Show us your small Tow Vehicle set-up

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by mstephens

Interesting. I get the idea. Suppose I have sticker pressure at the rear (which I do), then lower the front by 10%? Or would you be thinking even more?

For stability reasons, I always run the rear tires at max rated pressure, and start with the front tires at door sticker mfgr's recommended pressure.

[mstephens]

Originally Posted by subfan1

Have you tried less psi inthe air shocks? Would that make any difference?

Lowering the air shocks will lower the back end. The back end needs to go UP in order to reduce the subtended angle of the car chassis and trailer chassis. That's the only way to get the chains connected.

Right now it takes about 18" of lift on the tongue jack!

I suppose mostly it just "feels wrong" to me. If that's the normal method, then I guess I could just raise away! However, I don't think I will ever get 300# on the front. Ain't gonna happen.

[nvestysly]

ALANSD,

You originally asked for photographs - unfortunately I don't have any to offer. At least not right now. But your question brought something to mind... Last year at Alumapalooza there were lots of Airstreams being towed by relatively small SUVs and a variety of sedans. I seem to recall a Chrysler 300, a Dodge Magnum, several BMW X series, a Mercedes or two. Some of these are not exactly small but certainly smaller than your Excursion.

If you have the time and $ to attend Alumapalooza this year I suspect you'll find a broad cross-section of alternative tow vehicles. Last year I was able to sign-up for a test drive of AndrewT's Ford SHO Taurus and found it to be quite a capable tow vehicle. Definitely worth consideration.

I'm still in my Suburban frame of mind since I want to bring so much stuff with me but I'll definitely give a smaller vehicle consideration when (and if) we decide to downsize.

Danielle and I will be at Alumaflamingo in Sarasota in a few weeks. If I'm able to take pictures of smaller vehicles towing Airstreams I'll post them here.

On edit... I wonder if AndrewT will be looking for a spring break in mid-April? Maybe he'd consider coming down to Springstream and presenting his towing seminar.

[Pivot429]

Half-inch bolt through adjoining links. Shortens the chain by 1/3 of a link. Makes a difference in how the front end feels. I have 600 pound bars so I would guess you would get even more weight transferred with 1,000. lb bars.

Sent from my HTC One using Airstream Forums mobile app

[mstephens]

Originally Posted by SteveH

For stability reasons, I always run the rear tires at max rated pressure, and start with the front tires at door sticker mfgr's recommended pressure.

Ahh, right. I mistakenly said "sticker" before when I meant MAX for the rear.
Ok, I understand your point. I will try that.

[mstephens]

Originally Posted by MrUKToad

We hitch up on a sloping drive and I've even had the rear wheels off the ground with no problems. The Sienna is front wheel drive so I stick it park and all is OK with the car, but I also have my x-chocks in place between the wheels of the trailer and I have a couple of yellow plastic chocks in place on the leading wheels as a back up. If the trailer won't move then neither will the car.

This year, I took the chains up a third of a link (long story but happy to explain if you want) so the chains are shorter now and require a little more effort to get them in place. I have to get the car's back wheels almost off the ground, hook the chains on then use the pipe lever to snap the hooks in place on the A-frame; sometimes a reasonable amount of force is required. Once hooked, I lower it all down and I can see the bars flex and the torque acting on the hitch receiver (it comes up and forward a bit).

I haven't done a proper weighing process so I don't know what the transfer is like, but both car and trailer sit visibly level and drive well.

Andy T might suggest that you persevere with lifting the rear of the car; it's a bit worrying when you start doing it but you get used to the process. After a while, the bars will wear in a bit and I'm sure it won't be so hard to do anyway.

Ok, this puts me in a different frame of reference. If lifting that high is normal, I can adjust my thinking. I need to be sure I have better chocking then. I don't have front wheel drive, so my front wheels are depending on the parking brake (I guess).

Do you use ONE or TWO of those "x-clamps" chocks on the trailer? I have none.

I thank you for the detailed response. I really thought I was out in left field with all this lifting.

[MrUKToad]

Originally Posted by mstephens

Ok, this puts me in a different frame of reference. If lifting that high is normal, I can adjust my thinking. I need to be sure I have better chocking then. I don't have front wheel drive, so my front wheels are depending on the parking brake (I guess).

Do you use ONE or TWO of those "x-clamps" chocks on the trailer? I have none.

I thank you for the detailed response. I really thought I was out in left field with all this lifting.

Two x-chocks and a couple of the plastic wedge type chocks as backup. You should buy the chocks in pairs, anyway.

[Ron Gratz]

Originally Posted by mstephens

Lowering the air shocks will lower the back end. The back end needs to go UP in order to reduce the subtended angle of the car chassis and trailer chassis. That's the only way to get the chains connected.

Continue to use the air shocks to raise the rear of the car to help get the WD bars loaded. You might want to have the shocks raise the car even higher than you have been -- if possible.

Then, after the tongue jack is retracted, decrease the pressure in the shocks to let the rear of the car drop a bit. This will cause the WDH to transfer more load to the front axle.

By adjusting the pressure in the shocks after you initially use the shocks to get the chains hooked up , you should be able to "fine tune" the load transfer to a degree which is hard to obtain with just chain links and head tilt.

But, you might have to settle for more rear-end sag than you were hoping for.

Ron

[mstephens]

Right. I considered that. Although now that I may have already achieved enough WD, I can probably use the jack.

Right now, there is no sag at all when hooked up.

Perhaps take a look at the thread I started on the "Hitches" Forum. It's new and near the top.

I'd be interested to know your opinion about the amount of WD needed.

[Ron Gratz]

Originally Posted by mstephens

Right. I considered that. Although now that I may have already achieved enough WD, I can probably use the jack.

Right now, there is no sag at all when hooked up.

Perhaps take a look at the thread I started on the "Hitches" Forum. It's new and near the top.

I'd be interested to know your opinion about the amount of WD needed.

Sorry, I didn't know you had parallel posts in a different thread.

I now understand you have loaded the front end to 200# in excess of its unhitched weight -- rather than being able to restore only 200# to the front axle.
That's a huge difference and, IMO, you have transferred too much load already.

IMO, you should not make the front axle load greater than the unhitched value (FALR=100%). And, with that much, you would need to be cognizant of the potential for oversteer.

Ron

[HighFlying]

I've been reading some of the posts saying how well your small TV pulls your trailers. I thought some might find this information on transmission fluid intresting. Some of the TV's being used may not be set up to keep the fluid at the proper temps. Just something to think about.
As a rule of thumb, every 20 degree increase in operating temperature above 175 degrees F. cuts the life of the fluid in half!

At 195 degrees F., for instance, fluid life is reduced to 50,000 miles. At 220 degrees, which is commonly encountered in many transmissions, the fluid is only good for about 25,000 miles. At 240 degrees F., the fluid won't go much over 10,000 miles. Add another 20 degrees, and life expectancy drops to 5,000 miles. Go to 295 or 300 degrees F., and 1,000 to 1,500 miles is about all you'll get before the transmission burns up.

If you think this is propaganda put forth by the suppliers of ATF to sell more fluid, think again. According to the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association, 90% of ALL transmission failures are caused by overheating. And most of these can be blamed on worn out fluid that should have been replaced.

On most vehicles, the automatic transmission fluid is cooled by a small heat exchanger inside the bottom or end tank of the radiator. Hot ATF from the transmission circulates through a short loop of pipe and is thus "cooled." Cooling is a relative term here, however, because the radiator itself may be running at anywhere from 180 to 220 degrees F.!

Tests have shown that the typical original equipment oil cooler is marginal at best. ATF that enters the radiator cooler at 300 degrees F. leaves at 240 to 270 degrees F., which is only a 10 to 20% drop in temperature, and is nowhere good enough for extended fluid life.

[mstephens]

Thanks Ron. Got it now.

[slowmover]

mstephens, you might refer to the linked "chart" from a post by Ron Gratz on another forum in one of my posts above. It's more than handy, in my experience, as it provides some cross checks when using a weigh scale. As a format it is easy for others to read once filled in with your numbers, and posted.

[ALANSD]

anyone with a Volvo SUV that is towing with it...how did you hook up your brake controller?

[Stefrobrts]

Originally Posted by HighFlying

According to the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association, 90% of ALL transmission failures are caused by overheating. And most of these can be blamed on worn out fluid that should have been replaced.

And yet none of the automakers feel the need to give us actual gauges to monitor the oil and tranny temperatures

I've been considering adding real temp gauges for both to our new Flex. Though we won't be towing anywhere near it's capacity, I'd like to keep the car as long as possible, and I think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on those temperatures.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

And yet none of the automakers feel the need to give us actual gauges to monitor the oil and tranny temperatures

I've been considering adding real temp gauges for both to our new Flex. Though we won't be towing anywhere near it's capacity, I'd like to keep the car as long as possible, and I think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on those temperatures.

Before you decide on gauges, look into the ScanGauge II (and its competitive products) that connect to the OBD-II port. I had to do some programming to the device to get to the register for transmission temp on my F150, but in general as long as the computer knows something, the ScanGauge can see it. I see my coolant temp and my transmission temp in degree rather than just the semi-placebo coolant temperature gauge on the dash that doesn't really move as long as you're in what the engineers decided was the "OK" range.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

And yet none of the automakers feel the need to give us actual gauges to monitor the oil and tranny temperatures

I've been considering adding real temp gauges for both to our new Flex. Though we won't be towing anywhere near it's capacity, I'd like to keep the car as long as possible, and I think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on those temperatures.

If you have an Android phone, there's a $5.00 app for that: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...owl.torquefree

it works with a $10 bluetooth connector that you can buy on ebay. I use it to measure hp (at the wheel) and various temperatures.

To my mind, more versatile, easier to use and far cheaper than the ScanGauge (which by itself is a great product, from what I've read).

[Stefrobrts]

Thanks for the tips, I was looking into some of these apps, but hadn't determined if they would give me the outputs I want - specifically trans and oil temp on a Ford.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

Thanks for the tips, I was looking into some of these apps, but hadn't determined if they would give me the outputs I want - specifically trans and oil temp on a Ford.

In my experience, it doesn't so much depend on the app, it depends on what data the car maker makes available at the OBDII port.

The app, or reader, typically displays all that's available for grabs, but transmission temperature might not be a data set that's up for retrieval.

[Andrew T]

On many modern vehicles the computer does monitor the transmission temperature. If the transmission gets too warm it will reduce engine power to allow it to cool. Some put a little gear shape warning light on some just do it blind.

My understanding is that synthetic transmission fluids are able to run at higher temperatures with out breaking down. Still on our tow vehicles we change the fluid every 50,000 miles, cheap insurance in my opinion.

I have also been told it is a good idea on newer transmissions to use the fluid that the transmission was built with. On older transmissions that were not designed with synthetic we have had no problems upgrading to synthetic fluid.

Andy