Camper weight

[chuck s]

Make a bold speed reduction and note the fuel use. It will be much better. Air resistance is exponential and at 75mph is 133% of what was at 65mph and 225% of 50mph.

ST tires are rated for "the speed limit" according to my inquires. Proper tire pressure is paramount -- inflate to maximum sidewall pressure but age is a factor as well. Note my experience indicates travel trailer tires often have no excess capacity. No penalty fitting larger capacity tires.

I violated my own rule regarding replacing Special Trailer tires ever four years and paid the penalty of a blowout (not mere flat) at the speed limit on the Ohio Turnpike late last summer. Not a question of tire pressure as they'd been verified at 50psi less than an hour earlier.

Aborted the trip, fitted five (5) new wheels and tires, bought a good jack, and continued the trip without incident. Trailer wheel/tire shop complimented me on my driving skill handling the explosion. Must have been the Expedition 'cuz all I did was slowly pull over onto the shoulder.

-- Chuck

PS: Those paved shoulders on the Turnpike are heavy with rocks and gravel as I discovered on my belly changing the wheel! But at least there are shoulders. Virginia thinks a white line and trees are just fine.

 

[bobmbx]

PS: Those paved shoulders on the Turnpike are heavy with rocks and gravel as I discovered on my belly changing the wheel! But at least there are shoulders. Virginia thinks a white line and trees are just fine.

Don't forget the ditch of no return just off the pavement.

 

[chuck s]

I thought the trees were planted to keep us out of the ditches!

-- Chuck

 

[DF5.4]

What kind of MPG’s are you getting pulling these trailers guys? I’m interested in a camper trailer purchase but I am wondering what the MPG hit will be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I get 9-10 MPG towing. 65 mph is max

 

[RustyOval]

8.5 MPG towing almost 1,000 miles in 18 hours from Virginia Beach Virginia to the west suburbs of Chicago. 30'TT around 7,000#, stopped for gas about every 200 miles running 63MPH.

 

[Tim Fuller]

I pull about 6000# plus a family of 5 and got about 8 MPG at 67mph.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Ok that’s about what I’m getting. Towing a 5000lb Roo TT and got 10.8 today on the interstate driving 60mph for an hour and a half trip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[LJ4174]

The one that is the heavily overlooked and what was kinda mentioned here already is payload capacity

9200 pounds is a maximum permissible weight with only a 150 pound driver in the otherwise empty vehicle. The weight of every fossilized McDonalds french fry under the seat needs to be subtracted from that weight to get the rear allowed weight.

Comfort levels vary. I've yet to find any trailer length restrictions in the towing guides.

-- Chuck

This is overlooked the most and one of the reasons I went with an Excursion to tow my camper instead of the Expedition at the time. When I was looking payload capacity was about 1200-1500 lbs on the Expedition maybe. As Chuck mentioned this is empty with a 150 lb driver. I'm 200 lbs so there goes 50 lbs, add the wife, the kids, the dogs, and a cooler and your 600-800 lbs of tongue weight, you can see how quickly this can add up and overload the truck, and that's before you put even a pillow in the camper. Throw firewood, some bikes, a weeks worth of groceries and beer, household items, water if you are dry camping and things get heavy quick. Personally I would stay in the 5000 - 6000 lb dry weight and wouldn't go longer than 28'. I used the Equalizer EQ4 weight distribution hitch when I had my camper and it was awesome. My buddy has an F150 with the eco-boost and was impressed the way the truck reacted on it's own when the trailer started to sway. He gets about 8 mpg when towing.

Good luck!!! Have fun and stay safe!!!

LJ

 

[Fasttimes]

8mpg here towing my 27'(30' total) 7,000 tt. Just got back from a 2000 mile Miami to Smokies and back trip. 65mph is the sweet spot for me, anything more gas goes down even more and the trailer gets more squirrely. Wish I could say it was all smooth sailing, but I did have issues with burned up bearings that tuned into a 3 day nightmare, but I'll put that on me for taking a dealers word that they had just been done.

That being said, my 2010 Expy pulled the trailer just fine up the mountains, but did hit the 5k rpm range a few times on some super steep areas. Make sure you sue the "tow haul" mode when pulling your trailer, it helps quite a bit.

Even though I'm using an Equalizer hitch set up I still need to get some type of rear air/bag inflation system to level out the truck.

 

[chuck s]

Get your rig weighed, each separate axle. Truck and trailer. It would not surprise me if you lack of "level" is a result of lack of sufficient weight distribution. Getting squirrelly is frequently from lack of weight on the steering axle with a corresponding excess weight on the rear axle. Could be lots of things, of course, but checking your actual axle weights will help eliminate them.

No truck scale handy? Both axles should compress equally when the Equalizer (or any WDH) is attached. Rear end sag -- by definition -- says this ain't happening. Easy to measure the height of the fender lips (fore and aft) with the truck and no trailer and again when the trailer is on the ball and the hitch set. Both should compress. Dealer settings are good to get the trailer home -- but it's empty when new and the weights magically appear.

-- Chuck

 

[coolzzy]

Some sag in the rear is normal but shouldn't be more than an inch or inch and a half when the weight distribution bars are installed. The front should be returned to normal ride height with properly setup weight distribution. I sag 1" in the rear with 900 pounds of tongue weight and front suspension sag or rise is zero from unhitched height. It takes some mighty tension on my weight bars to achieve this. I have to hitch the ball to the truck and then use the power tongue jack to lift the trailer tongue and rear of the Expy almost to its full extended height before I can muscle the weight bars on with the pry bar tool. Then I retract the tongue jack and all is level and good.

 

[chuck s]

If the front remains at normal ride height it's got the same weight on it as before the trailer was attached. No weight was transferred to it. It needs to depress.

Yep, a power jack is the easiest way to put the Equalizer bars in place. Or just jack knife the trailer and a child can lift the bars onto their brackets. Handy to know when the power tongue jack is stubborn and you can't find the manual handle.

-- Chuck

 

[Tim Fuller]

If the front remains at normal ride height it's got the same weight on it as before the trailer was attached. No weight was transferred to it. It needs to depress.

Yep, a power jack is the easiest way to put the Equalizer bars in place. Or just jack knife the trailer and a child can lift the bars onto their brackets. Handy to know when the power tongue jack is stubborn and you can't find the manual handle.

-- Chuck

I was under the impression that no change up front was OK because it meant no weight was removed either. Also, if front IS compressed some wouldn't that mean the back is being lifted too much?

 

[coolzzy]

Front should NOT depress more than stock ride height when the bars are on, it should be returned to normal ride height. Without the bars, the front of the truck raises as the back is depressed from the tongue weight, which unloads the steer axle which causes floaty steering.

 

[Muddy Bean]

So I’m using the Anderson sway control and WDH setup and I really really love it. Easy to use and silent. No grease points. No bars to heave up. Spendy, but worth it to me. I’m dead smack in the middle of a 13,000 mile nationwide trip with my 5,000 lb 23’ camper and my family of four and tons of stuff. Putting the miles on. Already had two trailer tire flats and got stuck driving through post Florence NC but other than that it’s been smooth sailing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro