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Trailer tow advice



 
 
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  #11  
Old February 2nd 20, 04:51 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
John McCullagh[_2_]
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Posts: 7
Default Trailer tow advice

I am probably telling 95% of you what you know already. For the
rest, how well a trailer tows is also down to weight distribution.
https://youtu.be/6mW_gzdh6to
The same rule applies to all vehicles. Do not think a 4x4 SUV
means guaranteed stability.
As for the power and torque needed, it all depends on how high
and how steeply you are going.

  #12  
Old February 2nd 20, 07:08 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
John McCullagh[_2_]
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Posts: 7
Default Trailer tow advice

I am probably telling 95% of you what you know already. For the
rest, how well a trailer tows is also down to weight distribution.
https://youtu.be/6mW_gzdh6to
The same rule applies to all vehicles. Do not think a 4x4 SUV
means guaranteed stability.
As for the power and torque needed, it all depends on how high
and how steeply you are going.

  #13  
Old February 3rd 20, 06:31 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Dennis Vreeken
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Posts: 29
Default Trailer tow advice

Nick , you kill me ......lol 😂
  #14  
Old February 8th 20, 12:32 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
2G
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Posts: 1,439
Default Trailer tow advice

On Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 3:33:47 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Any opinions on Ford Escape SUV 2liter as a tow vehicle? I live on the east coast but may want to tow to sailplane destinations out west. Near certain my trailer and glider is under a ton.


It should be fine IF you order it with the Class II Trailer Tow Package. This includes a transmission aux oil cooler and sway control:
https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...cape_Oct25.pdf

Tom
  #15  
Old February 8th 20, 03:48 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default Trailer tow advice

Correct.

Oops. Forgot to mention that I have the factory hitch, which in my opinion, is required. As noted in the previous post, the factory hitch includes more than just the hitch. So do not buy a used Escape, and just install a hitch.

P9
  #16  
Old February 10th 20, 08:38 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Posts: 5
Default Trailer tow advice


I had a 2013 Ford Edge with a V6 engine and factory tow package.. It towed very well, even on cruise control at 75 mph. Also, the package included "trailer sway" control, which came in very handy at one point, if I recall.

  #17  
Old February 14th 20, 06:05 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Ray Lovinggood[_2_]
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Default Trailer tow advice

On Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 6:33:47 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Any opinions on Ford Escape SUV 2liter as a tow vehicle? I live on the east coast but may want to tow to sailplane destinations out west. Near certain my trailer and glider is under a ton.


I guessed at my trailer's loaded weight and I was WAY wrong. To find out, I drove to a truck stop along the interstate that had truck scales and weighed the loaded trailer there. "Swan" trailer with fiberglass top and LS1-c plus a few sundry items in the trailer (tow-out equipment, a few wrenches/screwdrivers, etc). The trailer weighed 2,040 lbs with a 180 lb tongue weight..

My friend pulled his Libelle 201 in a Schreder trailer with his Escape. It was probably a mid 2000's year model with a four cylinder engine and five speed manual transmission. It worked well for him. I drove it once while pulling the trailer, following him on a flight, so the trailer was empty. Pulling empty was no problem.

This trailer does not have brakes.

Last car I bought was a Subaru Outback. It has a 2.5 liter four cylinder engine and a Continuously Variable Transmission. Rated tow capacity is 2,700 lbs.

I also looked at the Ford Escape, but settled on the Subaru. The only Escape rated to tow my trailer was the version with a turbo engine, and I really didn't want that added complexity on the car.
  #18  
Old February 14th 20, 07:08 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Bob Kuykendall
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Posts: 1,345
Default Trailer tow advice

On Friday, February 14, 2020 at 9:06:00 AM UTC-8, Ray Lovinggood wrote:
On Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 6:33:47 PM UTC-5, wrote:


I guessed at my trailer's loaded weight and I was WAY wrong. To find out, I drove to a truck stop along the interstate that had truck scales and weighed the loaded trailer there. "Swan" trailer with fiberglass top and LS1-c plus a few sundry items in the trailer (tow-out equipment, a few wrenches/screwdrivers, etc). The trailer weighed 2,040 lbs with a 180 lb tongue weight...


[OT screed on trailer design follows. Ya beens warneded]

This is kind of endemic to glider trailer design. The length gives them a lot of floor area for the volume, and it takes a lot of structural mass to make the floor support someone walking around on it without distress. You either need thick plywood, or a lot of cross-bracing, and either adds a bunch of mass.

And if you really want to protect your glider from rollovers and minor collisions, that takes more mass besides. So it's no surprise that the total mass kind of gets out of hand.

Built to plans, the Schreder semi-monocoque trailer comes in at around 600lbs. But the 0.032" sides, .060" aluminum floor sparsely supported by aluminum angles and whatever guide rails the builder installs, does not offer much protection and does not exactly inspire confidence when you walk around in it. Similar trailers such as Minden Fab with their longitudinal skinning, more closely-spaced frames, and plywood floors tend to come in at around 900 lbs.

Years ago I bought a trailer for my HP-11 that was built by aero engineer Steve Smith. It had a welded steel space frame lower half and a fiberglass monocoque upper half, with 0.040" prefab fiberglass sheeting for the floor and sides of the space frame portion. It clocked in at 350 lbs and towed with a 1.5 liter car, but you had to step only on the frame members when inside it.

--Bob K.
  #19  
Old February 14th 20, 10:10 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
George Haeh
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Default Trailer tow advice

I was helping with an old trailer. The original plywood floor had not aged well and gave way in places under the wing dolly - and my foot when I went inside.
  #20  
Old February 15th 20, 12:07 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Nick Kennedy[_3_]
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Default Trailer tow advice

Bob
I'm surprised you didn't mention using a Sawzall to help with excessive trailer weight.
Do you need some new blades?
 




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