Minivan towable

[r8ingbull]

Originally Posted by mike837go

I've been following this thread. And I feel you are being foolish. You are trading safety for comfort.

My daily driver (120 mile-per-day commute) has been a sedan or wagon since the 1990's. Love 'em for comfort and handling. Never been stuck because of snow, but reached 2wd limits a few times.

But when it comes to dragging an extra 2,500-30,000lbs at highway speeds, especially with people I care about on board, I won't hesitate to make my safety margins as wide as possible!

With the rig you've built, when something goes wrong, things will get very messy very quickly. All for the sake of being comfortable.

Go ahead and take your risks. Just make sure you have plenty of insurance.

Its interesting how following the manufactures ratings and doing things the proper way is seen as a huge "risk". We have to have a bit of trust that the ratings are worth something, as well as do a bit of due diligence. I never encouraged going over weights. We are under our capacities on every single published weight. Actually we have one weight that is even close (and still not within 100#), I can guarantee you wont guess which one.

I have identified actions that to me (in my opinion) are the most likely

#1 Panic Stop. The van is 100% capable of bringing the trailer, vehicle and passengers to a very controlled stop. With trailer brakes, this combo stops shorter than my 2500hd without a trailer. In my way of thinking, I can stop faster than a bigger truck pulling a similar trailer (or a larger trailer).

#2 Driver in-attention by others. This would be an evasive maneuver to avoid another car. Once again the trailer does not upset the van in the same way a larger trailer acts on a full size truck. I have no evidence or proof, but I would wager the improved handling of the van actually helps the trailer. Even if this small trailer is behind my truck, it can upset the truck more than it will the van.

Last winter on I75 just north of Atlanta, after dark we had a wrong way driver. I had to make a hard emergency swerve that the van and trailer handled perfectly. In the rain. Hard enough, that I actually wondered if the trailer somehow stabilized the van. I am certain my truck would have been either spun or flipped with the movement

#3 Driver in-attention by me. I am more comfortable, easier to pay attention to road.

Other things can happen and eventually will. I cant predict them, and I feel the safest in the combo we have now.

You use the term "safety margins". Please explain what these are? Are you saying a vehicle at 50% of capacity is somehow inherently safer than a vehicle at 60% of capacity? If so, I have a hard time following that logic, since the vast majority of accidents are not caused by capacity issues at all.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by bono

Ladder frame

https://youtu.be/_f3CAnH7WIM?t=91

vs

unibody

Interesting. When was the last time anyone in this thread did this to our vehicles? So unless you off road in extreme conditions this really doesn't apply to towing on flat roads.

So Bono, are you towing with an X5? Though I think that's a little small for your trailer it's still a pretty capable tow vehicle.

[mike837go]

Originally Posted by r8ingbull

...snip...
I have identified actions that to me (in my opinion) are the most likely
...snip...
You use the term "safety margins". Please explain what these are? Are you saying a vehicle at 50% of capacity is somehow inherently safer than a vehicle at 60% of capacity? If so, I have a hard time following that logic, since the vast majority of accidents are not caused by capacity issues at all.

"Most Likely" has no value in the real world. My 1998 Mazda Protégé was destroyed in the late summer of 2000 when an 'inattentive driver' crossed the double yellow line into me. Plenty of witnesses. Dry pavement 7:20AM. Saw it coming. All the cutting hard right + braking made no difference.

Margin: "an amount by which a thing is won or falls short". So, yes, only running at 50% of maximum is inherently safer than running at 60%. But you are choosing to run at 90%. And there are plenty of cases of accidents where overloading was a major contributing factor: https://www.justia.com/injury/motor-...loaded-trucks/

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I deal with all sorts of crazy's on the road 2+hours per day. Alone, radio off.

When we head out with the trailer, the same crazy's are on the road. Now I've got SWMBO and the fur baby. Plus 5,0000lbs of portable house. I WILL be getting to our destination in ONE PIECE. That means:
- Driving slower
- Watching further ahead
- Responding to SWMBO when she feels we are approaching traffic too quickly
- Stopping when driving conditions 'get ugly'
- Not even going near weight limits
- Checking the hitch, tires and wheel bearings at every stop.

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I used to tow my 2,200lbs trailer with a Jaguar XJ-6L. Never had an accident. Only once did I have a 3 hour delay when I let a wheel bearing fail. The car's soft, compliant suspension that made that car a pleasure to drive allowed every gust of wind or pressure wave from passing truck to be transmitted into the body of the car. The twitching was quite unnerving.

NEVER AGAIN will I hitch-up a travel trailer to a car/minivan/crossover.

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I've done some pretty sketchy 'hauling a prize home' events. One shot and white knuckles all the way.

Routine trailering... No such thing. It's always a special event. Those that trailer for a living have special licenses AND are subject to inspection!

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I can't tell you what to do. I'm too much of a Libertarian to want to try. But out of respect for other users of the highway, carefully consider respecting their desire to simply get from point A to point B without even noticing your nearly overloaded rig.