basically no steering. I took it real slow and made it down the driveway and vowed never to do that again. The dump trailer was a 5 ton bumper pull and some of the rock may have shifted towards the rear a bit.

My dilemma is that I eventually want to get a fifth wheel that weighs around 11k or even slightly more, but not if I can’t back it down a hill without losing steering. I’m questioning whether since a fifth wheel may have more pin weight going down over the truck rather than the dump trailers tongue weight going down behind the truck, if that will make any difference at all. I don’t know much about the distribution of pin weight vs tongue weight, but I would think that pin weight in the bed should keep the front end more planted than all that weight behind the truck.

sorry for the long read. Any thoughts from the experts on here about my issue?
 
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the characteristics of weight distribution on a bumper pull vs a 5th wheel are completely different. On a bumper pull, every pound that you add in tongue weight, you are removing a proportional amount of weight from the front axle, all that weight is in the back of the truck. With a 5th wheel, since the pin is forward of the rear axle, all the weight is distributed between the front and rear axles, so the issue you were having yesterday shouldn't be a problem with a 5th wheel.
 
You must be new to this... LOL. You go to 4x4 to back a heavy trailer down, and ESPECIALLY on gravel/limestone/dirt. You are not going to hurt anything, but it ties your front and rear brakes to all axles and you have 1 axle speed (front and rear) at all times. I have a 14X7 dump trailer and often am on slopes backing down to dump. You to 4x4 BEFORE you start backing down the slope.
 
Lary0071 said:
You must be new to this... LOL. You go to 4x4 to back a heavy trailer down, and ESPECIALLY on gravel/limestone/dirt. You are not going to hurt anything, but it ties your front and rear brakes to all axles and you have 1 axle speed (front and rear) at all times. I have a 14X7 dump trailer and often am on slopes backing down to dump. You to 4x4 BEFORE you start backing down the slope.
Click to expand...
Didn’t think to use 4x as the driveway is asphalt and it was dry. Thought that could mess things up. So just 4lo and take it slow nothing should break?
 
ansells09 said:
Didn’t think to use 4x as the driveway is asphalt and it was dry. Thought that could mess things up. So just 4lo and take it slow nothing should break?
Click to expand...
I just hit 4 high. It's not about gearing, it's about locking the front and rear axles together so that the brakes are effecting the entire truck equally. You aren't going to hurt the truck since the front axle is lite and will provide slip eons before you'll stress the axles on a HD truck. Once your done just slap it back to 2wd and your all set.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 
Prob have the WDH connected on the TT (transferring weight to the front axle) and the dump straight to the hitch (since rental, which also means what’s the adjustment/maintenance on the brakes).

Normally 5th/GN should be just in front of the rear axle putting some of the distribution to the front. Since you didn’t mention, if a short bed and use a slider, that weight distribution will also change during maneuvers leading to inconsistent distribution.
 
Not all trailer brakes work in reverse, and those that do typically barely work in reverse.
Even with a fifth wheel, you will skid the front while backing down a slope and not be capable of steering, USE THE 4X4!
I have an upper and lower driveway with a 12' drop to the lower layer of garages in my house, going down this.... if your backing a trailer you use 4x4 or you risk paying the price.
I have nearly been pulled over the hill, I try to not forget to lock the brakes/axles with the transfer case.
You can get dragged down backwards in a scary way.... It is not a fun thing.
 

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Lary0071 said:
Not all trailer brakes work in reverse, and those that do typically barely work in reverse.
Even with a fifth wheel, you will skid the front while backing down a slope and not be capable of steering, USE THE 4X4!
I have an upper and lower driveway with a 12' drop to the lower layer of garages in my house, going down this.... if your backing a trailer you use 4x4 or you risk paying the price.
I have nearly been pulled over the hill, I try to not forget to lock the brakes/axles with the transfer case.
You can get dragged down backwards in a scary way.... It is not a fun thing.
Click to expand...

Like the dogs and the Jeep hiding in the garage!
 
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