Cars pulling campers

campclose · 09-10-2012, 04:52 PM

I have seen so many cars pulling campers lately in my neck of the woods. This can't be good on the cars! The campers are pop-ups but still how crazy is that!

ppine · 09-11-2012, 03:11 PM

An average sized car can pull a pop-up trailer or a small to medium sized travel trailer. It was very common to do that from after WWII until about the 1970s when trucks became more popular.

Grandpa · 09-11-2012, 09:07 PM

The biggest issue with any tow vehicle is overheating the transmission. If equiped with a transmission cooler, and if the vehicle has enough horsepower, their should be no problem.

wvbreamfisherman · 09-11-2012, 10:27 PM

Every vehicle has a tow rating in the manual. My friend has a Saturn Vue with a 4-cyl engine, and it can haul a lightweight trailer, even a small pop-up.

As long as you stay within the capability of the vehicle (and go to the heavy duty maintenance schedule) you should have no trouble.

When I was a kid, we pulled a 26 foot camper all over the southeast US with a 1967 Ford Country Sedan station wagon with a 390 cu. in. engine .

Of course it had a heavy duty suspension, and towing package, and we added a frame hitch with torsion bars and trailer brakes , but that trailer was no lightweight, either. It stayed fully loaded with stuff all the time.

Had some great family times in it!

shaun · 09-12-2012, 09:27 AM

I've seen some small cars pull very big campers on the highway. I wonder how such a small car can pull such a big camper. I suppose they will learn the hard way, it will eventually cause serious problems with their car and their camper!

ChadTower · 09-12-2012, 04:57 PM

Pulling a big camper is rarely a problem for a 6 cylinder car. You can get it going pretty good on the highway.

...just don't expect the thing to stop when you hit the brakes.

carmen · 09-12-2012, 05:04 PM

I have caught a few and even today I saw one that I swore was pulling more then small sized pop-ups, made me wonder if the car was going to make it or not. We were coming out of a round-about and I swear I thought I was going to see it flip before my very eyes.

**CozInCowtown** · 09-12-2012, 08:04 PM

It is not how much can you pull (haul) but how much can you keep under control going down the road and get stopped.
I have a 27' 5th wheel camper we pull with a Ford 1-ton dually. Pulls like a dream and stops on a dime! Plenty of stopping power and that Power Stroke does not even know the camper is back there!
A pop-up should be no problem for most mid-sized sedans. A average sized guy can pick up the tongue of most full sized pop-up trailers with one hand. I doubt most weigh over 1000lbs gross, about the same weight of 5 adults.
I would not have second thoughts about pulling a pop-up with the wifes Exterra, should handle it no problem IMO.
JMO,
DC

wvbreamfisherman · 09-12-2012, 09:13 PM

Even a fairly light, small vehicle can safely handle a decent load, as long as the tongue weight is not too great, as that tends to lift the front wheels of the tow vehicle, making it difficult to steer, or in the case of a front-wheel drive, pull.

To an extent, this can be corrected with an equalizing hitch, which uses torsion bars to transfer weight to the front of the tow vehicle.

Trailer brakes can also help a lot, by keeping the trailer in line with the tow vehicle during stops.

If you've ever pulled a trailer that is too tongue-heavy for the tow vehicle, you'll never forget just how unstable is is. The trailer will begin to wag back and forth, and the violence of each wag will increase rapidly. Hitting the brakes can totally break the trailer loose and encourage it to try to get in front of the tow vehicle.

If you're going to pull a trailer, you need to know the capabilities of your tow vehicle, and the charecteristics of the trailer. Once you're hooked up, get some practice before you set out for any distance.

Also, I'd strongly encourage you to practice, practice, practice backing the trailer. It's tricky and not intuitive, although it's not hard to learn. The shorter the distance between the hitch and the trailer axle, the quicker it will cut, and the easier it is to jacknife.

My $0.02

Grandpa · 09-12-2012, 11:25 PM

Being in the mountains, going down hill is still the biggest problem with any towed trailer. There is a very slight corner up the road a ways from my house. Downhill is steeper than it looks and during the tourist season there are two or three wrecks there every summer. Inexperienced drivers just have to touch their brakes and the trailer just passes right on by, usually rolling both vehicles down a very long, steep embankment. All it takes is a slight misadjustment of the trailer brakes and gravity takes care of the rest.