Does towing the pop up add drive time?

[LeahA]

I was just wondering if towing a pop up, adds significant drive time? We usually go short distances camping, under 4 hours from home. We usually drive to Disney without the camper and is usually take us between 19 and 20 hours depending on traffic, construction and stops.

 

[big kahuna1]

Not unless you are towing it by foot, bicycle, moped or Yugo.

 

[AuburnJen92]

Agreed, it shouldn't make that much of a difference, they are not that heavy, unless you have the huge ones, it wasn't specified

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I don't know, I think it depends on the weight of the trailer, the tow vehicle, whether or not you have trailer brakes, and how comfortable you are pulling it long distances. I go slower pulling a trailer than I would normally drive because of a longer stopping distance even with trailer brakes.

 

[LeahA]

Thanks for that. We see alot of accidents going down, and usually one if not more have campers involved. We drive past and just want to yell out the window "Slow down!"

 

[clkelley]

It slows me down some pulling my camper. I usually go between 70 - 75 when not towing on the highway, but to keep the stress on the truck down when towing and safety, I go between 65 - 69 when pulling the camper.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

It slows me down some pulling my camper. I usually go between 70 - 75 when not towing on the highway, but to keep the stress on the truck down when towing and safety, I go between 65 - 69 when pulling the camper.

You're probably gonna go a lot faster now since you found out you have a tranny cooler.

 

[clkelley]

You're probably gonna go a lot faster now since you found out you have a tranny cooler.

Nope, I'm an RPM watcher, and I don't like it jumping much above 2500 RPMs for just cruising along.

 

[U.P. North]

I generally go 65-69 also. I find that I have a smoother drive in that range while on the highway. If I go faster, I can tell it is back there and the stress level is up. I can also tell the tow vehicle is chugging more going any faster. Just seems to me all around I prefer 65-69. I guess it all comes down to how comfortable you are.

 

[John VN]

Many states have lower speed limits when towing. Some are starting to enforce those limits and it can be expensive if you are stopped and ticketed.

Reducing speed to stay legal can add some drive time.

 

[LarryJ]

I was just wondering if towing a pop up, adds significant drive time? We usually go short distances camping, under 4 hours from home. We usually drive to Disney without the camper and is usually take us between 19 and 20 hours depending on traffic, construction and stops.

In general yes because most trailer tires unlike passenger tires are speed limited in a lot of cases to under 65 so unless you want a blow out going 70 or 75 is too fast for a trailer using ST tires. You need to check the speed rating of the particular tires on your trailer. I tow always at just under 60 (around 59) for my 65 mph rated ST tires since I'm generally within a couple of hundred lbs. of the max for each tire on the trailer.

Larry

 

[~Kristina~]

Not towing we drive about 5 over. We drive the speed limit towing, so in that aspect, it does add time. Nothing too noticable.

 

[kc5grw]

Depends on what you're towing it with. When we had our pop-up years ago, my pickup then was a 1994 F350 CC dually diesel. I never new the trailer was behind me. Heck, with dually I could barely SEE the blasted trailer behind me. I had to be careful, because every so often I really would forget that it was behind me. Towing with the Grand Cherokee on the other hand was a bit different, no questions that the trailer was behind me, but it never really did slow me down. Our GC had the 5.2L V8.

 

[bama_ed]

My experience has been that towing adds 10-15% more time than a direct drive due to towing. I usually drive by myself about 75-80 and average 70 with stops, gas, etc added in. I drop that down to about 70 towing and 60-65 on average but I'm a lot slower accelerating with the pup.

Bama ED

 

[breick]

I have also seen a lot of accidents involving campers. I now drive 55-60 when towing. My "mom" quotes are "Better safe than sorry. and We'll get there when we get there." Also, your first 5-6 hours in Illinois are with a 55 mph speed limit while towing a camper.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We towed our 95 Dutchman popup in 1996 from Southern Ontario to the Fort with our 86 Chev Astro. The trailer weighed just under 3000lbs. We drove a bit over the speed limit. So yes a bit slower but not by much. We also noticed no difference in our gas milage. Once you are going that's it. There was no wind drag at all. Actually coming out of the mountains we gained on gas milage as the trailer helped push us.

 

[happy_redhead]

I don't think it slowed us down too much.

Our pop-up is one of the larger ones and I always pack too much, so I'm sure it's quite heavy.

We went in '01 and towed with an F150 and could definately feel it back there, however, this past October, we moved up to an F250 diesel and at one point forgot it was back there.

 

[LeahA]

Thanks for all the posts!

 

[VAN]

We tow a pop-up from SW Michigan with a Honda mini-van. Similar to others, we drive a little slower so it doesn't really add that much time. You get used to it behind you after an hour or so.

I am very conscience about the increased braking time ... if I see traffic slowing ahead, I back it down and then allow extra space between me and the next guy.

We're going to try going through AL next year instead of thru Atlanta. Saw a post about this route from others a few weeks ago. A couple people I know were driving down last Friday, so they said they'd let me know how it went. Looks like it is a little longer; however, would be flatter plus would avoid Chattanooga and Atlanta.

 

[LeahA]

VAN-A route that doesn't involve Chatanooga and Atlanta? Sounds like a dream!