re: Towing Newb - Dave's learning to tow blog
Well, we pulled the new trailer home last evening (and then over to the storage area where we'll keep it -no room at the house).
We took the track car with us to get it setup at the dealer, but we don't have the tiedown straps (or the rest of our tow setup done w/ tires, bags) so drove the trailer back empty as pictured below. We're going to paint the floor before using it and getting oil & other fluids in it. Also ended up getting an electric jack put in (our buddy had one and my wife liked it)
The WDH setup initially seemed pretty complex w/lots of parts but wasn't bad once it was explained.
We did have one hitch (pun intended) when we entered my neighborhood. There were two cars parked on each side of the cul-de-sac and a third in the road when my neighbor pulled out of his driveway. I ended up having to make a much sharper turn (1-2 mph) than I had hoped and we hard a loud "pop clank" and stopped immediately. My wife jumped out and found one of the black bars that connects the hitch to the chain mounts in the rear had popped loose and dropped off into the road when we were at max lock. Guess I need to figure out what the max turning radius is... went back on without any issue.
The hitch required some adjustment to be aligned with the Tundra / trailer. It's bigger / beefier than I expected; looks to be a real knee bruiser but I don't want to take it on & off all the time.
Driving our 22ft felt better than the loaded 24ft trailer of our friend's, and we were able to lock up the trailer wheels using the Prodigy at 25mph without any problem to get it setup. Could tell it's going to take a bit of trial & error to figure out changing the boost in town / on the highway, etc. Felt a little push / pull with the trailer at times when in town in traffic, but think that's 'normal' when towing and more a feature of my getting to know how to tune the brake controller.
It was a bit of a PITA to back into the spot in the storage area, but that's just going to take time and practice.
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Tow: 2009 Tundra DC SR5 5.7 Mods and Adds: Prodigy, under seat storage, Avic-F90BT Nav w/ HD module, backup camera, TRD 18w/ CrossContact LX e-rated,
glass break sensor, Homelink Mirror, Hardwired Valentine One w/ Blendmount, TRD rear sway, Valor tip, bed step, G4 tonneau Next: 35% tint, helper springs or bags
Haul 2008 Continental Cargo Enclosed Car Hauler 22ft V-nose, Reese WDH
Daily: 2005 Lexus LS430 Ultra-Luxury * PCS * ML * Rear Fridge * Massaging and Reclining Rear Seats * Vaistech SL-I * Coastal Lockpick
Track: 1998 BMW E36 M3/4 track car (wife's)
Float: Sea Ray 240 Sundeck
Last edited by DaveGS4; 06-19-2009 at 05:16 PM.
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