Towing question

[linkr67]

I have a Bantam Lite expandable. I ve been towing with a 4.7 liter Durango. It tows ok but wind resistance causes some erratic downshifting on hills even in trailer tow mode. We are looking at changing vehicles due to age and miles on the durango. We are thinking of going to a truck to take bikes or kayaks along, and I need the 4 wheel drive or AWD. Wondering what late model and brand you are using and like. The trailer weight is around 3000 lbs. Is there anything that has a transmission to allow decent highway fuel economy when not towing? Thanks for your in put!

On another subject: have any of you had experience with putting vinyl covered fabric on the expansion back into the upper channel at the top? If so, what worked for you?

[bikendan]

linkr67 wrote:
When I put the queen bed down, The fabric of the tent part pulled out of the trailer frame channel at the top left corner. How do I put it back to stay?

Pics of the channel and the canvas edge that pulled out, would probably help.

Bantams haven't been made since 2004 or 2005. R-vision may have a different system than other brands.

[linkr67]

When I put the queen bed down, The fabric of the tent part pulled out of the trailer frame channel at the top left corner. How do I put it back to stay?

[bikendan]

linkr, you don't need a diesel to pull a Bantam hybrids.
The R-vision Bantam were the lightest hybrids ever made.

BUT most RV'ers move up to bigger trailers. So you need to decide whether you may get something bigger in the future.
If so, get a tow vehicle that will be able to handle something larger so you won't have to buy another tow vehicle.

We bought our Avalanche to pull our Roo 23SS Hybrid. It was a great combo for the 10 years we used it.
But we moved to a TT that was 500lbs more, heavier tongue weight and 3ft longer.
The Avalanche began to struggle some. So we upgraded to a 2014 F150 Ecoboost with plenty of extras that will work if we get another trailer that's bigger than our new one.

As far as vinyl fabric for the expansion back, not sure what you mean.
Do you mean something like Popup Gizmos to cover the back bunk's canvas tent end?

[ScottG]

amxpress wrote:
You can get a good deal on a new RAM 1500 w/5.7 Hemi, but think about a diesel, too.

And the MDS of that power train will get you pretty good unloaded mileage.

[kknowlton]

The first trailer we towed with our 2007 Tundra was a hybrid, and it worked beautifully. (Since then, we have towed two other, larger trailers with it, again no problems.) I don't worry about fuel mileage too much; seems it's been pretty much the same with every TV/trailer combination we've had over the past 15-20 years, since the bigger the TV, the bigger the trailer we have felt we could pull. 🙂

Once you start in that cycle - getting a bigger tow vehicle, then a bigger trailer, then a yet bigger TV, etc. - it keeps going, usually! 🙂 Probably might as well get something big enough to pull the next trailer you're going to get!

[amxpress]

You can get a good deal on a new RAM 1500 w/5.7 Hemi, but think about a diesel, too.