alpinhi
New member
So the reason I sold my Jeep Rubicon was to be able to pull a camper and still hit the trails when we got to our destination. I decided to go with a V8 T4R over a Grand Cherokee for a number of reasons. They both had their pluses and minuses but that's a story for some other time.
We purchased a 2015 Palomino Palomini travel trailer with the offroad package because we were tired of making reservations a year in advance for a cabin and be tied to one spot. The camper is 22 ft long and weighs almost 4k loaded down. This year we traveled thru 10 states (some just partially). We started from home in eastern KS and traveled up thru Badlands National Park, Yellowstone, Glacier, and then thru Dinosaur National Monument on our way home.
The T4R- 2005 V8, stock trans cooler, Toytec 3/2 spacer lift, 275-70-17 BFG AT'2, Rola Rack with the spare, 4gal Rotopax, and some of my fishing gear mounted up top. I did the secondary air filter removal and added an AFE dry air cleaner. I also added headrest DVD players for the kiddos and Pioneer 4100 nex head unit for me. We use the Anderson weight distribution and sway control hitch.
The Camper- 2015 Palomino Palomini Offroad. 7ft wide (still had good visibility with stock mirrors) 22 foot long single axle, 26.5 gallon fresh water tank, and 30 gallon grey and black. I believe the camper weighs 2900 empty and has a GVWR of 3950 lbs.
The camper pulled much better than I expected. We had never gone this far before with the camper fully loaded down. There were some struggles along the way but all in all I am very pleased. I learned that the 4R needs a bigger fuel tank from our annual trip to Colorado last year. I kept the the trans in 4th gear for 99% of the trip. At 70 mph I was turning about 2700 rpm and trans temps were in the 180-200 range for most of the trip. I kept track of the trans temp and a few other gauges using the Torque App on my phone. I dont like relying on idiot lights (especially the trans temp) so I wanted to monitor it and make changes in my driving ahead of time if needed. We went over many mountain passes this trip. The highest and longest was Loveland Pass on I-70 thru Colorado. The summit was over 10k and it was 7 miles to the top. The 4R handled it well with trans temp around 200 to 225 at times. I was able to run at 45 mph in second gear all the way to the top at around 3800 rpm. I was constantly being passed by vehicles not towing but I was blowing by semi's and some other campers. In the flat areas with light wind the 4R wanted to run faster than 70 and was it was easy to speed in some places. I had enough power to pass on 2 lane highways which was really nice when coming up on a slow moving vehicle.
My fuel range was HIGHLY dependent on the conditions I was towing in and not so much the speed I was driving. The wind was the biggest killer of my mpg's. We had a run south thru Idaho where the wind was blowing 35 to 40 mph ditrectly into us. I had 85 miles on the odometer and was at a 1/2 tank fuel thru here, the 4R was struggling to maintain 65 mph and my trans temp was around 250 degrees. I managed to suck in behind a built Dodge Cummings dragging a large 5th wheel at 67 mph. My trans cooled way down and my mpgs went up after that. Fortunately his destination was the same as ours and we stuck behind him from the remainder of that leg of the trip. I averaged anywhere from 5mpg at the worst to 13 mpg at the best. Normally I averaged around 10 mpg towing at around 70 mph. Our last leg of the trip we ran into the same issue with the wind except it was a 40mph crosswind with gusts up to 50 mph while traveling across western KS. I tried sucking behind other campers and semi's but everyone towing was struggling and the relief was minimal at best since it was a crosswind. We just had to deal with it. I had a 4 gal Rotopax on the roof of the 4R and 5 gallon Jerry can on the rear bumper of the camper just in case.
Fortunately we never had to fill from the cans. I had my wife start scouting out fuel stations when we hit 1/2 tank and I was actively looking for one when I hit a 1/4 tank.
I n order to help the 4R out we used the Anderson load equalizing and sway system along with a Tekonsha P3 brake controller. I love the brake controller, it will tell me if there is an issue with the brakes and give me an idea of where to start looking. It has 3 boost settings for towing in the mountains, traffic and flat roads. It helped us slow down nicely and I never like the camper was pushing us when it was set properly. The load equalizing was a different story. It works well and does its job but our first night we slept thru a heck of a storm in SD. The next morning when we left the hitch would creak so loudly that it made people outside jump and kids run to their parents but it still functioned fine. I contacted the manufacturer and they put me straight thru to the service dept. I got personal cell number of a guy in the service and he said he knew what the problem was and told me how to fix it with the simple tools I brought along. He shipped the new part to campground in Yellowstone but it didnt make before we left. I ended up spraying down the hitch the night before we left with WD40 and that fixed the screeching. They are now sending me a new part to my house free of charge. The guys at Anderson stand behind their product and will take care of you.
I put this up becasue I saw some people had some of the same questions I did about towing with a 4R. I think if your going to be doing long hauls frequently especially with a modded 4R I would defiantly stay under 5k GVWR in your selection of a camper. I think if our camper was the standard 8 ft wide we would need mirror extenders and those things suck IMO. They shake so you cant see anything anyway and try to fall off. The 4R is defiantly good SUV to tow with but its no Diesel truck. Towing is not its primary design but the truck is a workhorse and will get it done. Over all im happy with it and plan to do some more mods and maybe hang on to it for awhile.
Travis
We purchased a 2015 Palomino Palomini travel trailer with the offroad package because we were tired of making reservations a year in advance for a cabin and be tied to one spot. The camper is 22 ft long and weighs almost 4k loaded down. This year we traveled thru 10 states (some just partially). We started from home in eastern KS and traveled up thru Badlands National Park, Yellowstone, Glacier, and then thru Dinosaur National Monument on our way home.
The T4R- 2005 V8, stock trans cooler, Toytec 3/2 spacer lift, 275-70-17 BFG AT'2, Rola Rack with the spare, 4gal Rotopax, and some of my fishing gear mounted up top. I did the secondary air filter removal and added an AFE dry air cleaner. I also added headrest DVD players for the kiddos and Pioneer 4100 nex head unit for me. We use the Anderson weight distribution and sway control hitch.
The Camper- 2015 Palomino Palomini Offroad. 7ft wide (still had good visibility with stock mirrors) 22 foot long single axle, 26.5 gallon fresh water tank, and 30 gallon grey and black. I believe the camper weighs 2900 empty and has a GVWR of 3950 lbs.
The camper pulled much better than I expected. We had never gone this far before with the camper fully loaded down. There were some struggles along the way but all in all I am very pleased. I learned that the 4R needs a bigger fuel tank from our annual trip to Colorado last year. I kept the the trans in 4th gear for 99% of the trip. At 70 mph I was turning about 2700 rpm and trans temps were in the 180-200 range for most of the trip. I kept track of the trans temp and a few other gauges using the Torque App on my phone. I dont like relying on idiot lights (especially the trans temp) so I wanted to monitor it and make changes in my driving ahead of time if needed. We went over many mountain passes this trip. The highest and longest was Loveland Pass on I-70 thru Colorado. The summit was over 10k and it was 7 miles to the top. The 4R handled it well with trans temp around 200 to 225 at times. I was able to run at 45 mph in second gear all the way to the top at around 3800 rpm. I was constantly being passed by vehicles not towing but I was blowing by semi's and some other campers. In the flat areas with light wind the 4R wanted to run faster than 70 and was it was easy to speed in some places. I had enough power to pass on 2 lane highways which was really nice when coming up on a slow moving vehicle.
My fuel range was HIGHLY dependent on the conditions I was towing in and not so much the speed I was driving. The wind was the biggest killer of my mpg's. We had a run south thru Idaho where the wind was blowing 35 to 40 mph ditrectly into us. I had 85 miles on the odometer and was at a 1/2 tank fuel thru here, the 4R was struggling to maintain 65 mph and my trans temp was around 250 degrees. I managed to suck in behind a built Dodge Cummings dragging a large 5th wheel at 67 mph. My trans cooled way down and my mpgs went up after that. Fortunately his destination was the same as ours and we stuck behind him from the remainder of that leg of the trip. I averaged anywhere from 5mpg at the worst to 13 mpg at the best. Normally I averaged around 10 mpg towing at around 70 mph. Our last leg of the trip we ran into the same issue with the wind except it was a 40mph crosswind with gusts up to 50 mph while traveling across western KS. I tried sucking behind other campers and semi's but everyone towing was struggling and the relief was minimal at best since it was a crosswind. We just had to deal with it. I had a 4 gal Rotopax on the roof of the 4R and 5 gallon Jerry can on the rear bumper of the camper just in case.
Fortunately we never had to fill from the cans. I had my wife start scouting out fuel stations when we hit 1/2 tank and I was actively looking for one when I hit a 1/4 tank.
I n order to help the 4R out we used the Anderson load equalizing and sway system along with a Tekonsha P3 brake controller. I love the brake controller, it will tell me if there is an issue with the brakes and give me an idea of where to start looking. It has 3 boost settings for towing in the mountains, traffic and flat roads. It helped us slow down nicely and I never like the camper was pushing us when it was set properly. The load equalizing was a different story. It works well and does its job but our first night we slept thru a heck of a storm in SD. The next morning when we left the hitch would creak so loudly that it made people outside jump and kids run to their parents but it still functioned fine. I contacted the manufacturer and they put me straight thru to the service dept. I got personal cell number of a guy in the service and he said he knew what the problem was and told me how to fix it with the simple tools I brought along. He shipped the new part to campground in Yellowstone but it didnt make before we left. I ended up spraying down the hitch the night before we left with WD40 and that fixed the screeching. They are now sending me a new part to my house free of charge. The guys at Anderson stand behind their product and will take care of you.
I put this up becasue I saw some people had some of the same questions I did about towing with a 4R. I think if your going to be doing long hauls frequently especially with a modded 4R I would defiantly stay under 5k GVWR in your selection of a camper. I think if our camper was the standard 8 ft wide we would need mirror extenders and those things suck IMO. They shake so you cant see anything anyway and try to fall off. The 4R is defiantly good SUV to tow with but its no Diesel truck. Towing is not its primary design but the truck is a workhorse and will get it done. Over all im happy with it and plan to do some more mods and maybe hang on to it for awhile.
Travis
