First Adventure!
So the first adventure went great. We rented a Coachman 17 BH Cadet. The owner didn’t have a weight distributing hitch, but did supply a sway bar. A couple observation/notes:
1) The Durango had no issues towing the trailer the 250 miles to the campsite. No slogging up hills or high RPMs…I think I topped out at ~3,000rpm when I was merging onto the highways and engine temps stayed nice and stable consistent with normal driving. No sway issues, until I was going faster than I anticipated (i.e. I tried to keep to 65, but sometimes would go more – this is when I could feel the trailer move a bit). When I got passed by semi’s there was a slight pull, but it was only slightly more than I would have with the Durango alone if I were passed with the speed differential (i.e. they were going ~10 mph more than me). I did tighten the sway bar up by one turn and that seemed to stiffen the back end up a bit and it drove better on the way home.
2) Definitely like the trailer over a tent, however we were stepping all over each other with how tight the inside of the trailer was. We also had significant “issues” with not being able to separate us (the parents) from the kids when it was bedtime (i.e. lights on).
3) We did a dump after 2 days of use…there was significantly more gray water than black water. We did dishes for 5 meals and took 5 marine showers. Dumping was an easy affair.
4) As expected, my gas mileage tanked (pun intended)
5) I had a weird alert on my Durango – Service Shifter. However, once I took out the OBDII reader I had plugged in it went away. I wonder if the reader was providing some feedback of some kind.
We are definitely hooked on the trailer option and my wife commented that the weekend felt “normal” (i.e. not COVID-19ish).
So we will be looking to buy one and get some trips in before the long trip in a couple months.
I know some have commented on my earlier post, but I am leaning toward a Jayco Jay Flight SLX8 264BH. Dry is 4,595lbs, GVW is 6,000lbs. I will pair it with a good WDH and sway bars.
1) The Durango had no issues towing the trailer the 250 miles to the campsite. No slogging up hills or high RPMs…I think I topped out at ~3,000rpm when I was merging onto the highways and engine temps stayed nice and stable consistent with normal driving. No sway issues, until I was going faster than I anticipated (i.e. I tried to keep to 65, but sometimes would go more – this is when I could feel the trailer move a bit). When I got passed by semi’s there was a slight pull, but it was only slightly more than I would have with the Durango alone if I were passed with the speed differential (i.e. they were going ~10 mph more than me). I did tighten the sway bar up by one turn and that seemed to stiffen the back end up a bit and it drove better on the way home.
2) Definitely like the trailer over a tent, however we were stepping all over each other with how tight the inside of the trailer was. We also had significant “issues” with not being able to separate us (the parents) from the kids when it was bedtime (i.e. lights on).
3) We did a dump after 2 days of use…there was significantly more gray water than black water. We did dishes for 5 meals and took 5 marine showers. Dumping was an easy affair.
4) As expected, my gas mileage tanked (pun intended)
5) I had a weird alert on my Durango – Service Shifter. However, once I took out the OBDII reader I had plugged in it went away. I wonder if the reader was providing some feedback of some kind.
We are definitely hooked on the trailer option and my wife commented that the weekend felt “normal” (i.e. not COVID-19ish).
So we will be looking to buy one and get some trips in before the long trip in a couple months.
I know some have commented on my earlier post, but I am leaning toward a Jayco Jay Flight SLX8 264BH. Dry is 4,595lbs, GVW is 6,000lbs. I will pair it with a good WDH and sway bars.
