I'd like to thank everyone for their advice about the trailer. I'm fairly new to this whole game, so I really appreciate hearing as many different opinions as possible. It's also help me realize that the numbers given by both the car and trailer manufacturers are only a starting point. I took the Cougar out for a tow last week and I brought ~500 lbs worth of bagged sand meant for the sand box with me. I put most in the trailer and a few bags in the back of the truck to help simulate a packed trailer (I knew it wasn't enough weight, but it was all I had). The technicians hooked up an Equal-i-zer hitch, and I found the truck did fine with it on the highway and the roads around it.
After reading everyone's posts and spending a lot of time thinking about it, we decided to purchase the trailer. I just got back from our first trip with it and we had a really good time, but it was certainly a much different experience towing it as opposed to the pop-up. There was a little more wiggle in it than the test tow, but it wasn't horrible looking back at it. I was pretty nervous the entire trip since I didn't know what to expect. I just kept it at 60 and it did fine. I got ~8.5 MPG up the mountain, and ~10 MPG on the trip home.
It was a fairly straightforward trip, with ~10 minutes of town driving to the highway, 45 minutes on the highway, and the RV park was right off the highway. It was in the Adirondack mountains, but nothing too bad. Realistically, I think we're not going to do much beyond that with the Expedition. We might try some different parks deeper in the Adirondacks, but I don't want to push my luck too much. These short trips mean that we don't need to bring a fully packed trailer, and it gives me a chance to get more comfortable towing the trailer. I found that the hitch made a ton of noise as we were turning, which made me very nervous. I don't know if that's normal or not. Thanks again to everyone for their tips and advice.
* This post was
edited 08/22/08 06:53am by dsmoriarty *
Cougar 293
2008 Ford Expedtion XLT 4WD
Heavy-Duty tow package
Equal-i-zer hitch & P3 Brake Controller
dsmoriarty wrote: I'd like to thank everyone for their advice about the trailer. I'm fairly new to this whole game, so I really appreciate hearing as many different opinions as possible. It's also help me realize that the numbers given by both the car and trailer manufacturers are only a starting point. I took the Cougar out for a tow last week and I brought ~500 lbs worth of bagged sand meant for the sand box with me. I put most in the trailer and a few bags in the back of the truck to help simulate a packed trailer (I knew it wasn't enough weight, but it was all I had). The technicians hooked up an Equal-i-zer hitch, and I found the truck did fine with it on the highway and the roads around it.
After reading everyone's posts and spending a lot of time thinking about it, we decided to purchase the trailer. I just got back from our first trip with it and we had a really good time, but it was certainly a much different experience towing it as opposed to the pop-up. There was a little more wiggle in it than the test tow, but it wasn't horrible looking back at it. I was pretty nervous the entire trip since I didn't know what to expect. I just kept it at 60 and it did fine. I got ~8.5 MPG up the mountain, and ~10 MPG on the trip home.
It was a fairly straightforward trip, with ~10 minutes of town driving to the highway, 45 minutes on the highway, and the RV park was right off the highway. It was in the Adirondack mountains, but nothing too bad. Realistically, I think we're not going to do much beyond that with the Expedition. We might try some different parks deeper in the Adirondacks, but I don't want to push my luck too much. These short trips mean that we don't need to bring a fully packed trailer, and it gives me a chance to get more comfortable towing the trailer. I found that the hitch made a ton of noise as we were turning, which made me very nervous. I don't know if that's normal or not. Thanks again to everyone for their tips and advice.
Sounds like you're doing great. Yes, the Equal-i-zer makes some noise and the occasional load "POP" certainly catches DW's attention. Lube it well and eventually it "breaks in" and doesn't make much noise.
I found some "wiggle" also with my Jeep and eventually got rid of it but re-adusting the hitch as the dealer didn't do it anywhere near well enough. I also changed the TV tires to a much higher load rated tire....went from a 105S to a 110S using the Cooper Discovery ATR's. With the tires at max cold pressure the stiffer sidewall made a HUGE differance.
Also, keep an eye on the hitch, the 3/4" bolts will tend to loosen until the U-shaped bracket bends far enough to grip the shank. Think 320 ft/lb of torque for those bolts. The head adjusting bolt and washer stud will also loosen and require retightning.
Good luck and keep us posted with your adventure.
Dick
2008 Toyota Tundra Crew Max Limited TRD
2009 Cougar 268 RLS ~8400 lbs road wt
Equal-i-zer 12,000 lb hitch, Prodigy BC.
2006 Jeep Liberty Turbo Diesel.....TV in Training
2005 Jeep GC 5.7 HEMI,(retired)
2005 Jayco Jay Feather 25Z, 4" lift (Retired)
dsmoriarty wrote: There was a little more wiggle in it than the test tow, but it wasn't horrible looking back at it.
Good luck and take it slow...
Not sure what you mean by "a little more wiggle"...there certainly is more movement with a large trailer than a popup...so not sure if you are just getting used to the setup or the setup needs 'tweaked'.
You should really head to a CAT scale to make sure the load is perfectly balanced...that is a large trailer behind that Expy and you need things to be balanced well.
Do NOT assume that the dealer set you up properly. See this Towing STICKY and walk thru it YOURSELF to ensure your weights are balanced correctly...
We're planning a trip thru the Adirondacks next year on our way home from Quebec and Acadia...I may just have to pick your brain on that area for a nice few nights stay as we head back to the mid-west...
Offline
).jpg)
