[Fot] Tow Vehicle Musings

Wed Sep 23 18:43:28 MDT 2020

The things I pay attention to are the engine power (rarely a limiting
factor), transmission (if a tow package isn't fitted, expect to change
fluid at least twice as often as recommended; you don't want that fluid to
turn black), brakes (trailer brakes must be kept in excellent condition)
and stated tow limits including the tongue weight limitation and the gross
combined vehicle weight rating.  Remember the up/down, left/right and
fore/aft forces on your hitch are working the mounting points on your tow
vehicle, so towing with a 1/2 ton might mean you have to keep an eagle eye
on loading.  If you use a huge offset on your hitch (I've seen plenty of
lifted trucks using at least a 10" drop) you are significantly increasing
the torque effect of that long arm to the loading on the frame.

The 2007 Toyota Tundra I sold last year was rated at 10,600 towing capacity
and 1060 lb tongue weight (with a load distributing hitch; without one it
drops to 5000/500).  I could see that the frame rails where the hitch
attaches are very thick.  Empty weight on the truck is over 5250 lbs lbs
when completely empty and the GVWR is 6900 so to pull that load the truck
itself must be kept very lightly loaded.  Fuel fuel is 156 lbs.  Add a 180
lb driver and a few travel extras and that leaves a margin of 1300-ish lbs
for tongue weight.

One wants to be pretty accurate with the tongue weight when towing at
the GCVWR (I couldn't find this figure for the Tundra but assume it has to
be well over 15850, otherwise, assuming the trailer weight is 10,600, there
is zero capacity left for driver, fuel, etc.).  How many of us weigh our
total rig, the trailer weight, and just as important, the tongue weight?  I
tried one of those hitch balls with an integral weight scale but it was
junk.  Thankfully the local cotton gin charges very little to weigh
vehicles.  There are some salvage yards not far away from my home that also
will let me use their weighbridge but they always seem a lot busier than
the cotton gin.  You can use the trailer jack to put the hitch at the same
height used while towing if you're going to weigh the trailer tongue
separately.

These days we tow with a 170" WB Sprinter Roadtrek camper van with a
standard body and the 3.0 turbodiesel.  It's rated at 7000/700 lbs. but I
keep that to 6800 max when not traveling solo; however my typical weight
with a race car in the 18' enclosed box trailer is less than 6000.  No
problems so far, but I do change the transmission oil early and I keep an
eye on transmission fluid temperature (using a ScanGauge II that plugs into
the OBD-II terminal) when towing in the mountains.

By the way, I love my little Bluetooth camera on the back of the trailer.
Signal is strong enough and monitor image is fine.  I feel more confident
when returning to the right lane after passing.  The one I bought doesn't
seem to be offered any more but this model is what shows up when I look for
my previous Amazon order:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DW7981G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Duncan

On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 1:18 PM Curt Johnston via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>
wrote:

> Scott,
>
> I ended up trading a 2017 Chevy 1500 for a 2003 Dodge Ram dually last
> month.  My wife thought I was crazy, but I found one with just 87k miles
> and in great shape.  I can now haul both of my cars in a larger trailer.
> The older Dodges of that era don't have all the smog equipment or use DEF
> that kills fuel mileage.
>
> I thought using a dually as a regular driver would be too impractical.
> But around town I get nearly 20 MPG, which is better that the Chevy with
> the V8.  I targeted Dodges in the year range of 2003 to 2006 and waited
> until I found one in great shape.  Still cost over $20k however.  But
> that's better than $60-$70k for a new one that gets 10 miles per gallon.
> Newer trucks have higher horsepower, but an engine programmer on an older
> Cummings diesel gives great results.
>
> Curt Johnston
>
> On 09/23/2020 10:31 AM Barr, Scott via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I’ve been towing a 24-foot toy-hauler style trailer for a few years now.
> It’s 14 feet of “garage” space in the back and 10 feet of RV in the front
> (toilet, shower, fridge, kitchen area).  All in, full of water, car loaded,
> it weighs about 9,500 lbs.  I load the trailer so I have about 1,750 pounds
> of tongue weight, which is technically a little over the payload limit of
> the truck, but not too bad.
>
>
>
> I’ve been towing with a 2017 F-150, with a max tow package putting towing
> capacity at about 12,000 lbs. V6 twin turbo EcoBoost with 375hp and 470 ft
> lb torque.  I use a good weight-distributing hitch and a sway control
> strut.  And I added Air Lift air suspension to help with the extra load.
> Generally speaking, the F-150 has been doing just fine.  But when it’s
> windy the trailer gets a little tail-happy, wagging enough sometimes to set
> off the truck’s automatic trailer sway alarm (it’s a big baby…).
>
>
>
> So I’ve been trying to determine whether moving up to an F-250 super duty
> would make an appreciable difference in the towing performance.  An F-250
> is 1000-1500 pounds heavier than my F-150, depending on specs of both
> trucks.  Is that enough to make a noticeable difference?  Are there other
> factors that would make it that much better than an F-150?
>
>
>
> The F-150 with the twin turbo V6 and 10-speed trans makes for a nice
> street car, with reasonable mileage (about 19 average) – and it’s what I
> drive all winter.  The F-250 Super Duty will get considerably crappier
> mileage and will be a less friendly daily driver (I assume).  Not to
> mention that my F-150 is pretty close to paid off and I’d be taking on
> another boatload of debt to move up to the F-250.  Which is all to say that
> the towing performance improvement would need to be considerable before I
> would make the move.
>
>
>
> What say you, towing brain trust?  Is it worth the move?
>
>
>
> Scott (B.)
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