Show us what you tow.

Today I was given an 1989 Aerotow. It looks like it is in really bad shape but the structural components are very solid. Before she is road/trail worthy I need to check all the electrical and throw on some new tires.
I plan on banging out the dents, painting, attaching some Yakima Racks and lifting it. Eventually I plan on attaching an RTT or converting it into a A frame sleeper trailer thingy with some canvas and a foam pad.

 

Sounds like a cool project. Need pics along the way of your build.

Have fun

 

It's officially summer

 

Right on

 

I also tow an 18' G3 Gator.
These pictures are prior to my suspension upgrade so it looks a little saggy. It rides much more level now. I'll take update pictures next time to show how it rides now.

 

Just picked up a 1988 Mako 171 from the Original owner. 88hp Johnson

 

Rented this for a 4 night camping trip towed well crappy mileage 9.5 miles per gallon or 24 l/100 km

 

i towed a 21 foot 4500 lb trailer from texas to california with my 4.0 4x4 stick shift... I got 9.6 when I was going 75 MPH with a headwind in texas. I got 13 MPG going 55 after that.

so how fast were you going to be getting 9.5 MPG ?

 

Wow. Im surprised about your mpg's. I did way better with a heavier camper. You must have been going fast. Anything over 65 is dangerous and likely past the rating of the trailer tires.

 

Nope 95km or about 60 mph

My front left brake calipers seized I pulled over and it seemed to release ok I think it may have been stuck the whole way slightly

 

Here’s my 2013 Jumping Jack. The wife and I love it. Fully loaded with atv I would guess close to 3,000 pounds.

 

That's a great set up

 

We tow an Apex Nano 193BHS. Tows great unless we get a headwind, then it fights me constantly. 10.5mpg in “normal” conditions, 8.7mpg into the wind.

 

huh. looked that guy up, its similar in weight and only a little bigger than my Escape 21... The Tacoma gets close to 13 MPG going 55-60, and my worst case, 2 tanks with a headwind going 70-75 in texas, got 9.6 MPG. now, I have a 4.0L 6-speed manual, and I was keeping it in 5th not 6th. I do have a fiberglass shell on the Taco...

can't wait for my first long road trip next week, pulling the Escape with an F250 diesel. so far, tests have shown at least as good mileage, with double the payload and tow ratings.

 

How about this little beauty. Did my own soffit and facia repair and some painting while I was up there !

 

20’ Pathfinder

 

2005 Jayco Baja 10y and with @Mobtown Offroad Recover Bar installed, allows super easy and fast pushing the trailer into its parking space.

 

Yup - we get better mileage when we’re near 65-70 mph. That F250 should be awesome for towing. The power would be a remarkable improvement. I like how the Tacoma tows a lot except for lacking in power. But we tow maybe 10% of the time, so the trade-off is worth it.

 

Towing nerds, I have some interesting info for you all.

I towed this today... no doubt, you could feel it back there. I weighed the outfit with just myself (270 lbs), a full tank of gas in the truck and a full tank in the boat as well. There was some luggage, but nothing truly heavy like loaded coolers. Kayaks were probably the heaviest next to my own weight.



All loaded as you see it there, I clocked in at 10,020 lbs total.


I took another pass through the scales to get a loaded weight with the truck (with me in it) and it came in at 5,040 with its current load

So a few basic calculations put the trailer at 4,980 lbs total, with a pretty light tongue-weight of 460 lbs. Granted, that's with a full tank of gas in the boat, which sits to the rear of the trailer axles, so I'd expect the tongue weight to be low after fueling it up. It has a 37 gallon tank with a total weight of 296lbs if its fully fueled.

This is super interesting info for a couple reasons... Loaded with just me and the payload in the truck (no trailer), the front axle weight is only 55 lbs below the front axle weight rating (my door sticker below. I'm also only 460 lbs shy of my GVWR without the trailer. These points alone are interesting in themselves. This never was meant to be a heavy duty truck, but even with a passengers and camping supplies it would likely be at the max GVWR.

With the trailer, its also a very interesting story. With the trailer, I'm effectively at my GVWR of 5,500 lbs with an actual weight of 5,480 sitting on the axles of the truck. Importantly, I'm almost 1,500 lbs below the max towing capacity of the truck, and that's with a trailer that's showing just shy of 10% tongue weight, which is quite low and certainly not common. Despite being 1,500 lbs below the limit, I'm already hitting the limit in regard to GVWR (essentially curb weight + payload). Before I weighed the truck I had one other passenger and I was definitely over.


So... with all that said, it pulled the load alright and I got where I was going safely. Even though it's a small boat I really wish I had a more capable truck that could handle this with a bit more grace. I'll definitely be going with a full size next time around.