Dingy towing on trailer

[rbc185]

I am looking to tow a 17' trailer hauling my vehicle behind my 36' HR. Is this a good idea? Is this configuration acceptable to a new RV'er? I am new to RV, am excited/eager for our first trip.

[JimM68]

Mostly depends on your needs / purpose.

By far, the easiest thing to do is to have or purchase a light vehicle that can be towed 4 down. I bought a 2000 wrangler for this, works great, and I like it so much it became my daily driver.

I'm also in the planning stages of a trip to yellowstone with a friend from vancouver, and our TOADS of choice will be our firstgen camaro convertibles. I'll need to beg, buy, or rent a trailer for this, can't really towbar the camaro.

You need to watch your weight. A car and a trailer can get heavy real quick. If your towing capacity is 5k, that is real easy to exceed.

campsites can be real tricky. Optimal would be very long pull-through's. I've seen some in state parks that would work good. Often in private campgrounds, pull through sites are shorter, and also many times more... the type of place for one-nighters, plain gravel, drive in drive out...

Lacking a pull through, you need to unload, find a place to stash the trailer, and then setup camp. Many private campgrounds have a trailer stashing place, some even a way to move the trailer around. Others not so much. Handy if whatever is on the trailer can also move the trailer.

Plan ahead.

[MaverickBBD]

As long as you have the capacity in your Combination Weight Rating, proper tow gear, supplemental braking system and take it easy until you learn the ropes it shouldn't be a problem.

[Luckiest Dre]

One advantage to the trailer is that it can be backed, if you have the ability! Four down on it's own wheels cannot. Trailer storage can be a problem at home as well as at camping location. Braking solutions will be different as well as keeping batteries charged, etc. With the right trailer you can add additional cargo that may not otherwise fit in the toad. A golf cart comes to mind! You go with the trailer and you now have a few more tires to maintain as well as bearings etc.

[powerboatr]

We use a hauler trailer (18 ft bed, 24' overall) to bring our truck with us
many advantages and some disadvantages

good points
1. it can be backed up
2. vehicle is up out of harms way from traffic
3. allows many different vehicles to be taken with us,
4. no base plate to add to a vehicle
5. no added braking device needed in the towed vehicle, except a brake controller for the trailer brakes ( whole lot less $$)
6. Trailer tires are less $$ to replace than the towed vehicles
7. less $$ spent to get a hauler and set it up to go, than base plates, tow bar and added braking device


bad points
1. some cg make you park the trailer in a lot up front, (not a big problem if you can lock it down)
2. when its HOT out out, it seems to take longer to load and unload
3. When your tired it can be a PITA to unload and load
4. Some cg spots are not long enough to keep hooked up if your just passing through.
5. state and fed parks roads are narrow so you need to unload and let the riding vehicle pull the trailer through the park or to the parking storage area.
6. moving the trailer empty by hand is just not easily done.


indifferent points
1.Some cg patrons get or have issues with me blocking the drive while we load or unload, most of the time we pull out to a wide area, but still some whine
2. if you plan your trip the few cons wont ever come into play, so far i have about 9k miles of using the hauler and am very pleased. most trailer builders will modify or customize your hauler for very little $$
i had mine put brakes on all four wheels, and a bigger hitch for a piece of mind soother
if your rig can handle the weight, outlined by the mfg. go for it. hardest part for me was installing the brake controller and adding the E-tracks to the deck so i could use over the tire web straps vice chains. straps allow the vehicles suspenion to still work and stops the jarring up and down of chains on the frame
I also added some BLING to my wheels with flickering moon wheel covers
i have also removed the tool box off the front of the trailer

[Bucksmom]

We are deciding what to do as well. While we like jeep products I don't know that I want to drive a wrangler full time as I prefer smaller cars. A trailer would let us take the 4 wheelers instead for Utah piute trail or Moab. and thank the Good Lord my husband can back up any kind of trailer. We have a 26' Dynamax with 10k towing capacity so I think we would be ok with a trailer and a smaller cr...

[rgvtexan]

I pull a Honda Odyssey 4 down as a toad. I also have a 18' tilt bed car hauler that I use to take the MGs. I have no problem with the car hauler behind a 40' MH. It has a brake controller and a rear view camera. I can back the trailer, but not the toad. A long pull Thur CG is ideal, but you can always drop the trailer if required. My Mgs will not move the trailer.