Trailering and other things

J

journey on

New member
For the first time this year, we took Journey On out, to San Diego Bay. Beautiful day, actually spent the night anchored in Glorietta Bay with the big boys. Went to dinner and then sat on the back porch and watched the sun go down. Got the autopilot working, the trim tabs leak was fixed, everything worked out. Nice sunrise and the Wallas stove got rid of the cold. Just being on the water is great.

On the drive down, we were on 2 lane, 4 lane and freeways. Everyone hated to be behind me (and I don't blame them,) but they all seemed to show their determination by passing me and then seeing how close they could cut me off and then slow down. A lot of 3 lane passes on the freeway to get to an off ramp, they just had to go in front. I guess no one is worried about my stopping distance. And there were people getting on the on ramps who never looked to their left, I guess they just assumed I wasn't there. When I honked, they just got mad or really surprised.

I haven't towed for a couple of months so it must just be my imagination that it's getting worse. I bet those guys driving those semis get really frustrated.

We may have good tow vehicles but those boats do weigh something so I thought I'd make a comment on automatic transmissions. . The one in the Ford is working well, but I remember someone posting that they had blown one. You know, automatic transmissions need to be manually shifted when towing a heavy load, they aren't programmed to keep that engine running in the right range automatically. If you wait for them to shift down you lug the engine, and they always want to shift up early. That low engine speed and high torque will wipe out any transmission. So grab hold of that lever and yank. That tranny will be happier and so will the engine.

Anyway, a C-Dory is a great way to spend a day on the water. Even got the old gps puck to work with the new computer (finally.)

Boris
 
Boris thats why I keep my boat in the water .It's a lot more maintenance but I don't have to put up with the idiot drivers I try only to trailer if I'm going to use my boat for awhile like last summer to tennessee

boris what kind of puck do you use I have a toshiba notebook thanks Jim
 
...but they all seemed to show their determination by passing me and then seeing how close they could cut me off and then slow down.
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Classic passive/aggresive personalities. We encounter this quite often, especially near Seattle.

I guess no one is worried about my stopping distance.
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I find it exceedingly frustrating when I slow to make some and some idiot merges into the spot.

And there were people getting on the on ramps who never looked to their left, I guess they just assumed I wasn't there. When I honked, they just got mad or really surprised.
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Apparently, YOU'RE supposed to yield to THEM. :roll: I was trailering my enclosed 20' car hauler once across I-90 couple of yrs ago. Some moron looks, sees me and accelerates. I nearly put my rear bumper through his tailgate and jacked my trailer. WHen I lay on the horn HE flips ME off. :evil: At that moment I understood road-rage.
 
We see this behavior regularly when towing the boat or our 5th wheel (we are about 65' long with the 5th wheel and cargo trailer). I used to think people were rude or overly-aggressive, but now I think it's more that they are simply oblivious. Especially when going through big cities, they seem to drive with "blinders on." I am generally driving a bit slower than the traffic flow when towing, just to be able to allow some space in front of us. We try to time our passing through urban areas to avoid rush hours.

Just like when on the motorcycle, I assume they are all out to kill me and try to drive defensively... as opposed to offensively. :wink:

Take care out there.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
JamesTXSD":1cwpsps7 said:
I used to think people were rude or overly-aggressive, but now I think it's more that they are simply oblivious.
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I agree. And in their defense, I don't think many folks have driven anything larger than a 2500 pound car and don't understand that a heavy, long, and maybe even top heavy trailer/tow vehicle needs to go slower, takes longer to stop, and does not accelerate like a sports car. Of course, this also explains the much higher rollover incidence that SUVs have in comparison to passenger cars as the people driving them are oblivious in general. What you guys are seeing is not localized; I see it everytime I pull the CD 22 behind the motorhome up here in SC Alaska. I really believe I could go 90 MPH and people would still rip around me, slam on the brakes, and then take that immediate (unsignaled of course) hard right or left turn. Something like this happens almost on every trip, and because of it, I go even slower as I suspect this behavior and really don't want to wreck my stuff or hurt anyone. As many of you have noted, it does seem to be getting worse, but it is probably about the same as before, the only difference is there are so many more people on the road in comparison to just a few years ago so the odds are higher that one sees this behavior. Perhaps an engineering and physics awareness course should be required for all drivers before they hit the road. Just curious, how many would pass????
 
I drove 18 wheelers for ten years - 5 cross country and 5 years making local deliveries in metropolitan NY. What I did then and still do today when I get in congested traffic is turn my radio to a classical station. It seems to have a calming effect on me -takes away any return aggression.

I stay in the right lane and drive just as fast what that lane of traffic is doing. I give enough room in front, that if anyone pulls in, all I do is let off the gas a little and I have my stopping distance back. If its really congested I drive a hair slower, so that anyone passing me and pulling in front will be going faster and help getting my stopping didance back.

Going a little slower does not add greatly to a days drive but makes it more relaxing.

By keeping to the right, it gives me the shoulder to work with if needed to control and stop in an emergency..

Allan
 
While we're at it: Just because there are 2 or more of you in your car, doesn't mean you NEED to be in the HOV lane, especially if you're in that lane and driving <55. :evil: It's "slower traffic move right" for a reason!

I feel better now. :lol:
 
On the issue of towing with an automatic transmission - it depends on how new the truck is... The newer trucks believe that Mother (the computer) knows best and if you want something different you are going to have to fight Mother for it... Makes one long for my youth and the days of double clutching of non synchro transmissions with a Georgia overdrive and 10 forward gears (not!)...
 
The in ability of the general public to pilot a car down the road in a responsible and safe manner is directly linked to the lack of teaching physics in our school systems. I truly believe that is we made basic physics a required course from the 6th grade on we would see better drives and less youtube videos.

after driving for a living for 8 years, delivery concrete and propane, I came to the conclusion that the only way to survive was to ignore the traffic. If you are getting on the highway i am not slowing down or changing lanes for you. You better pull your head out and merge ( which is a pro active endeavor) . if not your going into the rail, and several have. If you want to come around me and then take a exit you better be moving quick or you will be when I hit you. If I'm in the fast lane doing the max speed limit and you want to break the law by speeding you can go the f(*&k around me because I am not taking it off cruise control for anybody. Its not a speeding lane. and if you have Canadian plates= go home ( unless you are towing a boat). and that's the way I roll..
 
jennykatz, I have a Delugo GPS puck. They're out of business now and Windoze 7 doesn't have COM ports. Since the gps/computer interface was serial to USB, and the NAV software wanted a COM port I thought I was SOL.

However, I found this free driver:Serial to USB. Downloaded it and worked well. DeLorme has a straight USB puck. Found it for $50.


As to auto trans, I have an "old" one and one in a 2005 Ford (is that new?) They both work the same way, just yank the lever down into a lower gear, or push it up into a higher gear. Don't wait for that thing to shift down when the electronics tell it to, it's too hard on it. My son has a new Toyota truck, you have to push the lever sideways to get it to shift, but it shifts when you tell it to.

And I will agree with the rest of the comments, particularly with the ones to just take it easy.

Boris
 
I must live in a charmed world. Twice a year for the past 10 years I've trailer-ed current CD22 and before that a 24 foot Tri from northern Idaho to Bellingham- about 500 miles each way. The turn from I-90 to 405 in Seattle bothers me because 1) speed is down due to turn, and 2) of the need to get out of the right lane quick or it becomes an off ramp. Every time I flip on my turn signals a space opens up and people give me room to move over. One one mid week day returning home I got caught in the evening rush in Seattle and got lots of courtesy getting through Seattle to I-90 & east.
I trailer-ed to Lk Powell through Salt Lake last year and everyone was good. I set cruise, stay in the right lane, relaxed but with an eye for idiots, but have found few.
My tow rig is a 2003 Chev 3/4 ton. It has a tow/haul mode which helps with the transmission shifting. I did 750 miles one day, 500 the next and was in good shape at the end of the drive (better than if I driven our puddle jumper car), so I must find the truck easy to drive. When I took our Tri to San Fran to sell it took two days down and two days back empty-but 3 hrs less driving. The drive down with the trailer was an easier drive because I wasn't pushing as hard.

If I knew what I'm doing right I'd can it and sell it.

Chuck on Two Bears
 
Hi Chuck,

Location, location, location. In the past, I've said the same thing about the courteous drivers out in Washington State. And having trailered/RVed through Utah a couple dozen times, same goes there. Haul your boat to Texas some time... drive through Dallas or Houston... you'll think you took a wrong turn and got on a NASCAR track! Or head for Florida... where all the lanes are the slow lane. :mrgreen: Or Minnesota, Land of 10,000 lakes and infinite turn signals while driving in the left lane.

Our experience has been: most of the time, people are decent when you need to maneuver in traffic. There are regional differences in how aggressive drivers are (and no intention to stereotype), and you need to stay aware of other drivers around you... there are a LOT of distracted drivers out there. I have no problem with using my horn - not long (get out of my way) blasts, but short toots to let someone know we're here... especially when I see them coming off an entrance ramp and they haven't looked in their mirror or glanced over their shoulder (the most frequent problem).

When someone gives me a break while switching lanes, I let them know I appreciate it, with a wave or a flash of my running lights.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Worst drivers I have seen - recently - has been Houston (Used to drive a semi in my younger days)...
We left downtown Houston at 10AM on a Saturday morning with a brand new truck... I am trying to hold it to 55-58 in the right lane (way to the right) to at least attempt to stay within the manufacturers guidelines for breaking the truck in... A few miles later I had been continually cringing at squealiing tires as they locked up the brakes behind me, honked at, flipped off, cursed, fist waving out the window, so many times I became actually worried that one of those nutbags would have a gun... I decided the 'break in' could wait till we got home...
 
Boris,
My two cents and this rant is not directed at you ,here goes ,Attitude is everything. My guess is most of the driving public hate us to start with because you have a boat to start with and appear to being heading for a fun time or returning from having one. It’s like eating a steak dinner at a homeless shelter where ever one else is starving to death. Their lives maybe filled with turmoil, divorce, foreclosure, wife cheating on them etc. Face to face the driving public are different then when they are driving a car for some reason. I relieve tension by various hand signals (not the finger) but things like two hands palms up and saying WTF, or the international whack job\ depiction (fist rapid vertical up and down movement) for the worst offenders. As far as the phases I use (windows up of course) some are "drive the freakin car b*%ch", or my personal favorite u piece of sh#@ or p.o.s. for short. At about 400 miles I get off the highway before I start getting seriously pissed off and start to not have fun anymore. For me having a powerful tow vehicle and good disc brakes on your tandem axle trailer are key to being able to deal with the morons who you have to share America’s roadways. People that use marginal tow vehicles that get pushed around with trailers with no brakes make towing a scarey experience for all concerned. I try to do serious long hauls leaving early am and avoiding rush hours at any costs. Full moons and Friday nights we also avoid as all bets are off in your search for finding happiness while sharing the road with the other accidental tourists. As for manual shifting automatic transmissions, I used to do that, but fixed the problem right with the purchase of a 2009 Chevy with a DuraMax diesel and it's good friend the Allison six speed automatic transmission. Just hit the tow /haul button on the end of the shifter and use the gas pedal do what ever your little heart desires all the while getting 14 or 15mpg. Having the power to dispense with the losers going across the flats, uphills or downhills has helped keep a smile on my face while dealing with the Dukes of Hazard.
That’s my story and I do have one more tidbit of information; if you go thru Massachusetts keep a sharp eye out for the growing population of pinheaded massholes who are the worst of the bunch at least on the east coast in imho. As you might have surmised these species mostly resides in the fore mentioned state but due to having no known predators they are spreading to other states as we speak. Those folks are giving bad drivers a really bad name. Happy motoring!
D.D.
 
Will-C":2n7ngvfy said:
As for manual shifting automatic transmissions, I used to do that, but fixed the problem right with the purchase of a 2009 Chevy with a DuraMax diesel and it's good friend the Allison six speed automatic transmission. Just hit the tow /haul button on the end of the shifter and use the gas pedal do what ever your little heart desires all the while getting 14 or 15mpg.
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I know this is not the central point of your post, but I wanted to jump in to say that on any kind of hilly terrain I switch my Allison to Manual and use the shifter to keep the RPMs in the sweet spot. I find that good as it is in tow/haul, it is an automatic and will wind up a bit before shifting.

I may be atypical because I am pulling an 11,000# Tom Cat. I did notice that when I was pulling my 22 the transmission had a much easier time of it.

Warren
 
Warren,
I guess when we head to Yellowstone in August God willing. I'll be using the manual portion of the Allison transmission to hold me back on long down hill grades. Since running at 55 mph puts the engine at 1600 rpms which is conveniently the engines maximum torque point at 660 ft lb's I let the engine and transmission decide what they want to do. I only have 10 k on the truck so far so good. We don't have the hills like you do out west. You are right though it does elevate the rpm's before shifting to the next higher gear. I like the automatic down shifting when in the tow haul mode. I try to drive like I don't have brakes at least when I'm on the highway. I drove tractor trailers for years started out hauling out of gravel pits and narrow roads next to the Delaware river, then cinders out of Bethlehem steel to cinder block plants, later heated asphalt and # 6 fuel oil when Bethlehem Steel switched it's blast furnaces to oil. They burnt 5000 gallons per hour. Our trailers only could haul 7000 gallons because of the 80,000 pound weight limits. I finished off my truck driving career by hauling meat out of Chicago to New York City Philadelphia etc. with my own truck leased to a company from Chicago. A concrete share cropper of sorts. By 1984 I was in sales and never looked back. My point to all this was that for years I would wake up from bad dreams / nightmares having almost dislocated my knee from hitting the imaginary brake pedal trying to avoid somebody or something while sleeping. I still have truck dreams nightmares now but not as much. Driving a lot I think ages you, now I try to make it fun and enjoy letting the machinery do some of thinking and all the work. I never had any bad accidents in well over a million miles, I'm not bragging I just feel blessed and awful lucky.
D.D.
 
Well, I'm more in line with Warren. The C-25 represents about 9000 lbs and I've got a gas engine, though the trans is supposed to be the same as the one they supply with the diesel. I just find that it's a lot easier on everything if I select a gear I feel is correct. I'm not sure what the Tow/Haul does in a Dorf, but it doesn't do much.

I'm willing to accept whatever works, but I do know I don't want to end up repairing that auto. It must cost a bunch. So I try to make life easy on it. I'll concede that a diesel is different from a gas engine.

By the way, I saw diesel at a local station for $3.78 today. Yea, things have changed. Gas is about $3.20

Boris
 
The thing is my 2001 chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 5.3 gas V8 got about 8 to 10mpg towing the same boat which weighs a mere 5500 to 6000 pounds. The new Chevy is a 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel gets 14 to15 mpg and would smoke the older truck on longer pulls. Diesels go 10k on a oil change but take an additional 3 quarts to do an oil change, gas 3000 to 5000 miles on an oil change. I'm not trying to convert anyone here but for me and where I live and what I do the diesel is a better tow rig. The allison transmissions have a tow haul mode . In tow mode they keep the transmission out of overdrive so the transmission is not constantly hunting in and out of overdrive on rolling hills. It also raises the rpms before shifting into a higher gear so the engine does not lug at lower rpms as the transmission might upshift prematurely in the regular auto setting.
The fact that diesel fuel has gone up in price would not prevent, me from buying a diesel in the future. I like the way it responds and drives. If I was trying to save money I would not own a boat or a four wheel drive diesel powered pickup truck. It snows where I'm from and I tow other types of trailers from time to time. Some old guys by Corvettes I'm just a little more practical. I wouldn't dare call myself a minimalist. :smile
D.D.
 
When we bought our diesel pickup, diesel was less expensive than unleaded gas. It has flipped a couple times, but seems to have settled in with diesel being higher. I figure it works out, because the diesel gets better mileage, especially when pulling a load. I use "Where" on my Droid to check local fuel prices, especially when in unfamiliar areas.

Towing with a marginal tow vehicle is more of a concern than just putting a strain on the vehicle, it is potentially unsafe. Most vehicles could get a heavy load moving... keeping it safe while going down the road, being able to move with the flow of traffic, and most importantly: being able to STOP safely all play a part in a safe and pleasant towing experience.

We once had an SUV that had a 5,000 pound tow rating... and a unibody frame. I tried a long tow with a boat behind there and it constantly felt squirrelly; moved to an SUV with a truck frame and it made a world of difference.

Adequate trailer brakes make a significant difference, as well. Switching out our trailer surge brakes to electric over hydraulic REALLY made a difference, especially with downhill grades. If necessary, you can reach down to the controller in the truck and apply just the trailer brakes.

While in New York in 2009, we found that several of our bunk supports broken or nearly so, and had those points welded with additional support added. Just like our boats, the trailers need regular maintenance, too. It's a good idea to check out the trailer with and without the boat loaded.

There's more to safe towing than just avoiding the crazy drivers out there - having the right equipment to tow with is a big part of the equation.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
I note that the experience which initiated this thread was from an owner of a CD-25. I have a CD-22 which is much lighter, but I also tow (not at the same time!) a 32' fifth wheel which is heavier than the CD-25. The amount of weight one is towing makes a BIG difference.

Another major factor, esp. when towing in traffic, is visibility to the sides and rear. I can see well enough around the CD-22 with the truck mirrors that locally I do not hang my extension mirrors, which I MUST have to see down the sides and to the rear of the fifth wheel. If I am towing the CD-22 on an interstate, through heavy traffic or a long distance I do hang the extension mirrors because they allow me to see REALLY good to the rear of the boat and trailer.

I keep trying to coax my wife into driving with the fifth wheel in tow. She has done it, but she is afraid of merging from an interstate on-ramp into traffic. I agree, that is one of the trickiest situations when towing a big rig. Some drivers make it easy, but others....
 
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