Post by diymom on Jul 17, 2014 22:05:29 GMT -8
Funny-because we are obviously new to the whole trailer towing concept and went all in on a 10 day cross country trip...
So we set out from California to visit my sisters south of Denver Colorado...we towed our 58 shasta airflyte with my our slightly lifted, 2005 ford F150 that had about and extra 300lbs of firewood and gear in the back... Let me say-once we crossed into Nevada-we were pleased with the lower gas prices and felt relief to the tune of 30+ cents a gallon...but weren't paying close attention...to the octane. in the middle of the night, we pulled off the road for a minute and the truck's idle was horrifying-ready to stall and we were terrified. Once we resumed regular speed (which by the way is PAINFULLY SLOW TO THOSE OF US USED TO TRAVELING AT 75MPH) the issue wasn't noticeable, but we did feel less power.
By St. George the gas prices were lower and again we filled up...then we started noticing major power issues... My husband had just had all the fluids changed and spark plugs too...and so we connected the dots but not correctly... we checked all the spark plugs wires, we wiggled the distributer cap (I have a knowledge of pre 1960s cars, so what I know wasn't entirely helpful when your spark plug wires have individual ignitors and there is no points system for timing which is now controlled by a computer-another reason I feel more comfortable with old simple cars-they're so easy to figure out) then we checked the air filter-figuring altitude and blockages could be the culprit... we then spent the next day and a half going 30mph uphill with the truck at 3500 rpm and floored. It was awful-It made my husband feel very inadequate about his truck. We kept harping on spark plug problems and altitude when a guy mentioned we could take the truck to Oreilly's for a free diagnostic...which we promptly did after we arrived at our destination---nothing wrong they said... And then at a fill up-I thought about the octane...yeeeeaaaah, My gear head past has been neatly tucked away since I became a mom and it took a while for my pregnant brain to pick up on something very obvious...remembering my many conversations and experiences with high and low octane fuels made me pretty confident I had figured out our problem. Having half a tank of 85 or whatever it was, we filled the rest up with 91 (only other option than 87) though some stations offered 92 and who knows what other increments... Problem solved. We felt much better now.
Other than that...the towing experience was that traveling with a trailer is insanely slow...I had figured our trip beforehand in terms of hours between locations based on my online mapping which assumes we will be driving the speed limit---which is 80!!! in some places...didn't know that...and I figured we could drive 65 (my presumed standard speed limit)...our 6 hour jaunts took nearly 9 with a totally crazed two year old and stopping to check the trailer and going ridiculously slow with our octane issue... we couldn't believe how much longer things take at slower speeds... ugh! Its a rude awakening-towing a trailer for the first time (safely at least-not like those toy hauler californians who do 80 with their super lifted trucks)
The colorado roads just about shook our shasta apart-the mirror came off the closet door as all the screws blew out from the insane pot holes...the last of our original roller cabinet locking things shattered leaving me to use bungees to secure all doors-classy. the dinette cushions also had to be bungeed...the beauty molding/framing around the smaller windows lost whatever screws or nails held them on...the door lock (cheapo repro from VTS) decided to crack its pop metal innards and now doesn't work because its bent inside...get to replace that again! The whole trip we checked to see what was going on inside our trailer since the last painful pot holes... we warded off some awful disasters this way.
Our trailer held up though...surprisingly and we had the best camping experience we had ever had in the rockies on the way back for 3 days... with the exception of high altitude baking... that was AWFUL! I bake a ton and what happened in the oven up there was like a horror film...plus I think that princess stove is ridiculously uneven in temp.
We really enjoyed our trip despite our "learning curve"-like the octane and other things like making sure to check ahead if the ma and pop trailer park has bathrooms...which we assumed was a given...thank God for a Chamber pot we brought as a Joke! And the whole-make sure your electrical source is grounded or functions properly so you don't get an electrified trailer exterior.... and the whole-have better locks and doors if you want to sleep nights in bear country-or invest in a screen door if you plan to be in the rockies...where the largest mosquitoes you've ever seen hunt you.
in any event we r hooked on trailer camping in vintage campers!
So we set out from California to visit my sisters south of Denver Colorado...we towed our 58 shasta airflyte with my our slightly lifted, 2005 ford F150 that had about and extra 300lbs of firewood and gear in the back... Let me say-once we crossed into Nevada-we were pleased with the lower gas prices and felt relief to the tune of 30+ cents a gallon...but weren't paying close attention...to the octane. in the middle of the night, we pulled off the road for a minute and the truck's idle was horrifying-ready to stall and we were terrified. Once we resumed regular speed (which by the way is PAINFULLY SLOW TO THOSE OF US USED TO TRAVELING AT 75MPH) the issue wasn't noticeable, but we did feel less power.
By St. George the gas prices were lower and again we filled up...then we started noticing major power issues... My husband had just had all the fluids changed and spark plugs too...and so we connected the dots but not correctly... we checked all the spark plugs wires, we wiggled the distributer cap (I have a knowledge of pre 1960s cars, so what I know wasn't entirely helpful when your spark plug wires have individual ignitors and there is no points system for timing which is now controlled by a computer-another reason I feel more comfortable with old simple cars-they're so easy to figure out) then we checked the air filter-figuring altitude and blockages could be the culprit... we then spent the next day and a half going 30mph uphill with the truck at 3500 rpm and floored. It was awful-It made my husband feel very inadequate about his truck. We kept harping on spark plug problems and altitude when a guy mentioned we could take the truck to Oreilly's for a free diagnostic...which we promptly did after we arrived at our destination---nothing wrong they said... And then at a fill up-I thought about the octane...yeeeeaaaah, My gear head past has been neatly tucked away since I became a mom and it took a while for my pregnant brain to pick up on something very obvious...remembering my many conversations and experiences with high and low octane fuels made me pretty confident I had figured out our problem. Having half a tank of 85 or whatever it was, we filled the rest up with 91 (only other option than 87) though some stations offered 92 and who knows what other increments... Problem solved. We felt much better now.
Other than that...the towing experience was that traveling with a trailer is insanely slow...I had figured our trip beforehand in terms of hours between locations based on my online mapping which assumes we will be driving the speed limit---which is 80!!! in some places...didn't know that...and I figured we could drive 65 (my presumed standard speed limit)...our 6 hour jaunts took nearly 9 with a totally crazed two year old and stopping to check the trailer and going ridiculously slow with our octane issue... we couldn't believe how much longer things take at slower speeds... ugh! Its a rude awakening-towing a trailer for the first time (safely at least-not like those toy hauler californians who do 80 with their super lifted trucks)
The colorado roads just about shook our shasta apart-the mirror came off the closet door as all the screws blew out from the insane pot holes...the last of our original roller cabinet locking things shattered leaving me to use bungees to secure all doors-classy. the dinette cushions also had to be bungeed...the beauty molding/framing around the smaller windows lost whatever screws or nails held them on...the door lock (cheapo repro from VTS) decided to crack its pop metal innards and now doesn't work because its bent inside...get to replace that again! The whole trip we checked to see what was going on inside our trailer since the last painful pot holes... we warded off some awful disasters this way.
Our trailer held up though...surprisingly and we had the best camping experience we had ever had in the rockies on the way back for 3 days... with the exception of high altitude baking... that was AWFUL! I bake a ton and what happened in the oven up there was like a horror film...plus I think that princess stove is ridiculously uneven in temp.
We really enjoyed our trip despite our "learning curve"-like the octane and other things like making sure to check ahead if the ma and pop trailer park has bathrooms...which we assumed was a given...thank God for a Chamber pot we brought as a Joke! And the whole-make sure your electrical source is grounded or functions properly so you don't get an electrified trailer exterior.... and the whole-have better locks and doors if you want to sleep nights in bear country-or invest in a screen door if you plan to be in the rockies...where the largest mosquitoes you've ever seen hunt you.
in any event we r hooked on trailer camping in vintage campers!