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Old 07-18-2008, 03:33 PM   #8
Mr. Adventure
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Posts: 668
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Originally Posted by [email protected] View Post
We live in Alabama, but plan on travelling in the northeast this fall and in Florida some during the winter and .....who knows where else.... We love the west and spent 6 weeks camping (I'm too spoiled any more for tent camping) out west. We would love to go back and would like to use the Sienna if it could handle the steep grades, etc.
Assuming you have the tow package, and we have the Sienna information correct (please find for us the Gross Combined Vehicle Rating in your owner's manual and the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating on the sticker on the driver side door post), there should be room for a TrailManor within your weight limits, though it's possible that you might need to travel lighter in order to make it work for you (if you're going to stay in campgrounds with hookups, there's no need to carry a lot of water, for example).

I don't think I'd have a problem using my current setup to go back over any of the 20,000+ RV miles I've already seen, with better gas mileage this time around (except I haven't allocated the budget or the time, of course). I don't think there would be a problem with the pass in Glacier National Park, the other 7 places we crossed the Continental Divide, or anywhere else we've been on the Interstate Highway system, for example.

But, I believe there could be durability issues for lighter tow vehicles if used a lot at high altitudes and for lots of miles (a tow vehicle for 10,000 miles towing per year is a different ball game than towing 10,000 total miles sometime over the life of your tow vehicle).

A good brake controller that's properly adjusted is important. A weight distributing hitch adjusted so that the front wheels are not unloaded by your load or trailer tongue weight is absolutely mandatory, on the theory that steering and stopping are important safety issues (measure the distance from the driveway to the fender before and after hitching, and don't let the number grow). And weighing your loaded rig is a very good idea, as Mr. Beavers pointed out, because it's the only way to ever know for sure exactly what you are doing.
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2005 TrailManor 3023
2003 Toyota Highlander 220hp V6 FWD
Reese 1000# round bar Weight Distributing Hitch
Prodigy brake controller.

"It's not how fast you can go, it's how fast you can stop an RV that counts."
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