Experiencing some hesitations while driving

[LittleRhodey]

We picked up our new TM2720 2 weeks ago. We haven't towed it much, but when we did, we experienced some slight hesitations while driving. What could the problem be? We have been driving at 35 on local roads while heading to a local campground and at 55 while on the highway on the way home from the dealer. We have never towed anything before so we have no standard of reference about what it should feel like.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Virginia Deacon]

Need information

I don't understand what you mean by "hesitations." If you mean slight jerks and jolts, it's probably not the TrailManor, but the road or your tow vehicle under load. Are you driving with overdrive enabled? Don't. Are you driving with cruise control enabled? Don't. Read your owner manual information about how to drive when towing.

Happy Camping!

 

[ng2951]

I agree with Virginia. The simplist thing to do is select your gear manually and see if it improves. Your transmission may be hunting and that could be the cause of your problem.

One other thing to check is your brake controller. It is possible that your brake controller might be activating the trailer brakes. Get on a safe road and try biasing it to least sensitive position and see if that improves performance.

 

[mike-rm-cd]

We need more and better description of "slight hesitations." Somebody should have an answer, or a pretty good opinion, as to what is the cause.

 

[ng2951]

You need to change your avatar...you aren't really camping until you have your awning out...

 

[SneakyFrog]

ng, you are so funny!

Sara and Louie,
I was going to skip responding to this post until I saw your TV is a Sienna like ours. And I asked DH about the same issue during our first couple of outings. I think you mean the weird, kinda mild jerking sensation when we are not on the freeway going one steady speed. DH and I had no experience towing either before last year, so we asked friends. They told us it is normal, especially since we are maxing out the capacity of our vehicles. We experience it when we start from a dead stop and hit any size bump in the road. This year I hardly notice it at all. And we've agreed not to do any steep hill driving for any significant period. Our Sienna has 25K miles on it, I need it to be a card-holding soccer mom, it's still under warranty, and the other 11 months of the year it fits our needs perfectly, so we are not trading it in anytime soon. My advice is to watch your weight - e.g., don't fill the water tanks while towing - go as light as possible.

 

[LittleRhodey]

No awning by choice

Hey, ng, we don't have an awning since we were trying to keep the weight down for towing with our Sienna. I hope that doesn't mean that we aren't "real" campers! The Sienna is not even a year old and we are still seriously contemplating trading it for a more beefy tow vehicle. Then we will buy an awning.

We are very bummed out to have had a fender bender this week - mooshed in the passenger rear left door so it won't open. That may influence our vehicle choice as well.

 

[Bill]

Could it be the transmission shifting gears? I suppose that the small hesitation between gears, normally almost unnoticeable, might be a little more pronounced when you're pulling a lot of weight behind the vehicle. If you have a tachometer, can you correlate the hesitation with the tachometer reading?

Bill

 

[countrygirl32082]

If it feels like a soft jerk when you are starting or slowing it mat be a little slop in your reciever hitch and that is normal. There is a brand that is rubber mounted but what you have is fine.

 

[ng2951]

...The Sienna is not even a year old and we are still seriously contemplating trading it for a more beefy tow vehicle...

Been there and done that. I bought a 4 cylinder Tacoma. It was only 10 months old when I traded it in for the V6. Gas mileage dropped from 24-26 to 22-24.

The good news is that we happened onto a really nice 2006 3326. No problem towing that puppy with the Taco.

 

[Scott O]

On my TV there is slight slop in the drivetrain to compensate for suspension changing the length of the driveshaft as it goes up and down. The feeling is very subtile, both upon stopping and starting. The dealer assures me this is normal. Don't have any idea if this is the sort of thing you are experiencing...

 

[LittleRhodey]

Thanks for the responses

I want to thank everyone for the responses. I still don't know exactly how to describe the feeling we get. It is while driving, not starting and stopping. It may very well be the attempted shifting changes someone mentioned. I am not that worried about it and we will see our dealers from MCD at the New England Rally next weekend. Maybe they can drive it around and see what they think. Anyway, it's great to have such instant feedback when I have a question.

I've been busy accessorizing today with throw rugs and pillow shams so I can leave the bedding out without it looking sloppy. I even thought of putting my daughter's sleeping bag in a matching sham in the front bed. It looks like a bigger pillow, really cool. I can't wait to see other rigs next weekend and compare notes.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The most important "feel" difference in the ride is the weight of the trailer pushing down on the TV. The tighter the WHD, the heaver the feeling in the front seat. If you want to test for this, just answer this question for me: Can you feel this when you're coasting every time you hit a little bump?

 

[LittleRhodey]

We will check for exact "feeling" next week on our trip

We will check for exact "feeling" next week on our trip to Mystic for the TM Rally and get back to you all. Until we hitch it up and drive it again, I can't describe the hesitations exactly.