3,000 Miles Later ...

[PacNWChris]

We recently got home from a 3,000 mile trip that took us to Grand Teton NP, Arches and Canyonlands NPs, Crater Lake NP ... and a few other smaller places along the way.

It was our first "serious" trip in our relatively new TT. At almost every park someone commented (nicely) on either the TV of trailer. lol Our previous trailer (Springdale 256RLLS) and TV (Nissan Titan) were nice, but no one ever said a thing. Anyhow, the truck was WAY more comfortable as the hundreds of miles went by. Aside from some horrible stretches of highway with tire ruts that made the ProPride worth the money, the hitch performed wonderfully as well. There were some stretches in Idaho and Utah, and even northern Nevada, where the wind gusts were especially nasty. You certainly could tell it was windy, but we never felt like the truck was being "steered" from the back. I made sure to grease the WD spring bars (at the zerks), but I'm not sure if I'm lubing it up enough. I still hear some of the tell-tale "creaking" of a WD system. I'm not sure if it's just the "sound of a metal WD system working," or if I need more grease. I suppose you "can't" have too much ...

The trailer has been awesome too. While a rear kitchen means having to be conscious of weight behind the axles, it makes the interior space SOOO much more usable for us. Also, having the outdoor kitchen (which is really just a smaller fridge, sink, ice maker, and BBQ on a swing arm attached to the bumper), it really great.

One flaw however - the spare tire and mount! I can't imagine I'm the only one to experience this: if your tire hangs substantially below the rear bumper (ours was about 8-9 inches below), then exiting driveways with steep angles puts you at risk for hitting the tire ... which is EXACTLY what happened. The bumper is fine, but the tire mount was bent. We didn't notice it until we arrived at a campground and were setting up. There are two bolts holding the spare onto the bracket: one going right through a hole in the rim, the other holding a plate onto the rim. The plate was severely bent, but at least the tire didn't come off! We need to find a new place to mount/store the tire eventually.

Sorry for the long post, but a couple questions for you ProPride people that I've SORT OF asked before.

1. When you've set your WD jacks, and begin to raise the tongue jack, is the sound of metal being put under load normal? It's sort of like a creaking noise. I haven't been putting mine up very high (I think) because I *hate* that noise. I'm in the lowest hole on the spring bar links, and only raise the jacks like 3 to 31/2 inches. Do I just need to get over hearing it? 🙂

2. When the WD spring bars are under load, should I be able to see any "flexing" upward in them? I currently don't see that. My ride seems "okay," but maybe could be better.

(I wonder why ProPride uses the solid spring bar links from the WD bars to the jacks as opposed to chain like other more "typical" WD systems ...)


*** EDIT: I forgot to mention, if you haven't had the opportunity to go over Teton Pass ... it's a 10% grade, on both sides! We put the 350 in tow mode, and it handled it like a champ! ***

[Golden_HVAC]

The F-350 is certainly a bit of overkill in truck size for a travel trailer. You don't really need to distribute much weight to the front axle. If you are comfortable, then I would pretty much leave it alone.

Yes that 4,000 - 5,000 pounds on the rear axle of the F-350 will keep it planted in a curve or on a windy road. While the Nissan probably only had around 3,500 on the rear axle? This can allow the weight in the front of the trailer to keep it 'plowing forward' and push the rear axle in the way the trailer wants to go, not following the truck properly.

Make sure that your replacement truck tires stay steel sidewall, as the softer polyester sidewall tires can (and in the case of my motorhome do) allow the towed vehicle to push around the towing vehicle.

Happy camping!

Fred.

[hddecker]

Sounds like a trip we took in 1994. I love the four corners area so much to see so little time.

Isn't it great to see the trailer getting hit by crosswinds and not feeling it in the cab.

When you installed the PP did you grease all the pivot points. My Hensley has a little bit of creaking and groaning when making tight turns. You also get some noise as you raise the jack and load up the spring bars. You can't use too much grease.

You can get a spare tire carrier that mounts under the a-frame. Obviously the rocket scientist that designed the setup you have has never been to the southwest. They sure do have some high curbs down there. I wore out a couple of sets of exhaust tips on my bike going down those steep driveway let downs coming out of gas stations.