Tow cars and trailers

On May 17, 11:14 pm, Paul Hanson
wrote:

I think we must be careful not to use too light of
a vehicle to tow our glider trailers with. Although
the 2:1 ratio some trailer rental companies use ('U-Haul
used to require 2:1 ratio between the towing vehicle
and the trailer. Stated differently, the towing vehicle
must weigh twice as much as the trailer and its contents.
To increase rentals, U-Haul lowered that ratio from
2:1 to 1:1. This change decreased stability and increased
accidents'.--fromhttp://www.beasleyallen.com) may
be suitable for short coupled trailers, our glider
trailers although admittedly light in weight, have
much greater moments due to the longer arm, so for
me at least, that unfortunately rules out small, lightweight
super efficient vehicles, due to safety concerns. I
did find this in another thread though, talking about
glider towing with a Toyota Highlander Hybrid:
'I'll add my two cents to this thread. I towed my glider
trailer last weekend with a HH 4wd. Glider trailers
are tricky to tow because of their length (28') and
the fact that they have a lot of sail area. Weight
is about 1800 lbs. The rig was rock solid in mountainous
terrain with a 25 mph crosswind. Was at least as good
as my previous vehicle, a Grand Cherokee. I am quite
pleased with the performance. Overall, I am getting
about 26-27 MPG'.
found in:http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0daea6

I like the idea of good gas mileage, since I tow mine
enough for that to be a major budget concern, for me.
(Ca to Memphis last Feb, Ca to Oshkosh later, plus
several milk runs...ouch) I currently tow with a Chevy
Astro Van, and get around 18-19mpg, doing normal interstate
speeds (70-80mph), so 26-27mpg does not sound too bad,
although I would need a motel when I got where I was
going because the Highlander Hybrid does not sound
big enough for me to camp in with my dog while on site.
It does sound like a good possible solution for some
of you though.

I do really like the idea of some sort of drive-assist
system in the trailer though, an idea I've considered
before, although my gas mileage without the trailer
is near the same in the Astro. Somebody needs to develop
a hybrid van, with good towing capacity, coupled to
a trailer that assists and then we would be on to something.
Although, the excessive cost of this combo would probably
outweigh the extra money that would be saved on gas,
it seems like a step in the right direction none the
less.

Paul Hanson
"Do the usual, unusually well"--Len Niemi

Also consider the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner hybrids (aka FEH or
MMH). Curb weight 3800lbs,
35-40mpg with good driving techniques. Supposedly there's a Toyota
hybrid minivan coming one
of these days (it's been available in Japan for several years now)
that includes electric drive on the
rear wheels (like the HyHi). Personally I have a Prius as my wife's
car, which I love except for the
fact that it can't tow anything.

One additional consideration is to think further outside the box.
What about using public transportation,
bicycling, or telecommuting for your daily grind? You can keep the
gashog around for the weekends.
When I was riding the bus every day to work my gas usage in my truck
dropped to around 1 tank a month
(300 miles or so), which is enough to keep it running well but not
enough to be a financial drag. I also
got a break on car insurance because I wasn't using it for daily
commute.