BigDogF250 wrote:
OK, so I went back and read your original post. As a fellow SD resident who has been towing from Lakeside and Ramona to the desert for the last 20 years let me offer some advice based on experience.
1. Only look at Super-lite style trailers. Your TV will have problems holding that weight back going down the hill. They will also be easier to pull up the hills. Look for one without a built in generator and fuel station, just buy a small generator. Tough it out on the few days a year where you might want A/C, during the summer (river or camping) find a spot with power.
2. Don't go over the 8 down to Glamis/Gordon's. Same problem, you will burn brakes and maybe never make it back up. Diesel trucks have fantastic engine braking systems. I don't need brakes heading down that hill. I have a good friend who hasn't been to the desert in 9 months because he can't afford to replace the rotors and pads on his truck AND all of the brakes and drums on his trailer. Smoked them all heading into the desert with a 3/4 ton gas motor and a 30 foot trailer.
3. Go with the shortest trailer you can fit your stuff in, toy haulers are heavy. Plan on finding water in the desert, even if you have to pay for the fill up. Fuel and water weigh in at 8 pounds a gallon, and my trailer holds 150 gallons of water and 40 gallons of gas. Look for something with a front bath and a pull down single or double bunk in the back. You get less weight and more capacity on a short trailer in that design.
Almost any trailer 23' or more is out of that vehicles league. It was built as an SUV to carry people and some cargo, not as a tow vehicle for 7-10k trailers. So yes, you can tow a small toy hauler. And yes, you can physically connect too much trailer weight to it. But I will be the one cursing at you going up the hills for not having enough truck and praying for you on the downside. 16-21 foot super lite trailers are going to be what that vehicle can handle well.
Yes, the superlights are what I was looking at. 21's to be exact, but can go smaller if the length to first cabinet is sufficient. I take the 67 from El Cajon right thru Ramona, then 78 to the S2 (I think) to avoid Julian, the one left at the Pie place. Then back on 78 to Ocotillo Wells.
