Question:
It depends on the GVW rating of the trailer. It will be on the sticker of the trailer. I would make sure the tow vec. had 30% more trailer towing capacity than the GVW of he trailer. In other words, if the tow vec. specs say it will tow 10,000 #, buy a trailer that has a GVW of 7,000 #. You will always have the power you will need, and a good saftey margin for stoping etc. I would recomend a good 3/4 ton pickup, perferbly Dodge or Ford Diesel. I get 13 to 14 MPG pulling a 28′ fifth wheel, with Dodge-Cummins Diesel. Would get 8 or less with gas version. Just my experience, after 20 + years of trailer towing. Don
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I just find it too hard to keep quiet any more. Everyone here is knocking minivans as tow vehicles. While I admit they do a poor job with 5ers, with light TTs they can do a very good job when properly equipped. I towed a 4000 pound (measured) 25′ Trail Lite TT with a 3.8liter Windstar and towing packing, a Class 3 Hidden Hitch and a Reese dual cam equalizing hitch with 600lb equalizing bars. I ran with 500 lbs of hitch weight (just over 12%). The Windstar wheelbase is quite long…much better than any short-bed truck. The combination was very stable. I never had problems, even in crosswinds or passing (or being passed) by big semis. The engine is powerful…over 200hp…you just have to keep it out of overdrive so the rev’s are up. I could regularly pass F150s pulling trailers and fivers without any problem, though I kept it under 65mph while towing. It would maintain 100kph up a 6% grade with the trailer in tow. It was very stable and could stop just fine with its all-around disk brakes, although I had a Tekonsha brake control to assist. It has a much lower center of gravity than SUVs or trucks, leading to more stability. The rear overhang is much shorter than other tow vehicles, e.g. Suburbans The problem with the Windstar comes from the transaxle. It is the limiting factor. I quit towing with my Windstar only because I felt that the transaxle would eventually break. It liked to turn the tranny fluid brown when I towed through the Rocky Mountains. The 3500 pound limit manufacturer’s towing limit on the Windstar is not due to safety considerations, but due to warranty considerations. Still, it towed for three years without a failure (I changed the tranny fluid every year), and still runs fine today. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area? I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | | — A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
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No Jesse; BUT you can put the Geo Metro in the storage compartment. 
~C~
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Interesting thread… We own a 1990 Astro 2wd. Last year it received a rebuilt engine. We are considering buying a 3000# trailer. Will this be ok? Anyone else out there with a similar setup? Experiences? Any recomendations on how to improve towing performance on an Astro or Safari? Tires? Shocks? Ignition? … .Mike. Before you buy.
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Thank you, Will and Glen (:-) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – x-no-archive: yes Ok Chuck& Will , what would you suggest as a tow vehicle for a 31′ Airstream Sovereign? I’d appreciate a little constructive comment, not a display of spleen Thanks I picture Will in a foxhole with a battered helmet, enemy fire coming from every direction and reinforcements only a mile away, taking a long break! Actually, he gives good advice most of the time and more times than not, his recipients deserve the treatment he gives them. Apparently, you were caught in the crossfire. I would recommend a 3/4 ton pickup or a 3/4 ton full sized van or a 3/4 ton Suburban. Get the largest engine in whichever you choose. I don’t care what it weighs because I’m sure that model is well below 10,000 pounds. What you should be concerned with is the length, in this case. Thirty one feet is really long. Even if the thing weighed 2000 pounds that length will act like a big lever and wind sail and will jerk you all over the road, big time. You want a long wheel base vehicle for a trailer that long and don’t even THINK about trying to tow it without a good anti-sway system. A good performer at a decent price is the Reese Dual Cam anti-sway. They combine their load distribution with the anti-sway system for a great setup. Glenn in Den.
– A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
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My wife was watching a show on PBS about stupid things people did with cars (many of which, but not all, resulted in accidents.) She was shocked at a clip of someone towing a very small trailer (14 ft.??) behind a motorcycle. When she described it to me, she said as the patrol car pulled up behind the trailer moving down the highway, that she thought there was nothing at all towing it. I guess this does prove that you can tow a trailer with just about anything. I am sure the owner said that he never got in an accident with his rig. Joe – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Did that idiot know how to tune the brakes as well? Life featured an Airstream being towed by a VW Thing ( for those of you old enough to remember the Thing). The driver was a VW mechanic and said it can be done if you know how to tune the engine properly. Those days are gone
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Ok Chuck& Will , what would you suggest as a tow vehicle for a 31′ Airstream Sovereign? I’d appreciate a little constructive comment, not a display of spleen
Why not ask somebody whose answers are so sweetly phrased that you get a warm fuzzy feeling just reading their pear-shaped verbiage? What does the 31′ Airstream weigh? Until you know that you can’t make an intelligent choice, and you can’t find that information unless you bestir yourself to get it *weighed* – preferably with your goods & rock collection aboard. If you believe brochures you probably think you have won the lottery every time you get mail from the sweepstakes people too! When you DO find out what it weighs, buy a vehicle rated to tow about 133% of the actual max trailer weight (another way of saying you should try to tow only about 3/4 of the max rating). Then, unless you buy something like an extended GM van with a short overhang, buy a PullRite hitch (or a Hensley if money is no object). As a guess, you need something with at least a 10,000 lb tow rating. I will also guess that most sales people and maybe half the campers you meet will scoff at that – but those of us who have been rv’ing for a long time know what is safe and comfortable. We also know lots of people SEEM to get away with overloading – for a while – but most eventually grow up. Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good are you?
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I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | |
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Ok Chuck& Will , what would you suggest as a tow vehicle for a 31′ Airstream Sovereign? I’d appreciate a little constructive comment, not a display of spleen Thanks – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Two sides of the story. The Airstream dealer was probably from Canada. One tried to tell me he towed a 30′ Airstream with a Astro van to Florida every year and had no problem. HA! The other side however, many years ago Trailer Life featured an Airstream being towed by a VW Thing ( for those of you old enough to remember the Thing). The driver was a VW mechanic and said it can be done if you know how to tune the engine properly. Those days are gone however. Just read your Owners Manual and it will tell you very clearly what you can and cannot tow with your minivan. A member of our camping club has a 34′ Airstream and blew the engine on a Suburban trying to tow it. Recently bought a Chevy one ton dooley and now has no problems. Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area? I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | | — A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
– A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
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Had another thought. Ask your dealer if he has ever camped? I doubt it. I have found only a few dealers I have ever talked to that actually had done any camping at all. They just want to sell you anything they think they can, including towing a 30′ with a minivan that’s rated to tow 3500#. Just don’t let them talk you into anything that your owners manual tells you not to do. It just doesn’t make sense. Get the Towing Brochure of your make from your car dealer and read it very carefully. There has been much said on this site about the 75% rule. Whether you think it’s accurate or not, it is a good rule to follow. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
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Did that idiot know how to tune the brakes as well?
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Life featured an Airstream being towed by a VW Thing ( for those of you old enough to remember the Thing). The driver was a VW mechanic and said it can be done if you know how to tune the engine properly. Those days are gone
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He just said it would tow it, didnt say it would stop.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Did that idiot know how to tune the brakes as well? Life featured an Airstream being towed by a VW Thing ( for those of you old enough to remember the Thing). The driver was a VW mechanic and said it can be done if you know how to tune the engine properly. Those days are gone
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Nope, I only look like a troll This has to be a troll. Wayne Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area?
– A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
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Can I pulla 30′ 5th wheel with my Geo Metro 3cyl?
Just make sure you don’t overinflate the tires. R.J.(Bob) Evans (return address needs alteration to work)
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Two sides of the story. The Airstream dealer was probably from Canada. One tried to tell me he towed a 30′ Airstream with a Astro van to Florida every year and had no problem. HA! The other side however, many years ago Trailer Life featured an Airstream being towed by a VW Thing ( for those of you old enough to remember the Thing). The driver was a VW mechanic and said it can be done if you know how to tune the engine properly. Those days are gone however. Just read your Owners Manual and it will tell you very clearly what you can and cannot tow with your minivan. A member of our camping club has a 34′ Airstream and blew the engine on a Suburban trying to tow it. Recently bought a Chevy one ton dooley and now has no problems. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area? I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | | — A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
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Can I pulla 30′ 5th wheel with my Geo Metro 3cyl? 
Sure, as long as it is downhill. You can probably convince Can-Am RV to sell the idea with a bit under the table! Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good are you?
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Can I pulla 30′ 5th wheel with my Geo Metro 3cyl? -Jesse PS: I used to tow a 1975 Starcraft Galaxy-6 popup with a 67hp diesel Mercedes. Probably shouldn’t tell you that I cruised at 75-80mph while towing! * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
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Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area?
Duh. Would this dealer be Can-Am rv, by any chance? The same idjits that advocate towing the porky Airstreams with Intrepids? PLEASE have an attack of common sense and read the MANUAL for the Winstar, deduct the weight of all cargo, get a SCALE WEIGHT on the Airstream (do NOT believe brochures and sales-speakers) and then ask yourself if you even want to consider doing business with somebody making such irresponsible recommendations. Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good are you?
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Sorry about the html. I will attempt to figure out where it came from and why. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yes! Plenty! Most of us have dealt, at one time or another, with sales droids who will tell you *any* lie necessary to obtain the sale. Lon, who wouldn’t pull *any* trailer with a Windstar. Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area? I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | | — A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955 —
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This has to be a troll. Wayne – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area?
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This has to be a troll.
No it doesn’t. It sounds real to me… RV dealer wants to sell heavy RV to guy with light van and tells him it’s okay to tow with it. Happens all the time. Hunter
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Yes! Plenty! Most of us have dealt, at one time or another, with sales droids who will tell you *any* lie necessary to obtain the sale. Lon, who wouldn’t pull *any* trailer with a Windstar. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area? I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | | — A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
– <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" <html <head <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" <meta name="Author" content="Lon VanOstran" <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.7 [en] (Win98; I) [Netscape]" <titleSig</title </head <body Lon VanOstran, SKP, FMCA, Good Sams life, NRA Patron, NRAILA, LEAA, Eagles 4091 </body </html
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Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream.
Does it have a 3.8L V6? If so it’s rated to tow 3,500 pounds….. safe o pull a pop up maybe. Hunter
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Anyone had any experience towing with a Ford Winstar. My RV dealer is suggesting that the newer Winstars are suitable to pull a 30 foot Airstream. Anyone with any experience in this area? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I suppose it depends on where you’re towing. If you’re travelling around the Midwest mostly Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, you’re not going to be towing up very steep grades. We’ve been towing a Jayco 10′ box trailer around the Midwest with a Dodge Caravan, equipped with a towing package for two years. But I sure wouldn’t think of taking a trip into the mountains with it. | | It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone | who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a | really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the | light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of | which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some | comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was | commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the | Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: | | "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded | vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess | there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling | tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the | tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the | engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves | let alone a trailer as well." | | Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of | people trying to ignore tow ratings. | | Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill | In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good | are you? | |
– A proud member of the The East Acton Associated Steam-driven Goon Show Society 1955
Response:
It seems like several times each week someone wants to find someone who will tell him/her it is OK to tow a TT with a minivan. It’s a really lousy idea, but maybe the following will help someone see the light. This is a paragraph from a private message, the topic of which was entirely unrelated to rv’ing except that we’d exchanged some comments about driving in the mountains. My correspondent was commenting about the number or rigs he sees having trouble through the Eisenhower tunnel and the associated long pull on I-70 near Denver: "I can only imagine what happens with some of those overloaded vehicles pulling trailers. One hot day last summer I would guess there were at least 15 Chrysler front wheel drive vans pulling tent trailers sitting beside the road between here and the tunnel. All had their hoods open and people peering at the engines. At altitude it is all they can do to pull themselves let alone a trailer as well." Personally I don’t think it is a brand issue but more likely one of people trying to ignore tow ratings. Will KD3XR —- the Curmudgeon of Sill Hill In baseball a 500 hitter is a hero – how good are you?
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