Hello From Portland, Oregon

[DonnaDuane]

Overland, That idea simply never occurred to me, but I love it. Is there a good camp ground nearby that you know of?

[Overland]

They have a nice little RV park on the north end of town.  Not sure how hard it is to get a spot during the season.

[DonnaDuane]

Back of Beyond,

 

The max tongue weight is 440 lbs.. Max trailer weight is rated at 4400 lbs (US), 5200 lbs (EU). Audi weighs 4500 lbs.

 

How many pounds are you considering "semi loaded?"

 

I can't imagine putting 1000 lbs in the trailer. Do people do that?

 

Audi manual says it's better to put stuff in car rather than trailer, so I've imagined ski gear in car, and at most two people, would come up to 500 lbs in car max.

 

Please explain your thinking. I'm very interested because I been under the view that I thought this through thoroughly.

[STEVEnBETTY]

I'm not weighing in on the tow vehicle issue, but having towed trailers many miles in all sorts of conditions, the main thing to keep in mind is timing. Allow yourself plenty of time to wait out the weather, it's been my experience the road conditions improve considerably within hours after a storm passes through, depending on how efficient the road crews are. My 2 cents.

 

Steve

[DonnaDuane]

Thank you Steve n Betty! My plan for sure is to wait out any tornado like conditions. I've never met a snow storm that stopped me, but I'm smart enough to know I've got an ego that believes it's invincible, so I've practiced taking what it says with a grain of salt. I attribute that practice to my nearly 60 years of being free of any serious injuries, or car accidents, skiing.

[DonnaDuane]

Back of Beyond,

 

In case it's useful to your analysis, the Audi GVWR is 5765 lbs.

[John E Davies]

When we talk about traveling light it usually means leave at home the cast iron cookware, canned goods, ammunition, 1/2" socket set, etc etc. That is pretty obvious. If you are driving a HD pickup, this does not apply.

 

But the bottom line for your delivery trip is that you should leave all tanks empty and the system winterized. Many owners travel with a full fresh tank for extra stability and so they have a known good source of water for boondocking, but that works out to about 265 pounds. A full grey tank adds another 265 pounds. Full black, if you use it, adds 150 pounds. That is close to 700 pounds of fluids right there. A full hot water heater tank (regular type) holds 50 pounds. So it is possible to be in a situation where you must tow with full tanks if you had a fresh water source but nowhere to dump, which is not at all uncommon if you are out on public lands... hopefully that situation is short term, to the closest dump station. Most of which, however, will be closed for the season on your late November trip.

 

I THINK Oliver calculates empty trailer weight with full propane tanks, but I cannot be sure. You could ask them to swap the full ones out for some un-filled ones for your trip, and strap down the bottles in the Audi cargo area, towards the front. That will lighten the tongue. A pair of 20 pound bottles (full) weigh about 75 pounds.

 

They definitely weigh the trailer before issuing the VIN and putting the sticker onto the tongue. Any options added after that sticker was made are not considered part of the trailer in terms of weight ratings. So if a previous owner added bigger bottles, extra batteries, etc the trailer can pork up quickly. So to speak.

 

We travel with full fresh water, and a moderate amount of food and stuff, and we do not full time. Our load is usually about 600 to 800 pounds over the empty weight.

 

Adding stuff to the tow vehicle to keep the trailer lighter only helps a little, you still have to watch out to not exceed the Gross Combined Weight Rating, regardless of where you stash the heavy tools and ammo....

 

Does this help?

 

In reading your replies it sounds as if you will be fine, my main worry is of your losing control of the trailer. and of cosmetic damage due to sand and caustic deicing chemicals. I have never towed in winter and do not plan to, so I will bow to your past snow experience. I do hope you will post a trip report and also lots of pics of your Ollie in the snow.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[DavidS]

Is there a good camp ground nearby that you know of?

While I have not stayed at either of these campgrounds, I have had very strong personal reccomendations for two campgrounds near Park City.

 

Jordanelle State Park is the closest campground to Park City Mountain Resort. They take reservations, and the web site says they are open year round.

 

Mountain Valley RV Resort is just outside Heber, probably 25 miles from Park City. The elevation at Weber is lower than at Park City or Jordanelle, which might be better for winter camping. There is an awesome and inexpensive Mexican restaurant in Midway, quite close to Heber.

[DavePhelps]

Donna,

 

I have not found the Google Maps ETA function to be accurate, certainly not for someone towing a trailer at responsible speeds. Maybe a for a Porsche on a warm summer day! Definitely add time to their estimate. That has been my experience anyway.

 

With regards to the WDH. My TV is a 3/4 ton van so no need to have it. For you, you will have to check. Many Unibody style cars are not rigid enough to handle the forces the WDH creates. Yours may be OK but check. I'd get one if it will handle it. From E-trailer: https://www.etrailer.com/question-241876.html

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

[Geronimo John]

Dave:

 

Good news on the extra 400 pounds.

 

OTT will have inspected and checked all they can.  One item I do recommend YOU do is to connect a 4,000 pound  trailer to your Audi.  I am not questioning your driving skills.   But I am suggesting that the new brake controller will need to be calibrated.  Yes, OTT will work with you to do so, but it would be far better if you had worked with YOUR controller on the Audi in advance.  One way to do this would be to ask your contractor friends to borrow a loaded trailer for an afternoon.

 

I too have pulled loads for most of my life.  But not with a new brake controller on my current TV.  If you get there and yours is defective for some reason, you are stuck with a difficult  problem that you should have known about in advance.

 

Best wishes and good karma for you and Donna.

 

PS:  Ollie and I will be in Ruch, Oregon in early June for the ten day Applegate Open Paragliding Championship.  If you are in the area look up I'll be flying a Red and Blue glider!

[DonnaDuane]

Thank you John. That does help me better grasp where weight will come from and how to reduce as much as possible. I'd heard about carrying as little water as you'll need until you can hook up. It will be interesting to see what it weighs with all the accessories added to the roof.

[SeaDawg]

When we picked up our trai6, our newly installed hitch had caused a problem with the battery ( under third row seat in the volvo). Took several hours of troubleshooting,  then trip to Walmart, install new battery,  yadayada...

 

Our brake controller worked fine on original run. Lots of problems later. Intermittent. Yup  the kind you hate to trace...

 

I guess the biggest wish for you,  from everyone,  is that you have s safe and relatively  happy trip home...

 

I will need to look it up somewhere in paper do s, but I think our  tongue weight on our little elite is around 360. Weighed, with propane.  Fill at least one propane tank, if not two. You'll want the heat st night .. and, you want to maintain the 10 to 15 per cent of trailer weight/ tongue weight .

 

But, dont forget to add the tongue weight to your gvwr...

[DonnaDuane]

Thanks David P. Those sound perfect.  I've discovered why Audi says "Don't put a weight distribution system on." It's because of the aluminum unibody construction of the vehicle is not strong enough for the torque that those systems can put on it. The good news is it would provide very little noticeable benefit.  Have you encountered any towing issues with your Q7 when passing semis or in high wind?

[DonnaDuane]

Geronimo John,

 

That is an excellent idea!!! I've been thinking that would be smart but now I'm going to find a way to do that very thing to ensure everything works. I'm going to try Uhaul and my 2 neighbors that have trailers.

[DonnaDuane]

SeaDawg, thank you for the suggestion. the GVWR is 5765 so I've got a little over 1000 to work with (600 on top of trailer tongue should cover what we haul in the vehicle easy).

 

I'm actually a very conservative driver compared to most. I drive right at the speed limit in the right hand lane, even when it pisses some people off. I do have considerably more Winter driving experience than most, so many people are terrified to ride with me in Winter until they realize how calm and capable I am at getting the vehicle to do what I want and especially stopping and cornering. The reason I bought the Audi is because nothing can touch it on snow and ice, and with Nokian's top performing Studless tires, it's nearly bomb proof under any condition.

 

I can't remember who requested, but I'll be sending pics and updates to this forum.

[DavidS]

Have you encountered any towing issues with your Q7 when passing semis or in high wind?

No issues with cross winds or semis passing. The Oliver is a dream to tow with the Audi Q7.

 

Actually, I rarely pass semis. I tend to drive 65 MPH on the interstate, both for safety and for gas mileage, and the semis pass me. I usually use cruise control to keep the speed at 65. Otherwise I tend to drift up to 70 or 75 MPH. The Q7 has plenty of power when pulling a trailer.

[DonnaDuane]

Thank you DavidS. Hearing your experience reassures me.  I just ordered the Anderson Alumistinger w/10" Rise, Greaseless 2" Ball, Receiver Locking Pin, and leveling kit so I can practice towing prior to trip. I'm taking someone's suggestion to test the wiring and braking system/connection from car to trailer.

[DavidS]

I’m taking someone’s suggestion to test the wiring and braking system/connection from car to trailer.

If this is a regular trailer with regular tail lights things should go fine. Be warned that the Oliver has LED tail lights that pull very little current, so I got warnings on my Audi dashboard about something like "Trailer Tail Lights Not Working." I could see with my eyes that the lights were working, so ignored it, and drove from Tennessee to Utah. From some online research on Audi Forums I found a solution, an electrical adaptor that plugs into the seven pin connector. More info in an earlier forum thread HERE.

[DonnaDuane]

OMG that is good to know. Thank you again David.

 

I have another question about wiring and controlling the brakes on the trailer. Did your Audi come with a manual over-ride brake controller?  My understanding is that simply having the Audi brake pedal apply the trailer brakes is insufficient, and that some kind of manual control for emergencies must be on the vehicle.

 

What do you know about this?

[topgun2]

I can't specifically talk about the Audi since I have never owned one, but, with every brake controller I've ever used there has been a manual control.

 

Bill

[DavidS]

I have another question about wiring and controlling the brakes on the trailer. Did your Audi come with a manual over-ride brake controller?

 

I bought my Audi new, and I purchased the Towing Package option, which includes increased engine cooling capacity, a trailer hitch receiver, the 7 pin connector, and pre-wiring for a brake controller. However from what I read on Audi forums, this pre-wiring is hidden under a dash panel, at least for pre-2017 models. Since you have to wire the brake controller in (no quick connect harness is available like in many cars), I decided to go with the Tekonsha Prodigy RF Wireless Brake Controller. It has worked really well, and if you are getting one you should read my post HERE.

 

The Airstream AirForums have a very long thread on towing with Porsche Cayenne, VW Touareg, and Audi Q7, and you may find it useful.

[DonnaDuane]

Thank you David. I imagined the wireless would be a good option until I read someone saying they had problems with it pairing. But, if you've had no problems, that system seems the easiest and most convenient.

[John E Davies]

Thank you David. I imagined the wireless would be a good option until I read someone saying they had problems with it pairing. But, if you’ve had no problems, that system seems the easiest and most convenient.

 

I think a lot of experienced RVers would agree with me that your controller should be 100% bulletproof, since a failure could be a real irritant, if not deadly. I know Bluetooth has come a long way in the last few years, but I don’t think these systems are nearly as robust as they should be. Do you really want to worry that your brakes might not be paired?

 

If you can get a Tekonsha P3 to work with your German car, that would be my recommendation.

 

There are so many other things to worry about, like your tires.... Have you bought a TPMS kit yet?

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[DonnaDuane]

John, I'm checking into pros and cons of wireless vs. hard wired. Thank you for your input. I'm with you on getting a bomb proof system. Given the steep mountain roads I intend to drive, I want bomb proof. The idea of doing a "Thelma and Louise" doesn't appeal to me ;-).

 

If I can simply plug the hard wire system into an existing plug on the car, I think I'll go that route. I need to check with Audi as to whether I have it. People with Audi's say it's there.

[donthompson]

I may have been the first Oliver owner to use the RF brake controller that David mentioned. I recommended it to him. I’ve towed with this controller with two VW Touareg TDI vehicles. The only thing the RF controller that you plug into the 12v recepticle does is allow you to adjust the amount of braking force on your trailer brakes. Once you set up the brake controller and set the braking level, you can tow without the hand-held unit that plugs into the 12v recepticle. The actual brake controller is mounted on the tongue of the Oliver and is hard-wired. When you plug in the 7-pin connector, the brake controller is active and functioning. I’ve towed many miles with this brake controller and it has performed flawlessly. I do like to have the hand-held unit resting in my lap while towing in case I want to apply the trailer brakes independently to correct any sway, but I’ve never had to use it for this purpose.