3500lb toy hauler tow experience
04-28-2012, 09:04 AM
#1
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
3500lb toy hauler tow experience
Well, yesterday I picked up a 2009 coachmen blast 150 toyhauler. Weight yesterday was 3500 pounds. I have a 2012 JKU sport with max tow package. (3.73 gears). All stock except it has rubi wheels. I had weight distribution hitch as well as sway control hardware and trailer brakes. Towing was worst conditions for this region. I had to completely cross Pennsylvania from darn near Ohio all the way to the NJ coast. Wind was 20-30 mph. Driving was on the turnpike used extensively by big rigs. I can report no sway problems. I have the manual trans. 6th gear is useless unless going down a long decline. 5th gear for flat ground and short, mild inclines. 4th gear was my friend for the longer inclines. Trying to hold 65, the jeep would slow and hold at 55 in 4th gear. Jeep does ok but I'm glad the trailer isn't any bigger. Also very glad I got the 2012 horsepower and 3.73 gears. Most disappointing to me is that gas mileage only averaged 10mpg. I was hoping for more. I got a trailer instead of a motorhome because they only get 7-8mpg. So I guess I got 20-30% better than the motorhome.
04-28-2012, 09:25 AM
#4
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
Only mild white knuckle experience was getting passed by tandem 18 wheeler in construction zone with no shoulders. Other than that it was ok. Was able to drink my tea and drive, even with manual trans.
04-28-2012, 12:33 PM
#6
JK Enthusiast
Sounds pretty scary to me but glad it worked ok. Id be interested to hear how it does on your first trip when it and the jeep are both loaded with gear and passengers.
04-28-2012, 03:00 PM
#7
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by dognights
Sounds pretty scary to me but glad it worked ok. Id be interested to hear how it does on your first trip when it and the jeep are both loaded with gear and passengers.
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04-28-2012, 03:48 PM
#8
JK Super Freak
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Originally Posted by rob_engineer
I'll report in whenever I get to take it on a trip loaded with gear. I found when I got home that it had a full tank of water from previous owner winterizing it. That's about 350 pounds. Future trips I will fill less. Only passengers will be my wife and I. She was with me on this trip to pick it up. So the big unknown is how it will do when I add my 600 pound motorcycle.
When you switch to two lane roads and 60 mph youll find a huge MPG increase and also see sights not normally seen from freeways.
04-29-2012, 03:44 AM
#9
JK Enthusiast
Few more things to toss out. It would be great to hear how you like the camper as well on a trip. How you would compare it to say building something off a lightweight enclosed trailer yourself?
Another thing I would strongly suggest you probably do if you havent already done so it to get an accurate height of the camper. It looks pretty tall to the top of that AC unit. Although it is probably ok anything over 13 foot 6 inches and you really need to plan your routes. Either way I come across low passes all of the time when Im off exploring so I think it would be real important to know how tall it is.
Where do you plan on going? Id love to hear where you are going with your bike. Does your wife ride as well or is she strictly a passenger? Im in the planning stage of my next project and just waiting until I can order my new 2013 JKU now. We are planning on moving out to Phoenix over the summer, and the idea is to build a desert expedition jeep. We are planning on converting a new 4 door into a two passenger. Im planning on removing the rear seats, building out the rear footwells for storage to make a flat deck all the way to the front seats. Running factory half doors, bikini top, cargo net, no tailgate, and mounting the spare vertical inside the back along the drivers side. We are going to take with us two Madass scooters tossed in the back that I am converting for more offroad heavy use. They are think a cross between a bmx bike, scooter, and a motorcycle with a 125 cc engine. They go about 60 mph or so even with my butt on them. We plan on sleeping in the back when stopped for the night to camp.
Enjoy your new toy!
Another thing I would strongly suggest you probably do if you havent already done so it to get an accurate height of the camper. It looks pretty tall to the top of that AC unit. Although it is probably ok anything over 13 foot 6 inches and you really need to plan your routes. Either way I come across low passes all of the time when Im off exploring so I think it would be real important to know how tall it is.
Where do you plan on going? Id love to hear where you are going with your bike. Does your wife ride as well or is she strictly a passenger? Im in the planning stage of my next project and just waiting until I can order my new 2013 JKU now. We are planning on moving out to Phoenix over the summer, and the idea is to build a desert expedition jeep. We are planning on converting a new 4 door into a two passenger. Im planning on removing the rear seats, building out the rear footwells for storage to make a flat deck all the way to the front seats. Running factory half doors, bikini top, cargo net, no tailgate, and mounting the spare vertical inside the back along the drivers side. We are going to take with us two Madass scooters tossed in the back that I am converting for more offroad heavy use. They are think a cross between a bmx bike, scooter, and a motorcycle with a 125 cc engine. They go about 60 mph or so even with my butt on them. We plan on sleeping in the back when stopped for the night to camp.
Enjoy your new toy!
04-29-2012, 04:53 AM
#10
JK Super Freak
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Originally Posted by dognights
Few more things to toss out. It would be great to hear how you like the camper as well on a trip. How you would compare it to say building something off a lightweight enclosed trailer yourself?
Another thing I would strongly suggest you probably do if you havent already done so it to get an accurate height of the camper. It looks pretty tall to the top of that AC unit. Although it is probably ok anything over 13 foot 6 inches and you really need to plan your routes. Either way I come across low passes all of the time when Im off exploring so I think it would be real important to know how tall it is.
Where do you plan on going? Id love to hear where you are going with your bike. Does your wife ride as well or is she strictly a passenger? Im in the planning stage of my next project and just waiting until I can order my new 2013 JKU now. We are planning on moving out to Phoenix over the summer, and the idea is to build a desert expedition jeep. We are planning on converting a new 4 door into a two passenger. Im planning on removing the rear seats, building out the rear footwells for storage to make a flat deck all the way to the front seats. Running factory half doors, bikini top, cargo net, no tailgate, and mounting the spare vertical inside the back along the drivers side. We are going to take with us two Madass scooters tossed in the back that I am converting for more offroad heavy use. They are think a cross between a bmx bike, scooter, and a motorcycle with a 125 cc engine. They go about 60 mph or so even with my butt on them. We plan on sleeping in the back when stopped for the night to camp.
Enjoy your new toy!
Another thing I would strongly suggest you probably do if you havent already done so it to get an accurate height of the camper. It looks pretty tall to the top of that AC unit. Although it is probably ok anything over 13 foot 6 inches and you really need to plan your routes. Either way I come across low passes all of the time when Im off exploring so I think it would be real important to know how tall it is.
Where do you plan on going? Id love to hear where you are going with your bike. Does your wife ride as well or is she strictly a passenger? Im in the planning stage of my next project and just waiting until I can order my new 2013 JKU now. We are planning on moving out to Phoenix over the summer, and the idea is to build a desert expedition jeep. We are planning on converting a new 4 door into a two passenger. Im planning on removing the rear seats, building out the rear footwells for storage to make a flat deck all the way to the front seats. Running factory half doors, bikini top, cargo net, no tailgate, and mounting the spare vertical inside the back along the drivers side. We are going to take with us two Madass scooters tossed in the back that I am converting for more offroad heavy use. They are think a cross between a bmx bike, scooter, and a motorcycle with a 125 cc engine. They go about 60 mph or so even with my butt on them. We plan on sleeping in the back when stopped for the night to camp.
Enjoy your new toy!