We're new to PU camping and PU Times

[wavery]

My wife and I bought a used 2002 Coleman/Fleetwood Tacoma (with a Carrier A/C). We've taken it to a few places up & down the California Coast for the last couple months.

We also bought a EU2000I Honda Generator. That thing is GREAT. It's whisper quiet and runs the A/C just fine (as long as nothing else is running). I also got a high torque 1/2" drill to run the top up. I just can't take the cranking required to run that thing up. My shoulders are messed up from sailing.

I tow it with our 2001 Chrysler Concorde V6. I installed a transmission oil cooler and the trailer has electric brakes.

I find the trailer extremely easy to tow and the car hardly notices the difference. Of course, our gas mileage dropped from 27MPG to 20MPG but that's still a lot better than getting an SUV or pick-up in my opinion.

This is a big change for me. I spent 14 years living on my 45' Passport sailboat and sailing around the world. I guess sailing is a lot like camping and camping keeps me close to the sea.  

Does anyone have any pros or cons to using a passenger car to tow the PU?  

I would sure like to hear about some good camp sites in Baja and what is required to take your PU down there.

[oldmoose]

Welcome to PUT. I'm sure there will be someone to answer your questions.

Moose

[cjpoppin]

May we add our welcome also......We have lots of fun here and you will add many new friends to your list and hopefully have many great camping memories!  Looking forward to meeting you.......

[TheViking]

Welcome to PUT. Congrats on your new 2 U pop-up. On to your question:
 
Your Concorde has a towing capacity of 1500 Lbs, The dry weight of your Tacoma is 1950 Lbs. Throw in your gear, add on's like AC, fridge, etc.,plus the weight of any people you have in the Tow Vehicle and I'm guessing you will be in the neighborhood of 2500-3000 lbs loaded. That is what we here on PUT call an accident waiting to happen. You are at least, 1000 lbs overweight. I would seriously look at getting a bigger tow vehicle. Sorry to be a buzzkill but you asked.

[wavery]

Welcome to PUT. Congrats on your new 2 U pop-up. On to your question:
 
Your Concorde has a towing capacity of 1500 Lbs, The dry weight of your Tacoma is 1950 Lbs. Throw in your gear, add on's like AC, fridge, etc.,plus the weight of any people you have in the Tow Vehicle and I'm guessing you will be in the neighborhood of 2500-3000 lbs loaded. That is what we here on PUT call an accident waiting to happen. You are at least, 1000 lbs overweight. I would seriously look at getting a bigger tow vehicle. Sorry to be a buzzkill but you asked.

------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the welcome. Makes a guy feel all warm & fuzzy inside .

TheViking,

Never be sorry about looking out for others. You are right, that is one of the reasons that I asked.

The trailer has very effective electric brakes. That's a plus. I added a BIG trans cooler to take care of the mechanical side. The car has 4 wheel disks with very flimsy rotors, from the factory. I installed ceramic disk brake pads and HD (racing) rotors for braking. The brakes are now superior to most SUVs and mini-vans IMHO.

I'm pretty cautious about the way that I load my rig. I put all of the heavy stuff in the car and travel with no water in the tanks. I don't want the trailer pushing the rear of the car around under panic braking situations.

If anyone has any concerns that I have not addressed, please speak up. I'm not easily offended. I have NO interest in causing an accident or endangering others.

I'm also a "flatlander". I live close to the beach and all of our camping is in beach campsites. I realize that this car WILL NOT handle mountain driving, towing that trailer. If I ever had an interest in doing that (which I won't), I would borrow my brothers Lincoln Navigator. He tows a 30' travel trailer and has the same towing set-up that I do (same wiring harness and 2" ball).

[meriflower1985]

Wavery - I would agree with the Viking.  Even with just the camper alone (without your gear) you are still over your tow vehicles tow rating.  So no matter how careful you pack, how far or near you travel, be it flat or mountainous - you are overweight.  In addition to endangering you and others, you could also be damaging your car.  


Nancy

[wavery]

Wavery - I would agree with the Viking.  Even with just the camper alone (without your gear) you are still over your tow vehicles tow rating.  So no matter how careful you pack, how far or near you travel, be it flat or mountainous - you are overweight.  In addition to endangering you and others, you could also be damaging your car.  


Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for the post. Maybe you could be more specific in your concern.

I think that I have increased my tow rating considerably with the changes that I made to the standard Concorde as the tow vehicle.

I am very concerned about safety. That's why I made this thread. If anyone has any suggestions for improving this vehicle or has specific reasons why this vehicle cannot be modified to handle the job. I would really appreciate hearing the specifics and technical reasons for that conclusion.

The biggest reason for the low tow rating on any passenger vehicle is breaking concerns. I think that I have addressed that. My brakes are now superior to most light SUVs and mini-vans.

As far as hurting my vehicle is concerned, the only thing that is a problem on the mechanical side of a passenger vehicle is HP and cooling capacity. The car has plenty of HP. It pulls hills like the trailer is not even there. I seldom even touch the cruise control. As for cooling, I added a large transmission cooler and a transmission temp gage. The engine and trans temp are the same towing or not towing. There is one grade, on the way to San Diego, that I was concerned about. The cruise control kept the speed at 55 and the temp never got over normal. It was 90 degrees outside and I kept the A/C on.

If I am missing something here, I would sure appreciate hearing some technical reasoning.

Thanks again

[tlhdoc]

Congratulations on the PU.  I hope you have many enjoyable trips.  Are your tires rated for the extra weight of towing?  Also the towing capacity of your vehicle normally includes everything in the vehicle along with the trailer.  Maybe you should have your rig weighed to see where you are at.  Have fun camping.

[Kelly]

The biggest reason for the low tow rating on any passenger vehicle is breaking concerns. I think that I have addressed that. My brakes are now superior to most light SUVs and mini-vans.

As far as hurting my vehicle is concerned, the only thing that is a problem on the mechanical side of a passenger vehicle is HP and cooling capacity. The car has plenty of HP. It pulls hills like the trailer is not even there. I seldom even touch the cruise control. As for cooling, I added a large transmission cooler and a transmission temp gage. The engine and trans temp are the same towing or not towing. There is one grade, on the way to San Diego, that I was concerned about. The cruise control kept the speed at 55 and the temp never got over normal. It was 90 degrees outside and I kept the A/C on.

If I am missing something here, I would sure appreciate hearing some technical reasoning.

First off ~ welcome to PUT!  Always glad to see new faces here!!

I'm with Tracy (TLHDOC) on the tires.  How about your axle?  That's a lot of extra weight for it to be carrying around.

I have no technical reasoning (where's Mike4947 when you need him? ), but I do have a lot of common sense and a fair amount of street smarts ... and I agree with the other posters.   There are weight ratings for a reason.  While I'm sure there are things you can do to your car to accommodate some additional weight ~ I doubt there is anything you can do to make it SAFELY handle an extra half-a-ton.  Your rig, as it is, is an accident waiting to happen ~ either to you or others on the road or both.

I'm with Brian ~ I hate to be a buzzkill, but you asked.

[wavery]

Congratulations on the PU.  I hope you have many enjoyable trips.  Are your tires rated for the extra weight of towing?  Also the towing capacity of your vehicle normally includes everything in the vehicle along with the trailer.  Maybe you should have your rig weighed to see where you are at.  Have fun camping.

Good suggestion about having the rig wieghed. Although, I'm not sure where to get it done. My bathroom scale only goes to 350 .

The trailer has 13" tires that are rated at 1360# each @ 50# of tire pressure (cold). I think that should be sufficient. However, I did find that the trailer gets a little bouncy at 50# of tire pressure. I dropped it to about 45# and it seems to ride nicer. The tires, wheels and hubs all stayed pretty cool on this last trip to San Diego and it was HOT out.

Has anyone tried putting shock absorbers on their trailer? Just a thought.

[wavery]

First off ~ welcome to PUT!  Always glad to see new faces here!!

I'm with Tracy (TLHDOC) on the tires.  How about your axle?  That's a lot of extra weight for it to be carrying around.

I have no technical reasoning (where's Mike4947 when you need him? ), but I do have a lot of common sense and a fair amount of street smarts ... and I agree with the other posters.   There are weight ratings for a reason.  While I'm sure there are things you can do to your car to accommodate some additional weight ~ I doubt there is anything you can do to make it SAFELY handle an extra half-a-ton.  Your rig, as it is, is an accident waiting to happen ~ either to you or others on the road or both.

I'm with Brian ~ I hate to be a buzzkill, but you asked.

Kelly,

Don't worry about being "Buzkill" (whatever that means). I'm sure that your concerns are genuine and I'm also sure that you have read similar threads a hundred times here on PUT.

I'm new here so I haven't read the reasoning behind any of these theories that, "The weight rating must be obeyed". Seems like all hearsay, at this point. I've gone to great lengths to increase the load carrying capacity of this vehicle and I have FAR surpassed the vehicles advertised towing capacity.

I would appreciate any constructive advise that anyone with technical knowledge might have.

I was Parts and Service Director at one of the largest automotive consortium's in Los Angeles for 5 years. Before that, I was the Service Manager at one of the GM dealerships for 5 years. Before that, I was a Factory Rep for GM for 5 years and I attended General Motors Institute for 2 years (while I was a Factory Rep). In short, I have a lot of automotive technical background (starting in high school in 1962).

However, I have been out of the business for a long time now and I never say that I know it all. I am sure that there are many things that I can learn from some of the people on here that have been towing trailers for a long time. The one thing that I won't except (unless convinced otherwise) is that this vehicle (properly modified) won't handle that load safely. That is just simply a lot of brain washing from the manufacturers (of which I was once part of) to get you into another vehicle.

I am absolutely POSITIVE that this vehicle can be (and maybe has been) modified adequately to safely do the job. What I would like to know is.......Have I missed something? Is there anything else that I can do to further modify my existing 2001 Concorde.

I like my car. I am 6' 4" 225#. Not many cars fit me well. This one does. Also, I manage an apartment building. I have 3 (indoor) parking spaces. One is for my wifes Camry (which she loves) one for my car and one for the trailer. I hate gas guzzling SUVs, trucks and vans. They help to tie this nation to the Arab states in a way that may be catastrophic to this nation (but that's another story) I have this car, I want to tow my trailer with this car and I know that it will work.

Any and all suggestions on modifications would be helpful.

[tlhdoc]

How about this.  If you are in an accident and it is found out that you are towing well above the rated limit, you might open yourself to a lawsuit, arrest and possibly jail time.

 
Your trailer is probably bouncing around when the tires are pumped to the proper capacity, because the trailer doesn't have much weight in it.  By lowering the tire pressure you are lowing the weight capacity on the tires, making them more likely to fail, which = a possible accident.
 
Is the frame of the vehicle able to take the extra weight towing?  How much does the vehicle weigh loaded with all of the stuff you take camping?  Are the tires capable of handling the weight?  
 
Many truck stops have scales that you pay a few dollars to use.  Here is a link for Cat Scales  http://www.catscale.com

[wavery]

How about this.  If you are in an accident and it is found out that you are towing well above the rated limit, you might open yourself to a lawsuit, arrest and possibly jail time.

 
Your trailer is probably bouncing around when the tires are pumped to the proper capacity, because the trailer doesn't have much weight in it.  By lowering the tire pressure you are lowing the weight capacity on the tires, making them more likely to fail, which = a possible accident.
 
Is the frame of the vehicle able to take the extra weight towing?  How much does the vehicle weigh loaded with all of the stuff you take camping?  Are the tires capable of handling the weight?  
 
Many truck stops have scales that you pay a few dollars to use.  Here is a link for Cat Scales  http://www.catscale.com

Thanks for the link to the scales. Very helpful.

My tires are quite within limits and are fairly new. Blowout does not necessarily = accident, unless you panic and slam on the brakes or something stupid. I don't tow above 55 MPH. The trailer brakes will actually stop the car without using the cars brakes. I tried it. Really happy about that.

Geez, chill out, nobodies going to jail. Heck, people with SUVs are MUCH more likely to have an accident with a blowout, towing or not. That's a documented fact. Someone should go to jail for putting people behind the wheel of those things. That is one of the things that I am trying to avoid.

You brought up a good point on my car tires. I just went and checked them. They are rated at 1680# each. Certainly no problem there. This load certainly isn't enough to cause a frame issue. If I start having trouble closing the trunk or doors, I may stand corrected but the car will certainly not break in two.

My tongue weight is about 200# fully loaded. I did measure that with a bathroom scale My hitch is rated for 3500# and 350# tongue weight.

Thanks for the tire & scale tip. That was really positive and helpful.

[Kelly]

Kelly,

Don't worry about being "Buzkill" (whatever that means). I'm sure that your concerns are genuine and I'm also sure that you have read similar threads a hundred times here on PUT.

A buzzkill would be someone who is telling you what you don't want to hear.  And yes, my concerns are genuine ~ for you and for the people who share the road with you ~ especially my camping friends in California.  

I've also read similar threads here and at other towing forums I visit ... with good reason.  Responsible people know the limits of their tow vehicle BEFORE they purchase a trailer.  Trying to modify it to fit now is like closing the barn door after all the animals have gotten out.

My background is not the same as yours.  But I am sure that if we all blatantly disregarded the guidelines of the automobile manufacturers there would a lot more accidents and mechanical failures than there are now.  We're not talking a couple pounds overweight here ~ we're talking upwards of one thousand pounds or more!  [/color]

.... I have this car, I want to tow my trailer with this car and I know that it will work.

Then do it.  But don't ask the fine people here for advice and then tell us how wrong we are.   I've only towed trailers for about 4 years, but there are people here with a lot more experience and I trust their judgement.  If they told me I was overweight ~ I would believe it and do something about it.

[tlhdoc]

Sounds like you are going to tow with your overloaded car no matter what is said, so why did you ask for anyone's opinion?  It is clear that you have absolutely no interest in what we have to say?