Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

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Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

Postby daveesl77 » Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:55 am

Well,our F150 has served us well, but it was getting to that point in the 5.4 liter engines life when things start going wrong. That means about 70,000 miles, believe it or not. We've been considering trading for a minivan and yesterday we pulled the trigger. So we swapped even our 2004 F150 for a 2010 Kia Sedona, essentially the same mileage on both. The Kia is a one owner from the retirement community just north of us. Has a max 3.500# tow capacity and has the tow package installed. Since Conch Fritter only weighs 1,400 # loaded, I think I'll tow it over to a parking lot and do some "panic braking" to see if I need to change out the axle on the trailer to one that has electric brakes.

Has anyone used a similar mini to tow a larger than standard teardrop? Let me know your concerns or ideas.

Thanks

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Re: Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

Postby rowerwet » Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:50 am

I tow mercury with a grand caravan. Minivans are larger and heavy, mine takes the same tires as a midsized pickup. The 3k tow rating means I'm running with a large safety margin.
Like anything towed, no exceeding 2/3 of the TV tow rating makes life so much easier. While my mpg took a hit, the van still did the speed limit on the interstate, and negotiated Vermont and new York mountain roads with no drama.
Of course the grand caravan is often classified as a light truck, smaller car like vans will be different. Look at the tow rating, try to keep 2/3 or less below the weight limit.
Test the panic breaking characteristics of your rig, avoidance lane change ability, before you get into unforgiving conditions. Run a bit below max speeds, and anticipate stops and actions of other loose nuts behind the wheel.
If the tear sways going straight, get that balance fixed asap.
Getting a good handle on complete TV and tow combined length, changing lanes is much more of a challenge with a 15 foot van and a 16 foot tear behind that. I need a 40 foot hole minimum.
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Re: Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

Postby daveesl77 » Sun Jan 10, 2016 9:57 am

That's actually one of the big reasons we decided to go to a minivan over the truck (besides the mechanical issues). The van has a 3,500# tow capacity, the trailer weighs 1,340# loaded, so I'm actually doing about 1/3 of rated capacity. My F150 got 16-17 mpg on the highway, the van should increase that by 25%. I don't drive fast any more, I quit doing that when I stopped racing and quit owning sports cars and drag racers a few decades ago. :) And I agree completely about checking out how the van handles to trailer, that's why we'll be testing that part out in a big parking lot this evening.

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Re: Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

Postby Gold5one » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:01 pm

I believe that minivans are designed to have extra braking capacity= they are people haulers and that is lots of lbs.
a few years ago I was working a winter stint at my local Florida BMV - checking VINs, etc. I went out to the parking lot to do that and the car was on a car hauler double axle trailer- hitched to a 2009 Dodge Caravan. :shock: The trailer had surge brakes. It looked like it was all the way down on the rear spring rubber axle bumpers, too. He had pulled that car over 100 miles and he said it pulled OK. I no longer worry about pulling a 3500-4000lb camper with a modern minivan rated to tow.
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Re: Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

Postby elcam84 » Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:14 pm

Mini vans are under rated when it comes to towing. The kia sedona has a quite powerful engine for a cheaper brand car. The old astro vans were great towers. Used to use them for hauling walk in coolers. Would tow 7 K no problem.

I am looking at the kia sorento or the hyundai version the sante fe. As long as it can do freeway speeds with a trailer. That means 80 mph and sometimes higher here.
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Re: Conch Fritter gets a different tow vehicle

Postby Gold5one » Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:30 pm

A few years ago- Chrysler dropped the tow package on the minivans-why? They made the oil cooler/tranny cooler a standard feature and gave all the minivans a 3500 lb tow. I think that might have happened in year 2013- mine is a 2014 and it has it. They also made rear rear brake sway control a standard equipment item, too. Which is invaluable for trailer towing and playing on the snow drifted roads in the winter.
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