Winter Towing

[daplumbr]

With the coming of the Winter Solstice tomorrow and in reading posts about folks still camping below the 35th parallel, I'm beginning to lose my resolve to not tow in the winter (snow/salt/ice/stuff).  Maybe still not this winter, but I suspect winter towing is in my future, despite my best intentions to avoid it so far. I'd love to hear from those who have done it. How did you clean the salt off the trailer to avoid corrosion? None of our local carwashes are large enough for our Camplite. If you were ever caught on icy-snowy roads, how did it work out? Any tips or tricks for winter towing? I realize winterizing and de-winterizing plumbing are part of the deal but maybe there are ways to avoid other problems (frozen doors/locks, etc.).  Any adjustment of brake controllers needed for slippery roads? Anyway, too many questions for one thread, but maybe it's a start.

[pinstriper]

I've never done it, and have every intention to never do.

OR requires traction devices on every wheel with a brake. That means cable chains for all 4 trailer tires, unless you want to sink the coin on a set of blizzaks or studded snow tires (that you can't put on until Nov 1 and have to come off by Mar 1).  Not to mention on the TV.

I would think you'd set the brake controller higher. I'd rather have the trailer drag me to a stop than have it push my rear end off of rolling traction.

Basically towing on snow and ice is begging for it, IMO.

[whoofit]

Towing on snow and ice is not for the faint of heart. I would never do it intentionally unless to move very short distances at very low speeds. Basically jockeying the trailer through the neighborhood.

Only once did we tow in slippery conditions. This was just a dusting, I mean the lightest dusting you can imagine, that was unexpected last year. We needed to get home. The speed limits were 35mph. Any little curve in the road brought sideward slippage of the back wheels of the TV.

Granted this was with the Escape and some low profile wide AS tires, but still. It gave me a good impression of what to try not to do. No slippery winter towing for us. If the roads are not going to be dry and clear we just don't go.

[admin]

I have never had to tow anything of any substance in snowy conditions however I had the opposite reaction than @pinstriper. My first thought would be to make sure the trailer brake was set high enough to help, but also leaving plenty of room so it never locked up any of the trailer tires. Basically it sounds like it would be a very fine line to tread...you dont want the trailer pushing you, yet you dont want it skidding either.

[pinstriper]

What we need is a truck driver to tell us about the dynamics of towing in ice and snow.

Judging from all the rigs at the truck stops during a storm, the answer will be "don't".

[billmoore]

The highest mountain pass between Seattle and Moab is Soldier Summit on US Rt 6 between SLC and Moab, at about 7500 ft, and a couple of years we encountered snow at the summit. Definitely a white knuckle experience, and not anything I would plan to do on purpose...

[whoofit]

[mitch]

I once had the misfortune of towing a boat through Indiana during a severe winter storm, it was not fun.  The dynamics of extra weight and length all meeting up at the hitch point made me feel like I had very little control (read as none) while braking. Admittedly the trailer didn't have brakes (wasn't required to) and I'm sure that made it about a bazillion times worse but even with trailer brakes I'm sure I don't want to do it again.  That experience was almost 20 years ago and I still remember it very clearly, not in a good way.  

[david]

I have never towed in snow, but I have towed in a heavy downpour which probably cut dry braking and traction in half. Here are some thoughts:

If you have an inertial proportional controller like the Prodigy, you probably don't have to do anything with your controller settings. If your TV loses half your braking then the deceleration will be half and so will your trailer due to the inertial sensor. If you use a non proportional controller I would back off on the braking poer according to the conditions. But a locked up trailer isn't so bad as it remains stable.

The TV is another story and I think it somewhat depends on FWD vs RWD. With rear wheel drive when you accelerate too fast, the rear end starts to spin and steering gets unstable. With FWD, not so much. Also when you lose side stability by going too fast in a turn, the extra weight on the rear end tends to cause the whole rig to spin out and jack knife. Look at the pictures on tv of trucks jack knifed on snowy roads.

So.... s  l  o  w down, or better still, don't go in those conditions!!

David

[daplumbr]

Good perspectives so far. I'm actually not new to winter towing and the experience is what gives me trepidation. For several years we towed a 2-place snowmobile trailer (1400-1800 lbs.) for a total of thousands of miles in some very rough Michigan winter weather. All without trailer brakes and with a Honda Pilot on all-season tires. It's routine here in Michigan to see multiple-place snowmobile trailers, some covered and some uncovered, being towed all winter. Many of those approach or exceed the weight of our Camplite. So, it's possible to do, just much, much riskier than dry-road towing. As a side note, I learned that LED taillights are not warm enough to melt the snow off the lens. Incandescent is needed for that! All in all, so far I'd agree that for campers, to tow on snow is a no go.

[pinstriper]

I knew a guy who started in New Hampshire. Put his snowmobiles on the trailer and headed south. Was stopped in a gas station and a local came up to him and asked "what in THE HELL are those contraptions ?"

That's when he knew he'd gone far enough. He sold the trailer and snowmobiles and bought a house and a fishing boat.

[joanne]

[quote source="/post/17274/thread" timestamp="1450746040" author="@sandroad"]With the coming of the Winter Solstice tomorrow and in reading posts about folks still camping below the 35th parallel, I'm beginning to lose my resolve to not tow in the winter (snow/salt/ice/stuff).  Maybe still not this winter, but I suspect winter towing is in my future, despite my best intentions to avoid it so far. I'd love to hear from those who have done it. How did you clean the salt off the trailer to avoid corrosion? None of our local carwashes are large enough for our Camplite. If you were ever caught on icy-snowy roads, how did it work out? Any tips or tricks for winter towing? I realize winterizing and de-winterizing plumbing are part of the deal but maybe there are ways to avoid other problems (frozen doors/locks, etc.).  Any adjustment of brake controllers needed for slippery roads? Anyway, too many questions for one thread, but maybe it's a start. [/quote]
I've camped regularly in winter in MN, but have avoided towing on snow covered roads. I've watched the weather & picked the campgrounds and roads carefully.

[peislander]

[quote source="/post/17274/thread" timestamp="1450746040" author="@sandroad"][span style="font-size:10pt;"]How did you clean the salt off the trailer to avoid corrosion? None of our local carwashes are large enough for our Camplite. [/span][/quote]Check your Yellow Pages directory (if you still have one) and see if there's a local truck wash. If there is one you can forgive yourself for not knowing about it (unless you are a trucker). I live near a small 'city' of 30k residents and there is a brushless automatic truck wash. They happily was rv's too and even have a dumping station. If there isn't one in your area - it might be a business opportunity...

In the Yellow Pages I find our local one listed under "Truck Washing & Cleaning". If you don't have one then a mobile washing service could be another option.

[drdave]

So who's going to be the first to try these this winter?





[img style="max-width:100%;" style="" src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xs-m8zk5lc0/hqdefault.jpg"]

[pinstriper]

[quote timestamp="1451874839" author="@tlbones" source="/post/17464/thread"]So who's going to be the first to try these this winter?

[/quote]My money's on whoofit. Dude's crayzeee.

Oh, we weren't taking bets ? Dang.