RE: tire cracking
It's a known problem with the tires Starcraft used on some '06 and '07 trailers. (I have an '07 XP 18RB.) When I picked mine up from storage in March, they looked like they had been sitting in the sun for years. I wouldn't tow it 30 miles to the dealer, they were so bad.
I called Starcraft, who referred me to the tire company. They in turn got me in touch with a local dealer, who replaced them under warranty. They actually offered an upgrade to the radial version of the tire, which has much better reliability according to the dealer. They charged me the difference between the bias-ply model and the radial model, $12 per tire. Very reasonable of them and well worth it, IMO. They replaced all three tires.
Call Starcraft and see what they will do for you.
RE: from the UP to Niagara Falls
Do you think that just picking up campgrounds on this route without advance reservations will work?
That's prime time for all of us downstate "trolls" (*) to go up north and camp, so I'd strongly suggest reservations. The state parks fill up quickly, as do many of the other campgrounds. There are a lot of rustic state forest campgrounds, and you might be able to find open sites there.
(*) "Trolls" are Michiganders who live below the (Mackinac) bridge.
Enjoy your trip!
-Ed-
RE: Hwy 2 or Hwy 94
Definitely take the north route. Not only will you miss Chicago, but Detroit as well. There's really not much to see from Chicago to Port Huron/Sarnia.
Instead of taking US 2 all the way across the UP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula), try taking M-28 from Wakefield all the way to the Soo. Lots and lots of beautiful scenery. Depending on how much time you have, you can see some of the sights along the way - the Porcupine Mountains, Pictured Rocks, Tahquamenon Falls, Da Yoopers Tourist Trap... If you're an old movie fan, you can visit the Mount Shasta Lodge and other places where "Anatomy of a Murder" was filmed. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052561/locations
Plenty of campgrounds along the way. There are state park campgrounds at Lake Gogebic, Van Riper State Park, Tahquamenon Falls, and Brimley, and a boatload of state forest campgrounds. Michigan park map
There's also a fairly new campground in Ishpeming, at the "Country Village", which has more amenities and "stuff to do" within walking distance. l
I hope this helps, and have a great trip no matter which way you decide to go.
RE: Towing with Honda Ridgeline
I have an '06 Ridgeline; here's my $0.02 on towing with it.
Look in the towing section of the owner's manual; it has a table which shows the "real" towing capacity. With us inside (2 big adults, 1 kid and 2 dogs), the tow rating is 4100.
First trailer was 3700 dry and 4100 ready to camp...right at the limit. It handled OK, but not what I would call "good" or "comfortable". Crosswinds were tough even at 50-55 mph on back roads. THEN I bought a tongue weight scale; it was way over the 500-lb limit. Try as I might, I couldn't get it below 550. End of trailer number one.
Second and current trailer is our hybrid Starcraft XP 18RB, 3500 GVWR and about 3100 ready for a weekend. Tongue weight is a comfortable 450 or so. What a difference a thousand pounds makes. I wouldn't go back to towing 2 tons, at least not regularly.
I hope this helps!
-Ed-
RE: Went to the scales...wdh question
I hope you don't mind me chiming in here, but something caught my eye.
You mentioned that the TV is an '05 Sienna. I used to have an '04, and its max tow rating was 3500 lbs with a max hitch weight of 350 lbs. Did the ratings significantly increase for '05? That would be nice if they did; the Sienna is such a nice van in so many ways.
If the '05 ratings are similar to the '04's, then it looks to me like you've done quite a good job of setting things up, given that the trailer would be over a couple of limits. (Not meaning to criticize here at all; you've done and are doing your homework with regard to GAWR and all.)
-Ed-
RE: Need some towing advice..... about my TV
I have an '06 Ridgeline (and love it). Here are my thoughts.
Take a look at the table in the towing section of the manual, that shows how towing capacity varies with the number of people or amount of cargo in the truck. In my case, with about 700 pounds of people and dogs, it's 4100 lbs.
I used to have a TT with a GVWR of 4800, that weighed ~4000 ready to travel. We traded it for a much lighter Starcraft XP 18RB for 2 reasons: (1) No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the tongue weight down below 550, which was just too much. That was a showstopper for me. (2) Even empty, and with an Equal-i-zer hitch, it was a handful in windy conditions, and was more than I wanted to tackle for my first camping trailer tow.
I am much, much happier with the Starcraft behind the Ridge; it's like they were made for each other. Having half a ton less weight (3000-3100 ready to go, GVWR of 3500) made all the difference.
Whatever you pull, I super-strongly recommend a sway-control hitch like the Equal-i-zer.
