What are you guys towing?

Jimmy07

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My first tow. Round trip Sacramento to Bodega Bay about 300 miles. Ran into 12 to 15 mph steady winds going there; a little sway and 12 mpg. No wind on way back and got 21 mpg; huge difference. Have a WDH without sway control.

Big Blue ... does your Centerline WDH have sway control, and what capacity hitch did you get ?? I'm think about getting a new hitch.

IMG_1596.jpg
 

JimG_AZ

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My first tow. Round trip Sacramento to Bodega Bay about 300 miles. Ran into 12 to 15 mph steady winds going there; a little sway and 12 mpg. No wind on way back and got 21 mpg; huge difference. Have a WDH without sway control.

Big Blue ... does your Centerline WDH have sway control, and what capacity hitch did you get ?? I'm think about getting a new hitch.

IMG_1596.jpg
For your trailer, I would get an Equal-i-zer hitch - https://www.equalizerhitch.com/. The built in sway control with the Equal-i-zer hitch hitch is a step up from the basic friction sway control add-on that many RV dealers like to sell. If you were towing a larger trailer, then recommendation would be a Hensley or ProPride hitch.
 

Joem

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I’m towing a 28.8’ Salem Cruise Lite and the Hensley makes this a dream in all conditions we have been in the last 1.5 years. Have 14,600 miles of which 90% is towing this RV. Went from 4point Equalizer to the Hensley after 4 months, best money I’ve spent!
 


Big Blue

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My first tow. Round trip Sacramento to Bodega Bay about 300 miles. Ran into 12 to 15 mph steady winds going there; a little sway and 12 mpg. No wind on way back and got 21 mpg; huge difference. Have a WDH without sway control.

Big Blue ... does your Centerline WDH have sway control, and what capacity hitch did you get ?? I'm think about getting a new hitch.

IMG_1596.jpg
Yes the Centerline TS does have built in 4 point sway control. I'm running the 400-800 pound bars, the lightest they make. I'm running about 475# tongue weight. The ranger really doesn't need weight distribution at that weight, still recommend. You definitely need sway control. Separate sway bars are a pain because you need to disconnect them to back up. I went with the Husky because it had the sway control and the bar range fit my tongue weight, you don't want bars that are too stiff.

I have done any long rows yet but plan to. Just some local camping so far. A few clunks when making tight turns and backing. So far I like it, no issues with semis passing at speed.
 

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Out of curiosity, what is everyone's cutoff for using Tow/Haul mode? What weight do you not use it, what weight do you start using it?

I usually pull our camper using tow/haul mode just because that's what I'm doing, towing and hauling. But yesterday I was just bringing it to the car wash a couple miles away and didn't use it, and the truck pretty much shifted and used the same amount of power as it usually does unladen, basically felt like the trailer wasn't there. Didn't struggle, didn't shift all over the place, didn't feel bogged down. I'm wondering if using tow mode with a light enough trailer actually uses more fuel and lowers fuel economy more than not using it, since it holds gears longer. I might run my own experiment. Obviously there's a point where the trailer is so heavy that using tow mode makes sense from a powerband perspective, but where do you guys think that point is?
 

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I definitely notice when it’s off, that said the best feature of tow haul mode is the engine braking. So I basically use it when towing more than 2-3k with or without trailer brakes.
 

dmeyer302

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I definitely notice when it’s off, that said the best feature of tow haul mode is the engine braking. So I basically use it when towing more than 2-3k with or without trailer brakes.
Agree, it's more of a braking consideration for me. If the trailer is big enough that I'm using more brakes than normal, I'm in TH mode. For me, that's my 10ft utility trailer with basically any load and up.
 

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My trailer is only 1400lbs loaded and I have definitely noticed it. I tend to have a lighter foot on the gas pedal and I do feel the difference in shift points. I also live in the Appalachians so lots of short, steep ups and downs make that more obvious. In the end, I see this reflected in the fuel economy display on the dash. TH mode is definitely better.

For me, I think it's both a weight AND length of drive question. It'd probably be a couple of miles before I'd notice either way, so that would be my cutoff.
 

Deleted member 1634

I definitely notice when it’s off, that said the best feature of tow haul mode is the engine braking. So I basically use it when towing more than 2-3k with or without trailer brakes.
Agree, it's more of a braking consideration for me. If the trailer is big enough that I'm using more brakes than normal, I'm in TH mode. For me, that's my 10ft utility trailer with basically any load and up.
Good points, the engine braking is a nice feature of tow mode and something that does come in handy at times! And it's weird because I almost felt like I slowed better, or at least in a more controlled way, without the mode on. For reference my camper is about 1600lbs normally (more for longer trips, less empty), and it does have brakes. I almost wonder if the engine braking makes me apply the brakes less than I normally would, since the engine is slowing us down, which means the trailer brakes aren't being as effective. I don't know. Something I'll have to pay attention to during my experiments.

My trailer is only 1400lbs loaded and I have definitely noticed it. I tend to have a lighter foot on the gas pedal and I do feel the difference in shift points. I also live in the Appalachians so lots of short, steep ups and downs make that more obvious. In the end, I see this reflected in the fuel economy display on the dash. TH mode is definitely better.

For me, I think it's both a weight AND length of drive question. It'd probably be a couple of miles before I'd notice either way, so that would be my cutoff.
Interesting. Thanks for the response and your thoughts.
 

t4thfavor

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Good points, the engine braking is a nice feature of tow mode and something that does come in handy at times! And it's weird because I almost felt like I slowed better, or at least in a more controlled way, without the mode on. For reference my camper is about 1600lbs normally (more for longer trips, less empty), and it does have brakes. I almost wonder if the engine braking makes me apply the brakes less than I normally would, since the engine is slowing us down, which means the trailer brakes aren't being as effective. I don't know. Something I'll have to pay attention to during my experiments.



Interesting. Thanks for the response and your thoughts.
for reference, it’s nice to go down hills and not be on the brakes for 3 miles. If you keep your foot on the brake very lightly, the brake controller senses the deceleration and applies light braking to the trailer. I have a prodigy p3 and it’s very intuitive with the brakes.

CED4698C-D6E7-4385-B0A9-60132D969A51.jpeg
 

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Engine braking is active in Sport Mode as well.
 
 



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