First long tow....
08-15-2015, 10:46 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
First long tow....
Towed from home to just outside of DC today. I had had some concerns about whether the hitch was as good as it could get it. Pretty sure it was. Other than the obvious weight, it was hard to tell we had a trailer.
What is had expected to be 12 hours ended up 13.5. GPS said a hair over 10.
Overall uneventful except where 78 and 81 come together. I'm was in the rightmost lane and a Tundra pulling a camper in the left lane with a car between us. Left lane was ending so the guy in the Tundra starts moving over (no tow mirrors, huge camper). The car reacts to him by starting to move toward me, then corrects and smashes off the driver side mirror on his camper. We all pull over (it didn't see her hit me and didn't feel anything but it wanted to make sure they were all right). Tundra guy insists that car wasn't there and tried to squeeze through...but she was there all along.
15 miles later we stop for gas and see the 2 foot long dent in your camper...
Oh and if had tried taking off my cheapo antenna hoping for better reception from my slightly bent factory antenna and the damn thing snapped off almost level with the plastic cap at the base. Yay, more crap to fix.
What is had expected to be 12 hours ended up 13.5. GPS said a hair over 10.
Overall uneventful except where 78 and 81 come together. I'm was in the rightmost lane and a Tundra pulling a camper in the left lane with a car between us. Left lane was ending so the guy in the Tundra starts moving over (no tow mirrors, huge camper). The car reacts to him by starting to move toward me, then corrects and smashes off the driver side mirror on his camper. We all pull over (it didn't see her hit me and didn't feel anything but it wanted to make sure they were all right). Tundra guy insists that car wasn't there and tried to squeeze through...but she was there all along.
15 miles later we stop for gas and see the 2 foot long dent in your camper...
Oh and if had tried taking off my cheapo antenna hoping for better reception from my slightly bent factory antenna and the damn thing snapped off almost level with the plastic cap at the base. Yay, more crap to fix.
08-16-2015, 10:29 AM
#2
Grumpy Old Man
Stuff happens. 
Why anyone is so cheap or stupid that they tow an RV trailer without tow mirrors is amazing. When I ordered my new pickup, I didn't want the axle ratio required to get the factory tow mirrors. So I ordered it with "my" preferred axle and no tow mirrors. But the first mod was to replace the dinky little regular mirrors with the OEM "elephant ears" tow mirrors so I could see traffic near me to safely tow my small TT or enclosed cargo trailer.
Why anyone is so cheap or stupid that they tow an RV trailer without tow mirrors is amazing. When I ordered my new pickup, I didn't want the axle ratio required to get the factory tow mirrors. So I ordered it with "my" preferred axle and no tow mirrors. But the first mod was to replace the dinky little regular mirrors with the OEM "elephant ears" tow mirrors so I could see traffic near me to safely tow my small TT or enclosed cargo trailer.
Last edited by smokeywren; 08-16-2015 at 10:41 AM.
08-22-2015, 10:10 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Updated
You're right and grand scheme of things, our damage was minor. The extension mirrors I have do work well, better than the other ones I had, maybe not as well as the factory dumbos but I would not even try towing with just my stock mirrors.
Anyway, towed home today, took about 13 hours. Early on we passed a wreck, at first glance my wife thought it was a flipped semi but it was a flipped TT and truck. (that was in PA), in MD we passed an SUV that had rolled, in NY a car off the road, looked like it might have rolled.
Just went through my gas receipts for the trip (have not filled up since getting home so it does not include the last ~250 miles), 8.65mpg overall.
I will also say that is as far as I will tow (or even just drive) in one day. Would not have taken so long with fewer stops but we ended up stopping about every 2 hours and every stop was at least 12-15 minutes.
Anyway, towed home today, took about 13 hours. Early on we passed a wreck, at first glance my wife thought it was a flipped semi but it was a flipped TT and truck. (that was in PA), in MD we passed an SUV that had rolled, in NY a car off the road, looked like it might have rolled.
Just went through my gas receipts for the trip (have not filled up since getting home so it does not include the last ~250 miles), 8.65mpg overall.
I will also say that is as far as I will tow (or even just drive) in one day. Would not have taken so long with fewer stops but we ended up stopping about every 2 hours and every stop was at least 12-15 minutes.
08-23-2015, 07:24 AM
#4
Senior Member
Travelling on the crowded inter-states around major cities and other heavily populated areas is something I really like to avoid, for all the reasons you show above.
And as a somewhat paranoid and very defensive driver, it's just exhausting keeping track of all the traffic around me. I prefer less crowded secondary roads and avoid the Eastern Seaboard when possible.
I can only recall two "white-knuckle" experiences when towing, and one was being cut-off in urban, inter-state traffic. Was pleased with how the WDH's sway control handled the trailer as I swerved to avoid the car.
(The other white-knuckler was in remote Northern Ontario when a speeding trucker tried to illegally pass me on a hill and was surprised by an oncoming car which was run off the road.)
A 13 hour tow is a killer. I aim for a max of 4-5 hours, but we're retired and have the time.
And as a somewhat paranoid and very defensive driver, it's just exhausting keeping track of all the traffic around me. I prefer less crowded secondary roads and avoid the Eastern Seaboard when possible.
I can only recall two "white-knuckle" experiences when towing, and one was being cut-off in urban, inter-state traffic. Was pleased with how the WDH's sway control handled the trailer as I swerved to avoid the car.
(The other white-knuckler was in remote Northern Ontario when a speeding trucker tried to illegally pass me on a hill and was surprised by an oncoming car which was run off the road.)
A 13 hour tow is a killer. I aim for a max of 4-5 hours, but we're retired and have the time.
08-24-2015, 01:32 PM
#5
Senior Member
That was one of the main reasons I finally got my truck. Although I just am towing a small (to the truck) #3500 pop up camper, it was just getting to nerve wracking pulling it with my previous midsize SUV. It did ok, but on our last trip around 4th of July and we hit a lot of Chicago traffic north of Rockford, just the white knuckle driving was enough. I couldn't see behind the camper, only to the sides in the mirrors because the camper is so tall. People are so impatient when passing that if you aren't back over in the right lane in 1 second after passing, they are whipping around you. Can't tell you how many times I would wait for my mirror to be clear or a nice driver or truck to flash me over only to have a vehicle come over as I was trying to get back over.
Although I wasn't looking for the max tow package in a used truck when I bought it, this one came with it. I felt the mirrors where way too big and wanted to swap them out for standard mirrors but the one time I have pulled the pop up since, those big mirrors have been wonderful. Don't really need to pull them out, but I can if I want to. And I can finally see behind the camper Although I don't enjoy towing in heavier traffic situations either, I do feel much more confident now and safer. It doesn't even know it is back there.
Now the only problem is I feel like I need a bigger camper to justify all the towing capacity, lol.
Although I wasn't looking for the max tow package in a used truck when I bought it, this one came with it. I felt the mirrors where way too big and wanted to swap them out for standard mirrors but the one time I have pulled the pop up since, those big mirrors have been wonderful. Don't really need to pull them out, but I can if I want to. And I can finally see behind the camper
Although I don't enjoy towing in heavier traffic situations either, I do feel much more confident now and safer. It doesn't even know it is back there. Now the only problem is I feel like I need a bigger camper to justify all the towing capacity, lol.