Pop, what are the advantages in towing a bit low where you go?
Would you rather raise the rear bumper some vs lowering the battery tray, or what?
Just curious to learn from your "off road " experience.
Thanks.
There are several reasons why towing slightly low appears to have an advantage:
1. multiple people report that there is a little less wind drag. I can not confirm this. Perhaps an Engineer can.
2. multiple people report that slightly low is a little more stable in adverse conditions than slightly high. I can not confirm this. Perhaps an Engineer can.
3. When crossing a dry creek bed the first thing that happens is the front wheels of my truck drop into the bottom of the creek. This raises the rear bumper of the truck about a foot. That means that the front of the TM raises about a foot. The TM tires are not yet in the creek bed, so the rear of the TM drops, but it drops by less than a foot because the TM axle is set back from center.
As I continue to pull forward the front wheels of the truck begin to climb out of the hole, as the rear of the TM begins to drop over the edge into the hole. This results in the front of the TM being very low. As the battery tray hits the small rocks (softball size) at the bottom of the creek bed the rocks roll around out of the way. If I hang up on a larger rock I can either move the rock or use planks to lift the TM wheel over the top of the rock. I try to tow around these larger rocks but sometimes I can not.
As the truck begins to level out on the other side of the creek bed the tongue of the TM lifts rather high. The rear of the TM is still descending the slope down into the creek bed. This is when the rear hitch receiver begins to dig a trench in the dirt sloping into the creek bed. As long as this trench is not more than about 3 inches deep then the rear plumbing will not scrape the rocks.
If the dirt is not soft enough then the rear hitch receiver does not dig this trench deep enough. This means that the TM wheels are beginning to lift off of the ground.
So now I am in a situation where the TM tongue is about a foot too high, the rear hitch receiver is carrying some of the weight of the rear of the TM and the TM tires are not carrying very much load, because the axle has been unweighted. I am now towing with the TM on 2 points of road contact instead of 3. The weight is on the front hitch and the rear hitch receiver. The TM wheels are outriggers, keeping it stable as it rocks from side to side a bit.
The dirt surface on both sides of the creek bed can best be described by several inches deep talcum powder. The dirt sloping down from this surface into the creek bed is well packed dirt with some rock and some tree roots.
It is prudent to have 4WD when towing any trailer across this creek bed, dry or otherwise. A TM with the wheels not carrying any weight does not roll. You drag it. It is more of a sled.
I have seen 5th wheel trailers on the other side. I did not watch them tow across the creek bed. These 5th wheel trailers have a lot more vertical clearance than a TM does.
The problem when towing across a creek bed, or any other road condition where you drop several feet into a hole and then climb back up to the original height on the other side is the vertical pivoting that occurs at the hitch.
We like this camp sight because there are only two spaces and they are very large. We have had the TM, the ATV trailer, 3 trucks, one passenger car, 3 ATVs, 3 motorcycles, 4 tents in it with room to spare. It is adjacent to a seasonal creek. It is set back far enough from the access road that we do not get any dust.
Recently I have discovered that if I tow with a 2 drop tow ball and cross the creek with a 3 inch drop tow ball that things work out a little better. Using a 3 inch drop tow ball lowers the front of the TM an additional inch. This increases battery tray scraping and reduces scraping by the rear of the TM.
I have modified the front battery tray because I have bent it, but that occurred when crossing over a rise that was in place to divert water across a dirt road.
As a guess, very few people reading this would want to go with me.
