Confused to Tow

[Patrick Crotty]

You are right PopBeavers. I live in Alabama; we can put anything on the road it seems.

 

[scrubjaysnest-TMO]

towing laws

Found this, its dated 2008 so may be out of date:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-...owing/trailer/trailer-towing-regulations1.htm

and this from camping life dated 2006:
http://www.campinglife.com/output.cfm?ID=1047259

and this from towing world, don't know the date:
http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

so now we are really confused

 

[Bill]

The last one was originally on the Blue Ox web site, as shown in the footnotes. A few years ago it was moved to the current site. I've referred to it for many years, and I think they keep it up to date, so I would tend to trust it. The footnotes are very important - be sure to check them!

Bill

 

[Wavery]

When reading some of these laws, one must use a little common sense. Be aware that reckless driving laws trump all other laws. For instance, many states have a max speed limit towing of 75MPH...... You will be hard pressed to find trailer tires rated over 65MPH. I wouldn't be surprised if a Highway Patrol Officer wouldn't write up a driver for reckless driving for towing a trailer @ 75MPH under certain conditions.

Common sense should tell a driver that just because you "Can" doesn't mean you "Should" or that it is "Safe" in all conditions.

 

[moaboy]

Honda no longer requires the use of premium fuel when towing. When used it does provide a few extra horsepower -5 or so.
And my real liefe experience with my Odyssey is that it tows my 2720 just fine on regular. I tried using premium a couple of times to see if I could tell a difference or get better gas mileage and all I accomplished was spending more money on gas....

 

[scrubjaysnest-TMO]

trailer brakes

I like these two about trailer brakes from the footnotes:

4. Required on trailers over 3000 lbs. Or if gross weight of trailer exceeds empty weight of tow vehicle.


6. Required if weight of trailer exceeds 40% of tow-vehicle weight.

 

[TheBeeger]

Do I need a WDH?

Howdy Everyone! I have a 2007 Sierra extended cab with a factory hitch and tow package. Towing rated @ 4800# with a GCVW of 10,000#, Will I need a WDH to tow a 2720SL? How about a 3124? Thanks for your help.

 

[scrubjaysnest-TMO]

Howdy Everyone! I have a 2007 Sierra extended cab with a factory hitch and tow package. Towing rated @ 4800# with a GCVW of 10,000#, Will I need a WDH to tow a 2720SL? How about a 3124? Thanks for your help.

We towed our 2720SL 1100 miles with out a WDH but my truck is a little heavier than yours. We had no problems, without the WDH my ratings are close to yours. I have since gotten my WDH issues worked out and will use it as I prefer a WDH with the tongue weight of the TM

 

[TheBeeger]

WDH Question

Thank You!

 

[Wavery]

Howdy Everyone! I have a 2007 Sierra extended cab with a factory hitch and tow package. Towing rated @ 4800# with a GCVW of 10,000#, Will I need a WDH to tow a 2720SL? How about a 3124? Thanks for your help.

What wheel base and engine do you have?

I have a 157" wheel base on my '06 Silverado with the 4.8L V8. My tow rating is 6800# and GCWR is 12,000#.

I don't use a WDH because I have a bad back and I just don't like messing with the thing. In fact, that is the express reason that I bought this truck.

If the figures that you have for your truck are correct, I would recommend using the WDH.

 

[B&T2]

Howdy Everyone! I have a 2007 Sierra extended cab with a factory hitch and tow package. Towing rated @ 4800# with a GCVW of 10,000#, Will I need a WDH to tow a 2720SL? How about a 3124? Thanks for your help.

I think you will.

Tim

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Howdy Everyone! I have a 2007 Sierra extended cab with a factory hitch and tow package. Towing rated @ 4800# with a GCVW of 10,000#, Will I need a WDH to tow a 2720SL? How about a 3124? Thanks for your help.

I think the answer is probably "Yes", and I'm certain that your stopping and steering performance will be better.

The WDH keeps the tongue from unloading the front axle. Tongue weights run higher than we expect sometimes, particularly for people hauling extra batteries up there. Some have tongue weights that are more than 750#, but most of us are in the 500# neighborhood.

Here's the truck scale experience where one of our members found that his 480# tongue added 700# to the rear axle and took 220# off the front end.

Truck weights (with me @ 185 lbs):
Front Axle 3320
Rear Axle 2560
Total 5880

With Trailmanor hooked up (65 lbs. of WDH are included):
Front Axle 3100
Rear Axle 3260
TM Axle 2920
Tongue 480

(#8 in this thread for the rest of his post)
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7041

Also, here's a site I found with lots of good info. This link is to a 2010 owners' manual where it says on page 5-59 that the maximum tongue weight without a WDH is 600#:
http://www.silveradosierra.com/down...rs_manual/2010_chevrolet_silverado_owners.pdf

 

[T and C]

They are kind of small, but it seems pretty much anything short of a motorcycle could pull a Trailmini. The mini is much nicer than any pop-up I've seen.

Short of a motorcycle?

In the late 1960's my next door neighbor told me he had towed a 30 foot travel trailer from Ohio to California behind his Harley-Davidson. According to him this took place just before WWII.

I must admit I was skeptical of such a claim. However, a couple of days later he showed me the LA Times article they had published about it. There was a photo of him sitting on the bike, which was hooked up to the trailer.

Tom

 

[TheBeeger]

Tongue Weight

Yep, max tongue weight is 600#

 

[TheBeeger]

Wdh ?

OK, I'm convinced I need a WDH but do I need sway control too?

 

[Wavery]

OK, I'm convinced I need a WDH but do I need sway control too?

I haven't heard of anyone that really needs a sway control with the TrailManor because of the way that the axle is positioned and the tongue weight involved.

Some people like to use one for an extra measure of caution.

I have never needed one either with my current Silverado or my prior Chevy S10 pick-up with 127" WB. I had 60MPH cross winds (gusting to 75) going by Palm Springs with my S10. All of the big rigs and RVs were off to the side of the road. Even some vans were pulled over. We went through with absolutely no issue. We could really feel the gusts but the trailer never swayed @55MPH.

 

[B&T2]

I agree with harveyrv. If you don't pay extra for sway control, it will not hurt, but it's not necessary. Our Sierra tows our 2720SL just fine without it.

Tim

 

[T and C]

Check your owner's manual before towing

Folks,

Here is a fellow that didn't check his tow rating.

Keep watching when the guy starts cleaning the camera lens.

Tom

 

[Bill]

OK, I'm convinced I need a WDH but do I need sway control too?

As Wayne says, you almost certainly don't need sway control. But you can hedge your bets. When you buy your WDH, buy one that has the little dipsy-doodle bends in the ends of the springbars. These bends enable you to add a dual-cam sway control mechanism at a later date, if you feel you need it. But you don't have to buy it now.

Do NOT buy a friction sway control, now or later.

You might start by reading the tutorial on sway control in the Reference Library, the first forum on this board. The Library is officially titled "Trail Manor Info You Won't Find Anywhere Else".

Bill

 

[thewayneo]

Tow stuff

I totally agree with Bill's advice. About 15 years ago I had a small Ultralight trailer with WDH and what was then the best dual friction anti-sway devices. At about 45mph a cross wind hit and in about 5 seconds, truck and trailer were rolling sideways down the road. After that I bought a motor home, but have been spooked by wind ever since. I loved that motor home for 13 years but with the price of gas... So now with my 2619 I needed the extra confidence of the dual cam sway control and love it. I agree with everybody that I don't really NEED it but I just feel better with it. It's easy to use and my TM tows rock solid. I bought the entire like-new setup from Craigslist for $250.

Wayne-o