Post up your towing accomplishments. Discussion on tips, tricks, trailers, hitches, tech, mods, successes, and failures are encouraged and desired. Pictures would also be great!

 

I’ll start it off: before my last towing trip with the travel trailer I installed a LevelMate Pro. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s basically an electronic level that you install in your trailer. It connects via Bluetooth to a smart phone app.

It was easy to follow the app prompts to setup and calibrate. My typical use: I drove onto my campsite, stopped, opened pass-through compartment door, switched on the LevelMate, opened the app, saw which side needed to be raised, inserted Andersen levelers under the tires on that side, pulled forward slowly until level side-to-side, set parking brake, chocked tires, unhitched, and leveled front to back. I’ve been using the Andersen levelers since we got the trailer and they are a perfect match for the LevelMate.

The app has the ability save your hitch height. I’ve got a ProPride hitch and the first time I recalled and adjusted to the saved hitch height when getting ready to depart, I decided to just trust the tech and see what happened. I ended up backing up and getting the stinger in the socket first time. I just had to keep centered left and right (backup camera installed over the hitch). Wow!

Verdict: loved it! It is a game changer for leveling and re-hitching a bumper pull (maybe even a 5er without auto-level). Cuts stress and makes solo setup pretty darn easy.

 

I've had a LevelMate Pro on one of my trailers for a few years now, I'm extremely happy with it & the only thing that would be better would be if it could be left switched on, I've mounted mine in the bedroom & either have to climb over the bed or put the bedroom slide out in order to switch it on.
I was looking for another one to put on my toy hauler & I see that they now offer a version with a bigger battery & a USB connection, it's a bit more expensive but I'm going to try one. The same company also has another product for remote operation of slides & jacks, looks good but is it a solution for a non existent problem?

 

I guess I have a newer version. It will automatically shut off after a user set amount of time with no motion. I don’t know if walking around inside is enough motion to keep it on so I’m just planning on shutting it off.

I mounted the LevelMate in the pass through for easy access without needing to enter the trailer. I read about some that installed it inside so I wanted to avoid that. If I were smart though, I would have installed it on the drivers side...


There’s no way I’d put out slides remotely...at least without inspecting inside first. I’ve got three different drawers that could get ripped off if they open during travel. They haven’t opened since installing the shock kit before this trip (maybe a topic for another post?), but I’m still not willing to chance it.

 

I believe that mine will "go to sleep" if not used but I've never tried, with hindsight I could have put it in a locker, in fact I don't even know why I put it where I did.......I'm sure there was a good reason at the time lol!
I agree about operating the slides without checking for obstructions is a very bad idea, I've got damage from a galley drawer that hadn't been shut correctly & caught a bit of trim, it would be nice to operate the front legs & rear jacks remotely though, especially when the weather is bad!

 

We use our 2000 F-250 ZF6 truck to tow our home on wheels cross country. We have been in and through 42 of the states with our RV and had plans to hit Alaska this summer, but something about borders closing and what not... I used to live in Alaska north of the arctic circle and know cold, that is why we settled in north GA.

We bought our first travel trailer 2 hours after I bought the truck and 550 miles from home in PA. It was an adventure for me to say the least bringing my new to us ZF6 diesel truck home towing our new to us 30 foot travel trailer that was a Keystone Springdale. I remember telling my wife over the phone please don't call me if I am going uphill, going downhill, turning, slowing down or accelerating. If we are going straight and doing that for a while, I am OK to talk! That was a great camper that we called Ramblin Rose and we took it from the Atlantic Ocean beach in GA to the shores of the Pacific Ocean near Seattle WA in 6 days.

We sold that trailer and bought a 37.5 foot 5th wheel Montana High Country that we called Haven. This was going to be our home if we could not afford to keep our home in north GA after I retired from the military. The budget is tight, but we make it work and we are grateful to have our home in north GA still.

GFML (Grateful For My Life) instead of FML!

Haven turned out to be too big for our use and preferred style of camping, which is boondocking. We prefer to go up a Forest Service road in the NC mountains or on BLM land in northern ID on the edge of the national wilderness zone.

Here is a video we took of Haven when we had it for sale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrGj...ature=youtu.be

It was a great camper, but just not right for us. We sold it within a week of listing it and there were people lined up to buy it if the deal before them fell through. We even had one person offer higher than asking price in order to pull the deal out from the buyer. We were loyal and kept our word to the buyer though as we believe in karma and it can be a bitch sometimes. Another FTE'r bought Haven, which was very exciting for us. He and his family are still enjoying it to this day! We were texting a month or two ago about some upgrades he had in mind. On their first trip out in it, they brought it to a lake Hartwell campground which is 3 miles from my house. We went down and had a couple of cold beverages with them and showed them around a bit more since the excitement had worn off. They are from the Greenville SC area, so not far at all. It is good to see Haven go to a family that loves it and uses it as much as they can.

We now have a 28 foot 5th wheel made by Heartland and is a Sundance. This is the perfect, absolutely perfect camper for us and we are very grateful to have it. It has a slide for the bed to go out about 3 feet and a slide for the dinette and pantry to go out about 4 feet. We call it "Happy Camper" and love it. It is much shorter than Haven and is much easier to get onto the gravel roads, dirt roads and narrow Forest Service roads in the mountains of the east and the BLM roads in the mountains of the west. We have not had the chance to take it out west yet because of various things like pandemics and social unrest, but whatevs... It has been to Philadelphia, Florida, Atlantic beach several times, the mountains of north GA and NC several times and Lake Hartwell many, many times.

We hope/plan to keep this trailer for a long time!

In winter of 2018 I decked it out with solar and a bunch of boondocking goodies in order to make it self-sufficient when out west on BLM land. Below is a picture of the "control/wiring center" with the protective covers removed and then installed. This is in the front storage area.





We were lucky enough to purchase most of the parts required during Black Friday sales November 2018 and saved A LOT of money...

We ended up with 400 watts of solar on the roof, 2000w inverter, Victron controller and battery monitor, 4x Trojan T105 6v batteries, 2500w generator, WeBoost cell booster and WiFi Ranger WiFi booster. We are very happy with how the install turned out and it does a great job. Good thing too because we only had the budget and effort for one shot at it!

We installed Goodyear Endurance tires because we liked them from when we put new ones on Haven. We have plans to install a "wet bolt/shackle" kit before taking it out west and up to Alaska next summer.

Here is a shot of Happy Camper at our most recent trip to the lake.



Here is another shot of Happy Camper from a trip to the lake this past summer.



This is the same spot, but from ground level.






The truck does great towing trailers, even over mountain passes in CO, WA, VA, WY, MT, etc... The last time we did a cross country trip with the RV we went from GA up through SD, over to WA, down through ID, UT and NV and continued south. We went through AZ, TX and back east through MO, MS, etc... It is great to have your home on wheels behind you if that is the sort of thing you are in to. We found a quaint spot in MT to pull off for the night and ended up staying a couple of days. We really enjoy the NW during the summer months, but really do NOT enjoy the NW during the winter months. Alaska tough me enough about cold and I learned my lesson.

ArmyLifer offered to help install the wet bolt/shackle kit with me since he just did his, but I spent my budget on LED replacement lights instead of securing the kit, so that will have to wait.

We set the truck up well in order to be safe going up grades or going down grades. I installed a Hellwig rear sway bar, OUO traction bars, AirLift bags, new rear leaf springs, SB clutch, Cooper ST MAXX tires, Bilstein shocks, turbo upgrade, Hydra and a Tekonsha P3. I really think the truck runs and handles weight better than the day it rolled off the KY plant floor.

We really enjoy RV'ing and traveling with our RV. Hopefully all of this strife will settle down and we can make another trip around the country. We look forward to seeing FTE'rs along the way and being in TX for the north TX Meet & Greet. There are several FTE'rs in that area that we are looking forward to putting a face to the name.

Towing can be a daunting experience if the driver is not prepared or the truck is not properly set up. I always say "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" because that is true in most cases. We travel like we have nowhere to be because if we rush we make mistakes or something fails mechanically. We travel with a chase car now because it has paid for itself several times with mechanical issues like the recent 806* brake seizure incident or when @AllaboutMPG was nice enough to travel 3 hours one way to help us out when our steering gear exploded just as we were parking the camper. I ran around and gathered parts and Paul was there to supervise and give me advice. There was the time when I used Simple Green to clean the boots and tubes instead of brake cleaner and 100 miles away from home I could not get the cold side boot to stay on the spider. Even just getting in/around when the RV and truck are parked. Going into Charleston old city with a 2000 7.3 is not my idea of fun. Scouting trails and BLM land with a large truck like that is much more difficult than with a nimble AWD Subaru.

Boot popping adventure picture on the way to the beach is below.





We live in a beautiful country that has a lot to offer. It is a shame that our nation is in a time of such turmoil and confusion right now, but we have faith that it will one day be restored to its glory.

We consider ourselves very lucky and are "GFML" each day we wake up. Life is what you make of it, even though you may not always have a say in what happens and you have to call an audible, there is always a takeaway.

Good thread Eric!

 

Yep

Old trailer, 24.5' , a Tuesday after memorial day
Drug that sucker from OK to CA for the yearly trip to visit in-laws along with a bunch of localish state parks. Was nice for 2 people but as time went on the 6 of us outgrew it rapidly. Made for a nice get away for date night with a movie rental & take out.


New trailer, 38' of spoiledness.

Permanent beds for everyone, no more converting the dinette into a bed multiple times a day. Much bigger kitchen with countertops made food prep and cleanup much less hassle when u aren't fighting for dinette space with kids. Makes for rapid set-up and takedown on long trips vs loosing 3-4 hours of potential drive time every day. And with 4 females a second bathroom was definitely a major plus. Bedroom doors for the parents and kids helps with privacy

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Just a few truck mods to make it all less hassle towing


Towing the new 5th wheel on a very slight incline


Added some bling b4 the 1st trip this year

Closer pic

 

You want pictures?
Our 36ft Crusader, which has been all over the UK & will hopefully be our retirement home for a few years, depending on what happens with the pandemic & travel restrictions....


My 38ft toy hauler which I use for work, the garage is a tool store & I live in this while working away from home for 6-8 months of the year, I do go home most weekends though!

The Raptor is right on the limit of what I can pull with the 350 & Linda keeps looking at some real nice trailers with things like dual pane windows (which would be an advantage for the winter) so a new (to me) truck is on the horizon....
Here's a little clue.....

 

@Shovelheadrob That will be nice!

You having one shipped over or did you find one there? After being stationed in England for 6 years, it still amazes me how you get those big trailers around. You have more skill driving these trucks than I can ever hope for.

Additional clues: One of the words in the long name starts with F and ends with E...

 

Too much hint. That's a Fontaine

 

Haha, yeah it was an easy clue, I found the truck through FTE, it's a one owner truck that's been garaged from new & spent most of it's life in CA, so is in as good a shape as my dually. It's one of those things that you don't plan on as you don't expect to find but I just love things that are a little bit different & being a 550, it will pull anything that we're likely to upgrade to in the future.

 

Some of you folks seem to be pulling huge campers. Lots of frontal area that increases resistance.
I pull a 4 horse with living quarters grossing near 20k GCVW, (10k truck, 10k trailer). but could go a bit heavier on trailer. For me no real need to go heavier, 12 mpg up to 70 mph. I'd like better mpg, but HP & torque seem to be near sweet spot, only needing to drop down from OD on steep grades.
I like to keep RPM around 1800 to 2200, sound right to you?

 

28' flybridge cabin cruiser, 13' 2" tall, just shy of 13,000lbs, behind a stock '01 Ex with over 400k miles. Helper coil springs slipped in between the rear axle and frame. It did ok considering the challenge. It's much happier pulling all the other smaller lighter things I've put behind it.

 

Nope. This the 7.3 diesel section. Not the jet engine section

 

A little tip.

We run balancing beads in our trailer tires, helps smooth out flat spots after sitting for extended periods. Also helps with all round towing smoothness without hammering lead weights to the trailer wheels. Smoother the ride the happier everything in the trailer is. Cheap and easy to install with no guess work.