Jim, I have a ' 68 Tradewind which I tow with a Ford F-150 extended cab 4x4
pickup with the 5.4L engine and a 3.54 rear axle and the trailer towing
package. I wanted the 3.73 axle but it's not available on the F-150 without
going to the heavy duty suspension which I didn't want because the truck
would ride so rough for my everyday transportation. Susan has a Ford
Expedition equipped the same way but we prefer to tow with the pickup
because of the longer wheelbase. I would not want to tow a trailer larger
than my 24 footer with either tow vehicle. If I were going to be towing
10,000 miles a year instead of occasional weekend trips and vacation, I
would want a different tow vehicle set up. Probably a 3/4 ton truck with a
turbo diesel but for limited towing I think it's satisfactory.
Jim Greene
Atlanta
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Quiggins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Multiple recipients of VACList" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 10:41
Subject: [VAC] Re: By way of introduction....
>
>
> We are the proud current owners of a '67 Globe Trotter that we tow with a
> Dodge Grand Caravan. It has the large engine (V-6) and I have added an
oil
> cooler. Over the past two years we (mostly my wife) have taken two long
> trips. One to the Rockies, and another to Seattle and Portland. Since we
> live in Houston, both trips have involved long hauls over desert and
> mountains. While we have had to keep the van in third gear to avoid
> overheating from the transmission shifting back and forth, the only
problems
> we encountered was having to pull over a couple of time on very steep
grades
> to let the engine cool for maybe five minutes.
> The point of all this is that we have decided we would also like to trade
up
> to a larger model and tow vehicle. Our plan is to buy an expedition with
> the tow package as our tow vehicle (and soccer bus), then upgrade to
either
> a Tradewind or Safari. We think about twenty-four feet would be perfect.
> Twenty-six feet is about all I would want to pull with an Expedition. I
> would prefer dual axles for safety and this should improve towing. I have
> looked a couple of Sovereigns at 28 feet and they seem huge.
> One thing you might want to consider is that the Globe Trotter's setup
with
> the two couches sitting in an L shape at the front provides a very nice
> living area. In our research we have not found this arrangement in any
> larger trailers. They normally have one couch in the front and another
> behind either the kitchen or bath depending on the floorplan. This splits
> the living area in two and really only provides more open space. The
bottom
> line is that even with a larger trailer you have the same number of beds
(4
> people) and not as nice of a living area. Since we have three kids, what
we
> would really like is the same arrangement we currently have, but stretched
> six feet to add twin sets of bunk beds between the kitchen and the rear
> bath. This would allow sleeping space for eight so the kids could each
> invite a friend along. Since we prefer the kids sleep in a tent, we would
> only use this when it rained, or we were at one of the many camp areas
that
> do not allow tents on a trailer site.
> Give it some thought, in my opinion, the Globe Trotter is the perfect size
> for a family of four unless you are planning to use it full time. Five is
> getting a bit tight.
> Jim Quiggins
> '67 Globe Trotter
> '71 Volvo P-1800E
>
>
>
>
>
>
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