What are you pulling with the isata 5

[Turbox3]

Will you guys tell and post pics of toads or trailers your pulling with your unit please. Im wanting to pull an enclosed trailer. Also your experience with the length.

[random_james]

Originally Posted by Turbox3

Will you guys tell and post pics of toads or trailers your pulling with your unit please. Im wanting to pull an enclosed trailer. Also your experience with the length.

We're pulling a dolly with our toad on it (a Honda Accord) - total weight about 3400 pounds, and total length about 54.5 feet. It actually follows very nicely, due to the tail swing of the Isata 5, and no problems at all with the weight - I've done lots of passing tractor-trailers on the uphills.

[loftygoals]

I'll have an update for you soon. I have a 24' enclosed that I just purchased to tow behind my I5. It won't be light, either. I'm guessing fully loaded it will be north of 8500 lbs.

I expect it will do just fine. With my 2017 36DS, there is a lot of weight over the front axle, with most of the remaining capacity of the coach available on the rear axle. Because of this, I don't anticipate the tongue weight to pick up the front of the truck.

I have a Trailer Toad that I used with my previous Ford chassis class C. If I run into any issues towing the new trailer with the I5, I will use the Trailer Toad to remove all the tongue weight from the chassis.

-bj

[sseaner]

James, what dolly are you using? Would you recommend it? We have a Jeep Renegade which cannot be flat towed. Also what is your bike rack setup? looks good!

[Juniorj]

I'm pulling a 24' ATC Quest 305. When loaded it's about 8500-9000 lbs. I've only done a very short pull so far, but it seemed fine. I've towed a much longer trip with only 5k in it, and it did great.

[Turbox3]

Does anyoine have or know if an extended tongue is required? Thanks for the pics.

[Juniorj]

I don't think it's required, but surely better. My ATC comes with the extended tongue...

[Turbox3]

Originally Posted by Juniorj

I don't think it's required, but surely better. My ATC comes with the extended tongue...

Do you know your total length?

[Whalenss]

Jeep Liberty diesel.

[loftygoals]

Originally Posted by Juniorj

I'm pulling a 24' ATC Quest 305.

I bought a very similar trailer, but certainly not as nice as the ATC. Mine has an extended tongue as well. My total length is right at 65 feet, which keeps it legal almost everywhere.

-bj

[Juniorj]

Originally Posted by Turbox3

Do you know your total length?

I'm around 64-65 feet.

[Rrzasa]

Just finishing up getting my 2017 Ford F-150 setup to be towed. It's all aluminum construction gets the weight to around 4,500lbs which should be no problem for the coach. First tow should be next weekend.

[random_james]

Originally Posted by sseaner

James, what dolly are you using? Would you recommend it? We have a Jeep Renegade which cannot be flat towed. Also what is your bike rack setup? looks good!

I got the Acme dolly at https://cartowdolly.com/ - it's been great - very solidly constructed, seems to be adjustable to a good variety of vehicles, and a great warranty. I did get the hydraulic brake system on it, and I've now leaned towards wishing I had gotten the electric brakes, especially since the Isata 5 has the built-in brake controller. Problem with the hydraulic brakes is, if you're needing to back up a bit (tricky to do with a toad on a dolly, but I've had to do it a time or two in a bad situation to avoid having to unload/reload the toad), you'll possibly be fighting the dolly brakes (especially if you're on a downhill slope!), as it's a system that is activated by the pressure of the dolly against the hitch.

My wife found the bike rack on Amazon - it's a 5-bike rack, and has worked great for us. It's at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TRTT178/

I had to get a drop-hitch for the dolly, and I ended up getting the Gen Y 10k with a 10" drop (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N46L1CX/) - with this drop hitch it gives you several more receiver slots so you can attach more goodies at the same time, such as a regular hitch for the dolly, and a bike rack.

[loftygoals]

Originally Posted by random_james

I got the Acme dolly at https://cartowdolly.com/ - it's been great - very solidly constructed, seems to be adjustable to a good variety of vehicles, and a great warranty. I did get the hydraulic brake system on it, and I've now leaned towards wishing I had gotten the electric brakes, especially since the Isata 5 has the built-in brake controller.

I too have an Acme EZE-Tow Dolly. I've owned several dolly's and this is by far my favorite. The way it works is dead simple and you'll never run the risk of running the car into the fenders of the dolly. It is also very light weight and well built.

On some of my dolly's I've been able to tow rear wheel drive cars with manual transmissions. Several of my BMWs were quite happy to be towed like this, but I would not recommend it with the Acme. The one time I attempted it, the straps kept loosening. I believe it is because there was little resistance in the front axle on the RWD car. With a FWD car in park the car's front wheels don't want to roll.

The other thing to note is that the dolly doesn't have a turn table. Instead it relies on the vehicle's steering rack to maneuver turns. This means keeping the steering column unlocked while towing. For older cars this may mean leaving a key in the ignition. Most newer cars, like my Mazda 6, don't have a steering lock anyway.

I too have the hydraulic surge brakes, and would not consider electric. Having used electric on a tow dolly before, I've found them difficult to regulate even with a nice inertial brake controller. The hydraulics just work, require less maintenance, and are disc vs. drum. James is right that backing up is a pain, though.

I haven't towed the with the Acme behind the I5, yet. I did thousands of miles with it behind my much smaller and less capable E450 based class C. I was always very pleased and I have no reason to expect anything different behind the I5. I will have it behind the I5 in a few weeks when I tow from Dallas to Denver and back.

-bj

Oh, and one more thought: I love that the Acme can be stored standing upright. I can tuck it against a wall in my garage for extended storage.

[Webefine]

My boat trailer has hydraulic surge brakes, it has a solenoid in the brake line that is connected to the backup lights so when in reverse it lets you back up. You may be able to install one on your tow dolly.

[Ragtop]

We tow a 2008 Yellow VW Beetle convertible with our 2016 Isata 5 . Can barely tell it is behind us. Running 65 to 72 mph we got 8.9 mpg. My aux. braking system was not working and I did not realize it until we returned home.
Awesome machine.