[Archived]

Cliff,

I have just spent weeks researching trailers, I have an open car hauler on order. More weight lower gas mileage. Therefore I highly recommend only aluminum trailers. I highly recommend only V nose trailers because they let you turn tighter. A 48 inch tongue for the same reason. Add up the weight of the car, motorcycle, the trailer and anything else you might carry then add a 20% safety margin and buy a trailer with axles that will carry that weight. I ordered 7,000lb axles. On an enclosed trailer, the issues become, loading, tying it down and exiting the car. Position doors on the trailer so you can accomplish those tasks. Trailer tires are like coach tires, they age out, not wear out, replace every four years.

They are many trailers to choose from. I found the R & R trailers (rnrtrailers.com) trailers sell factory direct and do cost less. Featherlite is the probably the Cadillac and price reflects that. They will build anything you want, but they have very long lead times and were the highest cost I priced. I bought a Sundower trailer. They too would configure what I wanted, I liked the design better, they had the only V nose open trailer I could find and they were about $3000 less than a Featherlite.

Roy

[AL]

With the exception of having the ability to take a lot of stuff with you when you travel everything else related to a trailer is a downside. You are not only pulling the weight of everything you are carrying in the trailer you are pulling the weight of the trailer and thus fuel mileage is terrible.

A trailer is not welcome or convenient in most RV parks. Very few have sites long enough and some don’t allow trailers in the park, others have a designated area to place the trailer so in addition to the hassle of loading and unloading a trailer you also have the hassle of hitching and unhitching and the absolute joy of backing the trailer into the storage area amongst a bunch of other trailers.

I think this inconvenience is having an impact on how people deal with the need to bring more than the toad. This year in particular I have seen less trailers but a very large number of coaches pulling pickups with a golf cart or motorcycle in the bed of the pickup. I had seen that combination in the past, but not to the extent I have seen it this year and it is a great solution to offsetting the hassle of using a trailer because it eliminates the need to crawl out of the window on the car in the trailer, it is a great weight reduced, it is very simple to tow four wheels down and now with devices or ramps to load carts or cycles you can still bring the toad and something else.

Best of all the tires on the toad are certainly going to be a far better quality than the lousy tires made for trailers.

[Fred F.]

I agree, a trailer is mostly a hassle. But one advantage is you can back up if you get into a pinch vs unhooking the dingy. We bought the smallest aluminum trailer that R&R offers to carry a car. The trailer weighs 1200 pounds, the car 3185. Together, they weigh less than the flat towed Jeep. Seems like mileage is about the same either way.

[Greg]

I would rather eat bees every morning that pull a trailer everytime we used the coach. We have a 26′ Bravo enclosed trailer (with a 5′ tongue) for the race cars. Because of the race cars, I accept needing to pull the trailer with the coach.

A trailer big enough to haul a car will be as wide as the coach. Even a short trailer (18′ to 20′ w/a 36-42″ tongue) will cut a path inside the coach’s rear wheel when rounding a corner. Hence you must be extremely careful when going around corners (especially in town) so the trailer doesn’t jump the curb, hit a parked vehicle, or get up against a light post.

With an enclosed trailer you will likely need to crawl under the car at all four corners to tie the car down; this gets old pretty quick, especially the front tires. Most cars today sit low to the ground and usually when you open the driver’s door to get out it hits the wheel well inside the trailer. This can be mitigated by fastening boards to the floor of the trailer to drive at least the left side tires up onto so you can swing the door open. If the car is wide enough, or you have “grown” enough since high school you will not be able to get out between the open door and door frame; this is why you see enclosed trailers with a large door on the driver’s side … driver escape hatch. If you do need an escape hatch, make sure you have a ladder or step stool to climb down from the trailer as the first step is a doozey.

If you’re inexperienced backing any vehicle up with a trailer, or just haven’t caught on to do it … then a 40 or 45 foot coach and event a 20′ trailer is likely going to be a challenge for you. I’m not saying any of us can’t do it, but it will take practice, a great spotter (with a radio), a good understanding of the geometry involved, lots of patience, and thick skin (especially in a camp ground). The more people giving you advice, the greater the risk of something bad happening. Campgrounds are full of “wannabe trailer backing experts”.

We just finished a 78 day trip with the coach pulling the HHR. If we had a trailer, it would not have been pleasant. We regularly take the coach and HHR to places that would NOT even think about going with even a short trailer.

I haven’t even touched on maintaining another vehicle in additional to all your other maintenance responsibilities.

If I were making a direct run from Wisconsin to Florida (with at stop at ETLC) or Arizona or Texas, and then spending the winter in one place I might consider a trailer.

BUT if your mission requires a trailer (and there are some that do), I’ll share my trailer experience with you. I’ve owned a used 24′ POS and a bespoke 26′ Bravo; both enclosed, both bought from one of the largest enclosed trailer dealers in the country. I would not buy a new trailer off the Internet or from a dealer who wasn’t local. Who is going to do your warranty work? Who is going to take care of problems?

I highly recommend: 7K axles which gives you 14000# of capacity (most trailer builders give you better tires with more plies with 7K axles), 5′ tongue (S/B long enough to keep the corner of the trailer from the corner of the coach, #1 goal when pulling or backing a trailer with your coach), spread axles if the trailer is long enough (makes the trailer much more stable), spare tire well (two if there is room) under the floor (yes you have to unload the trailer to get at the spare, but creates room in the trailer), 12 volt battery (in under-floor box as close to front trailer axles as possible) for interior lights when not hooked to tow vehicle or to power a winch, carpet on the walls (at least part way up, NOT behind the the E-track), horizontal E-track on the walls (one row 24 to 30″ off floor, second 40″ to 48″ up) for fastening things to the trailer walls (now you got a trailer, you will use it for MORE than hauling a car and/or motorcycle), a beaver tail (last 3′ or so of floor is angled down to reduce the angle of the ramp door and soften the inflection point at the hinge (makes loading and unloading cars with a low nose much, much easier, and finally rollers at the back of the trailer (the geometry between the back of the coach and the trailer puts the tail of the trailer on the ground once in a while and the roller help quit a bit).

I’m not a big fan of aluminum trailers when pulling with a pickup, Suburban, or coach. I don’t think the lighter weight of the trailer means that much in fuel savings unless you’re traveling 50,000 miles/year or more. It might help if you need lots of useful load. I would advocate an aluminum ramp door which should be easier to lift than my steel door.

Lights. Most enclosed trailers don’t come with enough clearance and tail lights. The more lights on the trailer the easier it is for people to see it at night and the easier it is for YOU to see the trailer when backing at night. I can tell you from experience that even with all the lights in the coach turned OFF, on a moonless, cloudy night with rain or snow the trailer easily disappears in the mirrors behind you. More LED lights on the trailer helps deal with that problem.

As Jon observed … flat towing a pickup with a motorcycle or golf cart seems like a very practical solution.

[Archived]

Thanks to all. I do think I am now leaning toward a pick-up towing 4 wheels down. The only problem I think I’m going to have is finding one with an 8′ box. Again, thanks for the feedback. Cliff

[Harry]

Cliff, as I mentioned I saw a substantial number of flat towed pickups with motorcycles or golf carts on them this past winter. All of them were the common short box trucks with a 4 door cab. All had the tailgate down. I did not see any with the long 8 foot bed which is very easily detected.

I am sure some of our members are towing like that and perhaps they will jump into this conversation.

[George]

Found this trailer configuration and thought it looked interesting.

https://www.kwikload.com/

[AL]

Cliff: Check this rig out.

I haven’t been to a NASCAR Cup race in a few years, but the last time I was it seemed all the drivers had 40-45′ coaches (many Prevost), flat towing a 1/2 or 3/4 ton crew cab pick up usually with a shorter box that contained a golf cart.

The handful of Xfinity drivers that come to Road America for that race with a motorhome of any size usually have the same set up. Measure 18 times, then look at your options.

I think these folks are “mudders” which is why the truck is jacked up so high. You shouldn’t need it that high, unless you want to go off-roading and such.

[Archived]

trailers have always been a PIA to store at any campground. The right truck/bike combo is by far the easiest way to go.

[Harry]

Nice setup Ricky, I’ll be ready for the Hog when you’re done with it. Then I will have purchased more vehicles from you than I have at Parkway Auto, you know, the Junior Samples guy in Bristol.

[Cliff]

Truk if I had the Bristol Tennessee Car Dealers cash, I could give you this Hog. I’m not even close. Maybe he has all that cash because of all the vehicles you bought from him.

[Archived]

Now that I have decided to go the pick-up route, where is a good source to find which trucks are towable? Thanks, Cliff

[Dick]

Cliff,

I just received the 2018 towing guide with my Motorhome magazine subscription.

All of the ‘Big 3’ American full-size trucks are towable four down requiring that they are a 4×4 with a transfer case.

Chevrolet/GMC trucks (1,500, 2,500, 3,500) require that the negative battery cable be disconnected.

Ford trucks (F-150, F-250, F-350, F-450) require a procedure depending if it has push button start or if it has a key. No battery disconnect or fuse pull.

Ram trucks (1,500, 2,500, 3,500) are towable. No battery disconnect or fuse pull.

As with anything publication claiming that a vehicle can be towed four down, always check the owner’s manual.

Safe travels,

Mark

[Archived]

FMCA Towing Guide

[Dick]

Always read the fine print.

For instance with Dodge/Ram vehicles, in some cases the V6 engine may come with a transfer case that is NOT towable, 4-down even though it is 4×4 or all-wheel drive.

You may need the V8 engine to get the transfer case that is towable 4-down.

Some brands are towable but require the manual transmission. Automatic equipped versions may be excluded.