New Poster - New Tower - Pre TT buyer

[TMX]

Good morning and first off thank you in advance.
I looked but did not see an introduction Forum, if there is one please point me there :B

We are about to rent a TT for a trip from Colorado Springs to Yellowstone. We have great resources for low price rentals through the various Military Bases here in the Springs. We are using this as a way to test out different TT before we buy at the end of the season.

My main question is on how heavy of a TT can I tow?

I have a 2014 Chevy Equinox with a tow rating of 3500#, it is the AWD V6, LT2 with Tow Package. It has either a Class I or II hitch mount with the 1 1/4" receiver

We are looking at 2 different trailers:

RPod 171 :
Hitch weight 225#
Base Weight 2205#
RPod Link

Scamp 13'
Hitch Weight 100#
Base Weight 1200-1500#
Scamp Link

The owners manual says that the towing cap is only 1000# if the trailer does not have breaks, and neither of these do.

For the record, there is only a $50 difference in the weekly rental price between the 2, and the RPod is MUCH nicer...lol

Are either of theses doable?

Thanks for the time you took to read this, and for any and all help I get.

Tim

[ronjax]

thanks for the reply having a hard time trying to find a harness for the workhorse chassis. the p2 sounds good to me less bells the better.

[BarneyS]

ronjax wrote:
hi, long time member very few posts. looking to buy a prodigy for my 38 foot gas where can I buy 1 for less than $100. also is p2 better than p3?

The best price I have found is here with free shipping. The price includes the wiring harness specific to certain vehicles so this one in the link may not be the exact one you want. That wiring harness is usually an extra cost item so without it the price would be very close to or under $100. You may not even want the harness if you are putting it in a motorhome. I would call them and let them know what vehicle it is going to be installed in.

The P2 and P3 work the same but the P3 has more bells and whistles. I have used a P2 for over 6 or 7 years and have found it to be almost faultless. Don't think I would spend the extra money for the P3 unless you feel you want or need them. I don't remember exactly what they were, however you can look up the differences.
Barney

[ronjax]

hi, long time member very few posts. looking to buy a prodigy for my 38 foot gas where can I buy 1 for less than $100. also is p2 better than p3?

[bikendan]

TMX wrote:
Starting the search for upgrades today. Knowing that I will be towing a trailer at about 2700 pounds total weight once or twice a year do you think a time delay control will be ok?

why go with a cheap old tech controller, when you can get a Prodigy P2 for under $100.

[TMX]

Starting the search for upgrades today. Knowing that I will be towing a trailer at about 2700 pounds total weight once or twice a year do you think a time delay control will be ok?

[TMX]

So first things first, we are looking into replacing the receiver. and upgrading to a 7pin plug from the 4 pin we have.

Thanks for all the info guys!
The wife stopped by a RV Repair place, and talked to a manager there, and gave here some good information, that we will use as well moving forward.

Also, I guess I need to look for a Break Controller....

T

[TMX]

the R-Pod does have electric brakes. i also find it strange that your car has the factory tow package but a 1 1/4 receiver.
that doesn't sound right. sounds like it doesn't have the real factory tow package.

It has what came installed from the dealer, and the truck had about 12 miles on it.
It is also wired, just can not remember if it is a 4 flat or 7 pin

T

[bikendan]

marquette wrote:
Before looking into a pop up tent trailer check where you will be camping. Some of the National Parks with bears do not allow tents or soft sided campers in certain areas. They have areas you can camp but make sure you can get a site in one of those areas.

the ONLY campground in Yellowstone that has a permanent ban on soft-sided RV's, is Fishing Bridge.
all the other YNP major campgrounds allow soft-sided campers.

in over 8 years, only one person was able to post another campground that had such a ban. and it wasn't a National Park. and it wasn't permanent.

there are occasionally campgrounds that will have a temporary ban.

the R-Pod does have electric brakes. i also find it strange that your car has the factory tow package but a 1 1/4 receiver.
that doesn't sound right. sounds like it doesn't have the real factory tow package.

[BurbMan]

cbshoestring wrote:
Have you looked at the price of pop-ups, lately? :h

I have not....oh well...

I thought the R-Pod had brakes because it lists a "breakaway switch" on the standard equipment list. The breakaway switch tethers to the vehicle and pulls a pin that applies the trailer brakes full-on in case of a separation from the vehicle. I assumed (yeah, I know LOL) that they wouldn't list the breakaway switch as standard if it didn't have brakes....

OP, don't forget you need the wiring for trailer lights also. If you are handy, you can get a plug-n-play kit here at e-Trailer.com.

Here are a few 2" receiver hitches at e-Trailer.com that bolt on in place of the existing receiver with no drilling.

If you do get a trailer with brakes, you'll also need to wire in a brake controller, here are some choices. I use a Prodigy P2, may like the P3 better.

Bottom line you can get all set up with wiring, receiver and brake controller for a only a few hundred and an afternoon if you are handy.

[TMX]

Thanks for al the input so far.

We are good to go with the style (hardside) for where we are camping in Yellowstone.

Can not get in touch with the guy at the RV place to verify if the RPod has breaks, he said it did not, but he may have just been talking about the Scamp.

At this point, I think, even though it is smaller, the Scamp might be my choice for my first pull. That is if it does not cost too much to replace the tow package to the 2 inch.

Thanks

Tim

[marquette]

Before looking into a pop up tent trailer check where you will be camping. Some of the National Parks with bears do not allow tents or soft sided campers in certain areas. They have areas you can camp but make sure you can get a site in one of those areas.

[cbshoestring]

I agree with Burbman, except for this line: "...You get more room for the money...". Have you looked at the price of pop-ups, lately? :h

The vehicle you are attempting to tow with does not allow for much of a trailer. You may be better off towing a 6x8 utility trailer loaded with a huge tent and camping gear. If you insist on a trailer, then a very light weight, small (probably no bigger than an 8' box) pop-up would be your best bet. After you up-grade that receiver....manufactures put those receivers on there to haul bicycles and not much more.

[BurbMan]

The R-Pod has electric brakes, they are an option on the Scamp models. I wouldn't tow anything without brakes on it, the laws in many (not all) states requires brakes on anything over 1000 lbs.

That said, you will need to upgrade that 1-1/4" receiver on the Equinox to a 2" receiver and also have trailer wiring and a brake controller installed. If you look at the tow ratings in your owners manual, there is likely a restriction on "frontal area" of the trailer. The reason for this is that high profile trailers like RVs create a LOT of wind resistance which adds more drag to the tow vehicle (TV) than the actual weight of the travel trailer (TT).

Also remember that you will pack a few hundred pounds of stuff in the trailer, so the real weights for the R-Pod are closer to 2500 and about 2000 for the Scamp. Also pay attention to the cargo capacity of the Equinox, look at the yellow sticker on the driver's door jamb. The 250 lbs or so of hitch weight on the R-Pod will be part of the cargo that the Equinox will carry.

I would say that would be likely be OK with the R-Pod IF you don't load a bunch of stuff in the back of the Equinox also. BUT, that's about as big of a TT I would tow with that vehicle. The Scamp would be a better match weightwise, but having looked at both of the links you provided, I get what you mean about the R-Pod being a LOT nicer.

Have you looked at pop-up trailers? You get more room for the money and because they are low-profile when packed up they are a LOT easier to tow than a hard-sided trailer. Our first trailer was a pop-up when we had our 97 4Runner with the V6 in it...we didn't go with a full sized TT until the lease was up and we got our Expedition.

Smart move renting first...maybe you rent the R-Pod for a weekend and take it someplace closeby, then you can see how the Equinox tows it before you commit to a road trip. If it turns out to be too much trailer for the vehicle, at least you won't have gone too far with it.

[Bumpyroad]

NO, they both weigh well over 1,000 lbs. so need brakes. find a light one that does have brakes
bumpy