Quote:
Originally Posted by Hersbird
What you are missing Slowmover is the OP also wants to get up into the woods, meaning capable off road ability as well. A 1975 Dodge Monaco isn't going to cut it. They also suck in the snow of Minnesota no matter what your grandfather trys to tell you (No disrespect, I'm a grandfather too and drive a crappy rear wheel drive truck every day, 8+ hours, for work in Montana in all conditions). There is something 1000% better about camping way off the grid away from the majority of the beaten path, or just on the edge of it and then escaping into it in your tow vehicle. I love a tent, but not everyone in the family does and making everyone happy makes me happy.
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I didn’t miss it. I agreed with the premise. But 4WD and stable highway travel are exclusive of one another.
As the majority of miles are commuting and/or local family transport, that’s Number One. Towing a travel trailer is Number Two. There is no Number Three.
As a family we covered the Lower 48, Lower Canada and a fair portion of Mexico with a 28’ trailer in tow. Five persons in a car. Roads mattered.
I’ve done plenty of remote hiking and camping. Walked there. Roads mattered not at all.
There are reasonable limits. This is one of those.
That, “others do it all the time” is the excuse Mom said no longer works past kindergarten. She was right. While a rollover is but 3% of accidents as to type, it is yet well north of 25% as to fatalities.
Risk matters or it doesn’t. (“Skill at the wheel” is laughable as an excuse. It’s an irrelevance statistically).
A pickup/Jeep etc is the LIKELY cause of that type wreck. Towing a trailer only worsens the outcome.
The physics of using a weight-distribution hitch is simple enough. So should be what is represented by a high COG vehicle not meant for highway travel.
The best layman’s discussion is still Fred Puhns’ tome on vehicle handling for familiarity with terms & concepts.
“Ackerman Angle” in a turn with a trailer. Trace the paths as no two tires are on the same line. Now, upset (trip) but one wheel of an unstable tow vehicle.
Just an unexpected road camber change in entering/leaving a temporary highway lane between jersey barriers
at the posted speed is enough to total a brand-new pair of vehicles as the combo vehicle is pulled several directions at once. A very high dollar pickup and six-figure Airstream. Operator not at all new to this.
It’s too late to tell someone that the advisory speed is for solo cars. Not trucks or combination vehicles. Or that not being able to see the road surface may matter. And that the general stupidity of today’s drivers had several others pile into the rig as twenty feet of spacing is what they’ve been doing just forever.
They survived.
The OP will do as he will. I’ve seen too many RV wrecks to want to join that in-group.
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