Towing an Airstream - Help me check all the boxes

[ARZ540I]

Originally Posted by ard

Have you personally trailered other things before?

No, this is a whole new world for me. This will be my 3rd trip and i have pulled this Travel Trailer a total of 250 miles in 3 weeks

[ard]

Originally Posted by ARZ540I

No, this is a whole new world for me. This will be my 3rd trip and i have pulled this Travel Trailer a total of 250 miles in 3 weeks

welp, here goes...Hop into the deep end.

Ive been reading an absolutely fascinating book, Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. It has pulled together thoughts and observations over my life in a way few other books have. (Ill start a thread in OT actually)

Here is an observation...

You have driven cars half a million miles in your life. Perhaps. That has given you a neurological pattern of ‘driving’. When things happen when driving, you respond- at a subconscious level at times. You are probably pretty good with 4 wheels.

Now you are clamping 5000 lbs on the back and loading the family in the car. In what he would call a ‘tightly coupled’ system. 6, 8 wheels. Two braking systems. A pivot.

Recognize that the margin of error your body and mind have learned driving a car may not (will not) apply to this new set up. Just recognize this, dont be lulled into forgetting it, when after crushing at 60mph down I5, your brain says “yeah, I got this”


Also, another aspect... Your mental image of this whole trip is that you will drive, camp, return. Intellectually you are trying to prepare: spare tires; propane; weights; questions in BF. But all of that prep is in the neocortex, not at the amygdala where survival skills are honed through reactions and escape.


Be present.

(Told ya this was gonna be odd...)

My question about ‘have you towed before’ is not that if you have towed a lot you will be an expert...it is more that if you have, then you have likely had an ‘indicent’. Not an accident, but a puckering event that leaves an impression. Hair on the back of the neck..... You can drive 10,000 miles without an event, but drive 100 miles and deal with a runaway sway, you will have learned a survival skill at a Neurological level that may save you again.

Check out the book’...


Oh, have a great trip.

[ARZ540I]

Originally Posted by ard

welp, here goes...Hop into the deep end.

Ive been reading an absolutely fascinating book, Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. It has pulled together thoughts and observations over my life in a way few other books have. (Ill start a thread in OT actually)

Here is an observation...

You have driven cars half a million miles in your life. Perhaps. That has given you a neurological pattern of ‘driving’. When things happen when driving, you respond- at a subconscious level at times. You are probably pretty good with 4 wheels.

Now you are clamping 5000 lbs on the back and loading the family in the car. In what he would call a ‘tightly coupled’ system. 6, 8 wheels. Two braking systems. A pivot.

Recognize that the margin of error your body and mind have learned driving a car may not (will not) apply to this new set up. Just recognize this, dont be lulled into forgetting it, when after crushing at 60mph down I5, your brain says “yeah, I got this”


Also, another aspect... Your mental image of this whole trip is that you will drive, camp, return. Intellectually you are trying to prepare: spare tires; propane; weights; questions in BF. But all of that prep is in the neocortex, not at the amygdala where survival skills are honed through reactions and escape.


Be present.

(Told ya this was gonna be odd...)

My question about ‘have you towed before’ is not that if you have towed a lot, you have likely had an ‘indicent’. Not an accident, but a puckering event that leaves an impression. Hair on the back of the neck..... You can drive 10,000 miles without an event, but drive 100 miles and deal with a runaway sway, you will have learned a survival skill at a Neurological level that may save you again.

Check out the book’...


Oh, have a great trip.

This is excellent. Appreciate your comments and i will put this book on the list

Thanks Again

[CLS70]

My suggestions:

1. Keep an eye on your speed, as others have pointed, there is a lot of additional mass & inertia involved; and the braking behaviour of the car+trailer can be unexpected at high speeds. When I trailer my boat (much smaller than an airstream), I drive well below my "normal" speed.

2. Suggest to plan to stop regularly and check trailer tires - you may want to check also that bearings are not overheating.

3. Be careful if there is a lot of Wind - I think the Airstream has a sizeable lateral size....

Enjoy !

[ARZ540I]

[QUOTE=CLS70![/QUOTE]

The notion of frequent stops and not rushing is solid advise. I plan to do so.

On the topic of gearing do any of you switch to manual shifting to control the gears during higher elevation climbs?

[TriX5]

At about 10 y/o I was a passenger in an MB towing a car trailer with the same model MB on it. The drive was only about two or three miles but somewhere in the middle this combo was out of control and needed the entire width of a two lane road. Fortunately there was space for the oncoming traffic to swerve through the grass on the opposite side of the road.

After that, I have always had a healthy respect for towing anything that approaches the weight of the tow vehicle.

Last January I towed quite a bit with the e70 35d (about a 1000lbs single axle trailer) and the X5 never blinked, very steady while towing. However, when I had to put said X5 on a car trailer and tow it behind my Tundra I had a few moments of reflection before I hit the road......


Have a safe trip!