P-pod for dry camping?

I have the Hayes Sway master which applies trailer brakes when the TT starts to sway and it pulls the trailer back straight.  Part of what I am seeing in the video is the trailer gets out of control very quickly.  If you could manually put on the trailer brakes it would cause the trailer to straighten but under the panic of the trailer swaying more violently it is hard to think to put the breaks on the trailer.  It also appears a lot of these incidents involve driving too fast which can cause a TT to get out of control really fast.

I understand your point perfectly. Do you follow mine?

I have said about 3x now that you will get no argument from me as long as you're withing your specs. Do what you want, it's your choice.

But I haven't seen any evidence from you or anyone else towing with a 3500 lb TV demonstrating that. Go weigh your rig with everything and everybody on board and then let's talk. Until that happens it's a waste of time discussing it.

Of course you need to get sufficient weight on the tongue to avoid having an inherent trailer sway problem. While that can be more readily controlled with a heavier TV, that is not a condition anyone should want to encounter. That number for rpods based on my research is right around 10%, which is why I recommend 11%. Because that is the minimum and my weight moves around to the tune of about 3% as I consume water, I start out around 14% and end up around 11. Since my trailer weighs 3700 lbs loaded I start at 500 on the tongue, which is my max limit. Most TV hitch limits are 10% of trailer limits.

You are only as good as your limiting spec. I can't tow with anything lighter than 5000 lbs even though I have significant headroom on trailer weight (26%)and MCGVW (10%).

Are you within your MCGWVR? All axle weights? Fully loaded? Some actual numbers would help folks here know what they can and can't do.

When I weighed I had about 140 lbs (3 - 5 gallon buckets of water} that I didn't know was in there, an extra full propane gas tank, and the heavy table that comes with the rp189.  At that time the trailer weight was 3400.  I have 829lb capacity for the car which with the 350 tongue and my wife and I in the car gives us about 130 lbs of leeway.  When I get a chance I will reweigh at CAT scales but I did weigh everything that I took out of the trailer which would put me at 3225 and all I have to do at that point is weigh what I add and weigh my tongue weight and balance the trailer for 350 lbs which is at least the 10% of total weight.  I always empty the water out before we travel.

Originally posted by pedwards2932 When I weighed I had about 140 lbs (3 - 5 gallon buckets of water} that I didn't know was in there, an extra full propane gas tank, and the heavy table that comes with the rp189.  At that time the trailer weight was 3400.  I have 829lb capacity for the car which with the 350 tongue and my wife and I in the car gives us about 130 lbs of leeway.  When I get a chance I will reweigh at CAT scales but I did weigh everything that I took out of the trailer which would put me at 3225 and all I have to do at that point is weigh what I add and weigh my tongue weight and balance the trailer for 350 lbs which is at least the 10% of total weight.  I always empty the water out before we travel.

Good to have some real world numbers.

Does your vehicle list axle weights and MCGVWR? Should be on the driver's door sticker. If you have those then run through the scale with your wdh untensioned and get the weights on all 3 axles.

You don't need to worry about max cargo weight of the tow vehicle. Specs are intended to be taken literally and you don't have much actual cargo weight. What matters are axle weights and max combined weight, because that is what the drivetrain and brakes have to deal with.

The hitch and trailer weights can be gotten by going through the scale a second time without the trailer. Leave the wdh in the reciever, it is considered to be part of the TV not the trailer.

If you really are within 130 lbs then you can't take any gear to speak of, but maybe using MCGVWR will help you.


350 ÷ 3225 is about 11% and I'd recommend keeping your tongue weight there if you can, around 10% the trailer can exhibit marginal stability.