Tips for long trip with travel trailer?

72cougarxr7 wrote:

This will be my first long trip with the trailer, until this I haven't been more than 60 miles from home with it.

Patience is the trick. Hopefully no good reason to rush. You'll do okay.
PS. I have a '67 Cougar XR7.

I should have mentioned, we have 2 small children, so I am planning on a 2 day trip. We will be leaving Thursday afternoon when my daughter is home from her last day of school. Hoping to make it to Ohio Thursday night, maybe camp out at a Walmart, and finish the trip Friday.

pira114 wrote:
850 is just slightly more than an average trip for me. So it wouldn't be a big deal. Others will tell you to split that up into 2 days at least. All depends on you. If you're not into long trips, then towing can make it feel even longer.

Personally, I prefer to drive at night to avoid traffic. But if you anticipate needing any emergency service, think twice about that.

Otherwise, sounds like you've done what you can to prepare the vehicles. Only thing to consider is your comfort. Drive straight through, pick a hotel halfway, or camp in a lot halfway. All up to what you feel comfortable with. I'm a straight through kinda guy

Personally, I AVOID driving at night as much as possible.

The main reason, well lets put it this way, it IS much easier to see and avoid DEER during DAYLIGHT HOURS! Extremely dangerous when they cross in daylight but get down right hazardous and and you have much less time to spot them during dusk, night or dawn hours..

I HAVE had to make emergency maneuvers to avoid deer crossing TWICE during DUSK while towing at 65 MPH :E :M , fortunately we were able to keep the entire train from wrecking each time.

I would rather tow with all lanes filled with heavy traffic for the entire trip instead of meeting up with a deer on my hood!

800+ miles is a long drive, really too long if you are solo driving, if you tag team it with a relief driver it might be do able in one day but it would be a very long tiring day for both drivers.

Our trips are typically 650 miles one way, but we make a large loop to visit relatives along the way.. Our trip to our main destination typically is 14-15 hrs of driving, we run out of four lane highway after about 8-9 hrs covering nearly 450 miles. The remainder is 35 mph-55 mph speed zones through out a lot of small towns. We split this leg into two travel days. Stopping a Walmart parking lot for the night.

On the way back home we stop at our relatives to break up the ride home.. They are 11 hrs drive from my home and all four lane roads so we make that in one day after stopping at our relatives for a couple of days.

We typically will drive no more than two hrs then stop for a rest stop for 10-15 minutes and will try to time our fuel stops to work as a rest stop when needed.

Plan your route to avoid stressful roads keep it 65mph or less and plan some time to have fun.

I recommend a towing service such as Good Sam's or AAA.

850 is just slightly more than an average trip for me. So it wouldn't be a big deal. Others will tell you to split that up into 2 days at least. All depends on you. If you're not into long trips, then towing can make it feel even longer.

Personally, I prefer to drive at night to avoid traffic. But if you anticipate needing any emergency service, think twice about that.

Otherwise, sounds like you've done what you can to prepare the vehicles. Only thing to consider is your comfort. Drive straight through, pick a hotel halfway, or camp in a lot halfway. All up to what you feel comfortable with. I'm a straight through kinda guy

Any tips on things I should be doing to prepare for this trip?
Or just general tips for a long trip with the TT?
This will be my first long trip with the trailer, until this I haven't been more than 60 miles from home with it.

A long trip is a series of short trips put together.

Do all your prep work, then tow it about 20 miles minimum, make sure everything is working as expected. Sounds like you are well prepared. Just do it! Have fun!