From Tear Drop to Big Boy camping.

[chosenman]

I had the opportunity to purchase a Coachmen Freedom Express 279RLDS Ultra Lite from a coworkers parents for a great price. We currently run with a small tear drop trailer called a Hero Camper, which will likely be up for sale shortly as I don't for see us using it any more. It's an age thing for us.

Anyway, we aren't particularly new to camping , just new to big boy camping. I am sure I will have many, many questions in the very near future.

We camp out of North Dallas, Texas and it's a pleasure to here.

 

[Draggo]

Congrats. We have the same trailer (2018 model) and have been very happy with it. Most of the time it's just my wife and I so it's perfect for us. We love how open the back area is.

 

[Mookie58]

Congrats on the new camper! What a huge change for you. I'm sure you'll enjoy the additional room.

 

[Brother Les]

When driving, remember spacing and most of the time it is better to go slower than average speed. With the Tear Drop, pulling it is like it is not even there behind you.. with the bigger 'house', it can throw you around the road. Longer stopping times, longer spacing when changing lanes. Take your time. oh, that quick pull in for fuel in tight spaces.... nope.... you will have to pick and choose areas to get into and out of easily. It is no fun and can be very stressful when you are backing that thing out of a gas station that you should not be at, when you just about wrapped your unit around a fuel pump and traffic is flowing in and out and 'you' are in 'the way'. Also, at campgrounds..... take your time backing into camp spots... those overhead limbs will love to reach out and cause damage to your unit. Never get in a hurry and have a spotter... and even with a spotter (NEVER fully trust your spotter, you will 'see' something that they did not) , get out of your vehicle and walk around and look over the areas around and above your unit for hazards a Couple of times when backing up. That is my rant for now. Safe Travels and you will love you new house on wheels.

In the picture, your unit front and back of the tow vehicle looks a little low. you do not want the front of your tow vehicle tires to be 'light' and 'loose'. The 'train' should be level and the 'weight distribution' should lift in the middle and 'push' weight to the front of the tow vehicle and 'push' weight to the back of the camper.

 

[Oaklevel]

Welcome from Virginia !!!

 

[Baker9713]

Welcome from Mississippi!

 

[chosenman]

When driving, remember spacing and most of the time it is better to go slower than average speed. With the Tear Drop, pulling it is like it is not even there behind you.. with the bigger 'house', it can throw you around the road. Longer stopping times, longer spacing when changing lanes. Take your time. oh, that quick pull in for fuel in tight spaces.... nope.... you will have to pick and choose areas to get into and out of easily. It is no fun and can be very stressful when you are backing that thing out of a gas station that you should not be at, when you just about wrapped your unit around a fuel pump and traffic is flowing in and out and 'you' are in 'the way'. Also, at campgrounds..... take your time backing into camp spots... those overhead limbs will love to reach out and cause damage to your unit. Never get in a hurry and have a spotter... and even with a spotter (NEVER fully trust your spotter, you will 'see' something that they did not) , get out of your vehicle and walk around and look over the areas around and above your unit for hazards a Couple of times when backing up. That is my rant for now. Safe Travels and you will love you new house on wheels.

In the picture, your unit front and back of the tow vehicle looks a little low. you do not want the front of your tow vehicle tires to be 'light' and 'loose'. The 'train' should be level and the 'weight distribution' should lift in the middle and 'push' weight to the front of the tow vehicle and 'push' weight to the back of the camper.

Thank you for the helpful hints. I understand what you are saying about the levelling of the unit and vehicle. The front did feel a little floaty while driving to the storage unit.

I will say this was the first drive with the unit and the stabilizer hitch wasn't correctly setup to distribute the weight to the front and the back. I have watched many videos on how to set it up correctly so that next time I won't feel uncomfortable pulling it.

Does anyone else here pull this unit with an 1/2 ton truck and feel comfortable doing it?

 

[bikendan]

Thank you for the helpful hints. I understand what you are saying about the levelling of the unit and vehicle. The front did feel a little floaty while driving to the storage unit.

I will say this was the first drive with the unit and the stabilizer hitch wasn't correctly setup to distribute the weight to the front and the back. I have watched many videos on how to set it up correctly so that next time I won't feel uncomfortable pulling it.

Does anyone else here pull this unit with an 1/2 ton truck and feel comfortable doing it?

That's a 32ft TT with a fictional dry tongue weight of 700lbs.
A lot depends on your truck's specs.
What's its payload capacity from the driver's door Tires and Loading yellow sticker? What rear end ratio does it have? What's the hitch receiver's max capacity?
I have a 2014 F150 3.5 Ecoboost with the Max Tow package. I'm looking to get a Rockwood trailer just under 30ft and I'm getting a Ram 2500 to tow it. The trailer's loaded tongue weight will exceed my F150's rating. It also has 7ft ceilings, creating more frontal air resistance.
Too much for a 1/2 ton, IMHO.

 

[aceinspp]

Welcome to the forum. Later RJD

 

[Draggo]

Does anyone else here pull this unit with an 1/2 ton truck and feel comfortable doing it?

I towed mine for about 4 years with a '12 Silverado 1500 before moving up to my current TV. It got the job done without any issues. That said, once I moved up to the 3500 it's a much more enjoyable tow but the main reason I moved up was because it was time to replace the truck and we are planning to eventually move to a 5th wheel otherwise I'd still be using a 1/2 ton for it.

 

[chosenman]

I towed mine for about 4 years with a '12 Silverado 1500 before moving up to my current TV. It got the job done without any issues. That said, once I moved up to the 3500 it's a much more enjoyable tow but the main reason I moved up was because it was time to replace the truck and we are planning to eventually move to a 5th wheel otherwise I'd still be using a 1/2 ton for it.

Thank you for the response. I am trying to get around to sitting down and checking all the relevant towing rates, limits and other numbers to decide if I feel comfortable or not. Luckily, I have a cat scale not 3 miles away from the storage location so I can probably get setup as I would for camping and drive there and weigh both the truck and trailer together and then the truck on its own and see what the figures show.
This is the way...

 

[sherman12]

those overhead limbs will love to reach out

Seventeen years of RV'ing and camping and darn branches still appear out of nowhere! It's hard backing into a campsite and paying attention to what's overhead at the same time. This is especially true at campgrounds, aka state parks especially, where they have the campsite number on a wooden or metal post at the site entrance. Having a good spotter, usually the dear wife, helps watching the backside of the trailer, and looking up too.

OP, what kind of truck did the folks you bought the TT from haul it with? Were you able to get the hitch and everything with the TT? From what I've read a properly set up WDH should transfer about 25% of the load to the front wheels of the tow vehicle.

When stopping for gas it helps to find stations with parallel pumps to the road. Also, when the need arises and you have to stop now, have your DW go out and scope out the best gas island to use and for your exit route. I have had my DW stop traffic so I could maneuver in or out of a station when I had a gas motorhome and now with our DP and diesel fuel (57' overall). Last summer I had to use a traditional station instead of a truck stop and had to zig-zap around the fuel islands to get to the diesel pump. My wife was inside and a truck driver checking out some snacks and said to her "How did he ever make it around those pumps?"