Perhaps the M-17 is not for me... M-15?
I agree with Sean and Howard in regard to the "tail wagging the dog" and the ability to stop issues. I've experienced both and it was not fun. I towed a pop-up camper for too many years with a 6 cylinder, 4 liter Cherokee. Now most people would say, "that seems like a good match". Well, it was terrible. Every time the tail started wagging it would oscillate and get worst unless I reduced speed a lot. Then I would realize that Jeep just didn't have the capacity to quickly stop that pop-up. I concluded that it was the worst tow vehicle every made. I now tow a 5000 pound camp trailer that has brakes and stabilizer bars with a Tundra. It is so stress free that I forget it's back there. Of course my M15 tows without issue with this vehicle. One last point, I learned from some seasoned camp trailer towers that filling the water tanks (provided they're up in the front of the trailer) greatly increases stability. Conversely full black and grey water tanks (in the rear) decrease stability. It's nice to have a tongue that's light enough to pick up and attack the hitch, but if you tow with light tongue weight your trailer will probably fishtail. So it's nice to have a vehicle that will pull your trailer up those long hills, but it's more important to have a vehicle that will safely pull your load down those hills. Rick M15 #337 Bluebird
Take a bathroom scale with you and keep in in the truck/car. When you get ready to leave, weigh the tongue weight. It should be about 10% of the total weight. If it's more, distribute some weight to the rear and vice versa. Short Story..... Back around 1974 I was helping a friend tow his Oldsmobile 442 on a trailer using his wifes Pontiac 68' LeMans as the tow vehicle. We were coming down a verrrrrry long downhill run just outside of Wheeling WV. Just as we started down a 3 mile straight down grade, I glanced out the rear side window to see the Olds trying to pass us!! The only thing we could do was speed up and get the car and trailer back behind us. At the botttom of the hill was a bridge. So it was make it or loose everything. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill we were well past 80. With white nuckles and wet seats we made it. I personnally will never tow anything heavier than what I'm towing with. Rule of mass. Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Langer" <farreach@optonline.net> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 2:27 PM Subject: M_Boats: Perhaps the M-17 is not for me... M-15?
I agree with Sean and Howard in regard to the "tail wagging the dog" and the ability to stop issues. I've experienced both and it was not fun.
I towed a pop-up camper for too many years with a 6 cylinder, 4 liter Cherokee. Now most people would say, "that seems like a good match". Well, it was terrible. Every time the tail started wagging it would oscillate and get worst unless I reduced speed a lot. Then I would realize that Jeep just didn't have the capacity to quickly stop that pop-up. I concluded that it was the worst tow vehicle every made.
I now tow a 5000 pound camp trailer that has brakes and stabilizer bars with a Tundra. It is so stress free that I forget it's back there. Of course my M15 tows without issue with this vehicle.
One last point, I learned from some seasoned camp trailer towers that filling the water tanks (provided they're up in the front of the trailer) greatly increases stability. Conversely full black and grey water tanks (in the rear) decrease stability. It's nice to have a tongue that's light enough to pick up and attack the hitch, but if you tow with light tongue weight your trailer will probably fishtail. So it's nice to have a vehicle that will pull your trailer up those long hills, but it's more important to have a vehicle that will safely pull your load down those hills.
Rick M15 #337 Bluebird
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Hi Gang, Towing.... Way back when, .... I bought a Bolger designed MICRO from a man in Bay City, Michigan, sight-unseen. My wife and I, driving her RABBIT with added tow hitch, drove from Glastonbury, CT to Bay City, MI. There we picked up our new "toy". Our "toy" was on a trailer - as expected, from the description, however, the trailer was made for a house trailer, all heavy 4" channel steel. The trailer, when I calculated it's weight later, when we were in Florida, was twice the weight of the Bolger MICRO. The MICRO weighed about 1000 lbs; the trailer itself, about 2,000 lbs. We took off from Bay City, heading for Clearwater, FL, driving down I-75 learning with every mile of travel. When we got into Kentucky and Tennessee, we were in the mountains. The Rabbit pulled the trailer, in third and second gear - that weighed twice as much as the MICRO - but this was all Interstate driving. Long gentle climbs, and long gentle descends. We made it to Clearwater, FL, and we made it on the relative flat of I-95 all the way back to Connecticut, but when we got home, the first thing I did was find a trailer that was lightweight; fit it to the MICRO, and sell the heavy monster. We made it, safely, with only small beads of perspiration on my brow. The moral of the story is: - a 1200 lb boat on a Trailrite trailer can be towed behind a small car. We towed our M15 all over the place with a VW Jetta wagon - with no problems. The trailer had no brakes. - as the boat / trailer weight goes up, you need a heavier, more powerful tow vehicle, or.... - you have to have brakes on the trailer, so that the car brakes do not have to stop the weight of the car and the weight of the trailer and boat. - the situation you have to avoid at all costs is the tail (trailer and boat) wagging the dog (the car) and this can only be done with a car heavy enough to match the load you are towing. Connie Rick Langer wrote:
I agree with Sean and Howard in regard to the "tail wagging the dog" and the ability to stop issues. I've experienced both and it was not fun.
I towed a pop-up camper for too many years with a 6 cylinder, 4 liter Cherokee. Now most people would say, "that seems like a good match". Well, it was terrible. Every time the tail started wagging it would oscillate and get worst unless I reduced speed a lot. Then I would realize that Jeep just didn't have the capacity to quickly stop that pop-up. I concluded that it was the worst tow vehicle every made.
I now tow a 5000 pound camp trailer that has brakes and stabilizer bars with a Tundra. It is so stress free that I forget it's back there. Of course my M15 tows without issue with this vehicle.
One last point, I learned from some seasoned camp trailer towers that filling the water tanks (provided they're up in the front of the trailer) greatly increases stability. Conversely full black and grey water tanks (in the rear) decrease stability. It's nice to have a tongue that's light enough to pick up and attack the hitch, but if you tow with light tongue weight your trailer will probably fishtail. So it's nice to have a vehicle that will pull your trailer up those long hills, but it's more important to have a vehicle that will safely pull your load down those hills.
Rick M15 #337 Bluebird
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
participants (3)
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chbenneck＠sbcglobal.net -
Joe Murphy -
Rick Langer