small <3000 lb travel trailer recommendation

[Mama Wolf]

Ya, renting may be a better option if the wife doesn't enjoy it as much. Plus you won't have the upkeep, storage and tag fees to deal with.

 

[Gronk]

Generally the sway issue is the tongue weight is a little light. Another thing to check is the tire pressure in the trailer tires. When slightly low they have a tendency to squirm. The width of either the tow vehicle or the trailer has nothing to do with sway. Another thing you could try is lowering the front of the trailer a little. That seems to help.

 

[Mama Wolf]

Generally the sway issue is the tongue weight is a little light. Another thing to check is the tire pressure in the trailer tires. When slightly low they have a tendency to squirm. The width of either the tow vehicle or the trailer has nothing to do with sway. Another thing you could try is lowering the front of the trailer a little. That seems to help.

Can also get a tow stabilizer. That helps alot too

 

[bxd76]

Generally the sway issue is the tongue weight is a little light. Another thing to check is the tire pressure in the trailer tires. When slightly low they have a tendency to squirm. The width of either the tow vehicle or the trailer has nothing to do with sway. Another thing you could try is lowering the front of the trailer a little. That seems to help.

I ran 60psi in tires per sticker on trailer.

Trailer was empty so tongue weight was whatever it is from factory.

Trailer was very very close to level, but maybe the front end was slightly higher, I could try lowering hitch one set of holes in future and increasing WDH another link or two.

Friction bar is also an option to consider.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

 

[Voyageurs]

OP here.

We are on our first ever RV trip as I type this. I did rent the SuperLite 199DD, as the dealer has been excellent to work with. Neff Bros, just west of Cleveland OH.

We hooked up with WDH. Both vehicles sat very level.
We’ve wandered about 5 hours from home and will return tomorrow.

I’m fairly close to GCWR. About 90%. Comfortable on all other counts.

At 55 it pulls like a dream, very straight. At 60 it begins to wander a little - left and right. At 65 it seems to toss left and right at the smallest cross breeze or large vehicles around me. It’s not severe but a little uncomfortable. So I mostly keep around 60 in traffic and 65 in clean air.

I’ve never had to hit the electric brakes manually, never felt any sway.

For you experts and veterans: Do you feel the wandering feeling is mostly because it’s an 8 foot wide trailer behind a tow vehicle that’s only 76”? (Gulf Stream has other SuperLites that are 7 feet wide)

OR - is it more of a function of a single axle trailer propensity to wander a little? Unfortunately I don’t know anyone who makes a sub 3000 lb TT with bunks and dual axles.

I’m guessing it’s the single axle aspect.

Power wise - no issue. Have climbed some substantial hills in northern KY. Engine coolant has never budged at all. Trans temps have moved no more than 10 degrees. Engine oil has climbed about 15 degrees during the hardest climbs but that’s still way below dangerous - barely past 1/2 mark.

Honestly the wife hasn’t loved the camping experience as much as I have so we may just rent for a week once a year and leave it at that. She does it and enjoys it but taking a month to travel west isn’t her idea of a dream vacation. ;-)

Happy wife…..

Very informative post. As far as the wandering (I interpret as sway), throw an extra 50 pounds of weight on the hitch, either through packing or water or whatever. In my experience sway coming on at a certain speed is always a light hitch.

Having said that we never tow over 90 kmh (I think around 56 mph). In most places where we travel that’s the legal tow speed limit.

Cheers.