How fast is too fast?

[the other side]

How fast can you go when you are towing a teardrop or a T@B, SAFELY?

Since some of the speed limits are 65 or 70 mph, should we be going slower or not to worry.

Since a T@B is taller does that make a difference on your traveling speed?

[Verna]

I definitely drive slower towing my SideKick than when towing my TD. There's a lot more wind resistance and weight with the SideKick. When my sister and I went to Michigan last September, I was lucky to get over 60. The SideKick didn't sway or handle badly. I could just tell there was more weight.

I haven't towed the SideKick with my new Escape, so we'll see next month how the different TV feels.

When I brought my 800 lb TD home last month, I stayed off if the interstates as much as I could and I kept the speed under 65. I could only tell the Escaped2 was behind me when I started from a dead stop. It was a lot smoother than with the TTT.

[jstrubberg]

It's more a matter of what your vehicle is comfortable with.

I pulled a 5th wheel for several years @ 70 mph.

The T@B won't care. Just make sure you and your TV are comfortable.

[mallymal]

According to Top Gear UK 125 mph!!

http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/fast-caravan-part-2

[48Rob]

Legal speed limits aside... you should only go as fast as your personal limits, and your trailer and tow vehicle will allow while maintaining complete control.

Depending on how well the vehicle combination is set up with regard to weight distribution front to back, and side to side, how level the combination is, how much tongue weight you have in relation to total trailer weight, how good your tires are, how much air they have in them, and a number of other important considerations makes the difference between being able to tow safely only up to 45 mph, or being able to run the speed limit plus.

A properly set up combination, with weights and driver experience considered, can safely travel at 75+ mph.
That said, an experienced driver will know when wind, traffic, and terrain will safely allow such speeds, and when to slow down.

Like anything else, towing has a pretty big learning curve.
A lot of people with very little experience tow, and a lot of them go too fast.
Most times things go okay with only minor scares...
With practice and understanding of what can go wrong, and why, towing at the speed limit and beyond can be safe and enjoyable.

Rob

[Shadow Catcher]

Mindful of trailer tire failure rate, slower than normal (80+ in Michigan). As pointed out when towing there is penalty. My Subaru Outback has the H6 with 200+hp and headed to Indiana last week I was bucking a major headwind and watching the gas gauge drop precipitously.

[the other side]

I felt fully under control because I couldn't feel the teardrop at all (maybe a false sense of security). Had I felt something I would have felt like I should go slower. Even though I couldn't feel anything back there I started questioning how the teardrop was feeling with the faster speeds. But I felt absolutely NOTHING behind me. My TV is a Toyota Sequoia and my teardrop is a 4x8 Silver Shadow. I guess the combo worked well together (maybe too well, maybe it would have been better to feel something).

I used to tow a 25ft tt and only on the rare occasion would I catch myself going 60mph (usually I was going 55mph.).

Would the height affect the speed of your towing? (for example: a teardrop vs. a T@B)? I would probably feel a T@B back there because of the wind drag hitting the top of the trailer (I guess)? So that alone would make me feel the need to go slower.

Everything is checked, double checked, and checked again before I leave on a trip. I go a few miles from home and pull over and check again before I truely start on my trip. Every stop I make I walk around the teardrop and the TV atleast one time to re-check. That was the way I was taught, and it stuck (or is that one of my OCD traits? )! A re-check only takes an extra minute or so.

[grant whipp]

I've posted this before, a whole lotto years ago, but one of my early trailers (#6 or #7, I can't remember which) used to check out the timing lights just before Bonneville Speed Week at over 125 mph behind a Hemi-powered '32 Ford 3-window Coupe ... never a wiggle or wobble! I keep telling Dad that I'mm gonna hook one up behind our Modified Rear-Engined Roadster when it's done and make a run or two ... I'm shooting for 200 mph!

CHEERS!

[S. Heisley]

Here's an Auto Club website for that:

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/trailer-speed-limits/

However, I would pay attention to what Rob48 says. He gives good advice.

[emiller]

For one a T@B is not a tear but a small travel trailer. I wouldn't tow a small travel trailer very fast but I did hit 100 on interstate 40 with my teardrop until I hit the dip where hwy 89 at Ashfork, AZ is and blew out my air shock. That tear was low and 1700# with 15" wheels behind my 39 streetrod. Towed like a dream at that speed but not recomded.
Most trailer tires are rated for under 65 mph.

[asianflava]

Took my tear up to 90 (I was only going 10 over) just to see how it handled. I usually stick to 70.

[grant whipp]

I don't think that anybody, here, is advocating that you drive like a maniac while towing your trailer (or anytime, for that matter) ... I think the main concern is whether or not you can safely pull your trailer at the speed of the "flow of traffic", as the CA DMV so aptly puts it. In CA, the speed limit when towing anything is 55 mph, but if you've ever been on I-5 between Tracy and the Grapevine, then you know that if you only drive 55, you're a major hazard to the "flow of traffic" and you're gonna get either run over or run off the road! I've also been doing 80 in NM (posted limit was 75) and been nearly blown off the highway by a 18-wheeler doing almost 100! And, if you've ever driven across Nevada ... ... need I say more? (Just a "poke" ... I love NV!).

When I said that one of my trailers has been pulled at over 125, and that I'd like to take one to 200, please note that it WAS NOT and WILL NOT be on any public highway, but on a designated race course where NOTHING other than the vehicles could be damaged in the event of an accident and NO ONE could get hurt except the driver (and, we have a whole array of safety equipment to prevent/minimize this) ... in other words, a very controlled condition.

Bottom line, here, is that you should always be sensible and aware in every kind of driving situation, and be sure that your vehicles (tow & towed) are in adequate condition for the journey you are taking! And if at any time you feel uncomfortable with the speed of the "flow of traffic", then get off the highway and find an alternate route where you can feel safe driving in the slow lane ... ...!

Be SAFE out there ... always!

CHEERS!

[the other side]

Thanks Grant! Yes, I was asking how safe is safe for the TEARDROP. I know I COULD go faster because my TV and how it felt to drive (and it's capabilities), but I was really concerned with what the teardrop itself could take. Just because I have the capability of going faster, be it my driving skills, my towing experiences, or my TV, bottom line is what is my teardrop able to handle for the teardrops safety. I have never towed something as small and light weight as a teardrop. I know my limits, my TV's limits, when towing heavier and larger trailers. I know the speed limits. I know my driving limits. I know my TV limits. I just wanted to make sure that somewhere in the fine print of some unwritten TEARDROP ownership manual, care isn't noted that a teardrop can't handle speeds of over __________MPH (whatever that might have been).

And secondly, I was interested to find out if height of a trailer mattered when towing (mainly how the airflow on something the size of a T@B would affect the tow, compared to a teardrop).

I am not a crazy driver, or an unsafe driver, and my Toyota Sequoia isn't souped up. The proof of my driving care shows in these questions! If I was unsafe or didn't care how I drive and the safety of towing, I would have never asked these question! Most of you have been towing a teardrop way longer than I have! I wanted to know your opinions of what you all think is a safe speed for a teardrop when it is in tow (and I appreciate the knowlege of the experiences).

[angib]

I believe the world towing speed record was set by this 510hp Porsche Cayenne towing a T@b trailer at 243 km/hr - that's 151 mph.



And, no, they weren't doing it on a public road.....

[the other side]

Thats awesome!!! And with a T@B! Although I notice a wind deflector on their roof, but their car is shorter than mine! That is a really nice looking picture too! (But it wasn't me, I swear! I have a teardrop)!