Considering a Jayco 28bhbe

[Ottawasteve]

Welcome to JOF Slick 87


Speaking from experience, a properly equipped half-ton, in my case a F150 5.4 with Max tow package, will pull the 28BHBE without "white-knuckling" etc. My payload is 1830 lbs so I do not carry full water tanks and don't anything heavy into box of truck. LT tires and airbags are a good idea for increased stability. Any gas motor will have to rev higher and work harder so an OBD real-time code reader to keep an eye on temperatures while hauling so you can know for sure whether transmission temps etc. become a cause for concern. It has not been for me, but I like the certainty of knowing for sure where my temperatures are while towing.


A good quality WD hitch with anti-sway is also a necessity. I have been very happy with the Propride 3P. Make sure you know to adjust your WD hitch as the guy at the dealership who knows how to install WD hitches may not be there that day and the guy who sounds like he knows what he is talking about may not have any clue how to install a WD hitch on your truck. I did the reverse, relied on dealership who assured me they knew how to install and berated me when I said it didn't look right and paid the bill and then had to reinstall the hitch myself afterwards, but now it is installed properly.


Happy camping,

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Ottawasteve

...snip

I did the reverse, relied on dealership who assured me they knew how to install and berated me when I said it didn't look right and paid the bill and then had to reinstall the hitch myself afterwards, but now it is installed properly.


Happy camping,

Me too. I even asked the tech why the brackets were not the same on both sides. He told me "it's because the slide side is heavier"

I rolled my eyes and said "yeah, whatever" and set it up right (per the printed instructions) when I got home. He looked at me like I had green slime coming out of my eyes when I asked him for the extra washers.

[need-a-vacation]

X2 that you will probably need to re-adjust the wdh set up once you load the new trailer!!! Here is a link to wdh set up and how a wdh works.

Also, when you are all loaded up and ready to go, if you decide to weigh your set up at a CAT Scale, you will want to weigh 3 times.... The last couple times I have weighed, I went inside first and said I need to weigh 3 times, and asked if I could pay for all after.... They said no problem! Take a broom stick or something similar that is long to reach the call button!!! And tell them it is a re-weigh for the second and third weighs....

1: Truck and trailer ready to roll down the road- wd bars latched up.

2: Truck and trailer: with wd bars unlatched and the wd bars in the bed.

3: Truck only.

With these 3 different sets of weights, you can figure out all the need weights: loaded trailer, actual tongue weight- just like if you place a Sherline scale under the tongue!, truck's individual axles weights. Only thing you will not know is the individual tire weights if the trailer (or truck).

Empty water tanks (or enough for restroom use:~10g or so???) will help. Just watch what you load in the pass through as well. I know our factory "brochure" tw of 910lbs is actually about 1400lbs loaded, ready to go....

And make sure they give you the best price possible!!! About 30% off msrp (per Jayco's website) is usually a good deal...

Good luck!!!

[need-a-vacation]

As for being close to your gvwr, I know I was there with our '10-Chevy 1500 CCSB 5.3/6spd/3.42 4x4. Never an issue towing ~7200lbs, but once loaded for a trip we were ~200lbs over the trucks gvwr (7k). And just below the rear axle rating (3900 or 3950???). Payload was 155xlbs (can't recall the last number, maybe 1554???)... Granted, we did have a cab high topper on the truck (~200lbs), and 4 bikes and a tool box/ bottle jack in the bed, that's all.

As I said though, at least here in Mi I never felt I NEEDED more power.... Just know that the motor will rev some, and it's fine doing so! One hill heading to northern Mi 4th gear was just not enough to maintain speed (~65mph), slowly was dropping.. Trans shifted to 3rd, and I could have passed all that were next to me once the motor started breathing!!!! Was at about 70mph before I knew it!!!! Took it back to ~65mph and walked right up without blinking in 3rd....

[Slick87SS]

Really still leaning towards the 28bhbe! I am still looking but having trouble finding a good comparison to it that's is not at or about the same weight. One more RV show this weekend and then its decision time!! May be on the limits of payload but I think I can make it work at least till I can upgrade my truck. Still have the 1500 for two years so I will be keeping it in my New England area until then. Gonna make sure my hitch is set up properly and take it slow. I will eventually get the set up on a CAT scale but the closest one is an hour away from me. Thanks for the info and opinions

[bexiga]

we are also really considering the 28bhbe unit, originaly was really wanting the 284bhbe eagle and who knows might still end up with the eagle ? we are also in the same position as many in regards to TV being 1/2 ton 15 f150 with 3.5 EB engine and 355 gears. We just traded our 2 year old Pathfinder for our truck back in Sept with plans on getting a bigger TT but all this talk about not being able to tow with these trucks is frustrating?? our payload is 1574lbs, we don't ever travel with full water tanks and take about 250-300lbs of camping stuff. our family of 4 weigh less then 450lbs in total. Will be going to Toronto RV show this weekend, hope we find something that suits our needs, or our trucks needs ! lol