Towing with a Seneca

[QMRACER]

Does anyone tow a good sized trailer with a say 2013-2015 model? We generally tow a 24 foot 4000 lb trailer behind our pusher and are looking at a Seneca. If so what is your max cruising speed? any problems with grades? Thoughts?

[rgolding]

We tow a 2016 Chevy Traverse. It is loaded with kayaks on top, bikes on the hitch and 'ride on trains" inside. with all kinds of tools and things stuffed around them. Use a "Brake Buddy" and "Blue Ox" towing arms. No problem and down the road at 70 plus, if we have to. Try to keep it around 62 mph. I'm guessing we are towing about 5500 to 6000 lbs.

[DocBrown]

Ric, he's asking about towing a trailer behind a class C motor home.

[rgolding]

DocBrown,

We tow the Traverse with a Seneca. Its not a trailer, but the weight is there. I was offering the help I could. Many times I think of the Traverse as a trailer. I was not trying to mislead or offend, but just offering my experience.

[QMRACER]

Thank you for the post, At least it gives me an idea with weight. I know it is not the same but similar. My Son quartermidgets races so we ALWAYS have a trailer behind us. While i am at it what MPG do you get when towing?

[rgolding]

To be truthful, I don't really notice a difference with power or miles per gallon. The towing capacity of the hitch on a Seneca is 10,000 lbs. With no tongue weight, because Traverse is on its own 4 wheels, and we are only half or 60% of towing capacity, its not an impact. I'm really glad we have the backup camera, that is always on, because otherwise we would forget it is back there. We get about 10 to 11 mpg's on a new Seneca Cummins engine with less than 7,000 miles on it.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by rgolding

DocBrown,

We tow the Traverse with a Seneca. Its not a trailer, but the weight is there. I was offering the help I could. Many times I think of the Traverse as a trailer. I was not trying to mislead or offend, but just offering my experience.

Whoop! Sorry. I read your post as towing a TT with a Traverse.

[meyerjohnc]

We have a 2015 Seneca TS - We pull a 10,000 lb. boat on a 3 axle trailer over the very steep mountains crossing Vancouver Island in British Columbia with no issues. The road is very narrow with many sharp corners so speed is not an issue.

[mikew968]

I tow a 20' enclosed trailer with a weight of around 7000#. It tows well and is while I know it is there power, braking and stability are very good.

[Mr.Oz]

I tow a 24ft racecar trailer with no problems at all. 7000lbs or so, plenty of power and get around 10.5mpg on the flat and level.

[memphis02]

Do any/all of you have a brake controller installed in your Senecas? If so, did you do the install yourself? -If so, any recommendations / gotchas I should be aware of? I am planning to use my '14 Seneca to tow my 20' dual-axle w/ electric brakes and want to make sure I can stop 'er without issues.

[jestew3]

The brake controller is a snap as Jayco already has the wiring under the dash, I did mine 2 weeks ago. Look for 4 or 5 wires taped to one of the wire bundles IVO the steering wheel. The wiring for the controller is as follows: Red - 12V, White - ground, Red w/white stripe - Brake light with pedal pressed, Blue - brake power application.

Ted

[Sam]

jestew3. Does it make any difference which blue wire you use to hook up the brake controller? I noticed they both are heave gauge wire. What brand controller did you use.
Thanks, Sam

[jestew3]

I used the Tekonsha P3 which I bought on Amazaon. I have one of these that I use in my Excursion and have had no issues with it at all. As for the blue wires, I just stripped one back and connected it to the 12V (Red) and used my volt meter on pin 2 to make sure I had the right one. I was lucky and guessed right the first time. I would go look for you, but the rig is in for warranty work.

Ted

[SuddenRush]

Originally Posted by jestew3

I used the Tekonsha P3 which I bought on Amazaon. I have one of these that I use in my Excursion and have had no issues with it at all. As for the blue wires, I just stripped one back and connected it to the 12V (Red) and used my volt meter on pin 2 to make sure I had the right one. I was lucky and guessed right the first time. I would go look for you, but the rig is in for warranty work.

Ted

I too used the Tekonsha P3. I used the Blue wire with the label "A" on it. I had to check like jestew3 with a meter to make sure I had the correct wire, but I believe in the end, both of us ended up using the one with a label of "A" or "LT A" on it.

I have towed my race trailer a couple times now. It's a 32' triple axle box trailer weighing in around 13,000#. I know I am over loaded, but our RV is pretty empty and I keep our tanks empty to try to help the GCWR. On steep incline hills I have to kick off the Overdrive with the switch under the radio and that really helps keep a head of steam on the hills. Otherwise, it does really well even over loaded.

The OD On/Off switch is in a terrible location (mine is on the far right side of the dash) so the next time I have my dash apart, I am going to switch it's location with the heated mirrors switch, which is far more accessible. Stole that idea from RobbyR.

BTW, love the P3 controller. Works very well for my application. I mounted it to the bottom side of the driver's side cup holder. Out of the way of my legs and feet, but I can still easily reach and see it for adjustments. Some have mentioned putting it in the ash tray location, but that was just a little too far away for my liking. I use the brake controller a lot while towing my heavy trailer. Trailer brakes are cheap and easy to replace compared to those on the Seneca. Although I must say, the exhaust brake on the Seneca makes slowing down a dream compared to my pick up truck!

Good luck!

[SuddenRush]

Originally Posted by memphis02

Do any/all of you have a brake controller installed in your Senecas? If so, did you do the install yourself? -If so, any recommendations / gotchas I should be aware of? I am planning to use my '14 Seneca to tow my 20' dual-axle w/ electric brakes and want to make sure I can stop 'er without issues.

I installed it myself. The only problem I had was with the heavy gauge wires on the Seneca. A traditional but connector (yellow) wasn't quite big enough. Luckily I had some step down connectors left over from a previous project. That made the process a lot easier.

New Grote 84 2626 Heat Shrinkable Step Down Butt Connectors 12 10 8 AWG 15 Pack | eBay

These aren't exactly what I had (mine were un-insulated, so I actually like these a little better with heat shrink already included). But these should work nicely. I then used a 12-16 ga reducer to get to the smaller wires on the P3 controller. Probably could have got away with just really crimping hard on the 12 ga end of the 12-8 reducer, but I already had the parts, so why not use them right?

My wiring for the heavy gauge wires ended up being:
8 ga Blue Wire from Seneca --> 8-12 ga reducer --> 8" 12 ga wire --> 12-16 ga reducer --> wire from brake controller.

Hope this helped.

[Sam]

Robbie, Ted thanks much, this will make my install easy. Sam

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by SuddenRush

The OD On/Off switch is in a terrible location (mine is on the far right side of the dash) so the next time I have my dash apart, I am going to switch it's location with the heated mirrors switch, which is far more accessible. Stole that idea from RobbyR.

Here is what SuddenRush is referring to regarding the OD switch, I moved it from the upper right side to the bottom left. Much more convenient. Very easy to accomplish once the dash is apart, and there was plenty of slack in its wiring to make the move.

No more "leaning" and diverting my eyes from the road to shut off OD when necessary.

[ready2retire&drive]

Originally Posted by jestew3

The brake controller is a snap as Jayco already has the wiring under the dash, I did mine 2 weeks ago. Look for 4 or 5 wires taped to one of the wire bundles IVO the steering wheel. The wiring for the controller is as follows: Red - 12V, White - ground, Red w/white stripe - Brake light with pedal pressed, Blue - brake power application.

Ted

I was under the dash and could not see this did they change something in the 2015 seneca 37rb??

[Sam]

I installed my brake control yesterday and the wiring is under the dash to the right of steering wheel. Wiring is bundled together.
Sam