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RE: Outrageous TT/TV Combo
My GF's parents use to park their 29 footer in their back yard (steep incline). The Tow Vehicle (2500) was not 4wd and would sometimes have difficulty getting traction to pull it out. My GF's little jeep on 33" BFGs would yank it right out and onto the driveway.
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TheRealDoug
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01/15/10 12:01am |
Towing
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RE: new tow vehicle
Might tow it but stopping it going down a grade is something else . . . Hmmmmmm do I smell my brakes???
New F150 brakes are bigger than any 1-ton pickup brakes prior to 2005.
Larger diameter brakes are only a part of brake size. Rotor thickness is another major component.
Newer cars and trucks frequently come with larger diameter wheels, and that allows for larger diameter brake rotors, however an F150 is not going to have the same amount of iron in its rotors as an F250 or F350.
The rotors in our 2005 Chevy 2500HD were 1.5" thick vs. the 1.25" thick rotors on the new F150. That gives the Chevy rotors 20% more iron to work with--a rather significant advantage.
There is also an issue with big wheels and tires that most folks overlook and that's the increased rotational mass that those brakes need to stop. Bigger tires and wheels need bigger brakes just to compensate.
What about the differences in surface area and clamping force? (not trying to be a smartA, i think it's a legitimate question)
I would think a thicker rotor would mean it could support high clamp loads and, obviously, have more material to wear. Though, my logic (which could be completely wrong and/or backwards) leads me to think that a larger brake pad surface area wouldn't need as much clamping load to create the same amount of frictional forces. However, I think that having more wall thickness would promote better heat dissipation. Also, how many pistons in the F150 calipers? and for the 2500?
I would think only measurable results could decide if the F150 brakes are up to the tasks.
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TheRealDoug
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01/14/10 09:21pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Another attempt to find a decent trailer
Do a quick search for Tacoma and you might see some answers that would line up closely with your question. The ratings are very similar for these two vehicles. We really liked the Frontier when we were shopping but the larger rear seat and greater dealership selection swung us to the Taco instead.
Thanks for the heads up. Will do that.
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TheRealDoug
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12/25/09 12:01pm |
Towing
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RE: Another attempt to find a decent trailer
We need the trucks GVWR as well as actual weight full of fuel and ready to go camping. I prefer to use the trailers GVWR and 12% of this for hitch weight. So if you could list the trailers GVWR this would help everyone be more accurate.
GVWR of truck is 5811.
You can see from our sig what we are pulling. Latest TV is a Nissan Pathfinder, same vehicle as yours other than rear suspension.
This the best mid size TV I've had yet, and it does a superior job with the Surveyor. Pull in OD at speeds up to 70, pulls mild grades in OD, and will pull any grade I've encountered at the speed limit in 4th or 3rd.
The Surveyors pull very nicely, low center of gravity and torsion suspension. Ours is about 3800 dry with options, and 4600 wet and loaded.
PS- I have towed a lot of trailers from semis on down. In this class, weight does not mean nearly as much as frontal area. You could pull 7k lbs low profile a whole lot easier than 4k lbs high profile at highway speeds. A low roof/floor height and torsion suspension contributes to a much smoother tow. Airstream figured that out a long time ago.
Thank you! finally some real experience. How do you like the layout in the real world? I love the floorplan, is it as good in the real world as it is on paper?
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TheRealDoug
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12/25/09 09:27am |
Towing
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Another attempt to find a decent trailer
Okay, I'm back and have been searching and searching. Would like to run a couple more campers past everyone to see if the weights are a little more manageable for my truck, which has the following specs:
2008 Nissan Frontier
5spd Auto
Factory Class IV hitch
6500lb tow rating
650lbs max hitch weight with WD
3.43 gears
126" wheelbase
I've also rounded up some numbers:
GCWR of my vechicle is 11133. I've got a good approximation of my truck GVW ready to roll for a camping trip without the trailer hooked up to be right at 5100lbs. 11133-5100= 6033 (left for trailer including hitch weight) * .8 = 4826 estimated safe trailer weight with a couple hundred pounds of wiggle room.
My thought is that using the old adage "add 1000 lbs to dry weight to get camping weight" is pretty reasonable
Entry Number 1: Jayco Jayflight 19BH
UVW: 3,750
Dry Hitch: 435
GVWR: 6,000
Exterior Length ~22.5'
Entry Number 2: Surveryor SV234
UVW: 3447
Dry Hitch: 466
GVWR (calculated UVW + CCC): 4991 (we'll round to 5000 :) )
Exterior Length: 24.5'
Entry Number 3: Dutchman 18F Lite
UVW: 4076
Dry Hitch: 466
GVWR (calculated UVW + CCC): ~7000
What are your thoughts on this second go round? There are quite a few others that I've found with similar weights, but didn't really feel like listing them.
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TheRealDoug
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12/24/09 10:45pm |
Towing
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RE: Suggest your fave rv/travel blogs
http://www.expeditionswest.com/adventures/
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TheRealDoug
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12/11/09 08:55pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Would like the weight police opinion on mid-size truck
I'm told the frontier and titan share the same transmission.
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TheRealDoug
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11/30/09 08:01pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Would like the weight police opinion on mid-size truck
You really need to be more realistic. Look at the numbers, you are still within 500lb of the MAXIMUM your vehicle is rated to pull. Your trailer weight loaded shouldn't be more than 5200 lbs with that vehicle based on the 80% rule. Upgrade the vehicle or lower your expectations re the trailer. Otherwise Karma will bite you.
We towed a 17' 5th wheel, our first rv, with a 97 Ranger 4.0 this past summer. We were pushing 85% and while fine on the level, the truck was overwhelmed in the mountains. We were climbing 6% grades in low gear with the hazards on.Next year we will be enough truck to upgrade to a 24' comfortably down the road.
I am being realistic. You say that the trailer weight loaded shouldn't be more than 80%. Dry weight of the puma is 4500lbs; 3800 for the Jayco. the old adage of "add 1000lbs" to dry weight is 5500lbs for puma and 4800 for the Jaco...which is 80% and 74% (respectively) of my max towing. Agreed, I'd be pushing it for the Puma, but I am well within the limits of the truck with the Jayco. Doing the math (truck + people + full tank of gas + luggage + hitch weight - GCWR = capacity left over for trailer) leaves me 5500 lbs. For the Jayco, that's 87% of available capacity. I don't see a problem there.
And I agree, the Puma is too much for my truck. However, running the math and using the guidelines I've gathered from this forum the Jayco may be suitable for the truck. Unless midsize Japanese trucks require new math?
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TheRealDoug
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11/30/09 07:25pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Would like the weight police opinion on mid-size truck
what about the Jacyo 19BH?
Unloaded Vehicle Weight (lbs.) 3,750
Dry Hitch Weight (lbs.) 435
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (lbs.) 6,000
Cargo Carrying Capacity (lbs.) 2,250
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TheRealDoug
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11/30/09 05:04pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Would like the weight police opinion on mid-size truck
Thank all for your posts. Replies were as expected.
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TheRealDoug
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11/29/09 08:25pm |
Tow Vehicles
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Would like the weight police opinion on mid-size truck
All, I'm eyeing a Puma 18DB witht he following specs:
Dry Hitch Weight 527 lb. (239 kg )
Unloaded Vehicle Weight 4,311 lb. (1,955 kg )
GVWR 7,527 lb. (3,414 kg )
Exterior Length 23 ft. 3 in. (7.1 m)
Tow Vehicle:
2008 Nissan Frontier
5spd Auto
Factory Class IV hitch
6500lb tow rating
650lbs max hitch weight with WD
3.43 gears
126" wheelbase
I realize the GVWR of the trailer is more than the two rating, however, it will not be loaded to the brim and I will be very concsious of loading stuff into it. Taking the "1000 lbs of gear" plus the dry weight equals 5300 lbs which is right at 80% of the tow rating. Typical use of the trailer will be instate state/county parks in Tennessee with 80% of camping being within city limits.
Fire when ready :)
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TheRealDoug
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11/27/09 05:43pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Down Hill Towing w/Gas Engines
Here is a suggestion to figure out which gear you should be in going down a hill. Take a piece of paper and pencil to record your findings.
#1 Determine your red line by looking in your owners manual, say for example it is 4500 RPM's. You need to get some baseline readings and that is what we are doing
#2 put your truck in first gear and accelerate until you reach 4300 RPM's, record the MPH's, In my case on a chev 8.1 with a 5 speed allison, it is 25 MPH at 4200 RPM's
#3 shift into 2nd gear and take it up to 4300 RPM's and record the MPH, in my case it is about 45 MPH at 4200 RPM's.
#4, put it in 3rd gear and do the same, up to 4300 RPM's and record your MPH, in my case it is 56 MPH at 4200 RPM's Now yours will be different depending on what tranny you have, I have a 5 speed allison, yours will be diffferent but the method is the same. Now make your self a DYMO lable with these figures and place it on your dash. Now when going down a hill, you can look at your speed, and if it is say below what your reading for 1st gear is, that you should be in 1st gear. In my case if I am coming down a 10 % grade and I want to keep it below 25 MPH, I down shift to 1 st gear at the top of the hill and when the RPM's reach 4200, I hit the brakes and bring the rpm's down to about 3500 and then release the brakes and let the RPM's climb again to 4200 and do the whole braking processs again, Use the same method for all other gears, this is will keep form overheating the brakes as they will cool when you let off for a while. If I am going between 25 and 45, I shift to 2nd, between 45 and below 56, I down shift to 3rd. By having the figures right on the dash, I know if I am below, say 56, I can safely down shift to 3rd without overreving the engine. Most modern transmissions will not let the downshift take place if it will end up overreving the engine, but with my method, I manually take control of the downshifts knowing in my mind I will not be overreving with my downshift.
any electronically controlled transmission will not allow you to downshift into a mechanically overrev condition. I've tested this by manually downshifting into 1st while doing 45MPH. The computer won't let it happen.
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TheRealDoug
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11/03/09 06:21pm |
Towing
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RE: best tow vehicle ever
I miss my old 97 4.6 Expedition. It was a dog, but I could not kill the damned thing. Even when I went 10K miles without changing the oil, beat on it in the woods. And hauled 8 people with gear, and two heavy four wheelers to NC. That thing was a beast. I honstely and truly miss that thing. It had 214K miles when I sold it to my bro's father-in-law and was just as strong as when I got it with 178K miles. orig motor orig trans.
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TheRealDoug
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11/02/09 09:04pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Time for a new tow vehicle.. (Jeep liberty to what?)
I have a 08 Crew Cab frontier it does very well towing. I have yet to tow a real travel trailer, but I have towed quite a bit with it. The most of I've towed is about 2400lbs and with a bed full of camping gear. It was able to tow it in OD cause it was mostly flat. Over a 90 mile trip it got about 16.5 mpg.
Go drive the vehicles you are interested in. It will help your decision.
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TheRealDoug
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06/17/09 10:12am |
Towing
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RE: Why my roof is covered with solar panels
The cost of one kid that doesn't work out is huge. There are just too many of them.That phrase seems to be repeated every generation, but we still seem to survive and prosper. Yes, there are bad kids, but there have always been bad kids and the good ones will more than make up for the few bad apples.
agreed. I learned at an early age that whether I want to be or not, I am responsible for the irresponsible.
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TheRealDoug
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04/30/09 07:58am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Why my roof is covered with solar panels
Or to put it bluntly, we didn't exit the Stone Age because we ran out of stones.
This made me Laugh Out Loud.
Quadbillion: so is this thread about your solar power system or your dogma? I'm confused.
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TheRealDoug
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04/29/09 01:33pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: When to change transmission fluid on Toyota Tacoma
Do what you feel comfortable with and can afford. I'd rather spend $100 now than $1000 later.
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TheRealDoug
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04/28/09 11:10am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: TV Shopping for small HTT
Nissan's Pathfinder comes in a v6 (6000lb tow rating) and a V8 (7000lb tow rating). Either of those should be able to handle a larger trailer than what you have and offer plenty of room for your little ones for years to come.
When I get a TT and my Frontier (6500lb) doesn't seem to be doing the job, my first look will be a V8 Pathfinder.
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TheRealDoug
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04/28/09 10:52am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Why does Dodge not get flak like Tundra?
MadMav brings up where the profits go. I for one would rather buy a Nissan Armada/Titan or Toyota Tundra/Sequioa that is assembled in America which employs US factory workers. Sure, most of the money goes back to Japan, but that seems better than buying a "Big 3" truck where Mexican workers get work and the majority of the money goes to fat cats in Detroit. Doesn't seem like much help for any grassroots American worker in that situation. As most posters say, there is a global piece to this question which makes this simplistic explanation probably inaccurate, but for my dollar, I certainly feel like I helped some of the little guys in Canton, MS.
agreed. who cares if Japanese businessmen are getting money when we buy foreign. The US is not secluded, nor is it an island (figuratively, and literally). The values our Nation was built on was embracing the new and pushing the envelope. "Give me your tired, your weak, your poor..."
I'd rather have my money go to a a working American than some big wig CEO. Just look how well they manage it :S Why would I want to contribute to that?...The Blue Collar is the backbone of this country; and they have my support. I could care less about big business, I think they are the root cause of a lot of stuff - but that's just me and my conspiracy theories :)
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TheRealDoug
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04/28/09 10:11am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: cruise control
I use it. When I see a hill, I'll accelerate on flat ground to charge the hill or manually downshift on flat ground to reduce shift shock downshifting on a hill.
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TheRealDoug
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04/23/09 07:53pm |
Travel Trailers
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