I did it!!!

[mamaloya]

I pulled our new Kodiak from Ft. Bragg, NC to Lafayette, LA. I will be moving on to Ft. Polk tomorrow. dh went to Ft. Polk yesterday but we wanted to settle for a couple of days before moving on the last 2.5 hrs. We are the Lafayette KOA. It is nice, has wifi and a pool, but it is mainly concrete and gravel. Lots of trees though.

Anyway, I survived the drive. We have decided that we NEED to add sway control. We have a reese WD hitch now. Any tips on the type of SC to add? Friction is inexpensive and I have heard it works, but would the cam be better? When big rigs passed I could feel myself being sucked over as they approached and then pushed as they overtook, then sucked back afterwards. I only hit the rumble strip 2-3 times over the 3 day drive, so I consider it a success. I have found that going too slow made the sway worse. I also found that if I slowed down when I saw them approaching and then accelerated slighty as they overtook, the sway was almost nonexistent. I did strain slightly on large hills. Of course, the trailer had more stuff in it than we would normally bring on vacation because we are moving.

I am now confident that I can make the drive to FW in Feb w/o dh. Can't wait to go now.

Someone at a gas station along the way made the comment that the trailer was too much for my van. He said "that is one heavy trailer for such a small van." He did not even have any info. My trailer looks large, but it is a lightweight. It is around 4200 UVW and 6000 GVWR. I did not have it to more than 5000lb. He did not even get a good look at my van to tell what it was. It is a Chevy 1500LT. He had no info on my van at all. It happens to have the 5700 vortec 5.7L V8 and it has the 3.73 axel ratio made for heavy trailering. It has a tow capacity of 6600 which is why I will not travel with tanks full. I also load very careful to balance the weight. I also don't generally pack more than 4 days of clothes, I wash. Something else he said made me say "huh?". He said that the reason I should not be pulling my trailer is because my trailer weighs more than my van. ????? Don't most trailers weigh more than the TVs? I don't think that a Chevy 3500 truck outweighs the 10K 5th wheel it tows. Anyway, was this guy off or am I overloaded?

Well, just wanted to say I did it and that I am ready for the Fort!!!!

Happy Camping!

 

[John VN]

Congratulations on your accomplishments.

No matter how good you can guess, you will never know the true weight of your rig unless you have it weighed. For the safety of your family, have it done.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I use a Reese friction sway contrl which works great.
Is this a PCS move for you? I was at Polk in 04.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I think you will be surprised at how much that trailer really does weigh.
Mine shows a dry weight of 5000# but with all our stuff in it and no water its around 6400#.

 

[Gatordad]

yours weighs 6400lbs of beer, I'm impressed.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

yours weighs 6400lbs of beer, I'm impressed.

I usually take just enough to get me through the first day. I have an Anheuser Busch truck come into FW and make their delivery. That way I save the $.10 deposit we have in MI.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

Good for you! My DH may not come when we go in October so I'm thinking of taken FW down and he can meet up with us there. I have never towed the FW put have towed the horse trailer and they say I should not have a problem. I'm going to try some short trips around here so we will see. My BIggest problem if I do it will be backing into the camp sight . I have the hardest time with backing up when I'm towing.

 

[rushing]

Welcome to Louisiana. You need to try camping at Toleda Bend State Park, it's not far from Fort Polk. We will also be at Fort Wilderness this Feb.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

When I was at Polk, DD was doing an internship at WDW so I decided to go to visit her over a 4 day weekend. I figured it had to be a lot closer than it is from PA. Took me 15 hours to drive - Florida is one big state. I remember driving over this elevated road over the ocean, half of which had been wiped out by a hurricane. It was nighttime and a raging thunder storm. I thought I was gonna die. Very eerie seeing entire sections of the other side missing from the hurricane, waves crashing, torrential rain - hope it's been fixed since then!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I think that once you get ANY type of sway control on that setup you will notice a huge improvement. You should also experiment with the amount of tension on the load bars, I messed with mine and found the sweet spot, I then put a small zip tie around that link so there would be no guesswork when the boys help me hook it up.
I believe your van is well suited for that size trailer, once you get it fine tuned you should be able to go anywhere
One thing to remember when using the friction sway control is to disconnect it while backing up.

Scott

 

[ftwildernessguy]

One thing to remember when using the friction sway control is to disconnect it while backing up.

Scott

Sound advice from the big guy, as usual.

 

[mamaloya]

Where can I get it weighed?

Thanks for the tips on the sway control and the WD hitch. dh and ds16 do that part as I am not strong enough to push that bar. That is a great tip about using the tie to mark the link. dh and ds are always counting and trying to remember if it is #3 or 4. That is a priceless tip.

I also have trouble backing in. I think this is easier than the popup though. The popup was just spastic, it moved a mile for every inch I tried to turn it. This one responds a little more slowly, gives my little blonde brain time to think. I am sure I will get it eventually.

I am still at the KOA, BTW. It is rainy and nasty. We celebrated the 4th here at the camper and the pool. I was supposed to head to Ft. Polk today, but dh left at about 6am to continue inprocessing and we did not think about me not being able to do the hitching up part. Not sure what we are going to do. There is a Yogi Bear in Lake Charles and a FamCamp for Ft. Polk 40 miles from Polk. No idea what to do. dh just called and said that he has to be there tomorrow as well as there is a paperwork snafu. (imagine that a paper work issue in the army? ) He does not want to drive all the way back here and then back there tomorrow. Then Saturday we have to go to my Moms in New Orleans for the welcome back BBQ she is throwing us. I will figure it out I guess.

Happy Camping.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

The larger the trailer - the easier it is to back it up.

 

[Gatordad]

I usually take just enough to get me through the first day. I have an Anheuser Busch truck come into FW and make their delivery. That way I save the $.10 deposit we have in MI.

Too bad AB discontinued Eagle Snacks, you could have had them cure the munchies as well
.

 

[Camping Cat]

I pulled our new Kodiak from Ft. Bragg, NC to Lafayette, LA. I will be moving on to Ft. Polk tomorrow. dh went to Ft. Polk yesterday but we wanted to settle for a couple of days before moving on the last 2.5 hrs. We are the Lafayette KOA. It is nice, has wifi and a pool, but it is mainly concrete and gravel. Lots of trees though.

Happy Camping!

Congratulations!!! You are a lot braver than I am! I still haven't towed. My husband does all the towing. I'm the co-pilot.

Welcome back to Louisiana!

 

[reeeoga]

I hope I'm not too late!

Go to Don's Specialty Meat. It is on the frontage road across from the KOA you are in (on the same side of I-10). They have very good everything!! You can also stop at the Harley place next door.

You are also about 5 miles from where I live. Hi!!