towing advice -- are we crazy?

If you need to unload some beer let me know...

Originally posted by Pod_Geek Originally posted by offgrid My 179’s tongue weight is right around 500 fully loaded. So the 660 with the bigger heavier trailer doesn’t surprise me at all. 420 is more concerning frankly, that sounds too low to me as you need to keep a bare minimum of 10% of total trailer weight on the tongue to avoid sway, preferably more. Bottom line us you need a pretty capable tow vehicle for the larger Rpods. I wonder if the 660 included a full FW tank, two batteries, and/or dual propane tanks.  We typically have a lot of stuff in the pass-through but run with no water in the tanks.  Maybe it's all the food in the fridge and pantry (both behind the axle) that reduces our tongue weight. The longbed RAM 1/2 ton has had zero issues with the 195 in 10,000 miles of towing, including two rather memorable runs west on I-70 in Kansas with 40-50 mph crosswind gusts and crazy semi drivers going 85.  Of course as I've mentioned previously in this forum I keep the speed under 65 at almost all times and usually closer to 55-60 in such conditions. It was great getting about 5-6 MPG, by the way...or maybe it was GPM.  Had to be careful about anticipating fuel stops west of Salina.

Colonel Podder said no water, he had only battery originally and a tongue weight of 520, not sure what he has now. In any event with 1000 lbs hitch capacity he doesn’t have to worry about tongue weight, higher tongue weight keeps the trailer axle light and reduces sway risk.

In your case with 420 on the hitch and 4200 lbs trailer weight, you’re right at the recommended 10% minimum. There has been a report or two of sway on rpods at around that. For sure weight aft will reduce tongue weight, you might want to move some heavy stuff forward a bit if your TV can handle the tongue weight.

You will need a bigger TV, I have a 178 R Pod 3200 lbs. ready to camp and live in Bakersfield, my Tacoma V6 pulls it okay over the grapevine and up to Huntington Lake. I added a bigger trans cooler and I would not tow anything bigger with my truck. The Tacoma's don't like wind, pulling my 3200 lbs. R Pod it feels good at 55 to 60 mph @ 10 mpg, pulling my 3300 lbs. car trailer it feels good up to 65 to 70 mph @ 14 mpg.

Originally posted by Pod_Geek Originally posted by offgrid So the trailer weight is 9800-5560=4240. The tongue weight is 2660+3560-5560=660. Tongue weight is at 15.6% of trailer weight..... I still find it odd that our 195 weighs in at 4180 loaded for camping (basically the same as your 196) and the tongue weight is 420. 660 vs 420 is a big difference.