Newbie towing question...

[JAsh1967]

So Friday is going to be an exciting day for the wife and I...
We're going to be picking up our teardrop camper AND (roast me, go ahead) it's ALSO going to be the first time we've EVER towed anything. I *was* going to be renting a UHaul 5x8 on Sunday to get a feel for towing, but, well, it's kind of pointless now.

So, a simple question, that the owners' manual isn't super-clear on.
Can we use cruise control while towing, at least on relatively flat roads?

The camper has electric brakes and I've already installed a controller to the existing wiring harness (Tekonsha P3) if that matters.

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[Elff]

Yes you can.
The only downside is that you may burn more fuel doing so, because the cruise control will most likely keep you at slightly higher RPMS. It tends to keep the gear 1 or 2 gears lower than you could manage by manually shifting it. It seems to error on keeping the engine in an rpm range with more torque, but there are a lot of times when you could manually upshift to lower the rpms, not kill forward momentum, and save gas.

Other than that, no worries.

 

[I_Reckn]

So Friday is going to be an exciting day for the wife and I...
We're going to be picking up our teardrop camper AND (roast me, go ahead) it's ALSO going to be the first time we've EVER towed anything. I *was* going to be renting a UHaul 5x8 on Sunday to get a feel for towing, but, well, it's kind of pointless now.

So, a simple question, that the owners' manual isn't super-clear on.
Can we use cruise control while towing, at least on relatively flat roads?

The camper has electric brakes and I've already installed a controller to the existing wiring harness (Tekonsha P3) if that matters.

Trailer brakes = Bonus! Will be beneficial when braking
Cruise during tow, yes of course
Pulling is not much of a problem, just don't cut your corners short. Backing is a different story if you have never backed a trailer. practice practice practice.

 

[abe57]

Yes as stated above and also the owners manual states to use manual shifting while towing so as to have it in a proper gear so as not to lag to much ..

 

[JAsh1967]

Yes you can.
The only downside is that you may burn more fuel doing so, because the cruise control will most likely keep you at slightly higher RPMS. It tends to keep the gear 1 or 2 gears lower than you could manage by manually shifting it. It seems to error on keeping the engine in an rpm range with more torque, but there are a lot of times when you could manually upshift to lower the rpms, not kill forward momentum, and save gas.

So one more thing then I should've mentioned (hindsight), I've got an automatic, but presumably it'll do something similar?

Trailer brakes = Bonus! Will be beneficial when braking
Cruise during tow, yes of course
Pulling is not much of a problem, just don't cut your corners short. Backing is a different story if you have never backed a trailer. practice practice practice.

That's why I was renting the UHaul! To get practice without risking our shiny new camper! But I guess on weekends I'll get it out of the storage lot and pull it to one of the local malls, use the old Sears parking lot that isn't in use and get some practice in.

 

[Labswine]

When towing mine, I do NOT use the cruise control for reasons stated above that it wants to select a lower gear that's not necessary to keep the engine in the torque range it THINKS you need and you're screaming along at 3,500-4,000 RPMs, feeding the thirsty wee beastie tons of gas. Not necessary!!!

I shift manually. I up shift at 2,500 RPMs for each gear. Generally, cruising on flat it's 7th and the occasional 8th if there's a slight down grade. Keeps your RPMs around 2,000 or a little less. I also only cruise at a max of 65 mph.

Cruising in 7th is generally 2,000 RPMs. When on an upgrade, I'll downshift to 6th when my speed drops below 58 mph which puts the engine around 2,500 RPMs and when I get back up to around 62 MPH, I can go back to 7th.

Doing this, I find my JT Overland handles my 5,300 lb (when loaded) 26-27' trailer easily and I get around 13 mpg. It's all about RPM control and around 2,500 RPMs is a good place to hang out for getting moving, keeping moving, and fuel economy...until you reach cruising speed then it's 7th and around 2,000 RPMs.

If you find people are passing you like you're standing still, EFF 'em. Drive your own drive that you are comfortable doing and will ensure you get there safely. It's not how fast you get there, but HOW you get there ? ??

 

[Elff]

So one more thing then I should've mentioned (hindsight), I've got an automatic, but presumably it'll do something similar?

You can manually shift the automatic.

 

[JAsh1967]

You can manually shift the automatic.

That's one of those things that I forget about being able to do...

Even in my last car (Subie BRZ) when I was playing sPOrtSCar!!!! driver

 

[Elff]

The JT auto shifts manually pretty nice.
I think you are going to be pleasantly pleased with it's overall towing.

I do think the comment about practicing is important, especially backing up. If you have never done that, it's counterintuitive.

 

[KWin]

When you first back up have a spotter help. If you're like me your spotter will be your wife, she probably hasn't spotted before.
Discuss directions/landmarks first, because left and right will fail you. "Saying you need to turn the trailer towards the shed" is much better than "come more to the left"

Also work with your spotter to be clear that directions like "straighten out" mean the truck realitive to the trailer and "straighten the wheels" to mean the angle of the front wheels is slightly off.

Remember that these trucks have the stupid auto park. So when you are backing up and open the door to get a better view you need to be buckled up. And after you hop out because your spotter is useless in giving directions(can't be drivers fault) the car will rev and not go anywhere and throw a transmission light. You didn't buckle up and got locked in fcking auto park it has nothing to do with towing.

 

[Blackjeepjk]

When you first back up have a spotter help. If you're like me your spotter will be your wife, she probably hasn't spotted before.
Discuss directions/landmarks first, because left and right will fail you. "Saying you need to turn the trailer towards the shed" is much better than "come more to the left"

Also work with your spotter to be clear that directions like "straighten out" mean the truck realitive to the trailer and "straighten the wheels" to mean the angle of the front wheels is slightly off.

Remember that these trucks have the stupid auto park. So when you are backing up and open the door to get a better view you need to be buckled up. And after you hop out because your spotter is useless in giving directions(can't be drivers fault) the car will rev and not go anywhere and throw a transmission light. You didn't buckle up and got locked in fcking auto park it has nothing to do with towing.

My advice is similar except my wife was spotting for parking the RV.
i have since perfected the process.
if using a gps (very helpful for time), 10 minutes prior to your arrival destination say something bad about her mother or what she is wearing. She will be good and pissed within the ten minutes prior to your arrival and refuse to talk to you.
At that point you learn to use your mirrors and all of the other helpful things and tricks you will ever need over the next 1-3 hours that it takes to park on your own. Usually after the 3 hour time period she will start talking again.

 

[JAsh1967]

When you first back up have a spotter help. If you're like me your spotter will be your wife, she probably hasn't spotted before.
Discuss directions/landmarks first, because left and right will fail you. "Saying you need to turn the trailer towards the shed" is much better than "come more to the left"

Also work with your spotter to be clear that directions like "straighten out" mean the truck realitive to the trailer and "straighten the wheels" to mean the angle of the front wheels is slightly off.

Remember that these trucks have the stupid auto park. So when you are backing up and open the door to get a better view you need to be buckled up. And after you hop out because your spotter is useless in giving directions(can't be drivers fault) the car will rev and not go anywhere and throw a transmission light. You didn't buckle up and got locked in fcking auto park it has nothing to do with towing.

Looking to find hand signals used by spotters for semi trucks backing up, I'd expect them to be comparatively simple and easy to remember, because, yeah, the wife's going to be the spotter!

As for the auto-park, THAT explains why when I was backing into the drive when I first got it, and would lean out to see if I was enough over for the wife to get out of the garage the blasted thing would stop on me!

 

[USMC_1Wire6337]

Best tip for backing practice I can give is to go to an empty parking lot. Large as you can find that also has some forgiving obstacles to practice mirror spotting. Then, remember to only do very small corrections at first. It is very easy to over-correct. Especially with a short wheel base trailer.

Pro tip: ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FOOT OVER THE BRAKE! Last thing you need is to panic and hit the gas when you over-correct your turn.

Going forward is easy. Just pretend you are finally driving a big rig, take wide turns and stop early. Get in this habit now and it won't matter the size of trailer you tow.

 

[JAsh1967]

Hopefully with going forward having driven a 25ft box truck for a couple years will come back to me quick!

We'll take the trailer up to one of the local (struggling) malls, there's a MASSIVE parking lot that used to be the back entrance to a Sears store that on the occasions I've looked, has been deserted of any parked cars, so perfect to practice in, only some light poles to watch for.

 

[Trout Safari]

The best practice for backing up a trailer is a riding garden tractor with a small trailer attached. If you can back that up straight across the yard, well you will find a large trailer a breeze..

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