Making it easy

djgarcia wrote:

IMHO, personally I choose safety over convince:)

I have no idea what a "convince" is, but towing well within the limits of a tow vehicle is not a safety problem. It might be your problem, but the equipment will do what it is designed to do. Is a WD hitch "required" when towing a small U-Haul trailer with a F-350? Is that unsafe? The post was intended to help people make using a travel trailer easier and more fun. Not whether "everyone" needs a WD "All the time".

TomG2 wrote:
Someone listed their trailer as being for sale recently and hinted at the reasons why. What have you done to make your travel trailer easier to use? My biggest was to purchase a HD pickup that did not require a weight distributing hitch. I am as lazy as the next person and always looking for ways to avoid work.

IMHO, personally I choose safety over convince:)

We are selling it for several reasons. First, my husband is entirely non-mechanical and panics when anything goes wrong. Second, related to the first, we both massively appreciate all the help we've gotten from other RVers when that happens, but it's also an occasion for humiliation for him. Third, as a 75-year-old disabled vet, he's finding it increasingly difficult to crawl around under the truck hauling heavy chains, manhandling heavy WD hitches, etc.

We sold our Class A years ago because he wasn't comfortable with yet another vehicle, especially one that we bought used - he lived in fear of something going wrong. So the trailer seemed like an easy way to continue self-contained travel - a box on wheels, with no motor. It turns out to be a lot more complex to set up and use. The hitching process often takes a long time and is physically difficult for him. I can help but only so far, since my knees prevent me from crawling around under the truck.

We leased an F-150 to haul it, which it does very well. While we know that some people don't bother with WD hitches and sway control bars, we haven't tried that - knowing as little as we do about what's going on, we don't want to take any chances.

I posted another statement about selling the trailer, which someone saw fit to report without telling me why. Shortly thereafter, it was removed, again without a word to me - it just disappeared. Those kinds of treatment aren't conducive to encouraging people to post here. So I'm posting this reply because TomG2 was kind enough to encourage me to do so. I hope our experiences, both with the trailer and here, are helpful to others.

I'm with you there. I've always preferred a 3/4 ton pickup. I use WD only to be within the rating of the receiver. No sway control needed. With the electric tongue jack, hitching up is a breeze. I can understand though as the years go by how it could become too much physically. At 55+, I'm not nearly the athelite I use to be.