25 Seafari...55mph

[FishStretcher]

I just hauled a 25 foot Seafari 175 miles. I have an older F250 2WD turbo diesel with probably 700lbs in the bed to counterweight the heavy diesel on a long bed extra cab truck. It has 215 HP and 3.53 rear axle ratio and the E4OD trans. I wish it was a '99 with wastegated turbo and 4R100(?) trans. I am thinking I might need 4.11 rear gears for the boat ramp- I definitely need a limited slip. Truck is 8800lb GVWR, and it has a new 10,000 lb receiver and hitch. I would recommend at least this much power and truck to haul any long distance.

The trailer is rated at 6200 pounds net, 7975 gross- a galvanized bunk trailer with non working surge brakes on the front axle. Wheels and tires are 205 wide, D load rated on 14" rims, 6 bolt. I noticed that the previous owner who hauled maybe a mile each way declined fixing a spring on the trailer. I noticed this in the receipts after I got home...

I hauled on roads that were barely above freezing at 60-65MPH. I think one broken spring overloaded the front axle/tires a bit as they were warmish (110-120F) when I pulled over. So they were 90F above ambient, and steaming with snowmelt. Rear tires and truck tires weren't 70F. Bearings were new and stone cold.

I definitely need brakes (thinking disc/ electromagnetic, if that is an option), and have to address the axle loading issue. I want to investigate better tires as well. I think towing this in August would have resulted in a tire failure.