PoohDog629@aol.com wrote:
> I am looking to tow my '75 Camaro with the good old dak in the driveway, but
> I have a couple of concerns. I have a 1998 5.2l automatic 2wd extended cab
> truck with out the tow package. I do have a class IV hitch, but I have a flat 4
> pronged connector and the trailer I purchased has a round 7 prong. I know that
> I can just go out and buy the 7 prong connector and rewire the harness, but my
> concern is about the trailer brakes. Do I have to have a controller in the
> cab to control the brake bias on the trailer? Also, where is the best place to
> splice the wire harness into the brake system? To finish it off, what are the
> main concerns of towing with our trucks? I will be towing for the first time
> and thought it would be a good idea to ask some of you guys that have had
> personal experience towing with your Dakota's.
Towing in general takes some getting used to. When you're moving
forwards, it's just common sense stuff -- drive slower, leave a lot more
distance between you and the next car, take turns a LOT slower and
wider. Mark's suggestion of adjusting your mirrors to see the wheels of
the trailer is a good idea and one that I used quite a bit when I was
first towing. Backing up is what really takes a lot of getting used to.
Basically, you have to turn the steering wheel in the opposite
direction that you want the trailer to go in. Lots of people have good
luck with putting their hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and
then just moving their hand in the direction that they want the trailer
to go. For some reason, that didn't work very well for me (perhaps it's
my lefthandedness screwing me up again). Practice was all that really
made it stick for me, and I still slip on it sometimes. This is why
going VERY SLOW is helpful, particularly when you are backing up. If
you're only rolling back very slowly, it's easy to catch your mistake
and correct it before you have your trailer wedged in where you can
hardly get it out.
You can certainly tow the trailer without brakes, but you should know
that many states have laws regarding the weight of a trailer that
specify a certain point at which the trailer has to have brakes.
Whether or not you need an electric brake controller depends on your
trailer. Does your trailer have electric brakes (I would assume it does
if it's got a 7 pin connector, but you never know..), surge brakes, or
no brakes? Surge brakes are controlled by the momentum of the trailer
pushing against your truck when you stop. The coupler on the trailer
tongue slides a bit when you step on the brakes, which causes a
hydraulic actuator to compress the trailer brakes. When you start going
forward again (i.e. you are going faster than the trailer, rather than
the other way around), the coupler slides forward again and the actuator
releases the brakes. This is the way that most boat trailers and other
lighter trailers are set up. Works pretty well and is definitely
simpler than an electric setup. However, most heavier duty car trailers
that I have seen come with electric brakes. (This is usually given away
by the 7 pin wiring -- one of those extra wires is for electric brakes)
If you do have electric brakes, you will need an electric brake
controller in your truck. This is where it would really save you some
time if you had the towing package, but you can still get by. I've
always heard really good things about the Tekonsha brand brake
controllers. In essence, you mount the controller in the cab of your
truck. It has 4 wires connected to it.. positive (from the battery),
negative (ground), plus "brakes in" and "brakes out." The "input" here
is a wire that is hot when you step on the brake pedal. (The wire
leading to your brake lights is a good place to tap into for this) The
"output" wire runs to the back of the truck and connects to your
trailer's wiring. The electric controller isn't activated until you
step on the brakes (unless you manually override -- more on that in a
second), at which point a level-type device inside of the controller
senses the momentum of your truck (how hard you are on the brakes,
pretty much) and applies the appropriate amount of power to the trailer
brakes. IMHO, the best thing about electric brakes is their easily
adjustability. In order for the controller to work right, you have to
calibrate it. This is basically done by rolling down a street or in a
parking lot and adjusting the calibration on the brake controller until
the trailer brakes lock up, and then easing back just a bit. Most brake
controllers I have seen will also let you manually apply the trailer
brakes (if you're going down a long hill, for instance, you can
alternate the use of the truck's brakes and the trailer's brakes to keep
things cooler [downshifting always helps here, too :) ]). At any rate,
if your trailer has electric brakes and you want to use them, you will
definitely need a brake controller. And believe me, if you've got a
tandem axle car trailer (probably weighs 1500+ lbs already), combined
with the weight of the car on the trailer, you are going to be glad if
you invest the money in a good brake setup. Trying to stop a trailer
without adequate braking can be downright scary. The people driving in
front of you will thank you for it :-)
The biggest thing you want to worry about when towing (especially for
longer distances) is heat... particularly with the automatic
transmission. If your truck didn't come with an auxiliary transmission
fluid cooler, RUN, don't walk, and BUY ONE RIGHT NOW. You will be glad
you did in the long run. Keeping the transmission fluid at a reasonable
temperature is critical to maintaining the life of your transmission.
The engine temperature in general is also a concern, but as long as your
cooling system is in good working order you should be just fine in that
respect. Another thing you can do to help keep the transmission cool is
to keep it from shifting too much. I generally leave overdrive off
whenever I am towing unless I am on a level road going 45+ mph. If you
start going up a hill, or are driving in an area where the tranny is
shifting around a lot, don't hesitate to use a lower gear. It's better
to keep your engine turning somewhat higher RPMs than destroy your
transmission.
-Bill
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Oct 01 2004 - 11:38:59 EDT