Mountains of PA

[21Rock-A-RooHoo]

Good afternoon, I am "green" regarding traveling with my 2011- 21' Rockwood Roo. I am planning a trip (my first other than local camping) from Cleveland to Gettysburg and onto Washington DC with my 86 year old aunt and 12 year old daughter and 2 dogs. I am pulling this trailer with my 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Larado that came equipped with an original tow package (supporting 5000lbs). I have had the jeep "serviced for travel" and its seems in great shape. My concern is the mountainous travel thru PA and back. Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations, ideas, etc., etc. I appreciate any and all opinions.

[asquared]

Use the engine to your advantage. Downshift going up and down the mountains. Do not be afraid of higher rpms. General rule of thumb, come down the mountain in the gear you went up in. When you need to use brakes, pump hard one time to drop your speed by about 10mph and let go. When your speed picks up do it again. Do not hold or ride your brakes. Take it slow and easy.

[Teamfour]

The majority of the "mountains" you will encounter on that route will be long rolling hills, especially if you stick to the major roads. You should have no issue if you do like Anaro described, and more than likely you won't even have to do that.

[21Rock-A-RooHoo]

Thank you so much! I am checking the "payload" of the jeep and it states 1500lbs and the towing capacity is 5000, so should be fine there considering my trailer weight is 4300lbs. Just slow and easy as you state...Right?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by 21Rock-A-RooHoo

Thank you so much! I am checking the "payload" of the jeep and it states 1500lbs and the towing capacity is 5000, so should be fine there considering my trailer weight is 4300lbs. Just slow and easy as you state...Right?

well, i'm assuming you have the 21SS model. if you do, it has the heaviest hitch weight of any of the Roo models. and the 4300lbs. sounds like the actual yellow sticker weight. but that's definitely not what it'll weigh loaded.
its GVWR of 5743lbs. is way over your 5000 number.

so, without knowing which Roo model you have, loaded for camping you can easily be over the 5000lbs. towing capacity, which is rated with only a 150lb. driver in the Jeep.

i'm guessing you are easily at or over the Jeep's max. i predict you'll have a lousy time towing it through the mountains and will be straining the Jeep to the max.

[asquared]

I agree you have a very good chance of being over your limits if that is a dry weight. Is it dry or loaded weight? Have you been to a scale with that combo loaded ready to camp? How does it handle on the flat land? Over limits is much scarier in mountains than on flat land. Ask me how I know? Let's just say I learn my lessons the hard way. If your hook up is shaky on flat lands then you will not like the mountains at all.

[Teamfour]

Also, check the hitch capacity. The tongue weight may exceed the rating for the hitch.

[DDC]

Where's the mountains in PA, I must have missed them, nice rolling countryside though have a great trip.

[21Rock-A-RooHoo]

I thought I would share this information from a towing guide company, of course I did provide them with much more information (after reading about GVWR, Payload, Tongue, etc.) I hope this will help others in their research.

"I have 2000 jeep grand Cherokee Laredo with original tow package installed for a rating of (5000 lbs). The side door on the jeep shows GVWR of 5500 lbs. My hitch has a weight distribution rating of 14000 and capacity of 6000. the ball has a 10,000 rating. I have a 21' rockwood roo that weighs approx. 4300 lbs.
am I going to be ok to take this on a trip with 2 adults, 1 child and 2 dogs with luggage and food through a mountainous passage?"

"According to your numbers, you should be OK. Your trailer weighs less than the Jeep's capacity and the hitch and ball are in excess capacity of what you need.

You just need to be careful to not to overload the Jeep with cargo and passengers. Curb weight on that vehicle is around 3,772 pounds, depending on equipment. With a GVWR of 5,500 pounds, you have about 1,700 pounds of carrying capacity in the Jeep, but I wouldn't advise using all of it. Try to limit your passengers and cargo weight to 1,000 pounds or less.

Also, that vehicle has a short wheel base so do be cautious on the mountain roads. Stay to the right and take your time. "

Thanks to all for your wisdom, thoughts and opinions. I appreciate all of it.

A very safe and happy 4th to all

[rockfordroo]

I grew up in Delaware, grandparents lived in Harrisburg/Mechanicsburg, PA area. So I've been around that area a number of times in my childhood. Also, I driven from the Midwest to Delaware in my adult life many, many times until my parents died about 6 years go. So I have some experience with this area, although none recently.

Heading east, assuming you'd take I-80 to I-76 (PA turnpike) through Pittsburgh, US 30 is the most direct route between the PA turnpike (at Breezewood) and Gettysburg. However, between Breezewood and about Chambersburg, US 30 is very hilly. As in hills with runaway truck turnouts. (I wouldn't call that "long rolling hills" - these are the Appalachian Mountains - not the Rockies, but not "long rolling hills" either.) And it's mostly 2 lane, as I recall. It's been about 20 years since I've been on it, so maybe they've improved it, but I'd try to stay off it in that area if it were me; but I would guess you'd call any other route "out of your way."

Maybe someone with more timely experience with US 30 in that area will weigh in.

[21Rock-A-RooHoo]

Thanks, I am actually reconsidering all of this. After reading the dry weight/GVWR posts, I went out to my trailer and saw that it has, as suggested in posts, about 5600lbs GVWR. I feel like I was duped by the dealer when I told them I had the original tow package and the jeep could handle 5000 lbs. The only weight they ever spoke about was the "dry weight". It does seem fine "locally" but not sure this is a good idea going thru the "rolling hills". I too lived in Pittsburg and Virginia and have traveled back and forth to the Cleveland area too many times to count and know they are much more than "rolling". I am taking a trip this weekend and will be on the highway for about 40 minutes, so I will see what happens but will for sure contact the deal in the morning. I sure appreciate the insight and "informative" feedback!

[asquared]

Ah yes another one the dealer got to with the infamous "yes you can tow this" statement. Dealerships all sell using dry weight. They also do not know your vehicles exact configuration, passenger loads or how much cargo you will put in your trailer. I rolled onto the lot once and told them my armada had a max tow capacity of 9100 lbs so they promptly showed me a 9000 lb dry weight tt that was close to 35' long and told me to ignore the gvwr of it. Fortunately I had enough towing experience to walk away but not enough to still end up overloaded on payload and hitch capacity. Sold the armada, bought an f250 psd which low and behold also had a low payload (only 1500 lbs). Pulled my old tt beautifully as it was in spec but when it came time to move up, I hit the dealership lots again. This time I heard, you have a diesel, you can tow anything on my lot. Nope. I knew my numbers from the scales and knew exactly what specs I had to stay within. I should have made bets with dealerships on that fact.

Moral of the story, never believe someone who is trying to sell you something. Their job is to sell you a trailer, not to make sure you have the right tv for it. I'm sorry you fell prey to the same thing so many of us have fallen for at some point in time.

[21Rock-A-RooHoo]

so I take it they are "covered"? they installed the 14,000 lb weight distribution system, the 10,000 lb ball and hitch, yet they know my jeeps capacity is 5000. did these extras make them feel better selling to a first time travel trailer owner? What a sad world we live in....

[21Rock-A-RooHoo]

I just found a weigh station near me and on my way to my site this weekend (CAT Scale) I will weigh everything and figure out the remainder from there. I sure have learned a lot in a day!

[asquared]

Weighing everything is the best way to figure out exactly where you are. Make several passes... one of just the jeep, one of jeep and trailer without wdh and one of jeep and trailer with wdh hooked up. Put the jeep front axle on scale pad 1, rear axle on scale pad 2, and trailer on scale pad 3. When you do your weights, have a full tank of fuel and everyone in the jeep. This will tell you if you are overweight but also if your wdh is setup right. Come back to us with these weights. You want your front axle weight as close to unloaded weight as possible without going heavier. Your jeep should also be level without rear sag. You will want to have something with a long handle to push the button as it sits pretty high up. They will ask first weigh or reweigh. First round is first weigh, 2 nd and 3rd rounds are reweigh. You will need the number off the bottom corner of the first ticket to give them for reweigh. (1st weigh is usually $9-12 and you can reweigh as many times as you like in a 24hrs period for typically $1-2 each). They will ask for vehicle number, tell them private, if they still want a number give them your favorite number.

The hitch choice is interesting. Let me clarify, the jeep already had a hitch installed and they included a 1400/14000 lb wdh with your setup? Is this correct? If so, that is way overkill and can lead to some handling issues in itself. What you should have is either an 800/8000 lb or 1000/10000 lb hitch for that weight trailer. Ideal tongue weight should be 13-15% of the loaded trailer weight. If we look at gvwr that is 728-840 lbs of tongue weight. Which wdh do you have and does it have integrated sway control? Or do you have a friction sway bar or no sway control? If you do not know what you have, take a pic and post here, we can probably help with that as well.

Good luck with all of this and I hope we can get you straightened out.

[bikendan]

unfortunately, you've made the #1 newbie mistake, Believing the Dealer!

it happens all the time and most dealers will say anything to sell you the trailer.
once you drive off of the lot, they no longer have any responsibility.

i just posted to another thread, also by a first time HTT owner who also said, "the dealer said i would have no problems towing it"!

he also has a 5000lbs. towing capacity and the "dry" hitch weight of the trailer he bought, was at 590lbs.
and it will easily weigh at least 500lbs. more than the max of 5000lbs., when it loaded for camping.

[rockfordroo]

unfortunately, you've made the #1 newbie mistake, Believing the Dealer!

And don't feel TOO badly about it; you are definitely not the "lone stranger" in this regard!