13 ft Ventura

[colleenz]

I recently bought a 1974 Canadian made 13 ft. Ventura; it is something like the Trillium. The dry weight is 1500 lbs. Has electric brakes & next week my tow vehicle, a 2003 blazer, will have the necessary wiring & controller installed. I'm trying to decide if I need sway bars & if so what kind. I can't lift anything very heavy. Also, trying to decide whether to go with a converter & battery or a solar panel & battery (78 watt). I can't find the circuit breaker, it has to be somewhere. Any suggestions/ advice appreciated. Thanks.

[Donna D.]

Hi Colleen, congrats on the buy! We'd love to see pictures.

Sway bar... I'd wait until you pull the trailer a time or two to see if you need it. When you say you can only pickup a couple of pounds, I think you're thinking about the weight of a weight distribution hitch... those suckers are heavy. A sway bar is only a couple of pounds.

Got any pictures we can

[colleenz]

Aha! You're right, the old trailer must have had weight distribution bars; my daughter has it now because I couldn't hook it up, everything was too heavy.

Yes, I do have pics. they are jpegs. Will figure out how to upload them.

Thanks for clearing up the 'bar' issue. Colleen

[colleenz]

[bonnie w]

Congratulations Colleez for your new little Ventura ! You bought it obviously from tmatson. The first pic in albums is mine (exterior) the other ones are what you posted. I just wanted to tell you that last summer my maiden voyage was 6000 mi. from Vancouver Island, BC to Whitehorse. It towed just great, no problems at all. Tow vehicle is a 2005 Colorado, 4 cylinder, 5 speed. Even when big rigs went by the Ventura really hugged the road, no even a wiggle. Top speeds were 110 km's. The hills were a little slower, but I just geared down. My gas mileage dropped but wasn't a big concern.

Plans for me are to get rid of that closet, and make the wooden frame with a much lighter material inside it. I also am going to get rid of the back of the couch becuase it is so, so heavy and I have no need for it. I don't trust the heater so will remove that too. Personally I haven't investigated the wiring. Before trip I had the bearings done, and new tires. Unfortunately the person who put on a new hitch and did the wiring gave me a four prong instead of seven. Anyway good luck and enjoy. By the way my electric brakes aren't hooked up but I had no problem with stopping. I just slowed down much sooner when approaching lights or stop signs etc.

[colleenz]

Yes, Terry Matson was extremely helpful. I towed it home from Shelton & had no problems. On the third try, I backed it into the driveway in the right spot. As I've never done this, I was pretty pleased with myself. I'm still really nervous but I'm only 2 miles from Ocean City State Park, so I'm going to do 'touch & goes'; we have a nice park ranger. I think the idea of Interstate 5 is intimidating.

Thanks for the info. on thumbnail pics.

[bonnie w]

Colleenz, I so, so apologize for thinking those were the same pics. It's like duh Bonnie that is the same trailer. Once again speaking before thinking. Boy, I would be proud for being able to back it up so successfully, I haven't been able to master that at all. Anxious to hear how you make out with your first trip out. Good idea staying close to home. My anxiety level was to the moon taking mine on such a long trip initially. Wonder how many Ventura owners there are now ?

[Guy Pallister]

I recently bought a 1974 Canadian made 13 ft. Ventura; it is something like the Trillium. The dry weight is 1500 lbs. Has electric brakes & next week my tow vehicle, a 2003 blazer, will have the necessary wiring & controller installed. I'm trying to decide if I need sway bars & if so what kind. I can't lift anything very heavy. Also, trying to decide whether to go with a converter & battery or a solar panel & battery (78 watt). I can't find the circuit breaker, it has to be somewhere. Any suggestions/ advice appreciated. Thanks.

Congrads on the the purchase of the ventura. I also have a 1974 model. This my second season and I like it alot. the power breaker box in my ventura is in the bottom cupboard below the sink. 15 amp breaker. I would recomend a weight distribution hitch becase of the short wheelbase of the trailer, it is easy to overlaod the back of the trailer and then you will sway problems. My electric breaks are not functional at the moment but I plan to activate them for next season. I pull my ventura with a 1989 chrysler fifth ave. No problems with power or stopping. I puchased a wind diflector the roof of my chrysler and it helps a lot with the wind drag.
Good luck and happy trails.....Guy

[colleenz]

Thanks for the info. I'll look for the breaker box tomorrow. I'll be very careful not to overload the back end. It's just me & my cat & dog (furry family). I know about putting more weight on the driver's side & in front. I've had 3 back surgeries, that's why I want to stay away from the weight dist. bars. Maybe I should think about sway bars? ?

Can you believe Bonnie went 6000 miles on her first trip & I'm scared to get on I 5, but I will.

I ordered the solar panels from Harbor freight & I've spent all evening learning how to make a light weight portable solar oven/cooker.
Thanks for your interest. Colleen

[Brian B-P]

... I would recomend a weight distribution hitch becase of the short wheelbase of the trailer, it is easy to overlaod the back of the trailer and then you will sway problems...

Weight distribution hitch systems are specifically to help the tow vehicle handle high tongue weights, not low. The suggestion here is to use a WD system as a sway control... which would not make sense to me unless the specific WD system has strong sway control features.

I suppose if there were a light enough Equal-i-zer model, one could use it with negligible force applied... but then it might as well just be a friction-type sway control device (or "bar").

Since any WD system will affect the pitch attitude (nose up/down) of the rig, I expect that it would mask the appearance of any loading problems... and actually cause unwanted pitch nose-up if applied without adequate tongue weight.

How about checking tongue weight, at least in some approximate manner, before each tow, instead?

[Dudley]

Welcome to the Ventura Clan. I have a 76 that I have totally redone the interior and painted the exterior. I tow it with a Subaru Outback and it does pretty well. Haven't gone far with it but trips we have taken are fine. It does have a large frontal area so cuts into the gas pretty bad. Most of the time I try to stay around 95kmh. If the brakes are bad, they are a standard 2 1/4x 10" brake and are available from most spring and frame shops for cheap(mine were $38 a side for the complete brake less drums). I do recommend getting some kind of mirror extensions to get a good view of whats coming up behind you and helps with the backing up.

[Hazel in Sk]

Hi Colleen - I'm not the "electricity/propane person for our Ventura. The man who is said "I don't know whether the trailer has a breaker box - never thought about it'. So you have taught us something - thanks.

[Donna D.]

Hazel, we haven't seen Colleen for a while (Last Activity: 08-10-2009 09:32 AM ), but it's nice to know the information on FiberglassRV has been helpful