First Time Travel Trailer Towing

Well, I have hauled small utility trailers before with my Titan. They were small enough that they did not require a brake controller. This month, I rented a travel trailer for the first time and hauled it behind my Titan. I first installed my Tekonsha Prodigy according to some of the suggestions here. I ended up installing it near my right knee. Drilled holes to the metal frame behind the dash and added a strip of thick rubber piece before installing the mounting bracket so that I can gain a slight angle and space to get to the switch and knob on the controller. I had to make a quick run to Lowe's because the mounting screws were a tad too short. I spent $12 on ready-to-connect wiring harness for Prodigy/Titan. It seemed well worth the money.

I rented the trailer for 2 nights and 3 days just to get acquainted with travel-trailering. Overall, I am happy to say that things went very smoothly for the first time. The rental travel trailer was Homestead 292BHS by Starcraft, which was practically new. It is supposed to be 6,444 lbs unloaded with GVWR of 8,500 lbs. The hitch weight is supposedly 849 lbs. I opted to rent a weight-distribution hitch (Reese) for $35. I was a little disappointed by the fact that I had to remove my White Knight backup lights in order to use the hitch. We had 3 adults, 2 little girls, an 80lb-dog and some gears plus the fresh water tank full of water (it was already filled up when I picked up the trailer). Except for the people everything was loaded in the trailer. We drove 400 miles and stayed at 2 RV parks. The most frustrating thing during this mini-vacation was to keep the speed under 50 mph per the owner’s manual’s break-in procedure. It was so easy to forget about pushing the tow mode button and disengaging the OD every time I restated the engine… I wished that the tow mode remains engaged even when you shut off and restart the engine. I recall that there is something you can buy to accomplish this, but I don’t tow often enough to make this mod. Better yet, wouldn’t it be nice if the tow mode not only memorizes the setting until manually turned off, but it offered 2 different modes. Tow mode 1 being OD automatically disengaged. Tow mode 2 being OD enabled.

It was a good learning experience and fun. Oh, kids liked the bunk beds. I think it will be more fun on a longer vacation and after the towing break-in is finished.

Now, I am wondering if I should replace the differential fluid even though I probably have about 6,000 miles since the last change. Anyway, we plan on renting it again this spring or summer.