Manual towing advice

[Markpod7]

Got the manual sport s (3.73) getting ready to tow a 3000lb shasta oasis travel trailer about 45 min distance…any advice?

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[SteveInOrlando]

Don't do it?

Seriously, 3K pounds empty will be 4500 loaded. You will need airbag assist, electric brake controller, and if you ever have to back that trailer up a hill, you are completely screwed!

The super tall reverse gear means backing that trailer up any type of hill is going to fry your clutch! Well unless you are in the dirt where you can engage 4wd low.

Sorry, no good news to tell here. Going forward shouldn't be an issue if you keep it slow, but you will most likely be over your legal towing limit, and if you end up in an accident, you will be found partially at fault, if not entirely at fault.

 

[NachoRuby]

4 low for a second on pavement won't hurt anything. You'll be back in high before any binding occurs, unless you're doing some crazy turning or something. Assuming full weight is 3k-4k for legal/safety purposes, I don't think backing up slowly in 4 low will harm anything, as long as he's not doing any crazy reverse turning. If backing up a steep hill, I'd reverse slowly in low, just because of how tall high is. Too bad we don't have 2 low. I'd kill for it.

But seriously, just avoid any situation where you need to back up uphill with the trailer, and use low in a pinch if you have to uphill backwards. I haven't towed yet. And when I do, it'll just be my 2000 lbs. VW bug, so I'll add that. But I've used low before to get up steep hills in reverse and save the weak clutch from the tall gearing.

I know it's not much, but since I was dead set on the manual, this is part of the reason I went Rubicon, just in case, to have the gearing and that 500 lbs. of extra legal cushion (4500 lbs Rubi vs 4000 on sport), just in case we decide to get a small camper.

 

[kevman65]

The lowest weight per Shasta's website is the 18BH coming in at 3400 pounds dead empty.

That's no linen, no clothes, no pots and pans, no dishes or silver ware, no water in any tank and empty propane bottle. That's nothing except what came in the trailer from the dealer.

So, if you're towing it dead empty with nothing in the bed and just you in the truck, technically you're fine. You're going to need a WDH preferably with anti-sway. You're going to need an electric brake controller.

With all that said, you should be good to go, don't slip the clutch, no drag racing, baby the JT while you have the trailer hooked up. If you're going to be towing it more than a couple of times of a year, invest in some rear air bags.

 

[NachoRuby]

The lowest weight per Shasta's website is the 18BH coming in at 3400 pounds dead empty.

That's no linen, no clothes, no pots and pans, no dishes or silver ware, no water in any tank and empty propane bottle. That's nothing except what came in the trailer from the dealer.

So, if you're towing it dead empty with nothing in the bed and just you in the truck, technically you're fine. You're going to need a WDH preferably with anti-sway. You're going to need an electric brake controller.

With all that said, you should be good to go, don't slip the clutch, no drag racing, baby the JT while you have the trailer hooked up. If you're going to be towing it more than a couple of times of a year, invest in some rear air bags.

Might help to carry the gear in the bed. He has a pretty good payload on that Spot S manual (should be about 1700 lbs, minus tongue weight of the trailer) so he could carry the stuff in the truck.

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