MY seen pulling a ~27ft Airstream yesterday - please don't

[DanDi58]

No photo, but I saw a Y yesterday pulling a large travel trailer yesterday on Cape Cod. It was parked in a day-use lot at the Cape Cod National Seashore where I was biking so I swung by for a quick, closer look. It was an Airstream Globetrotter, which, even in the smallest floorplan model, grosses 7300lb according to the Airstream site. This one appeared to be the mid-sized, 27' floorplan, which has a GVWR of 7600lb, but I didn't look around at the manufacturer's rating plate. Vehicle plates were from another New England state that shall remain nameless, but suffice to say that this trailer came some distance and over the narrow, crazy, Cape Cod Canal bridges at that. The Y's rear end was sitting very low as well. I didn't think to notice if they were using a weight distributing hitch, but from the sag, I'm guessing not.

While it's impressive that a MY can pull such a monster at all, dealing with range, charging, etc., exceeding the towing capacity by over 200 percent can only and eventually lead to some kind of handling disaster. Please never attempt something like that. I can't imagine an RV dealer setting that up. Maybe it's normally towed with another vehicle - I hope.

Most of the folks here may not be aware of the road situation on Cape Cod, hence their comments not totally discounting what this dope is doing. I vacation there every year and have since I was a kid - 50+ years. The bridges and roads are the same as they were in the '50's and '60's. The bridges in particular (there are only 2) are extremely narrow with very high curbs and no shoulders. I can't imagine being behind or next to this rig as it trundles up and then down the bridges. The major 'highway' on the Cape, Route 6, is also narrow with very short access lanes for the entering traffic, and very hilly in the western section. And stop-and-go traffic is constant. It's a mess with just a car, forget about with this beast.

 

[SharonMY]

Red Arc brake controller says 9-16v operating range.

We tried to get the RedArc to work with my MY, but there were wiring and power incompatibilities. I gave up.

 

[TesLEEZ]

We tried to get the RedArc to work with my MY, but there were wiring and power incompatibilities. I gave up.

Do you have any more specifics on what didn't work, I'm also considering the Tokensha Prodigy ID and Curt Spectrum 51170?

 

[TesLEEZ]

We tried to get the RedArc to work with my MY, but there were wiring and power incompatibilities. I gave up.

Does it not detect the trailer?? If your trailer has LED lights, then you may need to add a LOAD RESISTOR to simulate a trailer brake coil.

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