Re: Towing

["Tom Harais" <tjhemh@domain.elided>]

Doug:

We've hashed this out around here before.

I've towed a four horse trailer that wheighed under 5,000 lbs with two
horses in it. I was using a Terra, with the 118" wheelbase. I lost a rear
tire and almost died trying to recover on the freeway. Another time, same
rig, going downhill, the trailer "pushed" me so bad I almost lost control
and died.

On the same trip, I saw a Scout with a 19' or 20' trailer on it's side at
the bottom of a very long 6% grade on I5 in Oregon. The trailer was
demolished and the poor family's belongings were spread for 300 yards down
the freeway.

Yesterday, I towed a small utility trailer with some furniture. Right about
1,000 lbs weight. Not bad, but ocassionaly kind of squirly.

My feeling, and some others is, the Scout has too much suspension movement
to be a great tow vehicle along with the short wheelbase. Trailer wheight
is not the problem. It's the leverage of the large trailer over the short
wheelbased Scout plus the inherent "looseness" of the Scout's leaf spring
suspension combined with no front end caster that makes them less than
desireable tow vehicles.

You know the famous DSW (dreaded Scout wander)? Well, pulling a trailer
only exagerates this.

Now, John Hoffstetter pulled a travel trailer for years with his Scout.
Even with his SSII. And, he swears that with the right tow set up, the
Scout will work just fine, but not quite as good as a Travelall.

John Landry recently picked up a small travel trailer and he is towing that
with his Traveler with no reported ill effects.

My feeling is - bottom line: Set up with a well mounted class III hitch;
using an equalizer hitch; using anti-sway bars; and staying below the 5,000
lb limit for the loaded trailer, a Scout will work fine for towing. But the
limit is the limit. Don't ask the Scout to handle more mass than it was
designed for. By the way, exceeding the wheight limit is against the law.
That's how I got my Terra and the DPO got a 1 ton Ford to pull his fifth
wheel with. Don't forget, it's not that a beefy Scout can't handle more
than 5,000 pounds in pulling and braking. But swaying, pushing, winds and
side loads can make for a wild ride.

My $.02 worth.

Tom H.