Yamaha 2400/ Towing 2 Cents
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Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9267
Printed Date: 23 May 2024 at 12:04pm
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Topic: Yamaha 2400/ Towing 2 Cents
Posted By: Farrier2112
Subject: Yamaha 2400/ Towing 2 Cents
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2017 at 8:18pm
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Hi Picked up my 2017.5 180 last November with the hope of driving it cross country to California and desert golfing. 30 miles into my trip bringing it home, I realized my 1999 Grand cheroke small V-8 wasn't going to cut it pulling the thing all that way. So, it sits on the side of my Garage until I upgrade towing vehicles. Seems to me, the perception of using small SUV's and mini vans to pull these campers is a little bit mis leading. I'm not saying everyone needs a Cummins or Powerstroke but, the dealers need to prep the people on what their tow vehicle can handle. My Jeep is fine for small trips, weekend getways but personally, I just would'nt feel comfortable driving 4 days with the motor working hard. That being said, I bought a used Yamaha 2400 Generator with the antiicipation of buying a Pod. Read somewhere that some manufactures don't put a heavy duty capacitor in their A/C units. Has anyone ever had a problem with a Yamaha not firing up a domestic A/C units? Still pretty new at this but, just reading your forum has helped me out a bunch. |
Replies:
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2017 at 9:02pm
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Your Jeep Grand Cherokee would probably do just fine. We recently started a trip with a 2016 Ford Escape SE 2L Ecoboost. We had an encounter with ice and wind that put the Escape out of commission and damaged the R-Pod. I patched the R-Pod, and we bought a 2010 Nissan Frontier LE Crew Cab with 4L V6. It worked hard, but we got home. When we got the Frontier, we were in South Jordan, Utah. We traveled to Gilbert, Arizona, Whetstone, Arizona, and back home to North Carolina. In some respects the 2L Ecoboost engine did better since it did not lose power at higher elevations. However, the V6 did okay. I just limit the speed to 60 mph. The reason for limiting the speed to 60 mph is that seems to be the sweet spot for not feeling like we are crawling and not killing the mileage (and vehicle) trying to tow faster. Wind resistance increases exponentially with speed, not linearly, so the resistance at even 65 mph is much greater than at 60 mph. Even more so at 70 mph. In addition, the tires are not really made to go faster than 65 mph (unless you replace them with good load range D tires rated at 85 mph). If you had the Grand Cherokee Diesel, you would be golden. However, the V8 should be adequate. As for the generator, you may be able to run it. I can run ours on a Generac iX2000 which is 2000 watts running, 2200 watts surge capable. It really revs up when the compressor kicks in, but then settles down. The best I can say is to try it and see if it works for you. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Farrier2112
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2017 at 9:11pm
| Thanks, your right about the wind resistance. Driving home trying to maintain 65 MPH felt like a lot more work than it should have been. Only think I averaged around 11 MPG. sorry to hear about your mishap with the Escape. Glad everyone is OK. |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2017 at 9:17pm
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I edited my post to add a comment about the generator. 11 mpg is not too awful. On some of the segments of our trip with climbing, especially at higher elevations, that is what I got. However, on some segments, it was closer to 14 mpg. The Frontier is rated at 19 mpg highway. The general rule of thumb is for gasoline engines, you will get about half the rated mpg when towing. This seems to be true even with larger tow vehicles. Diesels do better. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2017 at 9:38am
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We have.. "more than enough" tow vehicle. Still tow around 62mph. If the tow rating on the Jeep is 5000lbs or better, it will mostly be a "perception" issue of what feels comfortable to you.. The truck is up to the task. Remember, it hardly ever has to work, unless towing, so it's going to sound and work different when it does. That Yamaha genny has a fine reputation and I know of no one who had issues running a 13.5 a/c on it. ------------- |
Posted By: Farrier2112
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2017 at 10:46am
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Thanks Furpod! I owned a 1996 and 2001 Dodge Cummins year's ago. Guess I got spoiled driving and towing with them. It's been a while since I towed anything. Thanks for your Yamaha response, I'll try it once the snow melts.
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Posted By: Happy Tripping
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2017 at 11:01am
I assume you have a factory tow package. For newbies reading this - I don't understand why a v8 can ever be too small for any r-pod, assuming you are driving at a reasonable mph. I went cross country to CA with v8 GC, only used sway control intermittently in hi winds, no problems - Most of the time didn't even notice the trailer behind. "Different strokes for different folks".
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Posted By: Our pod
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2017 at 10:36pm
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Wind resistance varies with the square of the speed. If you compare 60 mph to 66 mph, you can see that the higher speed is 1.1 times greater. This 1.1 squared equals 1.21, which means that the wind resistance is 1.21 times greater (also equal to 21% greater).
It also means 21% more energy is in the package should you crash. Tow slow, amigo. ------------- Life is good. |
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 01 Feb 2017 at 10:13am
| The only time we have problems with our 3.5L V6 Highlander pulling our 179 is in high winds, especially headwinds. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well it handles at highway speeds. We do have the tow prep package with the larger alternator and transmission cooler, so that may have a great deal to do with it. |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 01 Feb 2017 at 1:19pm
Thank you for providing the math It isn't quite exponential, but it is also not linear. If I got it right, then an increase from 60 to 65 is 1.08333333 times greater. Rounding to 1.08 and then squaring that gives 1.1664, which when rounded gives 1.17 times greater or 17% times greater. An increase from 60 to 70 yields an increase of 25% in wind resistance. An increase from 60 to 75 mph yields an increase of 56%. What throws a real monkey wrench into trying to figure this out is one has to account for the wind. It has been a LOOOOOOOONG time since I took Physics in High School. Trying to figure out the additional force (or decrease if it is a tailwind) is way beyond my ability at this point. However, would a 20 mph headwind mean that if you are towing at 60 mph, the force is equal to if you are towing at 70 mph? It sure feels that way. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 01 Feb 2017 at 9:21pm
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I had that Yamaha and it didn't have a problem. However you lose power the higher you go and the hotter it is, so you can lose up to 1/3 of your power at altitude on a hot day. Plus the A/C is harder to start the hotter it is. So it might work fine in your driveway but not work right when you need it the most. Use synthetic oil and test it on the hottest day of the year. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: Farrier2112
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2017 at 9:25am
| Thanks for the info. Why Synthetic oil? What weight and brand should I buy? I've been using ethanol free gas in all my small engines. I foresee a problem if I need to buy more gas in different states. Thanks again for your help, |
Posted By: Blue Highways
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2017 at 10:12am
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Wow, GREAT intelligent discussions. I would say R-Pod owners here are 'smarter than the average bear'. Stephen, I could have appreciated you as a valued math & physics tutor back in school for sure.... Sometimes, I will rack up a little extra momentum on a highway that's dipping across a valley, in order to get past a cluster of Semi trucks that are really going to bog down on the next incline. I really got Our Pod's message about the increased energy (21%) in a crash based on the factor of elevated speed. Maybe I will reconsider, and "tow slow, amigo" ( I mean, what's the hurry, the campsite's reserved. ) Thanks all, --B
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2017 at 4:30pm
I think you mean Our Pod for the physics tutor. He is the one that gave the formula. I was just using it to generate some examples. I also got the message. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: voisj
Date Posted: 10 Feb 2017 at 12:07pm
This thing I learned today. After 65MPH my mileage plummets, now I understand why. Thanks! John
------------- http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9426&title=slopod-180-mods-johnsue - SLOPODMODS John&Sue,SLO,CA 2016 180 HRE, 2013 F150 Eco Boost 
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Posted By: malkbean2
Date Posted: 14 May 2017 at 7:47am
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i drove from chicago to key west and back on mostly interstates at 60 mph with 178 rpod and passed only 2 vehicles (not counting mountain areas). Every single semi passed me and there was a lot of them. By the way I experienced sway (with a sway bar) from some semis after they passed not during or before they passed. and only some semis not most of them. Weird huh? 2016 Grand Caravan was TV |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 14 May 2017 at 9:04am
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Not all semis are set up he same. Some have the panels for directing airflow at the bottom. It may be those that send more of a surge of air your way and cause more sway. I noticed it as well, but I did not note which ones were the ones which caused more sway. I'll have to try to figure that out next time we are out. Also the speed at which the semis are traveling relative to you probably play a factor in it as well. Of course, if one is in front of you and traveling at the same relative speed, it is nice to drop in behind and take advantage of some drafting help. I don't like to follow close enough to take full advantage though. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |