Road Ruler
Canada
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Joined: 09/11/2003
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Caddywhompus wrote:Hey, the point of the original post, if I understand Road Ruler, was that the trailer design has as much to do with the success of the combination as the tow vehicle. In other words, it's impossible for the OEMs to stick a firm, reliable rating on a vehicle without knowing SOMETHING about the trailer. In absence of this information, there is uncertainty and doubt.
You got it Caddy and thnxs for posting. One can't accurately apply a Tow Rating number as there are too many variables and options within any combination.
This topic about towing the 18'TT compared to the "better" towing 32'TT is a great example.
Airstreams.... the best towing trailers on the planet!
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sushidog
Abita Springs, LA
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Joined: 08/02/2007
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I think a trailer that tucks in behind the TV like this:
May tow a little easier than one like this:
or this:
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Road Ruler
Canada
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That sailboat Sush might slip through the air fairly good. This might be a better example of a a barn door TT.
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Caddywhompus
Southeast WI
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Joined: 06/27/2001
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Exactly, vehicles are 'systems' and must be treated as such. Hitching up a trailer just adds to the system. One can't place all their faith in the front part of the system and ignore the back. They must be dealt with as a unit, and every change to one end effects the other.
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle)
'05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle)
'65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!)
Looking for a tow vehicle
Minivan towing
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sushidog
Abita Springs, LA
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Road Ruler wrote:That sailboat Sush might slip through the air fairly good. This might be a better example of a a barn door TT.
Yes sir, the aerodynamics are right, but the Cg is far too high for it to be stable. It will fishtail from side to side if they hit a small bump. If that giant keel was removed it would be sweet to tow.
I recently saw a video of a sailboat being towed with the sails up! That's got to be fun. 
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Road Ruler
Canada
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sushidog wrote:
Yes sir, the aerodynamics are right, but the Cg is far too high for it to be stable. It will fishtail from side to side if they hit a small bump. If that giant keel was removed it would be sweet to tow.
Good point about the Cg. Sushi. A good cross wind could blow it over.
A couple years ago we actually saw an accident involving the high Cg issue. It was on one of those trailers that was hauling a number of those multi oar racing boats. Maybe a half dozen. A cross wind must of caught it after going through an underpass and the whole thing ended up on its side. We saw it in the town of Brantford (where Wayne Gretsky grew up).
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RobertRyan
Australia
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Joined: 03/16/2008
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Quote:Why do 18 wheelers have a CCWR of 80k lbs? Safety my arse. It has nothing to do with keeping you and me safe in our little rigs, it has to do with keeping our hwys and biways from falling apart with too heavy of rigs for how our roads are built. Otherwise we would have 120-150K lbs triple and quad trailered rigs like they have in Australia in the outback!
They can run trailers that heavy as they are running on basically dirt roads in many cases.
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RobertRyan
Australia
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Quote:I wouldn't say I completely ignore tow ratings, I do look at them. But then I begin working out what I feel the difference is between real life and the brochure. Sometimes the ratings are liberal (as with most trucks and SUVs) and other times they are conservative (cars and minivans).
Here in Australia cars are rated higher but US Pickups imported in Australia are rated considerbly lower than in the US, due to their relatively light weight.
i.e Silverado 2500HD, 9000lbs a F350 Diesel Dually 12,000lbs.
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blt2ski
Kirkland, Wa
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That sailboat is not as bad as one would think. The boat itself weighs about 5000 lbs, with 2000-2500 in the keel alone! Add in the trailer below, and in reality it is not too bad. I towed my step dads sailboat home from getting put on his trailer, after building it, other than in his case, too little hitch weight, towed just fine.
see here
Reality is folks, as I was trying to point out earlier with my 18 wheeler comparisons, is frontal area, windage along with weight, DO make a difference as to how well a given trailer will tow, how close to, under or over your tow ratings you can go.
One fellow on here about 4 yrs ago posted a question re his truck, was it ok, gave some how fast etc he was going. most folks said he was way over the manufactures gcwr. He was a bit, but when you compared it to the truck I had at the time, same motor, but 4.10 gears vs his 3.42 gears, the trans he had, and what I had, both had an overall low of 24-1 for take off power, I had a final drive ratio of 3.08, ie from my 4.10 x .75 OD he had a 1-1 direct drive 4 spd manual, so his final ratio was 3.42-1, or about 200 rpms more tha me at 60 mph. We had the same take off power, the only difference is I used 1200 rpms when I down shifted, he needed 1500 because of the wider splits in the muncie 4 sd vs my NV4500. Reality is, mine was rated some 4000 lbs more, but the performance part was no different! So i got 4000 lbs because of an axel ratio?!?!?!?!?!
Anyway,
I'll stick to the there is more to towing than just the tow rating from the manufacture! I believe NONE of them!
Marty
05 Chev CC D/A LS Dooley
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
00 Chev C2500, V5700, 4L80E, 4.10, base truck, no options!
92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer
3 Single axle utility trailers
Check RV.Net Blogs at: blog.rv.net
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jas67
home
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Joined: 10/12/2009
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Caddywhompus wrote:Tow Ratings published in brochures only state what the OEM is willing to stand behind.
I agree 100%. In Germany (and most of Europe for that matter), towing trailers with "normal" passenger cars is quite common. My 2000 BMW 323iT is rated for 1500kg (3300lbs) towing in Europe (with trailer brakes, unbraked is about 1/2 that), but in the US, NONE of the cars even lists a tow rating. The X5 is rated for 6,000 lbs, in the US and the X3 was rated at 4,400 lbs for the first few years, but shows no rating now. It is all about lawyers.
Now, the European tow ratings are with the BMW provided hitch, which attaches to the bumper mounting points, and then bumper is mounted on that. The hitch is completely hidden when the ball mount (which is completely different from a US-style one) is not on. I would have tried to get one, but I'm assuming the ball dia. is metric. Anyway, knowing that the car is good for 3300 lbs towing with brakes, and 1/2 that w/o, I have no problem going right up to, and sometimes slightly over the 2,000lb rating of the aftermarket hitch I have mounted to the car. This car pulled my popup great (2000lb gvw, with brakes), and also did a decent job with 2400 lbs of wood pellets on a 200 lb aluminum trailer. I didn't exceed 45 MPH pulling the wood pellets.
As usually, YMMV.
2006 Jayco 31BHDS
2006 F-350 SRW,4WD,6.0L Powerstroke,crew/long bed
2004 Coachman 106 (2,000lb GVW, 1526 DVW) --SOLD.
2000 BMW 323iT TV for the popup above (towed it just fine, TV rated for 3400lbs tow weight in europe, the hitch I have is rated for 2000).
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