Crashed on the interstate while towing the R-Pod

You are getting advice in several different directions, but one common thread that just makes good sense is to keep the trailer from pushing you - there's nobody steering the trailer. I'll add my vote to those who recommend manually engaging your trailer brakes and staying off the TV brakes as long as possible. I do think your hind sight that you entered the curve too aggressively is spot on.

 

I strongly disagree with a couple suggestions here that keep coming up on this site. I DO NOT think you need a larger tow vehicle, and I DO NOT believe your weight distrubution hitch and anti-sway bar helped your towing a lick. Neither are necessary or even appropriate for such a light, single axle camper.

 

I have been towing campers and boats for nearly 30 years, and the largest tow vehicle I've had is the 6-cyl Trailblazer that we have now. I towed a 19-foot sailboat with a cabin that slept 4 people from San Diego, CA to Rochester, MN with a 4-cyl Isuzu Trooper (we slept in the boat at Grand Canyon National Park) and I towed the rig through Vegas, where we spent a night in a hotel. Just before our rPod 173, we were towing a camper that weighed a thousand pounds more with a Honda Pilot and then the 2008 Trailblazer we have now. I did not use a WDH with the Pilot, because the Honda owner's manual recommended against it. The Pilot was max'd, but did fine. I did use a WDH for the body-on-frame Trailblazer when we pulled that travel trailer; but, that trailer had tandem axels and the WDH could balance the weight on the trailer axles. That was the max that either the Pilot or the Trailblazer could pull safely, and I stayed within about a 300-mile radius for the 6 years we towed it. The rPod 173 is an easy pull for the Trailblazer. I think I'd pull it practically anywhere.

 

Using a WDH with such a light single-axle trailer as an rPod, especially with the tanks full and lifting weight off the tongue, can cause more troublesome dynamics than it remedies. A WDH tends to numb any normal sensation of towing, and that probably contributed to the over-confident speed you were going as you entered the curve. I highly recommend traveling with your fresh and gray water tanks empty for anything but short hauls. I also encourage you to hitch up without all that WDH and anti-sway crap. Go ahead and feel your tow! You will have a much better tendancy to do your best intuitive driving.

 

Please: Hook up your camper directly to a basic hitch in your TV receiver (making sure the ball is at the right height to keep your camper level). Go to the biggest, emptiest nearby parking lot you can find, and drive around until you are comfortable with things. Then do some driving around a few blocks in relatively flat areas. Then try some hills; then some curves; then some hilly curves. Graduate slowly, deliberately, and cautously while the 9-month old is safe in a crib back home with the grandparents - just you, your wife, your tow vehicle, and your rig. Feel what you're towing. It's not a bad thing. It's a nice little pod. I'll bet you bought the rPod partly due to the fact that you wanted something small enough to tow behind the Highlander, because the Highlander is what you have and it serves your little family's needs nicely. Well, you were right in the first place.

 

Practice this until you don't have to listen to fools like me. Practice towing your rig raw until you enjoy the tug you feel behind you. Practice manually engaging the trailer brakes until it's almost as impulsive as pushing the brake pedal or accelerator. Pretty soon you'll know the difference between a tug and a push, and you'll know what to do to get the tug back. BUT, your chances of feeling that difference with a damn WDH and anti-sway on an undersized single-axle trailer are next to zip.

 

At that point, you'll be ready to bring the 9-month old along for a great family adventure.

 

Sam