Few questions - WDH, Tow/Haul, Factory Trailer brake

[RaftingDave]

So, my wife and I purchased a Forest River 206STSE PUP last summer, had it out once with my '07 Ram 5.7 TRX QC (3.92). The camper is 21', 2200# empty, 2900# loaded. The TRX did fine with it, even up and down the Colorado mountain highways, and with my whitewater raft + gear + cooler (maybe 400# total.)

Traded the TRX in for a 2017 BigHorn Quad 5.7L, 3.21 (yeah, I know) last fall. We spent most of this MDW prepping the camper, de-winterizing, etc, and hooked it up to the new truck and spun it around the neighborhood a bit. The truck has factory Trailer Brake (we after-marketed on the old truck.) Seemed just ducky.

So, Question 1. We got a Fastway E2 WDH/no sway hitch with the camper (94-00-0600, for those of you at home keeping score). The guy at the RV dealership thought it was maybe a bit of overkill for this camper, but we went for it anyway. Does the weight of the WDH count against tongue weight?

Question 2. I was watching the factory Trailer Brake display as we came up to lights, etc. Is the factory setting usually pretty right on with these things ? Do you guys tweak yours much?

Question 3. We switched out the 2-ply stock tires with 10-ply BFG AT KO's - does that do anything for my payload capacity? Or am I still bound by the sticker payload due to truck frame rating? (I think mine's 1390)

Question 4. Tow haul - given that the load I described up above is probably the most we'll ever have on this rig, would you use Tow/Haul mode, or is that a sort of personal preference thing? We will be doing some reasonably steep highway inclines - up and down.

Thanks, and cheers !

 

[MADDOG]

1. Yes
2. Mine was close. I didn't have to tweak it much. All trailer brakes are different so you may, or may not, have to adjust it.
3. No. All it does is insure you won't blow out a tire under load.
4. Yes. I always use Tow/Haul when towing to have sufficient power to tow, especially when towing uphill.

 

[sandawilliams]

1. Yes
2. Mine was close. I didn't have to tweak it much. All trailer brakes are different so you may, or may not, have to adjust it.
3. No. All it does is insure you won't blow out a tire under load.
4. Yes. I always use Tow/Haul when towing to have sufficient power to tow, especially when towing uphill.

Everything he said and you will probably have to tweek the brake control if you go from pavement to gravel or other type surfaces.

 

[GsRAM]

Yep MD is spot on with his answers as usual. I had to adjust the gain up on my factory IT BC, but my rig is 29 yrs old this year and the magnets are probably a little weak. It stops well though