BUGS Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Not much chatter on the forum about large hauling so here it is. Pictures attached. The Journey hauls this pony very well although fuel consumption increassses as one would expect. (From 10 l/100 to 14.) Added 400 lbs to my Journey weight which means the beers have to go in the trailer. Class three hitch installed on the SXT Journey. Its a UHaul make with a 2 inch receiver. I have three trailers and two draw bars. Two bars are two inch ball and the third is a Load Leveller Hitch with a 2- 5/16" ball. I use the 4 pin for the small units (utility and hardtop camper) and the 7 pin harness (electric brakes and trickle charge on the trailer battery) for the Pony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckl Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Not much chatter on the forum about large hauling so here it is. Pictures attached. The Journey hauls this pony very well although fuel consumption increassses as one would expect. (From 10 l/100 to 14.) Added 400 lbs to my Journey weight which means the beers have to go in the trailer. Class three hitch installed on the SXT Journey. Its a UHaul make with a 2 inch receiver. I have three trailers and two draw bars. Two bars are two inch ball and the third is a Load Leveller Hitch with a 2- 5/16" ball. I use the 4 pin for the small units (utility and hardtop camper) and the 7 pin harness (electric brakes and trickle charge on the trailer battery) for the Pony. Thanks for the pics. I never knew the Journey could tow something as big as that. Aside from that, one question I have is that you get 10L/100km? I have never gotten anything below 12L/100km... but it could be that I have to drive up a 2km incline to get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grueter Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 What Engine do you have? Can you leave you transmission in 5th gear or when you come to a stop do you have to put it in 1st and then shift to 2nd etc. Have not tried to tow anything yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUGS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 To answer both of your questions. I drive conservatively with a lot of highway driving. That is why I get 10-11 l/ 100km. Now when I am in a 'mood' I will get 12. The Journey is an SXT with 3.5 ltr engine. While towing I generally leave it in auto on the flat runs on the highway but will drop it to 5th and use the Auto stick for hills (up and down). I was indeed surprised at the ability of this Journey when it came to moving this trailer along. This particular model is designed for this type of vehicle as it is generally 1000 lbs lighter than most trailers of like size. (18') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylerbright Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 To answer both of your questions. I drive conservatively with a lot of highway driving. That is why I get 10-11 l/ 100km. Now when I am in a 'mood' I will get 12. The Journey is an SXT with 3.5 ltr engine. While towing I generally leave it in auto on the flat runs on the highway but will drop it to 5th and use the Auto stick for hills (up and down). I was indeed surprised at the ability of this Journey when it came to moving this trailer along. This particular model is designed for this type of vehicle as it is generally 1000 lbs lighter than most trailers of like size. (18') do you know the dry weight of your camper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUGS Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 do you know the dry weight of your camper? dry weight is 2809 lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grueter Posted November 18, 2009 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 I still don't understand about the towing? If you downshift to 5th gear and come to a stop do you have to put it in 1st gear or will it shift 1 ,2 3 4 5 without moving the shifter out of 5th gear?I understand that if you put it back in auto shift after you come to a stop and it shifts all the way to 6th gear you can bring it back to 5th gear (for towing as they say to do )but do yopu have to shift to 1st to start off? I have not towed anything yet. Thanks Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted November 18, 2009 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 No, you will not be able to start on the 5th gear. It will automatically downshift to 1st gear after a complete stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUGS Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 I generally start off in auto. Once I reach cruising speed I switch to manual and go to 5th and adjust from there as required. One is best advised to use the manual mode to downshift when slowing to save on brakes (and we all know how crappy the pads are). If I come to a stop or get to a lower speed I will move it back into auto. I have found that with a heavier load such as this trailer, leaving it in auto will cause it to move into 4th and sometimes 3rd at too high a vehicle speed more often and drive the revs up to close to red line and that is not a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CACRanger Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 What kind of tongue weight can you put on the rear of these things with out the load leveller? I have an enclosed trailer to haul my bikes in and want to know if I NEED a load leveller or not. It has a tongue weight of no more than 300-350 lbs. depending on how I load my gear and bikes in the trailer. The trailer is less than 3000lbs fully loaded as well. Do you think I will have any problems towing it with my SXT FWD? Do I need a load leveller? Thanks, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUGS Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Tongue weight is not affected by the load leveller. The load leveller just keeps the trailer and tow vehicle level by 'lifting' the tongue which then transfers some of the combined weight away from the ball so that the brakes and steering work more efficiently. It also helps in minimizing vehicle bounce when you hit humps in the roadway. Your hitch will tell you on a tag somewhere and also by the class of hitch, how much tongue weight you can manage. In my case I manage about 400 lbs TW. (which is about 10 % +/- of total tow weight.) Be mindful though that the Mopar hitch by way of its design (angled) may not support a tongue weight of much more than 200 lbs. Which is why they limit them to 2000 lbs. tow weight. Tongue weight should be 10 % of the trailer weight for a trailer to tow properly. It is not advisable to shift too much weight to the rear of the trailer to ease the TW. This will cause swaying while towing and may lift your tow vehicles rear end and limit its braking potential. This is also dependant on the tongue length and the distance to the trailer axle from the tongue. Longer is better for towing ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CACRanger Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Tongue weight is not affected by the load leveller. The load leveller just keeps the trailer and tow vehicle level by 'lifting' the tongue which then transfers some of the combined weight away from the ball so that the brakes and steering work more efficiently. It also helps in minimizing vehicle bounce when you hit humps in the roadway. Your hitch will tell you on a tag somewhere and also by the class of hitch, how much tongue weight you can manage. In my case I manage about 400 lbs TW. (which is about 10 % +/- of total tow weight.) Be mindful though that the Mopar hitch by way of its design (angled) may not support a tongue weight of much more than 200 lbs. Which is why they limit them to 2000 lbs. tow weight.Tongue weight should be 10 % of the trailer weight for a trailer to tow properly. It is not advisable to shift too much weight to the rear of the trailer to ease the TW. This will cause swaying while towing and may lift your tow vehicles rear end and limit its braking potential. This is also dependant on the tongue length and the distance to the trailer axle from the tongue. Longer is better for towing ease. I understand the physics of the trailer and towing. I guess I phrased my question incorrectly. My question is actually how much tongue weight is acceptable before a load leveller is required. Meaning how much weight will the rear suspension of my SXT FWD Journey handle without affecting the braking and steering too much without a load leveller? Thanks, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUGS Posted December 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Sorry, misunderstood. I am not certain on the weight required. I guess it is one of those things where you try and see if it will tow well without the leveller. The levellers are designed to make the tow more comfortable and are not necessarily required in all instances. Remember there is an upper limit on the tongue weight tho. Seems like 350 400 lbs might be the max for these vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04redmach1 Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Do you get bad trailer sway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUGS Posted January 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 If you are asking me if I get trailer sway. No I do not (yet anyway) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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