Towing a 3600 lb Travel Trailer

[mikenannie]

This past weekend was our first camping trip with our new RTX. Our trailer is a Fleetwood Orbit 180FQ and it's dry weight is around 2900 lbs. Fully loaded weight is 3600 lbs. (I have not confirmed this, just going by the brochure)

The truck towed the trailer well - very stable. We do have a weight distribution hitch, but I did a test run without them, and noticed only minor differences. Since I had them on our old tow vehicle, and since I felt they would help with sway somewhat, I used them on the Ridgeline. I did notice that without them, when I pulled the trailer out of the driveway, the hitch scrapped the concrete when both rear tires on the truck dropped off the driveway to the street. Never had that problem with our Highlander, but that only occured, so far, when I didn't use the weight distribution bars.

Our speed was between 60-65 mph on the way to the campground, and the RPM's were around 3500-3800. Once on the way up, and more frequently on the way home, the truck did shift into 5th gear (I assume), and the RPMs dropped to 2000-2500 or so. I prefer the lower RPMs, but assume that even with the higher RPMs this vehicle should be able to handle this trailer. If not, I'll be very disappointed.

Very nice ride - smooth, steady, and confident. Trailer has brakes too by the way.

Thanks to everyone on this message board for all the info I was able to gather before purchasing the RTX.

[MikeT]

What was your gas milage like?

[mikenannie]

Our campground was only about a 45 minute drive, so not far enough to change our milage much.

We only have 900 miles on the truck. Our first tank was pretty bad - 14-15 mpg, not towing. I expect as the engine gets a few more miles on it that our mpg will improve.

I'm not expecting good mileage when we're towing however.

...

[Nailing Malarkey]

Originally Posted by mikenannie

Our speed was between 60-65 mph on the way to the campground, and the RPM's were around 3500-3800. Once on the way up, and more frequently on the way home, the truck did shift into 5th gear (I assume), and the RPMs dropped to 2000-2500 or so. I prefer the lower RPMs, but assume that even with the higher RPMs this vehicle should be able to handle this trailer.

The big flat face on that thing has a lot to do with keeping you out of fifth.

power = 1/2 pv^3ACd

p = fluid density
V = velocity
A = area (effective)
Cd = Coefficient of drag

The A*Cd for an accord is around 8 for our Ridgelines it is 10 -13 and that Box you were towing is around 30 - 35 ( I estimated the area at 5 x 6 and a Cd of 1.1)

Now the truck is shadowing part of the trailer so combined the ACd may be closer to a total of 20 - 25.

Without the math this means towing that trailer should cut your highway mileage in about half. Maybe a bit worse.

What all of us should note is that the power needed is related to the cube of the speed or velocity.

At 30 mph say a hypothetical car is using 1 gal per hour or 30 miles per gallon. At twice that speed, 60 miles per hour you need 8 gallons per hour but you are traveling twice as fast so your mileage is 60/8 or 7.5 miles per gallon.

Rolling resistance and friction in the motor, transmission and drive train swamp the air resistance at lower speeds which is why there is a sweet spot between 45 and 60 for most cars where your mileage reaches a maximum and then very quickly falls off at higher speeds.

[extremehikers]

How much does a trailer like that cost? Isn't that trailer half the price of a RTL?

[mikenannie]

Yes, it's about 1/2 the price of an RTL. We traded our 2002 Coleman popup and then decided that we needed a new tow vehicle.

Well worth it though

[RIDGID]

Hey Malarkey what the drag on my 12'single axle wedge nosed cargo trailer?The width is 6'with single axle exposed.The overal height is 78".

thx in advance,

[BillB]

The face of that trailer has a nice angle to it which will diminish the drag significantly. Even with the angled face, that rig would benefit from an air diverter on top of the Ridgeline like you see on the semis or on big pick up trucks hauling 5th wheel type trailers.

I would be concerned tha the Ridge did not shift into overdrive at 60 mph and the RPMS stuck at 3500. There is a Transmission software upgrade available via a TSB that might alleviate this "hanging" engine speed. If you can force it into 5th by tapping the accelerator when experiencing this 3500 rpm/60 mph condition, the TSB may be effective.

[extremehikers]

I got to find a signifigant other first before a new tow toy (trailer) otherwise it would be quite quiet in then trailer and whynot save $20k and buy a $100 -10 degree tent.

[bcStu]

Hi there. Just a note about my limited trailer towing experience with my ridgeline. I tow a 17 ft. lightweight trailer- weighs about 2,000lbs dry. Normally I get about 28 mpg(Canadian gallons) without the trailer at 65 mpr. My last trip with the trailer, I dropped to 60 for the whole trip and only got 14 mpg. I was a little disappointed as I didn't think it would drop in half, oh well, not a big deal most driving down without the trailer. Also, my rpm was under 2,000 at this speed, so perhaps something amise with your tranny as it should have shifted down.
Regards, Stu