Squeeto wrote:
I will see what this weight includes.
Best thing might be to check one on a dealer lot. They have a sticker on the door that says the unloaded weight of that vehicle from the factory, so that WOULD include options. But again, the propane tanks and batteries are likely dealer installed so those will not be included. If you have twin 40 lb tanks and two batteries I bet you are looking at 150+ lbs.
Squeeto wrote:
Not enough headroom for me. Did look at these though.
I agree. My wife and I looked at the Micro Minnie and just felt cramped. We have two dogs and a 10 month old son. I looks like they did release a Bunkhouse layout this year which was our biggest complaint at the time.
Squeeto wrote:
The trailer above is extra tall inside too! It may ride low though.
Mine sits very low too. I have had a lot of tense moments trying to find camp sites down in Moab since clearance is so low. Thats one thing I wish I had paid more attention too. I was thinking I could just do an axle flip and put the leafs on top of the axles to get a little more clearance. When I went to look at the trailer(it was used) it was a trailing arm axle. Well Dexter Axle makes lift brackets for their trailing arm axles but come to find out this trailer uses some kinda of custom plate that both axles are welded to and bolted to the side of the trailer frame. Its basically impossible to lift without cutting and welding something.
Squeeto wrote:
I did buy a brake controller. I will install it in a few days and see if the dealers will let me pull around a few trailers.
Good. If you set the brake gain right it will feel like the trailer isnt there. It will do all of its own braking.
Squeeto wrote:
It surprises me that this little V6 could haul better than our diesels.
I like the aluminum bed too.
Absolutely. Gasoline tech has jumped by leaps and bounds in the last 6-7 years. The new turbo gas motors with direct injection are making as much or more torque at low RPM's than a diesel and far more at high RPM. They dont crap out after 3k rpm like most small diesels. Fords stock 2.7 would make about the same torque as our jeeps do tuned at 2000 rpm but with a tune the 2.7 will be doing better. The difference is that the jeeps torque curve peaks at 2000 rpm and then starts to drop while the Ford 2.7 is still building steam. By 3000 RPM's the 2.7 is making substantially more power. You start climbing a big grade and the Jeep will be spinning away at 3500+ rpms climbing a hill barely making 195hp, the 2.7 will be at 3000 RPM making 230+ hp. Thats almost 20% more at a lower RPM.
Towing is about HP, not torque. Torque + RPM make HP so you can use a lot of torque at low RPM or a little torque at high RPM to make the same power. Either way the force put to the ground through the tire is the same at the same level of HP.
Lets say you have two 200 hp motors, one makes 200hp at 2000 RPM and the other makes 200 hp at 10000 rpms.
200 hp at 2000 rpm = 525 ft-lbs
200 hp at 10000 rpm = 105 ft-lbs
105 ft-lbs Sounds terrible, but remember, the 10000 RPM motor has to spin 5x faster so it needs 5x the gear reduction.
lets say the 2000 RPM motor is running at 65mph with a 1:1 final gear ratio(axle + trans, keep it simple). That means for the 10000 rpm motor to be running at the same 65mph as the 2000 RPM motor, it would need a 5:1 total gear reduction(10000rpm/2000 rpm=5).
So you have 525 ft-lbs with a 1:1 ratio: 525*1 = 525 tq to the wheel
You have a 105 ft-lbs with a 5:1 ratio: 105*5 = 525 tq to the wheel.
So either way, you can tow the same trailer at the same speed as long as hp is the same. The advantage diesel USED to have was they made more HP at lower RPM via lots of torque. Even 10 years ago gasoline V8's couldnt match them in this department. This has all changed and the difference is that the new gasoline turbo motors make that low end torque of a diesel but carry it out well beyond where a diesel does. So generally, by probably 2500 rpm or even before that an ecoboost will outperform a similarly sized diesel. Since its guarenteed your going to need to downshift at some point to climb a hill, the ecoboost will do it at lower RPM and with far more power in reserve.