My write-up on towing a camper across country

So, my GF and I left Roanoke, VA, on Friday, Jan 6 to move to Eugene, OR. This is my write up on what we hauled and towed, things I did prior to the trip, tips, MPG, etc., that I can think of, in case it helps someone else out down the line.

My truck is a 2011 DCLB with the tow package, stock other than an ARB bumper and Smittybilt X2O winch on the front, and a Leer camper shell on the bed. We towed a 2016 Rockwood Minilite camper. It is 21'7" long, has a tongue weight of 415 lbs., and UVW (unloaded vehicle weight) of 4238 lbs. We probably had 300# of gear in it. We also had probably 600-700# of stuff in the bed and cab, maybe a little more.

Things I did before we left:

--Had the RV dealer install a weight-distribution hitch on the truck and a rear-facing camera on the back of the RV.
--Installed tow mirrors. They don't look as good as stock, but they're easy enough to swap out that I'm just going to run the stock mirrors unless I'm towing the RV. I used the mirrors at the link. They aren't the cheapest, but it's a small price to pay to protect the truck and trailer.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VQX4CXG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
--Had new Cooper Discoverer AT/3's installed (265/65/17). I had some off brand tires on there and didn't want to have so much riding on tires I knew nothing about.
--Installed Hawk heavy duty front brake pads and rotors.
--Full synthetic oil change.
--Transmission service.
--Put 45psi in the rear tires on the way out of town.
--Put thin, inflatable seat cushions that someone donated to the cause. They're used in hospitals to reduce pressure ulcers. They made the ride MUCH more comfortable. I stuck them in old pillow cases and shoved the excess case in the crease between the seat and backrest to keep them in place. They look like these: http://www.medline.com/product/WAFFLE-Seat-Cushions-by-EHOB/Z05-PF25960
--Common sense stuff like making sure we had phone charger cords, hand wipes, hand sanitizer, loaded up coolers with food and water, made sure the spare was good, had an emergency kit, etc.

Things I wish I had done before I left:
--Cleaned the damn windshield.
--Installed new wiper blades.

Notes from the trip:
--We took 81 to 40, then took it all the way west to CA, then came north through CA on a couple state routes and the 5. We took this route to avoid most of the areas where we might get buried in a blizzard.
--The vast majority of the driving was done with the AT selector in 4, but I did occasionally shift it to D if I was on a long flat or downhill grade.
--I calculated the MPG on almost every tank. The range went from 5.25 mpg climbing the hills in TN, to 10.0 mpg in the desert of CA.
--The few times I hit 70+mph, the truck handled the load like a dream. I attribute the vast majority of that to the hitch. Totally worth the money.
--I kept it around 55-60mph most of the trip. This kept the RPM below 3500 for the most part and kept shifting to a minimum. This ain't a load with which one can be in a hurry.
--Check your tire air pressure! After the first few stops for gas, realizing we were getting the fuel economy of a Panzer, I checked all the tires and found I needed air in my rear tires and the RV. I aired them all up to about 45psi.

We spent a day at the Grand Canyon for my GF's birthday. We much prefer mountains to holes in the ground (even huge ones), but we agreed we need to go back in better weather with time to do some rafting and exploring.

If you're ever going through AZ on 40, there's a little town just west of Flagstaff called Williams. There is a little Mexican place there called Francisco's. Stop and eat there. It looks like a shit hole in the wall, but it has some of the best Mexican food I've ever had in my life. I wish I had more reasons to go to AZ more often.

That's all I can think of for now, but I will edit the post if I think of more. I'm tired, and start my new job tomorrow, so that's it for now. Hope it does someone some good.

A few pics I took along the way...


Sunrise in NM



Pretty sure I could have winched my way through this ditch.







Mt. Shasta



Our new front yard!!!

 

Once you get through Texas it's a pretty fun trip on I-40 (sorry Texans, but it's pretty boring along 40). You're probably braver than me towing a camper that size with a single non-braking axle (at least I didn't see where the dealer list trailer brakes). I've made that run to Arizona a few times and it can get really windy.

 

Sounds like a great trip. Last May my wife and I did a road trip from GA and camped several days at the Grand Canyon. Didn't pull a camper though, tent camped. After that we headed north into Utah and visited Zion and Bryce National Parks as well as spending a day exploring Kodachrome Basin. My Avitar pic was in Kodachrome Basin.

Pulling that much weight kills fuel mileage. With such a small fuel tank and getting single digit fuel mileage I'd be concerned about getting to the next fuel stop in many places in the west.

 

The trailer has two axles and does have brakes, not sure if on both axles or not, but the braking distance was better than I expected. And I had five gallons of has in a can in the bed at all times.

 

What psi were you running in your front tires ?
Out west, run into any/many gas stations with 85/86 octane as "regular" ?

 

of the rig.

 

Yeah, quite a few of them actually. I get reimbursed for the fuel, so I put "midgrade" in at those places. Total cost of the fuel ended up just under $1100!

 

That's the funny thing, I never took a pic of the truck hooked up to the camper. The pics above are the only ones I took during the whole trip.

 

That should qualify your rig as a expedition vehicle that was a hell of a trip

 

Do these count? You can see the camper and the truck in the same pic, at least.

 

That's it, you're fired.

Glad you made it across this country safely with no mishaps (Adventures suck when you're having them).

As posted above, be sure to include southern Utah on your next visit to the Grand Canyon. My favorite place in the continental US with lots of amazing scenery. Especially good with a 4x4, but be aware of the weather when you're in the middle of nowhere.

 

Ah, when I googled that trailer most of the pictures were a single axle. Yeah, that dual axle is a lot safer; usually only one axle has brakes on most campers I've looked at.