[JRTJH]

Many first time RV owners will make comments such as, "I just picked up my new RV and towed it home. It tows fine with my (insert your model) truck. I am impressed with how well it tows."

We hear this comment more and more as new owners post their experiences.

Now, my question to any of those new owners is simply this: "It tows well compared to what?"

RV's don't tow like boats or utility trailers, so as a "new, first time RV owner" there is no experience base on which to compare "how well it tows". The new owner tows it home with no previous experience on which to base his towing sensations, so he learns that "this manner of towing is normal" and since it's "been that way since the start" he/she may well not even know "how an RV is supposed to tow."

We all are a product of our experiences. We "learn what to expect" based on what has happened to us, so naturally, if "slow starts", "bouncing truck", "high headlights", "squishy steering", "rolling sides", (the list goes on and on) are what one has experienced from the start, then for that person, that is "how an RV is supposed to tow"......

It's not until someone experiences "the other side of towing and RV" that a comparison can be made, so for a new owner to say, "My RV tows well." is only a "statement of experience" and quite often only means that the new owner doesn't know how an RV is supposed to tow.

I'm not "putting down" anyone, but simply making the statement that until someone tows a "properly matched rig" and can then differentiate the many differences in performance, towability, steerability, braking effectiveness, and overall sense of "stability and control" that they experience, their statement is simply "an opinion" based on only one input.

That is not a good way to make any "qualified judgment" but rather a "beginner's observation".....

As an example from my own personal experiences, I've been driving/towing RV's since the late 60's. They range from 20' to 35' travel trailers, pick up campers, pop-up campers, class A and C motorhomes, van conversions, but I had never towed a fifth wheel until 2010. I bought a F150 and decided to match a "properly sized fifth wheel" with it. We bought a Springdale 242, which is a small fifth wheel. Driving it home, my first stop was at the CAT scale (just to make sure). We were "at the upper limits", but not overloaded. Everything was "OK" and the rig performed better than I had anticipated, so "it tows well" was my judgment. We towed within Michigan for the following year, then decided to take an extended trip. Through the Midwest, southeast, up the eastern coast to Virginia, then back across West Virginia, Ohio and home. I was pleased with the performance and how "well" my rig towed. Through the 3 years we owned that rig, we towed it about 10,000 miles. I was "satisfied that it towed well."

Then, because of damage caused by a falling tree, we elected to buy a larger fifth wheel. That mandated a larger tow vehicle. We bought the truck first, then matched the new trailer to it. Because the trailer had to be special ordered, we had the "good fortune" to still use our Springdale for several months while the Cougar was being built.

Upon picking up the Springdale at the repair facility (with the F250), as soon as I pulled out onto the highway, I had an entirely new (and better) towing experience. Gone was the "push" from the trailer, the lagging acceleration, the roll from side to side when turning corners or in curves on the highway. Gone was the feeling of "a big box" behind me. The F250 felt much more "surefooted" the trailer seemed "more tame" and I didn't feel like it was "influencing" how the truck steered or stopped.

Simply put, what I had experienced with my F150/Springdale was my "perception" of how "it tows well" felt. BUT when I put that same trailer behind a more capable tow vehicle, that perception quickly faded into a realization that I had been "fighting a too small truck" all those years. Finally, for the first time, I had experienced how a fifth wheel is "supposed to tow".....

My point is all of this is simply to say to new "first time RV buyers" who try to compromise a "too small truck with a too big trailer" and when they get it home, make the statement, "On the way home, my rig towed well and I'm satisfied," I have to ask, How do you know it "tows well" since you've never towed a properly matched RV before. I'm thinking that in the coming years, once you have the good fortune to upgrade, you'll look back and think, "If I only knew then what I know now."