BS: towing trailers

Subject: BS: towing trailers
From: Gypsy
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 11:28 AM

Well, the handsome mando player and i are getting itchy again.......time to do a little traveling. Alas, are getting a shade long in the tooth for straight camping. The idea is a 13 foot trailer and a 6 cylinder jeep. The Wrangler type. Anyone have any experience towing with this kind of set up? Don't want to be relegated to a 30 mph ride! Did that with the Volkswagen years ago, and twasn't pleasant. Any and all suggestions are welcomed.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: beadie
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 11:51 AM

A while back, I was towing an 18 foot trailer with a 6cyl Toyota T-100 pickup (manual transmission). About the only time I experienced underpower problems was in crossing the Appalachians near Pittsburgh and the Sangre de Cristo range in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. On flat or mildly hilly terrain, the rig moved along quite smartly.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Mooh
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 11:54 AM

Oh, I don't know...The family and I put 4500 km on the 10 year old 6 banger Plymouth van this past summer, with a pop-up tent trailer in tow. No problems at speed limit. Check the trailer bearings and get a tune-up before you go. Carry tools. In Canada CAA helps if you get in a jam.

The only problem I had was coming home. I wanted to stay in Cape Breton.

Oh well.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 02:30 PM

Jeep, what? Jeep, Jeep. Cherokee? Automatic or clutch?

What kind of camper? Pop up of box?

I wouldn't want to pull either with a Jeep, Jeep because it has such a short wheeelbase and would be purdy danged squirrely...

And which 6 cyl. The inline is much better than the v-6, for which there weren't mnay made...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 02:51 PM

I pulled a 14' trailer with a four-cylinder Ford Courier a few times. It wasn't fun--I could do it, but I did travel in the slow lane. When I got my six-cylinder Ford F-100 I could tow it just fine. Both of those were standard transmissions. They used to be the better choice for towing.

Nowadays that isn't the case. They don't make the standards as powerful and they don't seem to be improving them at the same rate they improve the automatics. I have an eight-cylinder Chevy Silvarado now and it has an automatic with a "tow-haul" button to use to adjust the gear ratio for towing. It's a much better arrangement than trying to use the standard transmission that was available when I was doing my year-end new truck shopping.

I don't know how the HP compare between my old Ford and your Jeep--I think that makes more difference than the number of cylinders.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 02:51 PM

You need to check the ratings of the two vehicles you hope to marry with the hitch, and the hitch specs, as well as estimating the weight of the cargo you will haul.

First, what trailer and cargo weight are the Jeep and hitch rated to pull?

Then the trailer weight-- is it rated to hold what you want to carry in it?

The tongue weight figures in here-- the amount of weight carried by the tongue once you load the trailer, in as balanced a fashion as possible, so that as little weight as possible is pushing down on the hitch through the tongue.

These ratings should be in the owners' manuals. Our trailer's specs are inside the door to the pop-up. If you have no specs available, check with a Jeep dealer for the specs for your engine and tranny, and check with the trailer dealer for trailer specs and what kind of vehicle ought to be pulling it.

Need to be sure the hitch is the right rating as well, and that it is attached as the trailer people recommend.

In general, real-wheel-drive bvehicles tow better than front-wheel drive, in terms of the load on the tranny. This is because the weight on the tongue will add traction to the rear of the car, and if the towing vehicle is underpowered and front-drive, the load's placement far away from the powered wheel(s) will put a strain on the tranny. This will be more or less a problem depending on terrain/climbing.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: open mike
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 03:47 PM

be sure to fasten a safety chain between the two so if any thing
lset go you still have the trailer in tow.
did you say this was a pop-up/tent trailer or travel trailer
solid-type? jeeps are said to be easily flipped, but with an
anchor hooked to the hitch it may keep it on the ground better.

learn how to back up--everything seems opposite at first..
or learn how to arrange your route so you do not have to!
use your mirrors--and if they do not show enough to tell
what's happening, get larger ones that stick out far enough
to see.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Amos
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 05:06 PM

Good advice, Open mike -- thanks!


A

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: GUEST,EBarnacle on another computer
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 06:16 PM

If there is any time before you take off, go to your dealership and get the towing package. It should have a cooler for the tranny. There are other things that come with it but the sum of it all is to still have a car at the end of the trip. There may also be a suspension package. If so, get it.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 09:44 PM

Yeah, what he said.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Sep 03 - 10:13 PM

Bobertz nailed this one before I got here. DON'T TOW WITH A JEEP (CJ modeltypes).....The wheelbase is just too short. Additionally, Jeeps ride like crap to begin with....now add a trailer. You're going to be really uncomfortable and making lots of steering input and you will hate going anywhere!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Coyote Breath
Date: 18 Sep 03 - 01:58 AM

We just got back from an (almost) four month stint in YNP. Pulled a 24 foot "toyhauler" Starcraft trailer with a '94 Dodge RAM 250 "commercial" van. It has a small V-8. We have a stablizer package, electric trailer brakes, anti sway control (all added at no cost by dealer - trailer is 2003) Hills slowed us down. WIND was the worst problem, slowed us even more than 9,650 foot "hills". But we were in no hurry and the rig was STABLE. Manufacturer sez it sleeps six but will sleep four adults comfortably. We lived in it for the whole season and are still speaking to each other.

Our fellow workers had much longer rigs but not much more room (?)inside than we. A fellow from Texas had a 40 foot "fifth" wheel which he pulled with a Kenworth single axel tractor. Diesel of course. Air brakes. He bought it for $14,000 and had $6000 worth of modifications done. That is still about half the price of a Dodge RAM quad. He has a 250 gallon fuel tank too. He said the tractor gave him a greater margin of safety for braking. He hauled a full-dress Harley Police Special as well)

A Jeep or any other "consumer" vehicle (like a mini-van) can pull a 14 footer but you won't have a stable outfit and if you are travelling through states like South Dakota, where we experienced winds up to 50 miles an hour, you'll feel like you're towing the Queen Mary.

Buy a good used motor home and PULL the Jeep.

CB

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: open mike
Date: 18 Sep 03 - 04:46 AM

and where is YNP? yosemite national park?

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Phot
Date: 18 Sep 03 - 05:52 PM

Best advice from a brit, get a Landrover 110 V8, 1 ton payload, and a 4 ton drawbar load with linked brakes, but also try a Discovery

All the best.

Chris

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Bert
Date: 18 Sep 03 - 10:00 PM

Get yourself an equalizing hitch like a Reese.

And always snug those safety chains down really well. I had my Airstream jump it's hitch one time (why is another story) and the chains really saved it. I had to rope it down as well to finish the journey, but we made it fine.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 18 Sep 03 - 10:04 PM

Unfortunately, the 110" WB Landrover is very uncommon in the U.S. The best 6-cyl engine Jeep offered was the 258 CID inline, an older (but exellent) AMC design. It is not found in the Cherokee as it was replaced by the 4.0 liter six. Much less torque.

Sad fact is that you have a job to do and that job requires a full-sized truck. Gas mileage is not even part of the equation unless you go for a diesel, which gets somewhat better milage than gas. A 3/4 or 1 Ton pickup with a Dana 60 rearend and 4:10 gears is the minimum place to start. And a quality receiver hitch.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Mr Red
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 03:24 PM

I tow a caravan with a 903cc 4 cylinder engine and the thing is rock steady at 70 mph in most winds except gales. Mind you and kind of wind (especially croswinds) slow me down and inclines of course. The onely thing I have worried about is braking hevily in th rain. I have no van brakes because it is only 200Kg (ish) and the car is about 600Kg but even so the extra weigh behind drive the car under deceleration. I usually take two or thre junctions to get the mindset needed for the extra stopping distance in the dry. I once had to swerve to miss a badger who was big enough, I did not avoid him and with all the swerves and bucking and then both the car and the van bumping over him it was quite an experience. Basically any sudden move is fraught.
The usual advice is think ahead - because the other idiots won't. They will put you in situations. And don't go down any narrow roads unless you know there is an exit or a turning place. I can unhitch and move the van easily but I have yet to risk that on any real slope, even at 5 mph 200Kg can do a lot of damge and on a campsite that is no joke. I made a spiky thing for the jockey wheel to sit in and dig into the ground - for that very reason. You never know if I might be in the van when it started rolling - embarrassing or what!!!

Oh yes and --- enjoy.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 03:34 PM

Yellowstone?

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Gypsy
Date: 19 Sep 03 - 11:26 PM

Hey, all! And thanks for the input. Little more info: STRAIGHT six, not V. Box trailer, 13 foot. Need room for us, the instruments (and when you are talking hammered dulcimer, you need ROOM) and the two pomeranians. so small is good. Not wild about popups, for the protection they would give against critters, may as well use the trusty tent. Other alternative is to go REALLLY small, and do a teardrop trailer. Which would work. Still in planning stages, and figure as the weather drops, the prices will too. Any more thoughts?

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 20 Sep 03 - 02:53 PM

Seems you have already paid yer dues by driving that vee-dub for years! Ain't safety, comfort and utility the main concerns? It is no fun if you can't fit all yer stuff in there. Ain't no fun if you argue all the way or get kill't or something.....

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Gypsy
Date: 20 Sep 03 - 07:42 PM

Thats right. That is why we are considering a box trailer over a teardrop. Altho, my idea of luxury is a campsite that you park, and are done. Doesn't take a lot to make me happy. Any other thoughts on a Wrangler towing a 13 foot trailer?

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 20 Sep 03 - 07:54 PM

Do you plan to use the Jeep to "four wheel" once you get there? As several have said, a short wheel base makes a poor towing vehicle. If you flip the rig in the mountains you may never get to that campsite.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Mooh
Date: 20 Sep 03 - 09:22 PM

For a few years I towed a utility trailer or an aluminum boat and trailer behind a 4X4 Suzuki (900cc engine), now that was a ride! The 4X4 was considerably less safe than the Jeep you propose, and with the trailer the wind was a challenge. I survived but I never took it above 80 km limits, secondary roads only. Most of the advice here is good, but if you are like me (ie making do on less than an Airstream budget) stay off the major freeways (they're less interesting anyway), and get the best tow package you can afford. I don't know if my sense of physics is any good, but I always felt that extra weight in the vehicle was better than in the trailer.

Good luck, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Coyote Breath
Date: 21 Sep 03 - 01:38 AM

Sorry! Yes, Yellowstone National Park, which after four months of labor we were calling it Yellowstone National Prison. Poverty with a view.


Pop-ups are not a good idea and there are some campgrounds that "ban" anything but "hardside" rigs. (Fishing Bridge in YNP.) Bears, ya know.

CB

Subject: RE: BS: towing trailers
From: Gypsy
Date: 25 Sep 03 - 10:55 PM

Yipetty! At last, someone else who has an inherent distrust of popup trailers! Think its gonna be the teardrop. All i really want is a nice safe cage, that i can sleep in. The mando player is hankering for a man-o-pause vehicle, and he don't like sports cars. So, the wrangler will be it. And a WEE trailer...........Thanks for all the input.