Palazzo Owners

[Butte64]

Originally Posted by Patchy

A question to the Palazzo owners.......we picked 33.1 (2013) up several weeks ago....and are deciding on our toad and tow system. We will be going west thru the rockies (santa fe up to Rocky Mtn NP thence to Yellowstone, as far as olympic NP and then back thru lake tahoe, crater lake, Zion,Bryce, North Rim Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonland.....coming from florida).
The cars we are considering are the fit @ 2600 lbs; the CRV @ 3300 lbs ; and the wrangler @ a hefty 3900 lbs. I am curious as to any Palazzo owners comments/advice regarding your experience towing nearly 4000 lbs thru the terrain we are planning to visit???
Comments and advice are welcome......
Regards
Rich

We have a CR-V with Blue Ox base plate and tow bar with the Patriot supplemental brake system. Have not driven it in Rockies but there are some pretty good grades both up and down in the NC mountains.
The only downside to the CR-V is the little time it takes to run through the procedure for 4-down towing and it is best to have a cutout switch rather than pulling the recommended fuse to not drain the battery.
The only thing that takes time is setting up the Patriot, BUT
Don't even think about driving in the mountains without the supplementary braking system. In fact, best not think of driving anywhere without it.

If cost were no object I would have gone for a 4-wheel drive that could be driven 4 down with no special procedure and a supplemental brake system that does not require hooking up a device between brake pedal and drivers seat every time.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by Butte64

We have a CR-V with Blue Ox base plate and tow bar with the Patriot supplemental brake system. Have not driven it in Rockies but there are some pretty good grades both up and down in the NC mountains. The only downside to the CR-V is the little time it takes to run through the procedure for 4-down towing and it is best to have a cutout switch rather than pulling the recommended fuse to not drain the battery. The only thing that takes time is setting up the Patriot, BUT Don't even think about driving in the mountains without the supplementary braking system. In fact, best not think of driving anywhere without it. If cost were no object I would have gone for a 4-wheel drive that could be driven 4 down with no special procedure and a supplemental brake system that does not require hooking up a device between brake pedal and drivers seat every time.

That's why I went with the Ready Brute Elite surge brake system.

[HDRoadking]

Whew Hoo!!

New signature page, new Avatar, new coach. Moved in yesterday, just too tired to post last night. We did not think we had so much STUFF.

Only two problems so far. Bedroom slide needed a new seal. FIXED. Freeze door comes open on it's own. Tomorrow morning. We are loving it so far.

[HDRoadking]

Opps. New picture upload failed. I will have to work on that.

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by HDRoadking

Opps. New picture upload failed. I will have to work on that.

Love the coach color!

[Redridge]

Originally Posted by Patchy

A question to the Palazzo owners.......we picked 33.1 (2013) up several weeks ago....and are deciding on our toad and tow system. We will be going west thru the rockies (santa fe up to Rocky Mtn NP thence to Yellowstone, as far as olympic NP and then back thru lake tahoe, crater lake, Zion,Bryce, North Rim Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonland.....coming from florida).
The cars we are considering are the fit @ 2600 lbs; the CRV @ 3300 lbs ; and the wrangler @ a hefty 3900 lbs. I am curious as to any Palazzo owners comments/advice regarding your experience towing nearly 4000 lbs thru the terrain we are planning to visit???
Comments and advice are welcome......
Regards
Rich

we have a Rubicon as a toad, with a Currie Enterprise guard/baseplate and the Readybrute Elite tow bar and its' associated braking system. Im very happy with this setup... very easy to use.

[Berlin Kid]

Originally Posted by Redridge

we have a Rubicon as a toad, with a Currie Enterprise guard/baseplate and the Readybrute Elite tow bar and its' associated braking system. Im very happy with this setup... very easy to use.

I noticed a second cable on the driver's side. Is that for the breakaway?

[Redridge]

Originally Posted by Berlin Kid

I noticed a second cable on the driver's side. Is that for the breakaway?

correct, its a one way cable pull mechanism. Once it is pulled it will hold the brake pedal. Only way to release the cable is to reset the mechanism via pushbutton. The cable gets detached from the MH via breaking a connector. The emergency cable has to fail as well in order for breakaway to function...

here is how it looks...

[Berlin Kid]

Originally Posted by Redridge

correct, its a one way cable pull mechanism. Once it is pulled it will hold the brake pedal. Only way to release the cable is to reset the mechanism via pushbutton. The cable gets detached from the MH via breaking a connector. The emergency has to fail as well in order for breakaway to function... here is how it looks...

Thanks...I have had my 33.1 for a little over 2 months and have been researching towing. The Ready Brute Elite is what I am leaning toward. Your install looks like it would be easier I than what it will be on my Grand Cherokee. Did you DIY?

[Batten54]

Originally Posted by Patchy

A question to the Palazzo owners.......we picked 33.1 (2013) up several weeks ago....and are deciding on our toad and tow system. We will be going west thru the rockies (santa fe up to Rocky Mtn NP thence to Yellowstone, as far as olympic NP and then back thru lake tahoe, crater lake, Zion,Bryce, North Rim Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonland.....coming from florida). The cars we are considering are the fit @ 2600 lbs; the CRV @ 3300 lbs ; and the wrangler @ a hefty 3900 lbs. I am curious as to any Palazzo owners comments/advice regarding your experience towing nearly 4000 lbs thru the terrain we are planning to visit??? Comments and advice are welcome...... Regards Rich

We bought a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, so quick and easy. We use a Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and Break Buddy. Really like that combo.

[Redridge]

yes, did all the work myself. Its an easy DIY... but, the baseplate was a PIA. Its an older design so it had to be modified a little for the newer Wranglers... the GC are a totally diff animal altogether, more luxury means more stuff in the way to get that brake cable through.

[Freedom65]

Originally Posted by Patchy

A question to the Palazzo owners.......we picked 33.1 (2013) up several weeks ago....and are deciding on our toad and tow system. We will be going west thru the rockies (santa fe up to Rocky Mtn NP thence to Yellowstone, as far as olympic NP and then back thru lake tahoe, crater lake, Zion,Bryce, North Rim Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonland.....coming from florida).
The cars we are considering are the fit @ 2600 lbs; the CRV @ 3300 lbs ; and the wrangler @ a hefty 3900 lbs. I am curious as to any Palazzo owners comments/advice regarding your experience towing nearly 4000 lbs thru the terrain we are planning to visit???
Comments and advice are welcome......
Regards
Rich

We tow a CRV with our 33.1. We use a Blue Ox base plate and tow bar and have installed the Air Force One supplementary braking system. We also installed a switch so we don't have to pull the fuse every time. and As earlier posts noted we don't even know its there. Have towed thru the Canadian Rockies as well as thru many of the mountains in South West US with no problems.

[photoguy1313]

Originally Posted by Patchy

A question to the Palazzo owners.......we picked 33.1 (2013) up several weeks ago....and are deciding on our toad and tow system. We will be going west thru the rockies (santa fe up to Rocky Mtn NP thence to Yellowstone, as far as olympic NP and then back thru lake tahoe, crater lake, Zion,Bryce, North Rim Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonland.....coming from florida).
The cars we are considering are the fit @ 2600 lbs; the CRV @ 3300 lbs ; and the wrangler @ a hefty 3900 lbs. I am curious as to any Palazzo owners comments/advice regarding your experience towing nearly 4000 lbs thru the terrain we are planning to visit???
Comments and advice are welcome......
Regards
Rich

We tow a 2005 Honda Pilot with our 33.2. This is actually the third motorhome we have towed it with. It has a Blue Ox baseplate which I installed myself, and I use a Patriot brake controller. Other than removing one fuse and following the factory recommended prep procedure, it's a fairly simple setup for towing (I believe the procedure is the same for the CRV). Because the connection points for the baseplate are relatively high on the Pilot grill, I have a 6 inch drop hitch receiver mounted upside down on the back of the motorhome - in travel trim, the bar is parallel to the ground.
Am writing this from Fort Wilderness CG at Disney, and on the way down from Charlotte NC I averaged 11.2 MPG, keeping my speed between 60 - 62 mph.

Norb

[tcopeland]

Originally Posted by photoguy1313

We tow a 2005 Honda Pilot with our 33.2. This is actually the third motorhome we have towed it with. It has a Blue Ox baseplate which I installed myself, and I use a Patriot brake controller. Other than removing one fuse and following the factory recommended prep procedure, it's a fairly simple setup for towing (I believe the procedure is the same for the CRV). Because the connection points for the baseplate are relatively high on the Pilot grill, I have a 6 inch drop hitch receiver mounted upside down on the back of the motorhome - in travel trim, the bar is parallel to the ground. Am writing this from Fort Wilderness CG at Disney, and on the way down from Charlotte NC I averaged 11.2 MPG, keeping my speed between 60 - 62 mph. Norb

Was there in February . Great CG.
I get the same mpg with our Jeep.