Forum Discussion
Travels_with_Yo
Oct 08, 2014Explorer
Reply to jackquontee ....
Capacity never came up as a problem for us. We use a weight distribution hitch which transfers weight evenly to both axles of the tow vehicle. The general rule of 15% tongue weight can be increased closer to 20% with this hitch (by pre-loading it more) which basically gives you an additional 575 to 700 lbs to play with. We also pull with a pick-up so there's plenty of room in the back (protected with a shell) for additional gear and heavy items. I did upgrade the Chinese tires which I deemed to be marginal to Khumo LT tires made for trailers exclusively. We did over 8,000 miles this summer with it and it towed beautifully without a hint of problems. The tires (and wheels) were comfortable to the touch even on 110 degree days. In fact, we towed it across Kansas in high winds and then discovered that I had forgotten to tighten the clamp on the sway control and still didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Also, since it's just the two of us, we don't need to bring a lot of stuff. It was very comfortable for us and we had a great time. After 6 weeks in it, we found that we needed more dinette space primarily as we spend evenings with laptops and cameras connected downloading video etc. We also would have liked to have a larger freezer for longer remote area stays and although the shower worked better than I imagined it would, it was still a bit cramped for us. The FF214 with the single dinette slide-out solves the problem for us and icing on the cake, it has a much larger fridge/freezer and shower.
Also, we usually traveled with the fresh water tank about 1/3 full just for obvious back up and tried to empty the other tanks anytime we had sewer access regardless of their current levels. There was one time when water wasn't available so I filled the fresh water tank and didn't notice any difference towing that day.
The only actual issues were the fact that our two bikes on the bike rack cantilevered behind the rear bumper caused the bumper to begin to collapse in on its two mounting struts. The bumper is rated for 150 lbs and our bike/rack combo was only 90 lbs. The rough roads and pounding contributes to this very common type failure. I simply moved the bikes to the back of the truck. It's easily solved by simply welding gussets where they need to be. In fact, we had taken it to a dealer to have this done when we saw the FF214 for the first time ... the rest as they say, is history (we pick up the 2015 FF tomorrow morning):B
Capacity never came up as a problem for us. We use a weight distribution hitch which transfers weight evenly to both axles of the tow vehicle. The general rule of 15% tongue weight can be increased closer to 20% with this hitch (by pre-loading it more) which basically gives you an additional 575 to 700 lbs to play with. We also pull with a pick-up so there's plenty of room in the back (protected with a shell) for additional gear and heavy items. I did upgrade the Chinese tires which I deemed to be marginal to Khumo LT tires made for trailers exclusively. We did over 8,000 miles this summer with it and it towed beautifully without a hint of problems. The tires (and wheels) were comfortable to the touch even on 110 degree days. In fact, we towed it across Kansas in high winds and then discovered that I had forgotten to tighten the clamp on the sway control and still didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Also, since it's just the two of us, we don't need to bring a lot of stuff. It was very comfortable for us and we had a great time. After 6 weeks in it, we found that we needed more dinette space primarily as we spend evenings with laptops and cameras connected downloading video etc. We also would have liked to have a larger freezer for longer remote area stays and although the shower worked better than I imagined it would, it was still a bit cramped for us. The FF214 with the single dinette slide-out solves the problem for us and icing on the cake, it has a much larger fridge/freezer and shower.
Also, we usually traveled with the fresh water tank about 1/3 full just for obvious back up and tried to empty the other tanks anytime we had sewer access regardless of their current levels. There was one time when water wasn't available so I filled the fresh water tank and didn't notice any difference towing that day.
The only actual issues were the fact that our two bikes on the bike rack cantilevered behind the rear bumper caused the bumper to begin to collapse in on its two mounting struts. The bumper is rated for 150 lbs and our bike/rack combo was only 90 lbs. The rough roads and pounding contributes to this very common type failure. I simply moved the bikes to the back of the truck. It's easily solved by simply welding gussets where they need to be. In fact, we had taken it to a dealer to have this done when we saw the FF214 for the first time ... the rest as they say, is history (we pick up the 2015 FF tomorrow morning):B
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