I have been pulling a 3H Sooner bumper pull with a Class C Motorhome or F150 for years.  Love the motorhome, but now the kids are grown, the dogs are smaller and the motorhome is worn out.  I  either have to spend some money fixing things or get something different.  I'm really spoiled to having so much room but I've been looking at LQ trailers since the head count will go down from 4 humans & 300lbs of dogs to 1 human and 20lbs of dog. 

I don't have any desire to move up truckwise to anything larger than a F250.   Does anyone have a LQ with a slide that they pull with a 3/4 ton?  Between the travel trailers and the motorhome that I've had, I am struggling to going down to narrow width of the LQ.   Are there certain things to make pulling with a 3/4 ton more feasible?  I'm in a pretty flat, moderate climate part of Texas so no mountains to climb other than an occassional overpass.  Suggestions?

Bump

I pull an aluminum skin steel frame 4 horse with outfitted dressing room (no lq). Pulls and stops great with any number of horses up. 

I'm looking to downsize to a 3 H with 6 or 8 ft shorwall lq this year or next and I know that lq is going to add some weight to the trailer, but it will be the same size floor length so should be good still.

Here's my take and experience.

I see a lot of people who pull 3h with a 9 or 10' shortwall LQ with a 3/4T truck.  Whether or not you can get a slide on that kind of a shortwall will probabliy depend on the manufactuer, but remember a slide adds weight.

Just because I see it, doesn't mean I feel good about it.

My first LQ was a 3H Lakota with a 9' Shortwall, 8' wide, no slide. 23' on the floor if I remember correctly - sounds about right anyway.  The truck I had when I bought the trailer was a 2008 Chevy 2500 Duramax, 6'6 bed crew cab.

Pros: plenty of power to pull the trailer.  I live in Iowa, so similar terrain to what you describe - mostly flat, a few rolling hills, very little super challenging inclines.

Cons: Stopping, even with trailer brakes I could feel the trailer pushing on me when stopping, especially if I had to stop unexpectedly (and that doesn't mean slamming on the brakes, it just means I didn't have time to coast and take my time stopping).

Cons: Wind.  The shorter wheel base of the truck being a short bed and a single wheel meant that the tail wagged the dog in wind.  40mph gusts aren't really rare here and 15-20mph sustained is just another breezy day.  

Cons: Busted the back window out of the truck turning around in the driveway (actually my husband was driving, I'd like to say I'm more cautious, but he didn't have it anywhere close to completly jacknifed when it happened).  Yes, some of this is nose shape on the trailer, and an offset hitch can help - but I dare say and 8' wide trailer and a short bed truck is going to put you in a tricky situation at some point with regards to the safety of your rear window.

After we busted the window out we upgraded to a long bed crew cab dually.  Same Duramax engine.  That truck never knew the trailer was back there, the ride was much smoother for us and the horses, wind no longer pushed us around, and I felt completly comfortable that even if I lost the trailer brakes I could maintain reasonable control in an emergency stopping scenario.

We now pull a 4H 13' shortwall that is 30' on the floor with the same truck and everything still applies - I drove home from a rodeo one night in sideways pounding rain and never once felt like I was not in control of the rig.  I much prefer to be over trucked so if and when we ever decide on a trailer more than a couple feet longer we'll likely also be looking at heavy haulers or light semi's.  

My in laws have a 3/4T Duramax and haul a 3H Elite with a 7' LQ - it is really all the truck wants.  Its a very heavy built trailer, which is fabulous, but you know it is back there.  Being heavier built than the Lakota we use to have, it doesn't move around as much in windy siutations.  So there is that to consider when shopping.

My thoughts would be if you looked for a 3H, 7' wide, with a nice 4-7' weekender package you would be more than ok.  My personal feelings is that while I know and see folks pulling larger trailers with 3/4T trucks, my experiences wouldn't lead me to do it again.

Just my opinion, but best to be OVER trucked than under trucked. It's not about pulling, it's about stopping that rig, stability, and longevity of your truck with wear and tear.

I pull a weekender package 3 horse with a F250.  It pulls fine but I wouldn't want anything bigger.  My LQ is a 5 ft shortwall.  No couch but a separate toilet/shower which I like.  Big enough to stay in for a few days.  If you wanted something bigger with a slideout I really would go with a one ton.

you can pull it but  stopping power is what really counts

3H Reverse with 10'SW. Pulls and stops fine, we do have airbags on the truck. I dont know that I would feel comfortable going any bigger than that though. :)

I have a 16 foot old aluminum stock trailer and pull it with my F250.  I'm not taking on any more debt buying a nicer trailer for a loooooooooooooooong time LOL. 

My husband has a 99 F250 that he LOVES and an 08 Duramax 3/4 ton that he's even more obsessed with. We pull his 3 horse weekend living quarters Exiss and my 3 horse stock combo with dressing room with both trucks. The Duramax barely knows either one is back there, and the F250 does fine pulling either one, including my trailer when we shove a 4th horse in there on occasion. I don't know that he'd want to put much more on the Ford, but the Duramax is a BEAST. We borrowed a friend's monster stock trailer last summer for Bonus Race Finals and threw 6 horses in there behind the Duramax. I caught myself doing 85 at one point coming home....that's how easily the Duramax pulled it. Granted that is not as heavy as a living quarters trailer but 6 horses was a pretty good load.

I also agree with the other posters who said the stopping power is what matters most. My trailer would push my Dodge 1500 around a little bit and my husband is happy that we now have a bigger truck pulling that trailer.