Economical Tow Vehicle

[floyd]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

"Those who believe in the general competence and responsibilty of the individual, and those who do not."

A while back, sitting in a Home Depot parking lot, I watched a guy put several 2x4's then several sheets of plywood on the rather curved roof of his rather small sedan and tie everything through the interior of the car with some very nice clothes line. He then got in his car and drove out the parking lot and down the road, one hand on the cargo and one the wheel. Needless to say, I did not follow him. Raz

Well, at first blush,that appears to be two votes to nil in favor of Shepherds Crook. The trend continues...but will there ever be enough law to cover all incompetence?
(or is that an oxymoron?)
But wait... maybe your last sentence was a vote for individual competence and responsibility?? (there may still be hope)
Next vote??

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

In the 1950's Airstream ran an advertisement showing a Bambi being pulled by a bicycle. Knowing it must be true, by the mid 70's, when gas prices were already bumping $.50 a gallon, I bought a tandem bike so my wife and I could pull our 25' Airstream for our 1 year vacation. Unfortunately we couldn't even get it out of the driveway, so I sued Airstream for a bazillion dollars for misleading advertising and bought the two Vespa's I really needed for the job.
BTW: I read the article and there are no real mountains in TN & KY. A few hills, maybe.
"One persons bad idea soon becomes gospel to a million after it hits the internet"

Bob

The Airstream towed by the Bike was Wally Bynum the Airstream founder doing it to prove his trailers were so easy to tow.
It is a fairly brilliant old school marketing ploy he cam up with and as I understand it he was an avid cyclist too not just another ordinary trailer pulling gearhead!

[841K9]

Originally Posted by floyd

There are really are only two sides...
Those who believe in the general competence and responsibilty of the individual, and those who do not.

I believe that most people are responsible. However, we all share the road and it only takes one dumb person to ruin the lives of many.

[Ed Harris]

"Sheople" Floyd?

I Love you Man!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by 841K9

I believe that most people are responsible. However, we all share the road and it only takes one dumb person to ruin the lives of many.

One more for the Shepherd's Crook then?

[Raz]

Originally Posted by floyd

One more for the Sheherd's Crook then?

I think Floyd is preaching anarchy. Ain't that politics?

[floyd]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

I think Floyd is preaching anarchy. Ain't that politics?

You're smarter than that... you can type! (or are you just a dictator?)

[841K9]

Originally Posted by floyd

One more for the Shepherd's Crook then?

I put 40,000+ miles on in a year. I'm for getting home every night without being injured/killed by an improperly operated vehicle. (Weather due to improper towing, poor driving or poor maintenance)

By the way, anyone volunteer to pay my fuel bill? This week was about $270.00. <_<

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

BTW: I read the article and there are no real mountains in TN & KY. A few hills, maybe.

You'll be interested to know that the steepest portion of the US interstate system in in TN!

The east coast does not have mountains as high as out west, but we have older roads that sometimes take the hard way up the mountain instead of being carved into the side of the mountain. There are plenty of 8-9% grades out here.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by melissab

Gee, do you think the airstream was gutted inside??? Wish they'd shown us.

This is Andy Thomsons own Caravel. A few years ago he had it and the tandem bike on display at the Toronto RV show. The Caravel is complete inside.

[Carol H]

Does anyone have a copy of the liability wavier that Can Am Rv has you sign on their work orders & again when you pick up your trailer or tow vehicle after it has been worked on by them?

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Does anyone have a copy of the liability wavier that Can Am Rv has you sign on their work orders & again when you pick up your trailer or tow vehicle after it has been worked on by them?

Hey there Carol. I am a Can Am customer and feel very fortunate to be driving a Can Am set up. As far as waivers go, never heard of such a thing????

[Borden]

Sounds great; we had to have brakes as our trailer was over 50% of the weight of our tow vehicle. “MTO rule in Ontario” still or Boler came with brakes. You can add them if needed.
Lucky the 17’ Boler had brakes from factory even though not required by law for heaver tow vehicles as it was less than 3500lbs;
The 17 boler requires a class ll hitch minimum as it weighs 2190lbs so added class lll and WD hitch as recommended in boler manual for our trailer. You will not have these problems class l will do the job.
We pulled 800lbs behind an Echo 4 door sedan in past worked well for over 5 years. (easy on gas)
Subaru Imprenza is a great tow vehicle for the 17’ size Boler. It has a 2.5L 4cyl and 2800lb rating for towing; again not a problem for a 13’ unit.
Note: This is about paying for the gas of a big V8 when it is not needed.

We also have ours setup by Can Am RV

[Borden]

P.S. was very careful to to meet all the road rules and have proper insurance while towing.
eg. our hitch is bolted on, hitch is one class higher than law requires; the tongue weight, cargo and passengers all well under our TV 825lb limit (passengers, cargo and tongue weight total); new trailer tires; trailer breaks required; WD system with sway-bar; breakaway switch; proper safety chains; and more.

[honda03842]

Borden,

I'm obviously a fan of Can AM just from reading their postings.

Could you tell us what type of WD hitch you have? As well do you boost your tire pressures?

What kind of mileage do you get towing with the Corolla?

Thank you,

[Borden]

Weight Distribution type is eazylift elite pro with sway bar, only require 400/4000 with 18" rise. Trailer is only 2190 at scales with a required 175 tongue weight; "remove the tanks and one person can pickup the tongue and walk it around the yard even my wife can move it!"
Do like the equal-i-zer 400/4000 better as in incorporates the sway bar into the lift system through friction.
Feel now that the Subaru Impreza is a better tow vehicle for a 17' boler, still the Corrola does the job fine (car has trans cooler, trailer brakes, Corrola trailer towing safety system)
Tires are recommend size ST205r14 set to the recommend pressure of 32psi listed in the closet door only change is B rated on closet upgraded to C rated tires.
Can AM RV used the brackets and cross members of our original hitch cut the middle out adding a 2" draw tube that is shaped curving under trunk up into wheel-well 1/4" from surface then fastened forward for better distribution as we have a unibody. (they added some other extra steel as well)
Only get about 28 mpg average wind and hills have an effect on mileage, some Corolla's rated 5.5 and ours 5.7 both would work great with smaller 13' trailer and exceed the towing needs.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by MC1

Hey there Carol. I am a Can Am customer and feel very fortunate to be driving a Can Am set up. As far as waivers go, never heard of such a thing????

Thanks someone sent me what I was intreasted in.

Have you ever flipped over and read the fine print on the back of your invoice Not trying to be funny but these days even most of the smallest of Mom and Pop service garages have something written on the back of their invoices or work orders which you sign when you pick up your vehicle.....

[Borden]

Originally Posted by honda03842

In the UK the Fit/Jazz rating is 1000 pounds unbraked and 2200 pounds braked. In the UK the engine is 1.2L; in the USA it's a 1.5L engine.

2200 pounds is more than our 17' boler! and 1.5L impressive.
Water and propane full 2190 pounds

The 13' bolers should be only 1000 lbs?

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Borden

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Sounds great; we had to have brakes as our trailer was over 50% of the weight of our tow vehicle. “MTO rule in Ontario” still or Boler came with brakes. You can add them if needed.]Lucky the 17’ Boler had brakes from factory even though not ]The 17 boler requires a class ll hitch minimum as it weighs 2190lbs so added class lll and WD hitch as recommended in boler manual for our trailer. You will not have these problems class l will do the job.]We pulled 800lbs behind an Echo 4 door sedan in past worked well for over 5 years. (easy on gas)]Subaru Imprenza is a great tow vehicle for the 17’ size Boler. It has a 2.5L 4cyl and 2800lb rating for towing; again not a problem for a 13’ unit]Note: This is about paying for the gas of a big V8 when it is not needed.

We also have ours setup by Can Am RV

Bordon does your Subaru's manual recommended the WD hitch? Or does it recommend against there use as the manuals for the Forester and Outback do? If it does not recommend them did you talk directly with Subaru about why they do not recommend there use. If you havent then I would for safety reasons suggest strongly that you do.

Just curious as to how long and how many miles you have been towing the Boler 17' around with the Impreza?

The reason I ask is if you have only been doing it for a short time you may want to start having your brakes checked every month or so.

From personal experience in towing with a Subaru Outback that's pulling under the manufactures tow rating and a trailer with good working brakes (actually replaced the whole assembly a couple of years ago and adjusted every year since) the car has gone through brakes **way faster** than any of the 2 previous Subaru's I have owned but did not tow with. In my situation the Outback has 60,000 miles on it (about 20,000 miles of those where towing) and is on its second set of rear brakes (done about 25,000 miles or more ago) and next week it about to gets its *3rd* set of front brakes! As the frequency of brake changes is off the charts IMHO based on previously having owned two of the same make model car I asked the dealer about it - answer when your towing the brakes are working overtime - even though you have brakes on your trailer! Just in case you are wondering I do gear down rather than brake when possible & nope its not the dealer who is doing the brake replacements & yup I have had more than one place confirm the brakes are shoot each time before replacing. As a side note last week I had the trailer and car weighed twice and funny enough the car with two passengers (both under 150lbs each) and nothing but two sets of golf clubs in it came in weighing more than 2000lbs over the trailers loaded weight so its not a situation of the trailer weight being close to or over the cars weight.

Please take this as just a little heads up on the safety front as I do not doubt for a moment that as you are towing over the manufactures tow rating a trailer bigger than mine with a much smaller Subaru, that the brakes on that little car will be working over time to stop it. As you may or may not know frequent brake replacements is not cheap and one starts to wonder each time if the savings on gas is equal to or more..... based on the knowledge that the brakes are having to work overtime to stop my trailer and the personal first hand knowledge that being able to tow with a higher tongue weight would result in a safer tow I will be looking for my next vehicle to have a higher tow rating even though I am currently a couple of hundred pounds under my Outbacks tow specs now.

Your right you dont need a V8 to tow most of our small trailers but there are other 4 & 6 cylinders out there you could tow with and stay within the manufactures tow ratings.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Borden

The 13' bolers should be only 1000 lbs?

Nope they are well over that. Please read the Real World Weights here.