Towing with the Pentastar V6

[jerem0621]

We tried to put the family 2014 Chrysler Town & Country through her paces tonight. The poor van just refused to struggle.

Picked up our AWESOME POP UP tonight... a 2008 Flagstaff Mac 228D. Been saving for a nice PUP for a while and Bam here she is. Nice slide, shower, toilet, heated mattresses...exactly what we (DW and I have been looking for)

We picked up this pup with all four members of my family and Monteagle Mountain standing between us and home. I'm under my tow rating and payload with this rig but was slightly concerned with how the Fantastic Pentastar would handle the load. My concern was VERY misplaced.

What can I say, the Pentastar is a Fantastic Tow Motor. I locked out high gear and set the cruise on 62 mpg... little beast never missed a lick... the Town and Country handled amazing as a TV...

The highest temp I saw was 206 degrees at the very top of Monteagle as I was cresting the top. Overall the coolant temp stayed the same as it does not towing. Between 195-202 degrees.

The RPM's stayed around 2200 or so while holding 60-62 in the rolling hills. Climbing the mountain I dropped my speed to 50 but had TONS of power. I came down the mountain in 3rd gear at 40-50 mph and the engine braking was more than fantastic. The rig EXCEEDED my expectations.

Little things I did...

1) Aired up the tires on the Van to max sidewall PSI.
2) Used a friction sway bar
3) Ensured the load in the van and the TV was balanced.
4) Manually shifted the Van to 5th gear and set the cruise once at highway speed.

Things I intend to do...

1) replace the blowmax tires on the PUP with something better.
2) Get a Light Duty WD hitch

Lie-O-Meter with the AWESOME POP UP ended the trip with 19.9 MPG over the 85 mile run home. If tradition hold true for MPG then my actual should be about 17-18 ish.

Now if I can just get to the campground with our new to us Rig.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[Farmerjon]

We have a 2014 Dodge Caravan Pentastar V6. that engine is impressive. We got ours because ML can.t safely climb in and out of our trucks anymore and we test drove a lot of SUV's and cars and the van's door and seating worked best for her getting in and out, the stow away seats and an 8ft long flat area works well for hauling things.
I can see where it would be a great TV for a small pop up or small TT.
Happy camping.

[jerem0621]

Good news! I found the user manual for the Flagstaff and found that I can use a weight distribution hitch. I just can't weld anything to the A-frame.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[FishOnOne]

Congrats on the new Pop Up... Back in the early 70's my parents had a StarCraft and I really enjoyed it.

We rented a Chrysler Town and Country mini van a couple of years ago and out of curiosity and gave it a test drive. The tranny was a little noisy but the engine really had some respectable power.

[rexlion]

Nice report. I've had both the Equal-i-zer and the Andersen; between the two, I greatly prefer the Andersen. Much easier and cleaner to deal with. But they both worked fine.

[jerem0621]

BenK, thanks for the kind words. We worked really hard to find the right balance of features and weight. Glad we got the biggies for us 🙂 and made concessions where we needed too in order to keep the set up optimal.

Everything going into the camper will also have a great consideration towards weight. we will try to use things that can have multiple uses. And try to use light weight versions.

As to tires, this pup has 13 inch wheels with what appear to be 10 inch drum brakes. I'm not sure there are many tire options outside of ST tires without lifting the camper. (Something I would like to avoid for aerodynamic and handling reasons.)

That may lead me to buying "good" (lose term here) ST tires from Maxxis (Suprised you remember my nail incident!) to possibly the New Carlisle that users are reporting positive use with. I can't remember the specific name with Carlisle right now though :(.

Road Ruler, I read that article on the Town and Country (Dosge Caravan?) that CanAm uses as their shop vehicle. What a great article. Aerodynamics impact on towing were really illustrated in that article. One of the reasons we went with a pup was aerodynamics, along with weight, and other considerations, maneuverability in tight confines etc. My van has to haul four people and carry the tongue weight.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Jeremiah

[MetalGator]

I have two Jeep Wranglers with the Pentastar engines. It's really a great engine. Very smooth and lots of power.

[45Ricochet]

Congrats on the new RV. Nice towing report also.
I won't debate the ST vs LT tire thing but HERE is a nice thread from back in 09 about federal testing standards for these class of tires.
Have fun camping this season.

[e-light]

Thanks for the report! The Pentastar is a fantastic engine. Performs really well in the RAM with the 8 speed tranny as well. Perfect solution for light hauling/towing needs.

[BenK]

Congrat's Jeremiah !...you are doing exactly what you preach and a
VERY good example for the newbies HOW2 size and match

ST class tires...

I've changed out the ST tires on the boat trailer to LT class. Partners were not
techie at all (finance and marketing from work) and why they asked me to buy in
after a few trips. Sold out after they bought twin 250HP's without
asking me and wanted me to pay my 'share'...talk about sizing...that
transom is NOT designed for almost double the HP...

They took the 6 tires and wheels for their trailers...which blew two that summer.
Two different trailers and both in the +/- 25 foot range

I borrow several trailers and had on blow under my watch, so asked the owner
if I should replace with ST's or help him change out to LT's...he can well afford
to do most anything, but said nothing wrong with ST's, as it is a trailer and ST
class are trailer tires...he blew another (different) one under his watch out
in Nevada. He now has LT tires

Neighbor's utility trailer I borrow regularly had a flat under my watch and asked
but he wanted to just plug it and stick with ST tires. He wife says that thing
is always blowing tires...not like the nail you picked up while under your watch

Too often both happening to 'me' and to buddies...too much to be coincidental
Plus read about ST tires blowing on my other forums too. No where near as often
with "P" class or "LT" class on the same setup (the TV). So same roads, same
ambient conditions, same driving style, same everything...except different
class of tire

[DougE]

I used to pull a 19' Prowler trailer with an '88 Chevy Suburban. Small V8 and the back was able to take a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Guess what, I can get a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the back of my Dodge Gran Caravan and the engine has more horsepower. They're not as small as you would think. The biggest downside is the tongue weight which isn't a problem with the popup.

[Campfire_Time]

jerem0621 wrote:
As to the tires, they are at least a few years old...I should have been more specific about why I called them blowmax...basically, they are ST tires and I have no idea how they were treated by the PO...and these tires barely cover the GAWR of the PUP being Class C tires.

In my mind these factors are prime to produce a blow out, so for the $200 ish it will cost to upgrade to fresh tires, it's very much worth it to me.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

That's as good a reason as any! Check the date codes on the sidewall. Often tires are already a year old when the trailer was sold new. So those tires might be over due for replacement.

[jerem0621]

Campfire Time wrote:
Very nice! Mini-vans are perfect for towing most pop-ups.

jerem0621 wrote:



Things I intend to do...

1) replace the blowmax tires on the PUP with something better.
2) Get a Light Duty WD hitch

Jeremiah

2) Check you frame and/or manual. Some pup-frames specifically say not to use any W/D.

1) Do your research on those tires. Until someone shows me the recall notices and/or hard numbers, I'm not convinced that there is any good reason to change out perfectly good tires. Everything negative you read about this is anecdotal at best. I'm not saying folks haven't had issues, I'm saying the buzz on the Internet makes it out to be more than what it really is. Don't spend money you don't need to spend. We're going into our 3rd season with these tires. Many others are reporting 4 and 5 seasons with them.

Thanks for the tip on the Pup frame...I will check the manual for sure. As to the tires, they are at least a few years old...I should have been more specific about why I called them blowmax...basically, they are ST tires and I have no idea how they were treated by the PO...and these tires barely cover the GAWR of the PUP being Class C tires.

In my mind these factors are prime to produce a blow out, so for the $200 ish it will cost to upgrade to fresh tires, it's very much worth it to me.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[jerem0621]

Thanks everyone! I remember Caddy, I followed him on a Bethany camper yahoo group long before I was on RV.net. Great guy and a fearless proponent of a Minivan as a tow vehicle.

This trailer has a GVWR of just under 3,000 lbs...our Van has a tow rating of 3,600 lbs. The UVW of the PUP is just under 2200 lbs. lots of features crammed into this PUP for sure.

I wanted a power top, dual propane tanks and the front storage for our pup...but I wanted to use our Van as the TV more...so I compromised on the front storage compartment and the power top for weight savings. This model has only a single propane tank which saves a few more lbs of tongue weight.

Overall, this seems to be an optimally matched TV and a trailer.

As to the WD hitch...I still have not decided which to purchase..I am giving serious consideration to three.

1) Andersen 'No Sway' WD hitch- seems ideally suited to lighter tongue weights.
2) Reese Mini-350- semi traditional WD hitch with integrated sway control
3) Equal-I-zer 400- just a proven design

The Reese 400 single bar will not work with my a-Frame configuration. Right now the Andersen is the hitch I am leaning towards based on weight and how easy it is to use.

Thanks again everyone!

Jeremiah

[Campfire_Time]

Very nice! Mini-vans are perfect for towing most pop-ups.

jerem0621 wrote:



Things I intend to do...

1) replace the blowmax tires on the PUP with something better.
2) Get a Light Duty WD hitch

Jeremiah

2) Check you frame and/or manual. Some pup-frames specifically say not to use any W/D.

1) Do your research on those tires. Until someone shows me the recall notices and/or hard numbers, I'm not convinced that there is any good reason to change out perfectly good tires. Everything negative you read about this is anecdotal at best. I'm not saying folks haven't had issues, I'm saying the buzz on the Internet makes it out to be more than what it really is. Don't spend money you don't need to spend. We're going into our 3rd season with these tires. Many others are reporting 4 and 5 seasons with them.