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Old 09-29-2007, 03:39 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by rickst29 View Post
You should NOT need sigificantly higher pedal pressure and braking force in your TV when towing a TM trailer, the trailer brakes should be doing the work!
I completely agree. The stopping distance with and without the TM in tow should be pretty much the same.

The one time I made a near panic stop, it felt like I was able to stop slightly faster with the TM then I would have without it. It may be just a perception.

I have towed light weight motorcycle trailers before, with no trailer brakes. I could feel the weight of the trailer pushing the truck. I did not like the feeling. Going downhill on an off camber slick road in a tight turn would not have been fun.
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Old 10-01-2007, 09:27 AM   #12
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I used to be pretty good at it, but it's been awhile since. Hopefully I won't be getting any hard lessons in geometry from the TM. I saw the table in Mike & Kelly's TM users manual, and it was based on the assumption that the trailer was going to be 9 feet tall -- a whole different kettle of fish from a Trailmanor, but certainly it has a point to make.

Since my last post, I caught up with a friend who worked for years at one of the big auto companies, and I asked him about how they figure out and assign the manufacturer's recommended towing capacity. He told me that they really do test these things pretty carefully these days. It turns out that one of the more important aspects to them is basic durability, something I hadn't thought too much about in our safety conversations here. A non-trivial part of the discussion is about how many transmissions they'll have to replace under warranties, versus the number of people who will buy their product because of its rated trailering capacity. The lesson on this point is that you NEED a different kind of TV if you climb a mountain every time you tow, just as you might WANT a different kind of TV if you're going to drive it to work in the suburbs every day.

My point remains that no vehicle is automatically safe just because it's load is three hundred pounds less, and there's no rated load capacity that's going to solve your problems when you're driving too fast for conditions.
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Old 10-04-2007, 01:39 PM   #13
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Thanks for all the responses. We have finally sort of taken the camper on a couple of trips. I say sort of because we just took it to nearby campground for Labor Day and we now have it set at the same campground permanently. A permanent site was a necessity because I have a small yard and a single car garage so no place to put it. I can tell you we do love it. It is amazing how much more space it has than out 10 ft popup. New week is the first distance hauling and set up. For now we have used my parents full size 3/4 ton van. Tows like a dream. Next year we will be doing it with my
1/2 ton van. I am sure we will be fine since I won't be doing any mountain towing.
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Old 10-04-2007, 03:54 PM   #14
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We have finally sort of taken the camper on a couple of trips. I say sort of because we just took it to nearby campground for Labor Day and ...
"Sort of"? A "real trip"? Son*, that IS a real trip. You hooked it up, you towed it to the campground, you disconnected it from the tow vehicle, you set it up, you connected the utilities, and you lived in it. That's about as real as it comes. If you do 500 miles between hooking up and unhooking - well, that's real, too, and the extended towing experience is valuable. But you have done majority of what needs to be done.

By the way, did you have to back into your campsite? That's a "Real Experience" all its own.

You are right, a 3/4 ton van is a wonderful tow vehicle. If you have one, I envy you. But a half ton pickup or van will do well, too. You just have to take it a bit more carefully, and expect to slow down in the mountains. A vehicle lighter than that - well, I have expressed my reservations, and not everyone agrees with me, and that's OK.

Welcome to TMing.

Bill

*With apologies to Foghorn Leghorn ...
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