Towing Vehicle

Jakeseth wrote:
I have an F-150 & just purchased a Starcraft Homesteader, 8100 lb 5th wheel. No one can tell me the tung weight. Do I need adjustable air bags to pull it?

first, you probably should have started your own thread, instead of piggybacking on the OP's thread about their Honda minivan.

second, your F-150 will probably not have enough payload for your 5th wheel's pin weight, not "tung" weight.
but you haven't provided any specs on your truck, nor year and model of 5th wheel.

I have an F-150 & just purchased a Starcraft Homesteader, 8100 lb 5th wheel. No one can tell me the tung weight. Do I need adjustable air bags to pull it?

Thank you Ohhwell and FoCoNoCo . I will look into getting a large transmission cooler. Thanks to all for whatever help and advice you can offer. We are hoping this will work out but sure don't want to end up ruining the van.
Thanks again.

GloriaD wrote:
Well, after reading my manual, having hitch installed, adding coolant at Honda dealership, and taking into consideration all advice and info posted here, yesterday I purchased a 2007 Roadrunner( Sun Valley). this is the model and yr camper we purchased.. might even be the actual unit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG_8_kimilw We towed it home carefully using the Odyssey. The drive home involved travelling on the Cabot Trail NS over the most hilly and steep parts of the Trail.. approx. an hour and 15 min drive. There were 4 people in the van..not the actual 4 who will be travelling usually but an equivalent weight. We had no problems on this short drive but we dont expect either to travel on any steeper terrain than that..far less in fact.
one poster wondered if we were planning to use the trailer mainly for sleeping or for living space. The answer is mainly for sleeping and eating on stays of short duration. If the weather is bad we will just move on somewhere else in Atlantic Canada or spend time doing indoor things..movies museums, exhibits, etc and visiting family allover. Thanks again for all your help. Will share anything of interest pro or con as we see how this works out.

That's good to hear. I'm sure that most of the systems in your van should have no problem really with a smaller trailer.

Bear in mind that I am not one of those that says or said you could not tow with the Odyssey. However, Please please please look into an aftermarket transmission cooler. You will be surprised how inexpensive they can be. I would highly advise you to get the largest one you can fit and have it installed on your van.

Also hoping the Ody doesn't have the automatic self-destruct 5 speed transmission - this is a well known failure requiring transmission replacement - on vehicles that aren't towing either. Can only imagine how much towing will accelerate the wear. I would get the largest trans cooler that will fit to keep it cool.

2012Coleman wrote:
Wondering if the OP is planning on loading up those 3 adults and the child and all their gear into the mimivan and towing whatever TT they happen to decide upon.

Yes, essentially that is the plan, my husband and myself, 14 yr old grandson, ( adult size) and a small 10 yr old, in the van with one bag each for personal products and clothes.
And in the trailer itself only the essentials and enough dishes to make a meal and a couple of folding aluminum chairs.

Well, after reading my manual, having hitch installed, adding coolant at Honda dealership, and taking into consideration all advice and info posted here, yesterday I purchased a 2007 Roadrunner( Sun Valley). this is the model and yr camper we purchased.. might even be the actual unit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG_8_kimilw We towed it home carefully using the Odyssey. The drive home involved travelling on the Cabot Trail NS over the most hilly and steep parts of the Trail.. approx. an hour and 15 min drive. There were 4 people in the van..not the actual 4 who will be travelling usually but an equivalent weight. We had no problems on this short drive but we dont expect either to travel on any steeper terrain than that..far less in fact.
one poster wondered if we were planning to use the trailer mainly for sleeping or for living space. The answer is mainly for sleeping and eating on stays of short duration. If the weather is bad we will just move on somewhere else in Atlantic Canada or spend time doing indoor things..movies museums, exhibits, etc and visiting family allover. Thanks again for all your help. Will share anything of interest pro or con as we see how this works out.

Redsky wrote:
Although your vehicle is rated for up to 3500 lbs. that does not mean that the brakes are up to having that much added weight and stopping the car soon enough or hold up on a steep mountain downgrade.

there are lots of popups and smaller trailers that have their own electric brakes to help with stopping, even on a steep downgrade.

Although your vehicle is rated for up to 3500 lbs. that does not mean that the brakes are up to having that much added weight and stopping the car soon enough or hold up on a steep mountain downgrade. I would look for something weighing around 1500 lbs. and planning to add 500 lbs. of gear, food, water, etc. when traveling.

Check the actual measurements for each sleeping berth. Often a berth is only long enough for someone 5'6" or shorter.

Your other options include getting a different vehicle or renting a Class C motorhome when and as needed.

wa8yxm wrote:

kvangil wrote:
Unfortunately, your 3500lb tow capacity limits you to pop-ups, especially with 3 adults in the van already.... So since you've eliminated pop-ups, I don't believe there is anything you can tow that would fit 3 adults + a 10-year-old and all your camping gear... :(

Not quite true.. The tow vehicle I used to drive, and later tow, had a 2,000 pound towing capacity.. I had a 13' SCAMP. sleeps 4 adults and one kid as designed.. (Helps if they are less than six feet tall.. I'm not) Finally in May 2005 I towed it to General RV, and came home in this class A,,, which at the moment (Fully set up) is also 13'.. Only WIDE not Long.

The Scamp, and several other trailers like it, are all in the 2,000 pound category.. (That is max GVW rating for the trailer) Scamps come in 2 or 3 sizes, As do most of the others..

Scamp Trailers

NOTE: this is not a recommendation for the Scamp specifically.. But check out this CLASS of trailers.. Mine was modified a bit (I put in a window A/C for example.. Added a 2nd "Bunk" in front (used for storage) and a few other goodies. Upgraded tires a size to handle the added load.. Really liked that sucker for short trips (up to 2 weeks at a time)

Where I am parked now, a couple pulled in with a 13-foot Scamp, behind a Toyota Highlander. Something of a rarity here, since we are in the middle of Casita country when it comes to egg trailers.

No reason why a minivan in this class can't tow a 16-foot Scamp or Casita, still not much over 2000 pounds and a reasonably small frontal area. 16-footers are easier to configure for sleeping 4-6 people, but that often means no bathroom (and not having that saves a little more weight).

Small TTs can "sleep" a lot more people than can live in them, if what you want it for is sleeping. There is plenty of opportunity to trade living space for sleeping space, today's trend is to make it a small house to live in rather than a rolling bunkhouse.

Our 1960 18-foot Corsair was configured to sleep eight, we took one long trip with ten: four adults, three teens, and three small enough to put on a big gaucho with one of the teens. But you couldn't have ten people sitting around in the thing, wasn't room for that.

P.S. I would feel more comfortable pulling a Casita or Scamp with a Toyota Sienna, rather than the Honda or Chrysler minivans, both having a history of transmission service-life problems. Still, a friend with a (slightly heavier) 17-foot Casita has pulled it for ten years with a 3rd generation Grand Caravan.

Edit:

This discussion got me back into "egg-trailer" shopping mode, and yes there is a configuration of the 16-foot Scamp that has beds for six people and a (very small) bathroom with shower. With Casita, it is either six beds, or three to four beds and a bathroom, but a relatively roomy bathroom, still a wet bath.

But when you start making this much of the interior volume sleeping space in these tiny boxes, other things disappear, like closet space and cupboard space. In any configuration, they all lack floor space, so when you move six people from the car to the trailer, they need to know where they are going before entering, and might need to enter in an appropriate order. Been there, done that, ten people in the 18-footer.