1st time TT owner, with questions

[dani24]

My husband and I love to camp, but with a 2 year old (and hopefully one more child in the next year or two), we wanted something a little more "enclosed" than a tent -- particularly for naps and earlier bed times, to help block out a little noise. So, this past weekend we purchased a new 2013 Travel Lite Idea i15!

This is our first time owning a TT (or anything like it -- my husband has never towed anything either, and I've only helped my dad with launching his boat when I was a teen), so naturally we have some questions. 🙂

1) We have ample side yard storage for the TT, but there's a small section that will be a tight squeeze as we back it in from the driveway (I think we have about a foot of wiggle room). Should we consider getting a TT dolly? Is a manual one good enough? There's also a small incline getting up the driveway to the side yard, if that makes a difference.

2) How do you determine the tongue weight of your loaded up TT? Does it need to be weighed every time you take it out? Is there an easy way to do this at home?

3) How does the amount of cargo (including people) inside your TV affect things? For instance, does it impact how much you can tow (e.g. weight of the TT with all the cargo in it)?

4) Basic supplies... suggestions for what we need? I've been compiling a list. So far I have wheel chocks, an storage cover (and maybe some for the wheels), and leveling blocks. What else?

5) Any good YouTube videos, links to forum threads, or links to other webpages with great info for helping a newbie TT owner figure out how to "use" this thing?! 🙂

[Francesca_Knowl]

dani24 wrote:

We do have the 4x4. Would it be cumbersome mostly from a standpoint of needing to set it up each time? Or is there something else that would make it a pain to have, if we didn't really need it?

Well, if you have the 4x4, you likely have the heavier axle, too, at least according to page 20 at the towing guide link . A quick look at the door panel will confirm that (or not)

If so:

You'll be towing two thousand pounds under the max for the vehicle. Per tongue weight, 10% of your vehicle max is 530 pounds, nearly two hundred pounds over the likely max nose weight of the trailer. The trailer itself weighs far less than the half of tow vehicle gross weight rating commonly considered to be a break point for W/D in this case just seems unnecessary to me unless you've got a TON of people/gear in the Explorer when traveling.

Absent that scenario and assuming the bigger axle, I'd be surprised if the trailer squats the back of the rig at all when sitting on a simple ball.

You might find the following E-trailer discussion of W/D useful Link. Explains all the ins and outs real well, and includes the following simple instructions for determining whether or not one actually needs W/D.

E-Trailer wrote:
When Is Weight Distribution Needed?


You would likely benefit from a weight-distribution system if:

-Your trailer weight (GTW) is more than 50 percent of your vehicle's weight (GVWR)
-The rear of your tow vehicle sags when the trailer is hooked up
- You experience trailer sway
-Your tow vehicle headlights point upward
-You find it difficult to steer or stop your rig
-You want to tow to the highest capacity allowed by your vehicle's trailer hitch setup

Per the above: Again assuming the heavier axle, which increases tug GVWR to 10,000 pounds, the trailer you're getting is far below half that weight.

[dani24]

Francesca Knowles wrote:


From what I can tell, the tow package did come with a seven-pole plug (I erroneously referred to as "pigtail- that's the trailer connection!) But it looks like the only "live" standard connections were lights- no brake controller wiring/charging line. Those are must haves as far as I'm concerned. If they are putting in a charging line, by the way, do make sure they're also installing an isolating solenoid that will prevent the trailer from sucking all the juice out of the tug's battery when the ignition is turned off. That's not always a standard part of a charging line install, though in my opinion it should be!

We do have the seven prong plug on the Explorer.

Per actual towing capacity and need-or-not for W/D:

In your case (4.0L V6), capacity is mostly limited by the size of the rear axle, though there's a small difference by drive type. (Is yours four wheel drive or not?) Specs for axles are on the vehicle door plate....

If you have the 3.55 axle, capacity is 3400lbs tops. That's so close to the trailer's gross weight that you might indeed need W/D.

But if you have the much stiffer 3.73, which all by itself increases tow capacity by over two thousand pounds (5780 tops) , W/D may well be an unnecessary and cumbersome add-on.

We do have the 4x4. Would it be cumbersome mostly from a standpoint of needing to set it up each time? Or is there something else that would make it a pain to have, if we didn't really need it?

You already have the permanently installed part of the hitch: the receiver. As would be true if we were talking about a simple ballmount, there's no real "installation" involved for the W/D. It's a component that simply plugs into your receiver, followed by various things also getting hooked up. You'll have to do that yourself every time you use it. If you're dealing with the folks you're also buying the trailer from, it's surprising to me that they'd be charging you anything at all for what can only amount to showing you how to adjust it-? To me, that's sorta like charging to explain how something in the trailer works...or if you have questions about, say, the dump valves , do they charge for that information, too?

I think by "installation" I just meant installing the ordered components wherever they go. I assume, for instance, that the WD hitch and sway bar have to be installed on the TT's tongue. The sales guy didn't mention anything about a separate cost for installation for those items. Although he just quoted a lump sum for it all.

[Francesca_Knowl]

dani24 wrote:


I had thought we were getting the WD hitch, anti-sway bar and brake control package installed. Yet now it is sounding like they may have pulled a fast one on me. And I'm feeling really stupid for not catching it until now.

I'm going to go back down there and see if they'll pull out our file and the negotiating worksheet (which I saw them put in there). I swear the guy had written the brake controller package on that. And I know at one point towards the end I initialed that page. I'm hoping I can argue to have it included. Or maybe swap out the WD hitch for just a sway bar and brake controller. Although, it looks like a brake controller online is around $100, give or take (correct me if I'm wrong), versus $300 for the WD hitch, and I don't want to leave any money on the table that I don't need to.

Is the "7 pole pigtail" the same thing as the 7 prong plug? Or is that the wiring that hooks up from the trailer to that 7 prong plug?

I just looked at Ford's towing guide for the 2004 models: Link.

From what I can tell, the tow package did come with a seven-pole plug (I erroneously referred to as "pigtail- that's the trailer connection!) But it looks like the only "live" standard connections were lights- no brake controller wiring/charging line. Those are must haves as far as I'm concerned. If they are putting in a charging line, by the way, do make sure they're also installing an isolating solenoid that will prevent the trailer from sucking all the juice out of the tug's battery when the ignition is turned off. That's not always a standard part of a charging line install, though in my opinion it should be!

Per actual towing capacity and need-or-not for W/D:

In your case (4.0L V6), capacity is mostly limited by the size of the rear axle, though there's a small difference by drive type. (Is yours four wheel drive or not?) Specs for axles are on the vehicle door plate....

If you have the 3.55 axle, capacity is 3400lbs tops. That's so close to the trailer's gross weight that you might indeed need W/D.

But if you have the much stiffer 3.73, which all by itself increases tow capacity by over two thousand pounds (5780 tops) , W/D may well be an unnecessary and cumbersome add-on.

And per W/D "installation charges":

You already have the permanently installed part of the hitch: the receiver. As would be true if we were talking about a simple ballmount, there's no real "installation" involved for the W/D. It's a component that simply plugs into your receiver, followed by various things also getting hooked up. You'll have to do that yourself every time you use it. If you're dealing with the folks you're also buying the trailer from, it's surprising to me that they'd be charging you anything at all for what can only amount to showing you how to adjust it-? To me, that's sorta like charging to explain how something in the trailer works. If you have questions about, say, the dump valves , do they charge for that information, too?

Good luck!

[westend]

You'll need a WDH with the Explorer, your rear suspension isn't that heavy and the WDH will transfer weight of the trailer back onto your front axle that does the steering. Also, the sway bar will be attached to that WDH. I would find out if you have a brake controller already installed with the Explorer, if not the Tekonsha Prodigy is a good choice.

The multi-wire cable that is connected from trailer to tow vehicle has a number of names---umbilical, 7 pole, 7 prong, 7 way, 7 way RV. You will, of course, have to have that 7 way socket on your tow vehicle to operate all the functions the trailer has like brake lights, turn lights, night lights, marker lights, brakes, and electrical charge to the battery. A simple look-see on the back of your vehicle is all that's necessary.

[Jaust]

Also remember that the vehicle may have a 5400 lb tow rating but the Class II hitch maxes out at 3500 lbs. with up to 350 lbs. tongue weight which is right at the limit of your trailer rating. Enjoy your new trailer. As with everything in life you will learn from experience after using it a couple times what you will need for it.

I love the idea of camping at home to find out some things you may need as they will be readily available as opposed to when your out camping.but getting to know your trailer is half the fun. As for backing it up you just need to practice, practice, practice and it will eventually get easier and pretty soon you'll be a pro. As a truck driver for 25 years you will learn that shorter trailers can be harder to back than longer because you have less time to correct. Just go easy and before you know it that 1 foot clearance will seem like 10 feet. Happy camping.

[dani24]

Francesca Knowles wrote:

What, exactly, are you paying the dealer to do? If your vehicle came with a "tow package", presumably that at least included a lights connection with a four-flat hookup. I'm shootin' in the dark here, but that's the standard thing. With that as a starting point, the "work" you'd need done would be to install brake controller wiring, a charging line for the trailer battery, and maybe a backup lights connection. Plus a seven pole pigtail if you don't already have one.

And yet your work order doesn't include brake controller wiring, perhaps the most important of the components you need? What the heck ARE they doing???

Also, per the W/D system they already so helpfully ordered you:

Unless the numbers I'm looking at online are completely wrong, your trailer will weigh about 2,000 pounds under your vehicle's capacity. Tongue weight should come in at about 350 lbs....I can't imagine that will drop the rear of the tug more than an inch, if that. W/D may be just a cumbersome and unnecessary extra bit of trouble in your case.

Bottom line: you may not need weight distribution with this setup. The sole purpose of that system is to transfer weight away from the rear axle of the tug. If they're selling it to you as "sway control", you should be aware that many W/D systems provide no such thing, and require the adding of friction-type sway controllers. Which you can use just as effectively on the simple ball setup the tug already has.

If I was in your situation, I wouldn't decide on W/D until I looked at the trailer loaded for the road and hooked up to the tug. That is when you'll know. And W/D is an over-the-counter buy at any RV parts store, so don't let anyone tell you that it's something exotic!

I had thought we were getting the WD hitch, anti-sway bar and brake control package installed. Yet now it is sounding like they may have pulled a fast one on me. And I'm feeling really stupid for not catching it until now.

I'm going to go back down there and see if they'll pull out our file and the negotiating worksheet (which I saw them put in there). I swear the guy had written the brake controller package on that. And I know at one point towards the end I initialed that page. I'm hoping I can argue to have it included. Or maybe swap out the WD hitch for just a sway bar and brake controller. Although, it looks like a brake controller online is around $100, give or take (correct me if I'm wrong), versus $300 for the WD hitch, and I don't want to leave any money on the table that I don't need to.

Is the "7 pole pigtail" the same thing as the 7 prong plug? Or is that the wiring that hooks up from the trailer to that 7 prong plug?

[westend]

You need an equalizing hitch with anti-sway and you need braking. The hitch's rating is stamped on the hitch.
If you have a hitch that is too small for towing the trailer, the easiest solution is to have a larger hitch installed.

FWIW, I saw an Explorer, today, that had a Class II hitch built into the valance under the bumper. Don't know if they are all coming stock like that or not.

[Francesca_Knowl]

dani24 wrote:
So, I dug into our filing cabinet, where DH still had the window sticker from when he bought the vehicle. The good news is that the Explorer DOES have a Class III hitch (as part of the tow package).

I called down to the dealer, and the WD hitch they ordered for us is the 600 lb Husky WD hitch.

Unfortunately, the service department manager I spoke with said she didn't have anything showing we were to get a brake package. So now I have to figure out what to do about that with the dealer... 😞

:h

O.K., now I'm confused. (Good news on the class III, by the way!)

That aside:

What, exactly, are you paying the dealer to do? If your vehicle came with a "tow package", presumably that at least included a lights connection with a four-flat hookup. I'm shootin' in the dark here, but that's the standard thing. With that as a starting point, the "work" you'd need done would be to install brake controller wiring, a charging line for the trailer battery, and maybe a backup lights connection. Plus a seven pole pigtail if you don't already have one.

And yet your work order doesn't include brake controller wiring, perhaps the most important of the components you need? What the heck ARE they doing???

Also, per the W/D system they already so helpfully ordered you:

Unless the numbers I'm looking at online are completely wrong, your trailer will weigh about 2,000 pounds under your vehicle's capacity. Tongue weight should come in at about 350 lbs....I can't imagine that will drop the rear of the tug more than an inch, if that. W/D may be just a cumbersome and unnecessary extra bit of trouble in your case.

Bottom line: you may not need weight distribution with this setup. The sole purpose of that system is to transfer weight away from the rear axle of the tug. If they're selling it to you as "sway control", you should be aware that many W/D systems provide no such thing, and require the adding of friction-type sway controllers. Which you can use just as effectively on the simple ball setup the tug already has.

If I was in your situation, I wouldn't decide on W/D until I looked at the trailer loaded for the road and hooked up to the tug. That is when you'll know. And W/D is an over-the-counter buy at any RV parts store, so don't let anyone tell you that it's something exotic!

[dani24]

So, I dug into our filing cabinet, where DH still had the window sticker from when he bought the vehicle. The good news is that the Explorer DOES have a Class III hitch (as part of the tow package).

I called down to the dealer, and the WD hitch they ordered for us is the 600 lb Husky WD hitch.

Unfortunately, the service department manager I spoke with said she didn't have anything showing we were to get a brake package. So now I have to figure out what to do about that with the dealer... 😞

[dani24]

Francesca Knowles wrote:


"Class II" is just an expression of weight limits- 3500 pounds max. Addition of W/D hardware is up to receiver designer. I'd frankly be surprised if someone put such a low load hitch on this vehicle...but you never know! They might have just wanted to tote a bike rack or something.

There should be something on the hitch itself- they always come with labels. What make/model etc.? Or is it at the service shop even as we speak?

I don't know what the make/model of the EQ hitch is. It would still be at the shop, with the TT. We haven't picked it up yet, because they still needed to do the full inspection, and fix a couple of things under warranty (mainly cosmetic) that we requested.

Would there be something on the receiver on the Ford that would indicate if it's a Class II or Class III that we can check for?

[dani24]

Just looked it up, and it looks like we can get a Class III for my DH's car for around $150, which sounds reasonable. Perhaps we'll check his hitch tonight to verify what he has, and if he does have a Class II, maybe we'll just get a new hitch.

[Francesca_Knowl]

dani24 wrote:


Hmmm, this is concerning then. We definitely have a Class II hitch (ETA: I think? Now DH says he's not 100% certain...). The dealer said we should get the equalizing hitch, anti-sway bar and the brake package. The service shop called my husband on Monday for some more info on his vehicle, but so far that's it. I hope we didn't get sold something that we A) don't need, and B) could cause more problems than it solves...

"Class II" is just an expression of weight limits- 3500 pounds max. Addition of W/D hardware is up to receiver designer. I'd frankly be surprised if someone put such a low load hitch on this vehicle...but you never know! They might have just wanted to tote a bike rack or something.

There should be something on the hitch itself- they always come with labels. What make/model etc.? Or is it at the service shop even as we speak?

[dani24]

Francesca Knowles wrote:


Your understanding of tongue weight is correct- the 10-15% is loaded weight. Once you've weighed the trailer loaded you'll have a fair idea of target number and can load accordingly.

A concern that does come to mind is your statement that the tug's equippped with a Class II hitch (receiver)- are you sure about that? I ask because dowthread from that point you mention having acquired a weight distributing hitch. There are few if any Class II receivers that are designed/rated for W/D use, which puts considerable strain on that component. As always, weakest component governs, and the limitations of the receiver itself may preclude the use of W/D.

It sounds like you have some sort of "hitch man" advising you; I hope he looks closely at the receiver you actually have on. It's not just a matter of opening size, either- there are plenty of Class II hitches with two inch openings. That doesn't mean they can be used with weight distribution systems. You might even just write down the receiver make and model number and lokok it up yourself.

Hmmm, this is concerning then. We definitely have a Class II hitch (ETA: I think? Now DH says he's not 100% certain...). The dealer said we should get the equalizing hitch, anti-sway bar and the brake package. The service shop called my husband on Monday for some more info on his vehicle, but so far that's it. I hope we didn't get sold something that we A) don't need, and B) could cause more problems than it solves...

[Francesca_Knowl]

dani24 wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Just looked at the specs for this trailer- dry weight given as 2600, gross 3500- correct? Link to source

Main thing that jumped off that spec page was tongue weight- 180 lbs is in my opinion too light for stable towing of a trailer in that weight range. Rule of thumb is around 10% of actual trailer weight. It may be that given dry weight does not include such things as propane bottles/battery, which are often tongue mounted, although from the shape of the trailer's nose I don't see how that would be possible-? Picture posted below...

I believe those specs are correct, based on what I've seen elsewhere for this model. I had notice that it has a "Cargo Carrying Capacity" of just over 900 lbs. I assume this means the max we could conceivably load up in the TT, not including what we could load into the TV as well (but please correct me if I'm wrong).

The propane tank is hidden behind that panel at the tip of the nose. I'm not certain where the battery would be.

I'm a little confused about the "180 lbs tongue weight". Is it your thinking that this is what the manufacturer is suggesting the tongue weight should be (when hitched)? Or is that how much the tongue weight would be without anything else loaded in the TT?

I've read some stuff elsewhere that says tongue weight should be 9-15% of the GVWR. So, that would mean between 315-525 lbs for this model. Does that sound right? And, if so, would that mean we would potentially need to add weight to the tongue in order to hit that mark? Does loading up the TT with gear increase the tongue weight as well?

Part of the reason we went for a model like this is that my husband currently has a 2004 Ford Explorer 4.0 v6, 4WD Automatic, with a Class II hitch. I can't remember the exact number, but I think the GVWR listed on the inside of his door was about 5400. We plan to get him a new SUV in the next couple of years, but his current vehicle should have at least a few good years left in it. So we needed something light enough for him to tow. Plus, we didn't want anything too big to fit in our side yard, and to detract from spending time outdoors. The sales guy at the dealership seemed to think the set up would be fine (although we added an equalizing hitch, a stabilizing bar and the brake light wiring). Hopefully he wasn't blowing smoke up our rears (as I know sales people are apt to do -- but I'd hope we could "trust" him at least on that).

Sorry if these are stupid/basic questions. I really want to be sure I understand things so we can be safe on the road with our TT.

Your understanding of tongue weight is correct- the 10-15% is loaded weight. Once you've weighed the trailer loaded you'll have a fair idea of target number and can load accordingly.

A concern that does come to mind is your statement that the tug's equippped with a Class II hitch (receiver)- are you sure about that? I ask because dowthread from that point you mention having acquired a weight distributing hitch. There are few if any Class II receivers that are designed/rated for W/D use, which puts considerable strain on that component. As always, weakest component governs, and the limitations of the receiver itself may preclude the use of W/D.

It sounds like you have some sort of "hitch man" advising you; I hope he looks closely at the receiver you actually have on. It's not just a matter of opening size, either- there are plenty of Class II hitches with two inch openings. That doesn't mean they can be used with weight distribution systems. You might even just write down the receiver make and model number and look it up yourself.