Those of you who tow a car hauler (not a tow dolly) - some questions

John Canfield said:

We originally tied Rubi down from the trailer to the recovery D rings and then switched to straps on the axles.  The front chains are crossed (necessary due to the length of the chain ratchets) which has worked well for almost 3,000 miles of hauling the rig.  I need to move Rubi back on the trailer (too much weight on the rear coach axle) and re-do the chains.  If I can manage it, I'll do straight chains in the front.

We're currently south of Montrose at Centennial RV park - we'll be here until Labor Day.

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The two reasons I cautioned against crossing the tie downs is one,  if one breaks the Jeep could walk to one side or off the trailer if it is close to the side and second, the tiedowns/chains have about half of their capacity when at a 45 degree angle.

You mentioned you are in Montrose, we are heading to Ouray sometime next week.  We are going to do a little wheeling and check out some mines/ghost towns.

Mike.

We can run a trail or two together if you want.

Here are pictures of my Featherlite Car Trailer.  It is like yours except I have a rock shield and a storage box.

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd417/JamesDAllen/919.jpg

And here is a picture from the rear.

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd417/JamesDAllen/925.jpg

The reason the car is backed onto the trailer is because if I drive on forward with the engine between the trailer tires and the hitch too much weight is transferred to the hitch.

I bought a scale to weigh my trailer tongue.  I found that the only way I could keep from overloading my hitch with too much tongue weight was to back onto the trailer.  As you see the trailer, loaded in the picture, my tongue weight is 450 pounds.  Car and trailer are 4,500 pounds.  So my tongue weight is 10% of my loaded trailer weight. 

I don?t think many people actually weight their loaded trailer and tongue to make sure they are not overloading their hitch.

And yes my tie downs are crossed.  It was the way the Army taught me to load helicopters as I am an old helicopter door gunner.

Safe Travels.

JD

Yellowboat said:

I bought a scale to weigh my trailer tongue...

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Exactly what I need to buy!

Here is a web site that tells how to measure tongue weight on a bathroom scale.

http://www.etrailer.com/faq-trailertowtips.aspx

Here is the brand of trailer tongue weight scale I purchased.  I believe I bought the 1000 model.

http://www.etrailer.com/tv-Review-tounge-weight-scale-5780.aspx

Safe Travels.

JD

Good links - thanks JD!

John, something that had not been mentioned and I'm now knocking on wood as a type, but having a trailer vs 4 down is so much better if something gets (GASP) broken.
Since you are getting more aggressive with suspension and tires, I think the trailer is a good thing to have for that reason too.

John Canfield said:

We can run a trail or two together if you want.

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John, sorry for not getting back with you.  We just got home last night and I haven't been on the web in over a week, I just saw your response.  I would have liked to meet up and wheel with you.  We stayed at the Ouray KOA for the past week and did some great trails in the area.

We went over Ophir Pass into Telluride and then returned via Imogene Pass.  Those were some cool trails but the mother-in-law didn't care for the altitude/heights.  We went on Owl Creek Pass one day when it was raining.  We did Yankee Boy with a couple of other Jeeps in the campground.  They were going to do Black Bear on one day but myself and another guy backed out when we talked with a few people who had done it and come back with some extensive body damage, I didn't build mine to purposely beat up on.

We did do Mineral Creek and Poughkeepsie Gulch on Thursday and they were awesome.  Although they were rated at a difficult, I didn't feel they were all that bad.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking though.

I like wheeling in Moab but I absolutley LOVE wheeling in Southwestern Colorado.

Mike.

Sounds like you had a good time and sorry we didn't get to hook up.  None of the wheeling in the San Juans is real technical or difficult, but you can't beat the scenery.  As far as MIL getting scared, that's completely understandable.  My brother-in-law took a female friend of his wife on Ophir (I think it was Ophir) and she got so freaked out she laid down on the floorboard - he had to turn around. It is intimidating until you run the trails many times and get accustomed to the heights and shelf roads.

I've never heard about damage on BB - I'm curious to know how that happened.  We're running BB backwards with our club in a week or so - I'll shoot dash cam video and put it up on my YouTube channel (JohnHillCountry.)

John Canfield said:

Sounds like you had a good time and sorry we didn't get to hook up.  None of the wheeling in the San Juans is real technical or difficult, but you can't beat the scenery.  As far as MIL getting scared, that's completely understandable.  My brother-in-law took a female friend of his wife on Ophir (I think it was Ophir) and she got so freaked out she laid down on the floorboard - he had to turn around. It is intimidating until you run the trails many times and get accustomed to the heights and shelf roads.

I've never heard about damage on BB - I'm curious to know how that happened.  We're running BB backwards with our club in a week or so - I'll shoot dash cam video and put it up on my YouTube channel (JohnHillCountry.)

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That would be great I would love to see that.  The only part I was told about body damage on Black Bear was where you have to make the hard right turn and start the descent down.  That is where the guys told me that the four doors have a disadvantage and many have incurred body damage.  I would love for them to be wrong and try it next year.

Mike.

John Canfield said:

One more diesel guy here.  Coach, truck, Jeep Liberty, tractor all diesel.

We've got about 2500 miles or so experience with the trailer behind the Horizon.  I absolutely LOVE the situation where we can now back up, more than once we've backed the rig up to get in a open lane at a truck stop.  It's not much more hassle than towing 4-down but we do have to look a little harder for campgrounds with pull-throughs at least 65' long.

Zero regrets towing our FeatherLite trailer.

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John, It's been a few months since you've had the trailer.  Do you still feel like it was a good decision?  Have you had any issues with the overall length?  We prefer National and State parks rather than RV Parks and are concerned with overall length and maneuvering narrow roads.  Of course, it seems that simply unhooking and pulling the trailer into the campground with the toad would work quite well.  Have you had any parks charge more for a third vehicle? 

Haven't bought the motorhome yet but I'm hoping to get down to PPL in the next month or so and hopefully can drive one back.  PPL has a 2003 Journey 39 DW that I want to look at if it's still there in late Feb/early March.  Any issues on the 03 Journey I should be concerned with. 

Thanks,

Gary

Hey Mike,

Here's the video of us running BB backwards.

So we've had 6,000+ miles with the trailer this summer and what are my reactions?  Our mpg only dropped slightly from our usual 7.7-7.8 to 7.44, not too bad - I'll live with it.  Here's a few thoughts about hauling the trailer around:

- I love the fact that Rubi is up on the trailer and not wearing $1200 worth of MT/R Kevlar tires down

- I love the fact that Rubi is up on the trailer and not rotating the transfer case gears, axles, driveshafts, diff gears, wheel bearings, etc

- If we break something on the trail that can't be repaired locally, we can winch it on the trailer and take it somewhere for service

- It's great now that I have the ability to back the whole rig up.  A few times this summer I backed up to move to an empty fuel lane at a truck stop.  Saved a bunch of time.  I've also backed into truck parking for lunch because I can  ;D

- Loading/unloading the Jeep is now down to a routine and repeatable process that goes quickly

- It's a little more difficult to find campgrounds that can take our 65'+ length overall to where we can park the Jeep in front or behind in the space, but certainly not a show-stopper.  At no point did we need to pay for two spaces to hold the rig and Jeep.  If I'm not sure about the CG being able to accommodate us, I call and ask first

- Speaking of campgrounds (and driveways), we've drug (a little bit) the forward part of the trailer where there is too acute of an incline.  Campgrounds that are tiered (like cut into the side of a slope or incline) might have odd entrance and exit inclines.  Ran into that at a CG in Glenwood Springs, CO.  There were many other before us that dug a groove in the pavement

- We are not so quick to unload the Jeep for a pizza run if we are only overnighting, DW knows she's the restaurant when we're traveling from point A to point B.  Oh, the Jeep always gets loaded the night before we leave, so that night is strictly dining-in

- We did have three service experiences this summer, Freightliner and 2x at Cummins.  This is not much worse than getting set up in a campground where you unload the Jeep, but the added complexity was the trailer has to be disconnected and parked.  Again, more hassle but not really that awful.  We unload the Jeep, disconnect the trailer from the coach, park the coach, put the hitch on the Jeep and use the Jeep to park the trailer.  There was always room to park the trailer at Freightliner in Tolleson and a small Cummins dealer in Grand Junction, CO.  You need to allot about 30 minutes more time for coming or going

There you have my impressions.  In summary, Rubi will be a trailer queen as long as it goes on the road with us.

Thanks for the update. 

Sounds like a complete success John.

I am with John 100 percent. I have been trailering my Jeep for years and can't say anything to add to John's comments except one. I had to make a extension for my Jeep receiver hitch because of my spare tire. I have 37" tires and I could hook up the trailer to the Jeep without extending it out. Cost me $20.00 bucks and I use it with my Rhino too. Other than that, good to go!