Can someone help with trailer braking?

[Larryjb]

If you have the right setup, towing a travel trailer is not a "chore." Personally, I enjoy it. I look at it as a challenge. And again, with the right setup you're not getting buffeted/pushed by semis or crosswinds. I could easily log 500 miles a day towing the trailer. Not fatiguing or stressful at all. Here, the 2500 makes a HUGE difference.

Moneywise - is a trailer more/less expensive than hotels? I'd call it a wash. I'd say they cancel out - campground nightly charge vs hotel, eating out vs cooking, mileage towing vs mileage not towing. We've done both, though we'd usually rent a house vs a hotel.

With regard to using a trailer vs staying at hotels - the benefits of a trailer, to us...
1) Not having to deal with check-in/check-out times, rooms being ready, housekeeping, etc.
2) Not having to eat out EVERY MEAL. Homecooked meals are nice when you're on vacation. We pre-cook and freeze a lot of meals, then just heat in the microwave, cook some sides, and eat. We also brought a gas grill which would tap the trailer's propane tanks.
3) Not having to constantly pack/unpack suitcases/luggage/etc.
4) We can stop ANYWHERE and have a meal/use the bathroom/change clothes. This is a big deal with 3 small kids. The only things that don't work off 12 volts are the microwave and A/C.

My kids are now 20, 20 (twins), and 22. They've each told me that they clearly remember and treasure all of the trips we took on our vacations when they were younger - Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Colorado, Utah, Gulf Shores, Washington DC, Colonial Williamsburg, NYC, Boston, Florida/Disney. Hell, we've probably traveled to at least 35 states, if not 40.

You forgot the no checking for bedbugs! That was how I sold the camping idea to my wife. But we also had to have a 3 piece bathroom, plus I make breakfast and often dinners.

 

[Geotrash]

I realized that I enjoy hotels more not because of the cost or difficulty traveling with the trailer as after few hundred miles I did and few backups/backins towing with F250 was very easy. We have a 9 yo and a 1 yo and they go NUTS! 33ft seems big until you stay in it for a month or two with two kids and a dog, who is probably the most behaved member of our family. I would absolutely love to do it and centrantly would enjoy it just with my wife, but with kids it is just too much. Also, I am more of a city life/social person and so is my son so staying at national parks is nice, but one or two days is enough for us as it is plane boring without people around. Staying I'ma hotel downtown New Orleans is a different experience and I seem to like it more.

Yes, I think that's the key. It's all in where you find your zen. Even though we're both extroverts, my wife and I love finding solitude together in the middle of nowhere, and with our kids. Ours are 9 and 12 so they're able to self-entertain, and we don't have a dog, which would add a significant hassle factor for camping.

 

[thompsoj22]

Costs of RVing depend. If you want to tow a 30+' full sized trailer with all the goodies and luxuries, then yeah, a hotel is probably cheaper.

There are other alternatives though.

We tow a Trailmanor which is not going to have all the luxury that the full sized trailer have, but it comes close enough for our family. It collapses down so you don't have nearly as much wind resistance, light weight construction, expands from a 20' trailer while towing to be equivalent to a 27' trailer (or 33' depending on the model), has a 3 piece (but small) bathroom. It is much better fitted than a tent trailer, but not as comfortable as a full sized trailer. We travelled from Vancouver BC to Anaheim towing with our 2008 Explorer (my Tahoe had a cracked head so I didn't want to tow with it that year). We probably averaged 15-16 mpg. I think we filled the gas tank twice in WA, twice in OR, and maybe 3 times in CA, I can't remember exactly. We are members of HarvestHosts, so we can camp for free on participating wineries, museums, golf courses, etc.

I'm trying to not make this a plug for TrailManor and HarvestHosts. There are other camping fun camping alternatives besides HarvestHosts. There are other lightweight folding trailers besides Trailmanor, although Trailmanor comes closest to the full sized among the folding trailers. I'm just trying to point out there are other alternatives to RVing that are cost effective and easier towing.

Ours is an aljo lite 22 ft, 4300lbs dry. The weight is acceptable for our tow vehicle but aerodynamically it f'ing sucks! So much of the nose of the trailer extends above the denali that it is like pulling a 4x8 sheet of plywood into the wind and the faster you go the more resistance is applied to the front of the trailer. You are correct in regard to any trailer that tows low and "pop's up" to be used allows the trailer to "draft" the tow vehicle, It is the best way to tow anything.

 

[Larryjb]

If you have the right setup, towing a travel trailer is not a "chore." Personally, I enjoy it. I look at it as a challenge. And again, with the right setup you're not getting buffeted/pushed by semis or crosswinds. I could easily log 500 miles a day towing the trailer. Not fatiguing or stressful at all. Here, the 2500 makes a HUGE difference.
....

There have been times I've had to deal with fatigue and stress, and that is pulling the lightweight Trailmanor. There was a very long stretch of the I-5 in CA with absolutely no rest stops at all. I hadn't slept much the previous night because of a train that pass through the area several times in the night and we were due in Anaheim the next day. With the sun in my eyes, I was struggling to stay awake during that stretch and was looking for a safe place to pull over but there was none for almost an hours worth of driving. Once we did pull in to a rest stop, I slept in the driver's seat in 40°C heat for a good half hour. I don't normally sleep during the day, so that tells you something. On our way back north, I used the old highway 99 which was slower paced, more places to pull over if necessary.

Ours is an aljo lite 22 ft, 4300lbs dry. The weight is acceptable for our tow vehicle but aerodynamically it f'ing sucks! So much of the nose of the trailer extends above the denali that it is like pulling a 4x8 sheet of plywood into the wind and the faster you go the more resistance is applied to the front of the trailer. You are correct in regard to any trailer that tows low and "pop's up" to be used allows the trailer to "draft" the tow vehicle, It is the best way to tow anything.

Here's ours, collapsed and set up. Not the most luxury, but it beats tent trailers hands down.
Sorry, can't seem to remove the duplicated image.

 

[Mr Dan]

With that much trailer (over 5K pounds) you've GOT to have a Weight Distribution Hitch. By all means add the anti-sway bars or get the ProPride and say goodbye to difficulties in towing. The WDH mechanically moves weight off of your rear axle and hitch and moves a portion to your Tahoe's steer axle and the trailer's axle(s). It does this by the tensioning the bars, the more you pull up on them, the more weight is shifted fore and aft which helps level out the vehicle.

If you are handy with Excel, I have created a spreadsheet to figure all this stuff out. I'll warn you though, a lot of fellas on here have asked for it and none have given me any feedback! It's either awful or awfully complicated! LOL

View attachment 251595

Hi, just researching my overheating transmission and found your spreadsheet, nice.
Any way to get a copy?

We're kinda new to the forum. Thanks for all of the great expert info!

Happy Trails!

- Dan

'08 Suburban 5.3 LT 4L60e (running hot) 210K miles
'97 Suburban 5.7 LS 270K miles

 

[swathdiver]

Hi, just researching my overheating transmission and found your spreadsheet, nice.
Any way to get a copy?

We're kinda new to the forum. Thanks for all of the great expert info!

Happy Trails!

- Dan

'08 Suburban 5.3 LT 4L60e (running hot) 210K miles
'97 Suburban 5.7 LS 270K miles

Send me an email. [email protected]