Probably not new to most of you, but could be for some.

 

Downright scary when it happens. Saw a trailer SERIOUSLY wagging the dog the other day. Guy almost lost it.

 

Hensley or ProPride hitch will eliminate it completely.

 

That is a great demonstration which is easy to understand

 

Yes, All the other brands claim to reduce or stop it but the Hensley/PPP design never allows it to start. You still need to follow proper weight distribution and loading practices though.

 

Shouldn't try towing with a Mustang!

 

That's the kind of discussion I was hoping to spark... info on who has the "good stuff" to tow safely.

 

 

You'd be surprised what you can tow with when properly set up

 

The other day we drove to central NC. There was some jackass towing a large boat and trailer that was ~10,000lbs by my estimate with a Range Rover...

He was white knuckled and looked afraid for his life.

This boat was big and nearly as tall as my 5th wheel trailer. I used the little 1.6L turbo in our Escape to get around his ******* as soon as I could. 36 - 38 MPG's on the highway, amazing little scoot around errand runner.

Just because you CAN tow something doesn't mean you SHOULD!

 

Try this:

 

I know we are obviously all big truck guys here but other vehicles (not all) can be set up properly to do just as good, or better than a truck at highway towing. Trucks are great for towing heavy loads....in a straight line. For evasive maneuvers a lower COG excels. Common sense goes a long ways. In other countries people tow travel trailers with vehicles we wouldn't dream of using here. They use a lower tongue weight when loading, and drive at a lower speed. Common sense. There are a number of people on the Airstream forums and the Lance forums towing 25 footers with all manner of SUVs with thousands of safe miles behind them, the VW Toureg, Mercedes ML, and the Porsche Cayenne to name a few of the more capable ones. A few use Teslas as well which can be recharged at the RV pedestal. Not my cup of tea but just saying it can be done safely.

I'm a truck guy myself but after much research I wouldn't hesitate to drive one of Andy Thompson's setups cross country in a heartbeat. Having an SUV to drive solo at the destination instead of a 21 ft long Superduty is another advantage.

Somewhere there is an extensive study on trailer sway with a chart showing different loading and different speeds, speed was the biggest factor in a sway event both in causing it and in not being able to recover from it.
I don't know about you guys but I tow at between 62-65 MPH when the road is good and lower when the road is poor or jammed with traffic.

 

Most of my towing has been with an auto-transport (full) from UHaul, carrying anything from a Jetta to a larger F150. I know those are relatively light loads in comparison to what most of you guys do, but it's just the life I and my truck have had. That said, I've had no trouble at all with 70-75 mph on interstates, complete with running in OD. When I hit a steeper incline and can feel the load hitting, I slip it down out of OD, ride the incline, and slip back into OD again at the top of the hill.

 

bigb56, I understand your point and agree to an extent... I have lived overseas for nearly a decade including Korea and Europe and have seen SUV's pulling "caravans" as they are called. Still not something I would suggest based on what I saw.

Let me give you an example... Our 2008 Subaru Tribeca with a 3.6L V-6 engine and towing package can tow 3500 lbs. People that own this vehicle think that 3500 lbs should be their max because that is what the vehicle manufacturer said. Well, look at the brakes, transmission, engine load and how the SUV handles that weight. I do use the Subaru with a utility trailer to haul concrete bags, stone, etc from time to time and I would in no way shape or form recommend towing even a small camper trailer like an R-Pod.

It can be done and people do it, but it is NOT safe. Yup... You can get special WD hitches and even fancy no sway hitches, but that does not mean that the vehicle towing the heavy load is capable of doing so for long distances without mechanical failure or catastrophic failure when an emergency situation arises going down the road at 55+ MPH.

The fella I saw was nuts... Just on assumption I would say the Range Rover was a 2018 with a V-8 which means it can tow nearly 8,000 lbs maximum. This was the sort of boat that I would question hooking up to my truck, even though I am sure it would be fine. I see this sort of crap all the time... When we were up at the North GA Meet & Greet, we were having dinner with SkySkiJason and jhall1991 and there was a minivan that pulled in towing a 12-15 ft camper. The minivan could not make it up the very short hill driveway with gravel on it.

People assume that just because the trailer fits on the hitch it is OK. People assume that just because the towed weight is under or close to the maximum weight it is OK. It is not and can be deadly!

This goes the other way as well. People assume that because you have a Cummins, PowerStroke or Duramax that you can tow anything under any circumstance. We all know that an improperly setup travel trailer can be very unsafe. What about these fools doing 80+ MPH down the interstate in their SD with a 30 ft travel trailer...

We bring a chase car of either our Subaru or our Ford Escape when we go camping. For the very reason you stated of convenience. We park the truck and it does not move again until the camper is ready to be moved. We use the smaller SUV to run around. Some people don't have this luxury, but if they don't take the proper precautions they will need to tow that over sized load to the dealer for major component replacement or to the hospital because they could not control the load.

I tow at 65 MPH max, even when the speed limit is 80 MPH. Sometimes I will get up near 70 MPH for a short period of time to get around someone or something is going on, but usually no more than a mile or two.