Heavy Towing

[dry_fly]

All,
I just purchased a new boat which dry & with trailer weighs in around 5800 lbs. Towing it with over 100 gal of gas will push me well over the 6k lbs mark. I know there are some threads out here about trailer break installation etc, but how satisfied are you with your LR3 Set up vs. how heavy the load? Any suggestions on particular brands of kits & does anyone or everyone towing over 5K lbs use a weight distributing hitch? I appreciate any feedback you can provide before I gear up.
Cheers!

 

[Airboss]

Any trailer over 3000# requires some sort of braking system, usually electric. These brakes are useless without a brake controller. I have the Tekonsha Prodigy controller ($125) and it works great.

 

[Bluebird]

Boats get surge style brakes not electric. Yes you need them.

 

[AlpharettaRK]

Really the question on the Weight Distributing hitch is how much tongue weight do you have? 500lbs or less it's not needed. I bought a tongue weight scale for less than $100 and would recommend you do so. You may find that you can move the boat on the trailer enough to substantially adjust your tongue weight. 100 gallons of gas weighs 600lbs so how full your tank is will make a difference. In my case moving the race car back a foot saved about 300lbs on the tongue. But you don't know without a scale.
Cheers
Randy