Towing question

I took the family out for our first camping trip with our new to us hybrid camper. It was only 20 minutes away. We are towing with our Minivan, I have a weight distribution hitch setup and an extra heavy duty tranny cooler (need to install that the hitch is on)

I also am using a good brake controller from Tekonsha (their wireless unit) braking wise and everything it worked great.

My question is when towing besides things feeling sluggish due to the weight and feeling the trailer "tug" on the van when going over bumps is there anything I should be looking for/paying attention to that might mean something is NOT setup right? The only other time I towed was a motorcycle trailer back when I had an F-150 so you could not feel that trailer at all

Note I clicked off the OD button so our van was locked into "D3" (2010 Honda Odyssey)

I assume there were no issues with sway?

My biggest concern on the trailer is the tires. Being so far away and not directly connected to your butt, it's pretty hard to tell if the tire is flat. I lost a tire on the way to the track a couple months ago, so I just bought a trailer TPMS system. I haven't towed with it yet, but so far it's looking pretty useful.

In reply to Jaynen:

Wait you have a 2010 odyssey with a working transmission?

Towing and 4....3....2....1 and now you don't have a working transmission.

kevlarcorolla wrote: In reply to Jaynen: Wait you have a 2010 odyssey with a working transmission? Towing and 4....3....2....1 and now you don't have a working transmission.

I haven't heard anything about that generation having trans issues :P ours is at like 90k miles tho so maybe it happens later.

I haven't even heard anything about towing trans issues besides make sure to have an extra big cooler for anything minivan related and towing

https://www.instagram.com/p/uBKIjXqt5h/

Not my rig btw lol.

codrus wrote: I assume there were no issues with sway? My biggest concern on the trailer is the tires. Being so far away and not directly connected to your butt, it's pretty hard to tell if the tire is flat. I lost a tire on the way to the track a couple months ago, so I just bought a trailer TPMS system. I haven't towed with it yet, but so far it's looking pretty useful.

Fortunately the trailer I got is a double axle so at least I have some fallback. especially when the trailer itself is only around 3k lbs and the GAWR is close or more than that

How much are you pulling? Setup sounds sufficiently overkill if you're within the van's USA* rating.

*USA tow ratings assume high speeds and the heavy tongue weight needed to make that stable, in europe they run the tongue much lighter which necessitates a hard ~60mph limit to keep things stable.

they have wireless brake controllers? what a world to live in!

Using this https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Fastway/FA94-00-0600.html and this

https://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/90250.html

to tow a 2007 Kodiak Skamper by Thor Hybrid Travel Trailer M195 http://www.dutchmen.com/media/5397/2007-kodiak-color-brochure.pdf

We don't tow with any fresh water in it or anything yet since we are going to places with hookups

I believe this is the trans cooler I picked up also.

No sway issues it towed stable, I guess what I was referring to was occasional front back jerking feeling sort of like load/unload probably as the trailer went over bumps vs the van did

fidelity101 wrote: they have wireless brake controllers? what a world to live in!

Yeah bolt it to your trailer and the 7 blade goes into it, then the 7 blade from the controller goes to the tow rig, then the remote for the controller just plugs into your 12v accessory outlet. I got it so my buddy can borrow my trailer when he has a hitch easily

BrokenYugo wrote: How much are you pulling? Setup sounds sufficiently overkill if you're within the van's USA* rating. *USA tow ratings assume high speeds and the heavy tongue weight needed to make that stable, in europe they run the tongue much lighter which necessitates a hard ~60mph limit to keep things stable.

Actually, they are more about climbing a hill on a very hot day in Arizona.

Jaynen wrote:

codrus wrote: I assume there were no issues with sway? My biggest concern on the trailer is the tires. Being so far away and not directly connected to your butt, it's pretty hard to tell if the tire is flat. I lost a tire on the way to the track a couple months ago, so I just bought a trailer TPMS system. I haven't towed with it yet, but so far it's looking pretty useful.

Fortunately the trailer I got is a double axle so at least I have some fallback. especially when the trailer itself is only around 3k lbs and the GAWR is close or more than that

I'd still add TPMS, personally. That will warn you when the tire starts to go low, rather than 10 miles later after it's gone flat and gotten ripped to shreds because you didn't notice. :)

I'm towing with a 2002 Chevy, so I got a TPMS unit that would do the truck as well:

Nice didnt know trailer TPMS was a thing

Trailer tpms is also a cheap retrofit for an older car...

Some of the clunk-clunk back and forth may be a result of play in the receiver/hitch socket. There are no-rattle systems out there that help eliminate it. Some of that is just the nature of towing a trailer that is an appreciable percentage of the tow vehicle's mass.

I had no idea about the trailer tpms. that's cool.

It sounds like you've got things under control (no pun intended). If you get anything that feels like the trailer is wagging the back of the van around then there's probably not enough tongue weight and you should fix that immediately. I make it a habit of walking around the truck (or van in your case) and trailer and carefully lay my hand on each tire and on the trailer hubs. If they're too hot to touch you've got a problem. The one exception to that is if you've just pulled off the highway slowing rapidly from a high rate of speed. Under those conditions the trailer brakes will be too hot to touch for a couple of minutes.

Besides the fact my tow mirror extensions were not long enough to see around the trailer still I don't really think I had many issues. I did play with the brake settings a bit since the trailer brakes feel less progressive than your normal ones when they kick in.

I did not notice any feeling of sway or the rear of the van being moved around in anyway, was just more sort of bouncy feeling and the obvious feeling that the engine was working much harder than it does without an extra 3000 lbs