Aggravations

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   Go through the scales all up fully loaded, fuel and passengers, cargo in both the trailer and TV, generator, hitch, tools, water in the water heater and lines, etc. See what you get for gross combined vehicle weight. Compare to the number on the MCGVWR on your 

 door sticker. Then decide if you’re comfortable  with that or not. Don’t forget this is supposed to be relaxing and fun, not a high stress white knuckle adventure. 

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offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Topic: Aggravations Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 10:28am
	Go through the scales all up fully loaded, fuel and passengers, cargo in both the trailer and TV, generator, hitch, tools, water in the water heater and lines, etc. See what you get for gross combined vehicle weight. Compare to the number on the MCGVWR on your door sticker. Then decide if you’re comfortable with that or not. Don’t forget this is supposed to be relaxing and fun, not a high stress white knuckle adventure.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

pedwards2932 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 21 Sep 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 333	Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 9:46am
	800 lbs added to the advertised dry weight would be 3500 not if your dry weight is actually 3050. I don't tow with any water in the systems. Battery and Propane = ~100 lb, removed table almost 40 lbs. I am under 3500 when loaded.....we don't carry much. The Escape allows for 850 carry cap so with the 2 passengers and 350 tongue weight we have about 200 lbs carry cap in the car.

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 8:31am
	Don't see how that could work. Many people own trailers that they don't have vehicles to tow. The are permanently set up at campgrounds, or on private property. Or they rent or borrow a capable vehicle a couple times a year to move them. The general concept of having some kind of clearer go/no go reference point is a good one but not sure this is a place for restrictive government intervention. Maybe a reference website where a prospective owner can put in his particular situation and get an estimated set of recommendations would be appropriate. There are lots of similar .gov websites, for example for Medicare supplements, roof solar systems, auto fuel economy. The are not regulatory but to help educate folks and are independent of the manufacturers who are just trying to sell you something.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

mjlrpod Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Location: Massachusetts Online Status: Offline Posts: 1221	Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 8:13am
	As I've stated in the past, and I'll say it again, the registry should not allow the sale, or registration of a camper unless that person has a registered vehicle capable of towing it. If someone is thinking of buying a camper, they should be able to go to the rmv site, and plug in the camper they want, and match it to their tow vehicle, and get an answer. The registry should be there to do more than just take our money. They are supposed to determine if a vehicle is street legal.
	2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 7:32am
	You really should get a heavier tow vehicle. Both the trailer manufacturers and TV manufacturers mislead you. You now know about the empty weight nonsense. The tow vehicle nonsense is the way they rate them. They are empty of everything except a skinny driver. Together the two forms of exaggeration become just plain dangerous. A 3500 lb tow SUV is not considered a mid size, it is a compact. You need at least a mid size one, like my Highlander or equivalent, at 5000 lbs/500 tongue. AWD and also be sure the manufacturer authorizes the use of a weight distribution hitch. About a 20 gallon fuel tank, the 15 or so gallons in the compact SUV's will drive you crazy after awhile. With the Highlander, I can load the trailer to near its max gross wt of 3800 lbs, put myself, my wife, a modest amount of gear in the TV and be about 800 lbs under the max gross combined vehicle weight rating. And keep the tongue weight up near 500 where the trailer is stable and doesn't sway. I consider that the minimum TV , I wouldn't tow anything heavier. You really want to stay well under the MCGVWR. Weigh the rig and see. Its not a horsepower issue, its a load handling issue. You can always climb hills slowly, but if your TV doesn't have the capacity to control the trailer, or you are lightening the tongue weight too much to try to get that in spec, then you have an accident waiting to happen. All that is needed is an unexpected wind or slick pavement event or some traffic blocking the roadway on a turn somewhere when you don't expect it. Not sure which Escape you have, but it looks like they have an EPA rating around 22 city/28 highway. My Highlander V6 AWD is rated at 17 city/ 22 highway. I'm rarely that low but I drive conservatively. That works out to about 120 gallons a year difference in fuel consumption if you drive 12000 miles a year not towing. You won't have any noticeable difference towing, more than likely. From a cost standpoint that's pretty negligible. From a pollution standpoint its significant but not worth dying in an accident for. The cost difference between a compact and midsize SUV is not that much and can be made up for by buying a slightly older version midsize. Re FR actually weighing the trailers, I'm quite certain mine was not. My sticker weight numbers are identical to the published ones, the likelihood of that happening is near zero, and I've never been able to account for about 150 lbs of weight when I've compared my actual weight to published numbers.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

RoverPod Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 07 Mar 2020 Location: Virginia Online Status: Offline Posts: 118	Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 6:47am
	You should always add 800 - 900 pounds to the dry weight when estimating the loaded weight. Beyond that, don't use the dry weight to calculate anything.

pedwards2932 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 21 Sep 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 333	Posted: 03 Oct 2020 at 7:25pm
	For now I am just making short camp runs. We are going to the Eastern Shores next week....only about an hour drive. I am getting ready to order the Hayes unit. I really haven't felt uncomfortable towing but I haven't been in any bad conditions. I think they do a disservice to newbies to not explain it better because you pretty much have to have a battery and propane. I may get another TV if I find that it just doesn't work out but for now I feel like it is working.

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6417	Posted: 03 Oct 2020 at 3:35pm
	I know that FR weighs the RPods just before they roll out of the factory, so they are putting an accurate weight on them. What is not weighted, as previously stated, is things that are added at the dealer before delivery. That includes things like a battery, a propane tank, and of course, water. I don't know if the shore power cord is included or not. You are in the same boat I was with the Escape. We had purchased it with the thought of purchasing a smaller fiberglass shell trailer. We got scammed on that, so I looked for something within the limits of the vehicle. I purchased our 179 because of the weight posted on the dealer's site. We towed for a number of long-distance trips before we had the accident with ice and a strong cross-wind. We had no choice but to get a different tow vehicle as we needed to get home. I took a huge depreciation hit on selling the Escape after it was finally repaired, but we did get the Frontier which has a 6100 lb tow rating.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

pedwards2932 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 21 Sep 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 333	Posted: 03 Oct 2020 at 1:24pm
	Believe me I get what you are saying. I didn't go to this site when researching. I wanted a vehicle that got good mileage when not towing which the Escape does. If the actual dry weight was as advertised I wouldn't be having this issue. Once you have purchased a TV you the cost for changing is not small change. So far the way I am using it I am within specs but just barely so the dry weight discrepency is significant.

GlueGuy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2702	Posted: 03 Oct 2020 at 12:44pm
	The advice on this list is fairly consistent in suggesting the dry weight is NOT the number to use when calculating your towing requirements. I know I advise people to use the gross weight rating. For the 189 that is going to be in the 3800 lb (and I think a bit more) range. I would not tow a 189 unless I had a tow vehicle that was capable of 5000-6000 lbs in order to have enough margin.
	bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost