Do you like towing?

[Whitehall]

We're picking up our new Snow River 245RKS next week. My only previous TT towing experience is with a rental hybrid trailer, and a rental tent trailer. I have a lot of towing experience with a pilot house fishing boat weighing about 7,500 # total.

Being a rental, the hybrid didn't have a WDH and it wasn't really balanced well with my truck at the time, a 2006 Dodge 1500. Didn't brake well and was kind of a pain to tow, especially down CA SR 20 into Fort Bragg. I like towing my boat most of the time, although the surge brakes can be annoying and vertical changes in the pavement such as bridges can be jarring. The F-350 handles it, though, and I really don't miss towing with the Ram 1500.

I can get in the groove and just cruise along at about 62 mph, except I-5 where the pavement is busted up and I watch the bouncy boat in the mirror give the torsion axles a workout. Curvy roads don't bother me too much, as long as they have enough radius and width. The small fuel tank on the F350 SB is in sync with my coffee drinking habit, so we stop every two hours, at least.

At nearly 12' high and about as long as the TT, the boat has gotten me pretty well accustomed to turning wide and looking up. About the only thing I'm not looking forward to is traffic and SoCal drivers when we head that direction. Oh, and the Stockton area on I-5. The whole thing. People drive even worse there than LA.

How about you? Anything that you dread, towing-wise? Do you get in the zone and rack up the miles?

[Slate_CM]

I'm still somewhat new to TT towing, a little over a year, but for the most part I enjoy it. As Vintage465 said, because I'm looking forward to the destination.

Another part I like is being able to stop at most any view point and go make a sandwich instead of having the same old McD's fast food.

Making a wrong turn and trying to find a trailer friendly way out is probably the part I dislike the most.

[kendeb]

Deb here -- I drive a school bus so I don't really mind towing at all. My first experience when towing our TT occurred in July during a torrential downpour through road construction on a major highway. I survived that so any other kind of towing is better than that! I don't have a problem changing lanes to pass a slow moving semi or something, I do ask my husband if I can get back over into the right lane though. Tow mirrors are not available for our vehicle and the strap on mirrors we have are not the greatest. Looking into getting a rear view camera, but even that will have blind spots I am sure.

[jmcgsd]

It's kinda like getting my haircut. I don't enjoy it or dread it, it's just something that needs to get done.

[stufarmer]

You mentioned your Boat Trailer as having Torsion Suspension. I believe that in itself is going to the make the single largest difference between towing your Boat incomparison to your Travel Trailer. Your towing experience is probably more than a large percentage of many members of this forum. There is an upgrade for your Trailers Suspension. It's made from Dexter Axe, it's called the EZ Flex system. There is a great write up on the first page of the forum. You can also watch a Demo video on E Trailer. The video is very informing. Good Luck....

[GrandpaKip]

Dreadful, no. Enjoyable? Not really. It just is. But towing is definitely worth the end result. I certainly don't hook up and drive around for fun, then go back home. 😉

[hondaCT90]

it's the idiots who think that extra space in front of me is a place they just HAVE to dive into without a turn signal etc...that's the only part of towing that is frustrating..well, and a lot of times a quick stop for fast food, etc ...you have to pass by some spots cause there simply isn't room.
our larger towing experience really started back in 2000 with the purchase of a nice 22ft boat..making frequent runs to the coast and to the fla keys from the Carolinas..at the time we had a dodge h-top conversion van..added the tranny cooler, heavier suspension and the 318 did fine cept for some of the tougher hills.

our TT was first hung off of a chevy silverado 1500 327v8...which loaded just fine, but strained up the steeper hill climbs were we'd tuck in behind the large motorhomes and truckers who strained to hold 25mph up the hills and white knuckled a bit on the downhill runs as the camper tended to wag the light truck a bit.
we upgraded in 2012 to a 3500 Duramax...exhaust braking, plenty of torque..now i set the cruise on 65 and it doesn't even downshift on those same hill climbs...and coming back down, the exhaust brake holds speed almost always..never even have to tap, much less ride the brakes..feels much safer.

the company I own...we have a couple enclosed cargo trailers..tandems..so again, always seem to have something on the back of a bumper..but without a doubt, it feels better to have more than enough truck.. I cringe when I see some of these folks with massive 5th wheelers and a struggling 2500 being crushed under it..no dually, just a 2500 leaning badly ..headlights to the sky (lol)..surprised a dealer sold it to them...no...that shouldn't surprise me...
bottom line, I am fine pull, and love having the resources with us on a trip, and the ability to park it at the camp site, unhook, and drive whereever we want, rather than having a small car behind a large motorhome...

[Need-A-Vacation]

Whitehall,

Congrats on the new rig!!!!

Schlep,

I know of 2 Pizza Hut's with decent size parking lots. May be a bit out of the way being in Mi though! Lol

Not sure if I "enjoy" towing, but it doesn't bother me as long as (like mentioned) everything is set up good, and the trailer behaves so I don't get frustrated over wondering what is wrong.

Now, couple things that irritate me are the fewer gas stations that accommodate a large rig, and the a$$hat drivers that drive like they are on the track.

[silverfz]

I liked towing my pup with the truck. It was the most pleasant towing experience.with a TT I do realize that I will never get the same experience.

[Coolerman]

I enjoy towing when everything is set up correctly, the weather is good, the wife is in a good mood and gas prices are low!

Bad weather on the other hand... See my post about bad towing experiences.

[schlep1967]

Towing to me is not enjoyable or dreadful. It is something I have to do to enjoy the comfort of the 5th wheel when we get to our destination. About the only thing that bothers me is when the wife just randomly announces that we will just stop and grab something to eat along the way. "Sure Honey, you find the Pizza Hut we can fit 55 feet of rig in and out of and I'll stop."

[scbwr]

I enjoy towing our rig as it tows and handles extremely well. But when towing, you have to remain alert and be prepared to react when other drivers do something stupid. Having a backup camera on the trailer has been very useful when trying to maneuver in tight situations and in monitoring traffic in back of my rig.

[fitznj]

I don't mind towing my TT, I get into my "towing" groove, chill out, take my time, lengthen my braking space, look way up the road....etc....

The only thing I hate about towing is when traffic starts building up, I leave a nice gap to the car ahead and sure enough you always get that one car that jumps into that space and slams on the brakes.....so now I plan most of our trips to avoid heavy traffic.

Gerry

[Whitehall]

Trackrig wrote:
Towing the trailer on ice when it's warm and there's water standing on the ice is a real pain.

Bill

I think we have different definitions of "warm!":)

[NanciL]

NOPE !

I have always loved driving, and enjoyed it, but towing is not fun.
In my estimation it is just a necessary evil!

Jack L

[Trackrig]

Towing four place enclosed snow machine trailers in the winter is fine, you just need enough weight in the back of the truck to control it. Towing the trailer on ice when it's warm and there's water standing on the ice is a real pain.

Bill