Tox's dream trailer

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How does it pull?

Amazing.

I scaled it right after picking it up and it's at 12,460lbs dry.

When accelerating, you know it's back there even with the 6.7l diesel, but it pulls it hard and often builds 30lbs+ of boost. The days of going 0-60 in seconds are definitely gone. But it seems to outpace semis considerably since I have no problem passing them or accelerating up hill. There's always been more in the gas pedal to pull ahead if needed when merging. However, I'm only at 500-700ft of elevation so far.

Handling is easy. 65mph on 2 lane county highways are point and shoot. 75mph on the highway is child's play. Once you get going you hardly know it's back there. Automatic cruise control is so nice to use. Turns took a little getting used to since the trailer tires are placed at the rear of the trailer which makes the trailer want to turn way tighter than the truck (I may or may not have ruined some grass), but I'm getting used to making wide turns, using multiple lanes, and predicting it. After a day it's pretty easy.

Braking is amazing. I'm still dialing in the trailer brakes but they're fairly dialed back. The engine brake hits hard and also kicks in whenever I'm off the accelerator for a few seconds which is very nice for stop and go traffic or rolling up to stop lights. Some idiot tried to side swipe the front of the truck sliding into my lane and I slammed the brakes enough for ABS to kick in — no problems what so ever. Just like when the truck is unladen, a gentle foot with the brake is all that's needed for most driving.

I had to back up the trailer on gravel going uphill to make a U-turn (with people watching!), I put the truck in 4WD and it calmly pushed the trailer in reverse up hill right where it needed to go.

The truck commands the trailer in every situation so far.
 
Amazing.

I scaled it right after picking it up and it's at 12,460lbs dry.

When accelerating, you know it's back there even with the 6.7l diesel, but it pulls it hard and often builds 30lbs+ of boost. The days of going 0-60 in seconds are definitely gone. But it seems to outpace semis considerably since I have no problem passing them or accelerating up hill. There's always been more in the gas pedal to pull ahead if needed when merging. However, I'm only at 500-700ft of elevation so far.

Handling is easy. 65mph on 2 lane county highways are point and shoot. 75mph on the highway is child's play. Once you get going you hardly know it's back there. Automatic cruise control is so nice to use. Turns took a little getting used to since the trailer tires are placed at the rear of the trailer which makes the trailer want to turn way tighter than the truck (I may or may not have ruined some grass), but I'm getting used to making wide turns, using multiple lanes, and predicting it. After a day it's pretty easy.

Braking is amazing. I'm still dialing in the trailer brakes but they're fairly dialed back. The engine brake hits hard and also kicks in whenever I'm off the accelerator for a few seconds which is very nice for stop and go traffic or rolling up to stop lights. Some idiot tried to side swipe the front of the truck sliding into my lane and I slammed the brakes enough for ABS to kick in — no problems what so ever. Just like when the truck is unladen, a gentle foot with the brake is all that's needed for most driving.

I had to back up the trailer on gravel going uphill to make a U-turn (with people watching!), I put the truck in 4WD and it calmly pushed the trailer in reverse up hill right where it needed to go.

The truck commands the trailer in every situation so far.

Welcome to my world.
truckdamage013.JPG
 

I learned why semitrucks move over near on-ramps, and it's not because you're all being nice. It's because so many idiots seem to think they're supposed to merge into that small gap between the truck and trailer. Even if there's a big gap in front and behind you, they still don't adjust their speed. I learned to spot those crazies early and move over too. Life's just easier that way.
 
After picking up the trailer on Thursday we headed to a campsite 20 minutes down the road. We discovered a few small issues so we brought it back Friday morning to get those fixed and they jumped on it quickly resolving them. We decided to spend the weekend to verify everything was fixed before driving home and were glad we did because we found that the black water tank leaked (GROSS! 🤮). After a quick fix on Monday morning, we headed toward home.

During the trips back and forth to the manufacture, I dialed in the air suspension on the trailer which made the trailer go from pulling good, to pulling great. Just like our Jeeps, it's amazing what suspension can do!

We don't have a generator yet so we enjoyed the microwave while we still had shore power by making burritos!



Our final night back was -9F, and I'm happy to report that the propane furnace kept us at 65F all night. This was the ultimate test for knowing that the trailer is going to work well for our lifestyle!



On the way home we dropped off the trailer at Cummins to get the generator installed.
 
Our lessons learned from the trip:

Diesel

Diesel is supreme when you have a long trailer. Everywhere from truck stops to some small town gas stations have special "truck pumps" that are so much easier to drive through. This made me very glad that we're installing a diesel generator so we can use these same fueling lanes.

As someone who's never used them before, diesel pumps are weird since they don't accept normal credit cards and each one is different. Some you have to go in and pre-pay (some of these automatically refund to your card, others you have to go back again to get a refund), some you have to fuel and then go in to pay, and most have a line painted on the ground in front of the pumps that you pull up to after fueling so you can go inside to pay. This results in A LOT of extra trips walking back and forth. @Apparition Turned me on to TDS fuel card and Mudflap app — these are worth having since they mostly streamline the process, although you'll still need to likely walk inside at least once during the process.

Because the process to fuel takes so long and we have a range of only 300 miles, I'm considering a 2nd fuel tank to double the range. This will likely mean trading the truck for a dually.

Battery Life

We were oversold on the expected battery life. With the truck charging through the 7 pin connector and a 190 watt solar panel during the day, it couldn't keep up with the trailer usage at night even with a 500 mile drive. This means we were killing the trailer batteries when we're not plugged into 110v at night. That defeats our entire purpose of being able to sleep at truck stops at night and camping out at offroad trailheads.

Waking up cold in the night to see this is no fun:
Screenshot_20221217-052211_Go Power! Connect.jpg


By some random chance, we found free RV parking at our first night on the way home with a 50 amp outlet. This saved our bacon and allowed us to better prepare for the next night on the road. We fully charged up, turned off EVERYTHING in the trailer, and drove the next 500 miles. Thankfully, we arrived at that final stop (the one where it was -9F!) with a full battery and that battery lasted us through the night with only the furnace running.

This cemented having a generator on our short list which would have allowed us to charge the batteries at any point. We also want to run a bigger charging cable off the truck's batteries to the trailer, add more solar, and add to the battery capacity.
 
Our lessons learned from the trip:

Diesel

Diesel is supreme when you have a long trailer. Everywhere from truck stops to some small town gas stations have special "truck pumps" that are so much easier to drive through. This made me very glad that we're installing a diesel generator so we can use these same fueling lanes.

As someone who's never used them before, diesel pumps are weird since they don't accept normal credit cards and each one is different. Some you have to go in and pre-pay (some of these automatically refund to your card, others you have to go back again to get a refund), some you have to fuel and then go in to pay, and most have a line painted on the ground in front of the pumps that you pull up to after fueling so you can go inside to pay. This results in A LOT of extra trips walking back and forth. @Apparition Turned me on to TDS fuel card and Mudflap app — these are worth having since they mostly streamline the process, although you'll still need to likely walk inside at least once during the process.

Because the process to fuel takes so long and we have a range of only 300 miles, I'm considering a 2nd fuel tank to double the range. This will likely mean trading the truck for a dually.

Battery Life

We were oversold on the expected battery life. With the truck charging through the 7 pin connector and a 190 watt solar panel during the day, it couldn't keep up with the trailer usage at night even with a 500 mile drive. This means we were killing the trailer batteries when we're not plugged into 110v at night. That defeats our entire purpose of being able to sleep at truck stops at night and camping out at offroad trailheads.

Waking up cold in the night to see this is no fun:
View attachment 387481

By some random chance, we found free RV parking at our first night on the way home with a 50 amp outlet. This saved our bacon and allowed us to better prepare for the next night on the road. We fully charged up, turned off EVERYTHING in the trailer, and drove the next 500 miles. Thankfully, we arrived at that final stop (the one where it was -9F!) with a full battery and that battery lasted us through the night with only the furnace running.

This cemented having a generator on our short list which would have allowed us to charge the batteries at any point. We also want to run a bigger charging cable off the truck's batteries to the trailer, add more solar, and add to the battery capacity.

Which tank is in your Ford, Tox? Is it the 26? I put a 50 gallon Titan in mine and it makes a world of difference.
 
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Which tank is in your Ford, Tox? Is it the 26? I put a 50 gallon Titan in mine and it makes a world of difference.

34 gallons. S&B has a 60 gallon tank I've thought about but getting close to the weight rating of the truck is making me nervous, even though handling has nothing to do with my concerns.

Once I get the Jeep in the trailer I'll scale it again to see where I'm at again.
 
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After picking up the trailer on Thursday we headed to a campsite 20 minutes down the road. We discovered a few small issues so we brought it back Friday morning to get those fixed and they jumped on it quickly resolving them. We decided to spend the weekend to verify everything was fixed before driving home and were glad we did because we found that the black water tank leaked (GROSS! 🤮). After a quick fix on Monday morning, we headed toward home.

During the trips back and forth to the manufacture, I dialed in the air suspension on the trailer which made the trailer go from pulling good, to pulling great. Just like our Jeeps, it's amazing what suspension can do!

We don't have a generator yet so we enjoyed the microwave while we still had shore power by making burritos!

View attachment 387476

Our final night back was -9F, and I'm happy to report that the propane furnace kept us at 65F all night. This was the ultimate test for knowing that the trailer is going to work well for our lifestyle!

View attachment 387477

On the way home we dropped off the trailer at Cummins to get the generator installed.

Trailer looks awesome
 
I learned why semitrucks move over near on-ramps, and it's not because you're all being nice. It's because so many idiots seem to think they're supposed to merge into that small gap between the truck and trailer. Even if there's a big gap in front and behind you, they still don't adjust their speed. I learned to spot those crazies early and move over too. Life's just easier that way.

You will learn to do what is best for you.

Pay attention while driving through a big city. The trucks will stay one lane to the left from the far right lane to stay away from the entering and exiting traffic.