Towing with Smaller Vehicle

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

The numbers I posted are straight from the AS 2021 Bambi brochure. Could there be a typo? ....

I would be very careful playing with weight distribution on any trailer. Weight forward is good. Weight in the rear is bad sway wise. It does not take a big ratio
change to lessen the stability of the trailer. My Classic calms down when it's got a full fresh water tank .... go figure ...

Bob

Weight in the rear= bad sway; you mean like a trailer hitch with a bike rack and 2 bikes? (oh, sorry...that's another thread!)

[DAVSCH]

I've been towing my 22' Sport with a 2019 Honda Pilot. No Problems. Can't even tell the trailer is there. Just a few notes. The Pilot comes in different flavors. We did not get the top of the line Pilot. It doesn't have the same towing capacity as the next version lower, but it still has many bells and whistles. I also made sure I got the 6 cylinder version versus the 4 cylinder version. Dealer told me there's no difference between the two, but I'd rather have a couple more cylinders to play with. I do pay attention to weight very carefully, both in the Pilot and Sport. I found the Pilot has the same chassis and towing capacity as their pickup truck, so, it's really a pickup with a much nicer interior and capable to have a much larger human cargo when I'm not towing. Your choice is yours of course. Crunch the numbers! I will be retiring the Pilot here shortly from the pulling business when my 27' Globetrotter comes in. I'll surely miss my Sport though!! It has allowed me to camp in National Parks, Yellowstone for one, that have a maximum length limit on trailers.

[AldeanFan]

We have friends who tow a 25” SOB with a Honda Pilot and they say it works very well.

I had a nice conversation recently with a gentleman who was towing a 23’ SOB with a Toyota Highlander and he was very happy.

An airstream should tow much better than an SOB so these vehicles should be good options for a smaller airstream depending on tongue weight and how the vehicle is optioned.

[RamRider]

Our first trailer was a 19 foot that we pulled with a 2011 chevy 1/2 ton short bed with a 6 cyl, It was a great combo by only if you had 2 in the cab.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Weight in the rear= bad sway; you mean like a trailer hitch with a bike rack and 2 bikes? (oh, sorry...that's another thread!)

Hi

Hitch on the back with two motorcycles on it

While AS trailers do tow pretty well, there is no guarantee you can't get in trouble with one. Without tweaks, a 2017 Classic 30 behind an F250 can get you in trouble. I have a lot of data on this.

If you head out on one "vacation" a year and net < 500 miles a year, you may not find issues very quickly. Tow 10K to 20K miles a year for a couple years and you will uncover a lot ...

Bob

[PB_NB]

I didn’t see any mention of the Honda Ridgeline (similar to the Pilot) with great mileage and reasonable towing numbers.

600 lbs TW
5000 Lbs Towing
~1500 lbs Payload

Smart AWD system
Transmission cooler

Made in America (Lincoln, Alabama I think).

We are towing our 2019 22FB Sport with one of these and it does great. The only thing I feel that could be improved is the braking and a higher stated towing capacity. I think they left it at 5000 lbs just to fit in the SUV market segment.

The Sport is 8” narrower than the newer Bambi’s so it works well with the width between Ridgeline’s mirrors so we are not running extensions. With the Bambi, we would need to have mirror extensions.

The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a low range transfer case like some of the other little trucks but it makes up for that with a smooth ride. It is not going to be a rock crawler!

[LNBright]

Originally Posted by PB_NB

The Sport is 8” narrower than the newer Bambi’s so it works well with the width between Ridgeline’s mirrors so we are not running extensions. With the Bambi, we would need to have mirror extensions.

I don’t think that’s right: I think they’re all the same width if 23’ or shorter, it’s jumping from the 23’ to the 25’ that the width jumps up.

[PB_NB]

Hi Leslie, My wife would be happy with a wider trailer as the space is in the center of ours is a bit tight.

The 22FB Sport is narrower than the 22FB Bambi and Caravel by about 8 inches. The 23 footers and longer are all typical 8 feet wide I believe but I haven’t verified every model.

The narrower platform is what drew us to our trailer.

[Seanlb]

Originally Posted by CandTSmith

I pull a 19 foot Tommy Bahama with my GMC Canyon diesel. The least I’ve got, mileage wise, is 17mpg and the most I’ve got is 19 1/2mpg. We went from Denver to Florida and it’s averaged 20 mph and has plenty of power and it has an engine brake. You can’t go wrong. I service my truck on the road it only takes 6 quarts of oil and the fuel filters are very easy to change very low maintenance. It pulls best at 1800 RPMs and sixth gear

Absolutely love the Colorado 2.8 diesel with our 23.

[TIM ACREE]

In response to your question: “Any tow vehicle/small trailer combos that you guys run that you really like?” YES! I have a 2021 20-foot Bambi that I tow with a 2020 Ranger SuperCrew Pickup. While I have only towed about 1000 miles and don’t have the towing experience of many others, I can tell you that so far this combination has worked well for me.

The 20-foot Bambi is very easy to tow. It is light and tracks well and handles quite well on the interstate. It has plenty of storage and we like the looks. I have yet to be in a campground and not receive a compliment on the trailer.

Regarding the Ranger. I cannot say enough about this truck. First, the truck easily fits in my garage which was a consideration. A full-size truck would not. Second the turbo 2.3-liter EcoBoost is a great little engine. It gets good mileage when it is used as a second vehicle. On a trip I have gotten over 30 miles to the gallon but most of the time I get around 26 mpg. On my last camping trip, I stayed off the interstate and was able to get 16 mpg while towing.

The Ranger is made for towing. It has a 7500 lb. trailer capacity with 750 lb. maximum tongue weight both well within the limits of the specs of the 20-foot Bambi. The payload is 1770 lbs. I have a large safety margin! These specs came from the 2020 Ranger brochure.

The truck has 270 horsepower with 310 lb.-ft of torque working through a 10-speed transmission. This thing will really pull. While towing, I can stay up with traffic when accelerating from a stoplight and have no trouble merging onto the interstate. If that is not enough power, Ford Performance offers a Ford Performance calibration for 2019-2021 Ranger EcoBoost that adds an additional 45 horsepower and 60 lb./ft @ 2,500 RPM. See https://www.performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-9603-REB for more information. But you must run high octane gasoline all the time with this recalibration. I have not felt the need to do this but wanted to make you aware.

To continue, the truck offers tow mode which holds the gears longer and keeps the transmission from hunting when going up long hills and it adds compression braking when slowing. It has blind spot monitoring that covers the trailer when it is connected. It also has built in sway control. I do use a WD hitch but I leave the sway control on. I do not feel any sway when being passed by big trucks. I like the lane keeping system and the adaptive cruise control. They are both great aids when towing.

I added the brake controller from Ford Accessories: https://accessories.ford.com/module-...ml#2020/Ranger which is based on the RedArc brake controller. The trailer brake controller is compatible with all vehicle safety systems including the Forward Collision Warning System and the Automatic Emergency Braking. The controller has two driver selectable braking modes – proportional or user-controlled modes. The proportional controller is controlled by three internal gyroscopes and it is an incredible brake controller. The Ranger is not offered with a factory integrated controller. It must be added.

While this setup may not be the best setup for everyone, I am totally happy with it. And I feel safe pulling the trailer up and down the hills in Tennessee.

[Halford1]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

The numbers I posted are straight from the AS 2021 Bambi brochure. Could there be a typo? ....

I would be very careful playing with weight distribution on any trailer. Weight forward is good. Weight in the rear is bad sway wise. It does not take a big ratio
change to lessen the stability of the trailer. My Classic calms down when it's got a full fresh water tank .... go figure ...

Bob

Bob,

your classic is super huge. different formula of towing between classic and Bambi models. I would use WDH with classics but not needed with Bambi models that is if there's proper internal weight distribution. There are several demos showing that with proper internal weight distribution, no nudging (winds, 18 wheelers) would cause the trailer to stray for Bambi models. I have done that from Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone and West Yellowstone to SoCal. No swaying happened even with 18 wheelers passed me and hard winds were blowing. The secret is that the rear part of the 19' is much lighter than the front part. No one can argue with me on my towing experience with 19' FC, as long as the brake controller is installed, factory installed tow package (not dealer installed) for TV.

[TIM ACREE]

In response to your question: “Any tow vehicle/small trailer combos that you guys run that you really like?” YES! I have a 2021 20-foot Bambi that I tow with a 2020 Ranger SuperCrew Pickup. While I have only towed about 1000 miles and don’t have the towing experience of many others, I can tell you that so far this combination has worked well for me.

The 20-foot Bambi is very easy to tow. It is light and tracks well and handles quite well on the interstate. It has plenty of storage and we like the looks. I have yet to be in a campground and not receive a compliment on the trailer.

Regarding the Ranger. I cannot say enough about this truck. First, the truck easily fits in my garage which was a consideration. A full-size truck would not. Second the turbo 2.3-liter EcoBoost is a great little engine. It gets good mileage when it is used as a second vehicle. On a trip I have gotten over 30 miles to the gallon but most of the time I get around 26 mpg. On my last camping trip, I stayed off the interstate and was able to get 16 mpg while towing.

The Ranger is made for towing. It has a 7500 lb. trailer capacity with 750 lb. maximum tongue weight both well within the limits of the specs of the 20-foot Bambi. The payload is 1770 lbs. I have a large safety margin! These specs came from the 2020 Ranger brochure.

The truck has 270 horsepower with 310 lb.-ft of torque working through a 10-speed transmission. This thing will really pull. While towing, I can stay up with traffic when accelerating from a stoplight and have no trouble merging onto the interstate. If that is not enough power, Ford Performance offers a Ford Performance calibration for 2019-2021 Ranger EcoBoost that adds an additional 45 horsepower and 60 lb./ft @ 2,500 RPM. See https://www.performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-9603-REB for more information. But you must run high octane gasoline all the time with this recalibration. I have not felt the need to do this but wanted to make you aware.

To continue, the truck offers tow mode which holds the gears longer and keeps the transmission from hunting when going up long hills and it adds compression braking when slowing. It has blind spot monitoring that covers the trailer when it is connected. It also has built in sway control. I do use a WD hitch but I leave the sway control on. I do not feel any sway when being passed by big trucks. I like the lane keeping system and the adaptive cruise control. They are both great aids when towing.

I added the brake controller from Ford Accessories: https://accessories.ford.com/module-...ml#2020/Ranger which is based on the RedArc brake controller. The trailer brake controller is compatible with all vehicle safety systems including the Forward Collision Warning System and the Automatic Emergency Braking. The controller has two driver selectable braking modes – proportional or user-controlled modes. The proportional controller is controlled by three internal gyroscopes and it is an incredible brake controller. The Ranger is not offered with a factory integrated controller. It must be added.

While this setup may not be best for everyone, I am totally happy with it. And I feel safe pulling the trailer up and down the hills in Tennessee.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by civeng99

Curious as to opinions. Any tow vehicle/small trailer combos that you guys run that you really like?

Thinking on the order of 16’ or 19’ Bambi models.

Do not want a gargantuan tow vehicle, so no thanks.

Any mid size pickup folks? General impressions?

Thanks in advance.

I towed a 19’ with the pentastar V6 grand Cherokee. Very comfortable with fair power and range. However, don’t kid yourself, the tongue weight of a 19’ is close to 850 lb. And anything with only 250 hp is going to struggle on hills. I had a hard time reaching freeway speed when merging and people had to move over to let me on. That’s not how you merge.

I knew I’d want a larger camper so I upgraded to a full size pickup, and used the SUV for commuting. Then an elderly driver “didn’t see me” and turned left my path. After I got out of the hospital I bought the biggest diesel pickup truck Ford makes, and now I pull a 27’ with that. Yeah it’s hard to park, but I can hit 70 mph in the shortest on ramp in Detroit without issue.

If you’re going to stay with 16’ or 19’ and avoid big hills, a midsize pickup or SUV may work. Just watch for winds, payload, and people turning into your path.

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by TIM ACREE

The Ranger is made for towing. It has a 7500 lb. trailer capacity with 750 lb. maximum tongue weight both well within the limits of the specs of the 20-foot Bambi. The payload is 1770 lbs. I have a large safety margin! These specs came from the 2020 Ranger brochure.

It’s not a good idea to rely on the brochure for payload specs. You should look at the information sticker on your door jamb to get the information for your specific truck. The number published in the brochure is likely the maximum payload possible in a truck that has no options, meaning less weight. Your actual payload is probably less than you think.