Tony & Peggy Barthel - StressLess Campers

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What can you tow with a Jeep with Girl Camper

What can you tow with a Jeep with Girl Camper

StressLess Camping Podcast
Podcast, Podcast Episode 318

Is it safe to tow a travel trailer with a Jeep?

What can you tow with a Jeep? Can you tow a travel trailer at all and what are the best choices if you can? This week on the StressLess Camping RV podcast we bring Lesa McDermott from Girl Camper back who has towed with a Jeep.

We also share an essential RV gadget that is a multi-tasker.

Other places to hear the podcast

If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.

We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.

Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 318

Peggy

What can you tow with a jeep? 

Tony

Can you tow a travel trailer at all? And what are the best choices if you even can? 

Peggy

This week on the Stressless Camping RV podcast, we bring back Lisa McDermott from Girl Camper. 

Tony

And she has towed with a Jeep and has some good advice. 

Peggy

Yeah. Great advice for us. We're also gonna share an essential RV gadget that is a multitask. 

Tony

It might not have originally been, but we make it one. 

Peggy

We have this week's podcast along with the notes and all the stories that go with this episode and deals, discounts, and more at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com. 

Tony

Don't forget to like and share, and thank you for joining us for Stressless Camping RV podcast episode three eighteen. Stressless camping. I'm Toni. 

Peggy

I'm Peggy. 

Tony

We're two RV industry veterans who travel part time 

Peggy

In a Rockwood mini lite. 

Tony

Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips 

Peggy

Tricks. 

Tony

And discounts. 

Peggy

We have a little bit more of that history Uh, there was, you know, again, this is from Reserve America that we originally found the article. Well, we originally heard the article from John and Kathy Huggins 

Tony

Yeah. Live in the RV journey. Years ago. Yeah. 

Peggy

And they found it on Reserve America. And these are a couple of really shorties. Yeah. So let's start with the what they refer to as the cooler chest, which I call an ice chest. 

Tony

Yeah. That's true. But unless you have an RV with a refrigerator, you probably have one of these at your campsite, especially if you're a tent camper. 

Peggy

Yeah. So in 1957, Coleman actually introduced an insulated cooler with a steel shell and an inner plastic liner, and that replaced the old fashioned steel ice bins, which would, you know, sweat and rust, and they didn't stay cold for very long. 

Tony

Did you have one of those? 

Peggy

Oh, yes. 

Tony

Yes. So did I. They had them in green and red. I believe we had a red one with that latch that, you know, I don't know, it was 

Peggy

Well, that was the Coleman. Right. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So then in 1960, Igloo company went one up and introduced the first all plastic cooler chest. 

Peggy

Right. So no rust. No well, probably still a little sweat, but not like the the rust that used to have with those steel ones. 

Tony

Ice chest the last time I saw it when, you know, as after my dad passed away. And there it was. It was still theirs and but it was starting to rust. But now, uh, you know, we have reviewed a bunch of 12 volt coolers, and we actually keep one in the back seat of our truck along with the battery pack. So 

Peggy

Right. 

Tony

You come a long way, baby. 

Peggy

Yeah. Now if you don't wanna go the 12 volt route and you still wanna do the old sort of old fashioned traditional cooler, one way to keep from having your sandwiches get soggy and all the other problems is to use refreezable ice packs of some sort. So 

Tony

Something else that we have tested. So on stresslesscamping.com, there are quite a few cooler reviews because I just like them. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. 

Tony

But one of the coolers as opposed to portable ice, you know, the portable 12 volt coolers, we have an inflatable cooler. So we you can even read that review or see our reviews of all the 12 volt coolers. So it's Coolerpalooza. 

Peggy

Cool palooza. 

Tony

Ain't that cool? 

Peggy

Yeah. The other one and this really is short in Reserve America, and it's the history of the s'more. Yeah. And, of course, this ubiquitous camping treat. Well, uh, so apparently, the first time it was written down or, you know, found in public was in 1927. 

Peggy

The original recipe was in a Girl Scout manual called Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts. Now now now be not fixed. 

Tony

Who thought of? What? Who thought of that? 

Peggy

They were tramping around the forest. 

Tony

I guess. I guess. So 

Peggy

And Anyway. You know, of course, the traditional, uh, recipe is a little piece of chocolate, a marshmallow that you cook to whatever level you want to over the campfire, and all of that sandwiched between two graham crackers. And we love to play with that recipe a little bit. We had some friends tell us, oh, don't use a Hershey bar. Use a Reese's peanut butter cup. 

Peggy

Oh, my my my. Now I don't really like marshmallows. 

Tony

No. 

Peggy

So I will literally just smash a Reese's cup between two graham crackers and call it a s'more. 

Tony

We also recently we got this gadget when we were in Pagosa Springs, and you can put, uh, little peppers in this gadget Yeah. And put them in a barbecue. But what we thought of no. Actually, I think the guy 

Peggy

The guy 

Tony

who sold it. Yeah. Yeah. Those waffle cones that you can buy, put those in, stick the chocolate in, um, a marshmallow and chocolate I 

Peggy

think so. Marshmallow. Yeah. Some marshmallow. And then you put that in 

Tony

a barbecue. We'll show you a photo of that thing. It was pretty cool. That dude was pretty cool too. 

Peggy

I also recently saw someone take, like, one of those Lindt Lindt brand chocolate balls. 

Tony

Oh, oh, I was thinking, like, Lindt from the dryer. 

Peggy

From the dryer, the chocolate balls, and skewer it, and then cover it in marshmallow fluff and cook it over the fire so that the marshmallow fluff was on the outside. So the chocolate was melting, and then the marshmallow was on the outside. 

Tony

You've gotta share at our Stressless Campers fun and friendly Facebook too. 

Peggy

Tell us your fancy 

Tony

s'mores recipe. Got some alternative to the s'more. We'd love to see or hear it while read it because you can't really hear it. Although I guess if you have a reader, you could. I guess. 

Peggy

So Tony found another fun story to share. 

Tony

So in the Grand Tetons, there is a fox or foxes that are stealing shoes. And I guess, you know, some people leave their shoes outside their RV or outside their tent, and fox or foxes are swiping the shoes. And officials have it's gotten there are 32 as of this recording. 32 shoes that have been 

Peggy

spiked. Wow. 

Tony

I know. But officials are warning people to put their shoes inside or in their vehicles or, you know, basically not putting them where the fox fox or foxes can get them. Well, people are purposely putting their shoes outside so they could see the fox. 

Peggy

Now that's cute, but I think very much like food food conditioning or boot conditioning or shit, flip flop conditioning animals, you know, that can cause a problem. And if the animal then becomes troublesome, the animal ends up being put down. 

Tony

Yeah. It's it's not good. 

Peggy

You know, it's cute, and I think it's hilarious, but I'm not sure I could really Right. Recommend it. No. Uh, when we first moved here Oh, 

Tony

I was gonna share that story. 

Peggy

When we first bought our house and we didn't have furniture yet, so we were kind of sitting in here working. And then when it was bedtime, we'd go to the travel trailer. And because we had a lot of fox not foxtails. We had a lot of, uh 

Tony

Oh, goat heads. 

Peggy

Goat heads, stickers. So Tony would berries. Tony would take his shoes off and leave them outside. I would leave mine on until I got in and leave them right by the door. But Tony left his outside, and one night we heard the coyotes, and we hear them all the time. 

Peggy

Yeah. But one night they were obviously very, very close. And in the morning, he got up and one shoe was missing, and it was dragged underneath the trailer, and it was chewed to the point where he couldn't wear it. The strap was broken. 

Tony

Get rid of it. Yeah. So there I guess, 

Peggy

you know, we lost some coyotes. The coyotes. 

Tony

Instead of trying to shoo them away. 

Peggy

Oh, that's what we need to do. 

Tony

Yeah. Well, we're even We 

Peggy

are getting on the road in a few day. Well, tomorrow to those of you who are listening or watching now. That's true. 

Tony

Yeah. And guess what? The fridge is cold and running. Yep. And we haven't shut the darn thing off since we got there. 

Peggy

We really haven't. Yeah. 

Tony

Part of the reason is we have our master volt power system from ABC Upfitters keeping everything running. I go out there and look. I'm like, oh, I wonder how much battery it's used. Mhmm. And it's been just incredible. 

Tony

So the fridge is running, you know, obviously, the freezer. Uh, we actually we now have used it as like the garage fridge 

Peggy

for so many people. Fridge. 

Tony

Yeah. So it's just out there running. And that's just one of the many benefits of this system from ABC Upfitters, 

Peggy

the 

Tony

Mastervolt Power System. 

Peggy

You know, another benefit is gonna be I mean, we only have a few days. I really got to get out there and start packing, but, you know, I got a lot of work to do. Anyway, I think that because it's so hot outside, the day that I decide to pack, we'll be able to run the air conditioner for a few hours and make it not uncomfortable. Now, from the house to the camper back and forth is gonna be hot. So I'll go cold through the hot to the cold, through the hot to the cold, through the hot. 

Peggy

Maybe I'll start raining. 

Tony

Oh my gosh. But we also use that system. So when we're pulling up to you know, we're we're gonna stop for the night Mhmm. We figure about an hour, hour and a half before we kick the air conditioner on in the trailer. And, uh, by the time we get there, it's usually pretty pleasant inside there. 

Tony

So and that's all on battery power. So anyway, it's a very flexible system. A lot of people think of it only for boondocking, and it really does work well for that. But if you would like a system that kinda meets what you want meets or exceeds what you wanna do, whether that's off grid camping or just keep the refrigerator running or whatever it happens to be, our friends at ABC Outfitters are happy to customize the system for you. How can I find them? 

Peggy

Well, you could try calling (574) 333-3225. 

Tony

Wait. Isn't that (574) 333-3225? 

Peggy

No. No. It's (574) 333-3225. Or you could use this link and find them on our website. 

Tony

Absolutely. Well, I wrote an article about the 13, the lucky 13 trailers you might be able to tow with a Jeep. 

Peggy

That's a big number. Isn't it? I didn't think it would be that many, actually. 

Tony

Check out the article at our home on the way. But I shared it with Lisa and Janine from Girl Camper. And I said, you know, this might be a good thing for us to talk about on the podcast. Well, long story longer, we ended up we're gonna hey. Let's do a joint podcast. 

Tony

So this week's podcast will be both here and at girlcamper.com or wherever, you know, where you listen to podcasts Right. So you'll get the same topic. And the idea was that we were gonna record Lisa with video and audio and then 

Peggy

Like we do any Yeah. 

Tony

Like we do any of 

Peggy

our guests. Right? 

Tony

So I had this brilliant idea with the software that we use. Uh, typically, a guest well, anyway, I screwed it all up. And so we got Lisa's audio, fortunately. 

Peggy

We did. But we did 

Tony

not get Lisa's video. And I'm I just I feel so bad because, you know, she went out. She has this beautiful field by her house. Yep. Uh, she went out and sat in front of her camper. 

Tony

It was so nice, and I just blew it. But, anyway, Lisa 

Peggy

did send us a picture, a similar picture. So when you see instead of actually seeing Lisa talk, you'll see Lisa in essentially the same position, but you won't see her mouth move. Right. To the left hand figure that out by AI. 

Tony

Somehow AI her. Anyway, without any further ado, or I don't 

Peggy

Let's talk to Lisa. 

Lesa McDermott

Hey, folks. I'm Lisa with Grow Camper. 

Tony

Hey. And I'm Tony with Stressless Camping. 

Peggy

And I'm Peggy with Stressless Camping. 

Tony

And hey. Hey. We're all gathered around this digital and virtual campfire to talk about what you can tow with a jeep or not. 

Peggy

I think did Lisa's campfire is a little less digital and virtual. I I think I remember. I know where she's sitting, and there might be a fire pit right in front of her. 

Tony

Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

Yes. There's one not very far away. 

Tony

It's funny because I think, typically, this time of year, we would be outside. But once again, it was raining. 

Peggy

Yeah. 

Tony

It's pouring. And, of course, it rains just enough that all of the, uh, the Russian thistle, which is tumbleweeds, are growing like nuts on our property. Wild. But I can't get rid of them because it rains just enough so that anything I do to get rid of them washes off. 

Lesa McDermott

I know that problem. I have little thistles around my office, and it's a daily thing to go out and spray them. And and, uh, yeah, if there's any any amount of rain, which I wish we were getting more of here in the Black Hills, yeah, it did definitely hinders their dying process. 

Peggy

We're having a good monsoon season, which is good for all things except tumbleweed. 

Tony

Well, no. It's good for the tumbleweed. 

Peggy

This is a good time. It's not good 

Tony

for us. Such is life in the desert. The you know how we're gonna solve that? We're leaving next week for three months. 

Peggy

And then we won't know it's there. 

Tony

Yeah. It's ignore any problem. It'll just go away. 

Lesa McDermott

Three months? Oh, I'm just jealous. 

Tony

Two. Two. 

Peggy

I don't know why he keeps saying three. 

Tony

Because I'm nuts. Well, it just seems like that long. We'll be gone August, September, and October. 

Peggy

No. We'll be home on the October 3 to go to Balloon Fiesta. 

Tony

Well, that's but we're still gonna be gone. For three days. Right. At Balloon Fiesta. Anyway Alright. 

Tony

What can you tow with a Jeep? Or not. Let's talk about towing first. So if you go to an RV dealer or a car dealer well, I guess there's not many car dealers. There are now truck dealers. 

Tony

But if you go to an RV dealer or a vehicle dealer, they're gonna talk about how much you can tow. And it's a spectacular number. And you might hear, oh, my Wrangler can tow 5,000 pounds. And maybe. But what those people are talking about, and we have our very first super deluxe graphic for those of you watching 

Peggy

High-tech visuals. 

Tony

Is pulling. 

Peggy

Is how much can you pull? Because a man can pull a train car in the right situation. 

Tony

Yeah. You can this is my dad pulling a caboose, and you can pull a 100,000 pound rail car on a flat track. The problem is it's very difficult to stop, and it's on rails, so you don't have to control it. And what really matters is how much can you control with your vehicle and what it can handle, you know, in in challenging situations. So our second fancy graphic here, high-tech graphic. 

Tony

What you really need to know is how much you can carry because whoops. The tow vehicle actually has to carry about 15% of the trailer. And so let's say this trailer is 4,000 pounds. Uh, I should have picked a number that's easier to do math. 300. 

Tony

Yeah. Okay. So that means 300 pounds is pushing down on the tow vehicle, roughly. 

Peggy

I was wrong. It was 600. Four four thousand is 600. 

Tony

Oh, you're right. That's even worse. So that's where a lot of vehicles get caught up is how much they can carry. And it's not just what this thing can carry, but also, let's say you bring your dog and your bicycles and maybe a kayak and your partner and, I don't know, a whole lot of baloney. For whatever reason, you really like baloney. 

Tony

I I don't judge. I I just you know, it is what it is. 

Peggy

The important thing is how much how much cargo, and that cargo includes that 15 or so percent, the tongue weight of the trailer. 

Tony

Yeah. And a lot of these weight distribution hitches, people don't so you see a trailer advertised. Let's say it does say it's 4,000 pounds, but that's usually the dry weight. So that's before they put propane, a battery, water. 

Peggy

Before you put your clothes and your dishes and your toiletries and your 

Tony

Yeah. Baloney. 

Peggy

Tea set and your Yeah. Twinkle lights. 

Tony

And all those ingredients for s'mores. All of that stuff adds to the weight of the trailer. Yes. So you might say, okay. So now I I realize maybe I'm overweight. 

Tony

How do I actually know? So all you have to do, third fancy graphic here, is open the door of your vehicle, and inside there'll be a sticker that shows what that vehicle is rated to carry as well as pull. And so that's where you wanna go to find out how much any vehicle can carry. And this is a lot of people that we talk to have half ton pickups, and they're like, oh, I wanna we're very involved in the MiniLite, Rockwood MiniLite, FlexF MicroLite, and a lot of people wanna tow a 2,500 series Rockwood MiniLite because it says it's mini and light with a half ton truck. And then they do those numbers, and it's completely overweight. 

Tony

And and there's a lot of reasons you don't wanna be overweight. And trust me, I know all about being overweight. You can lose control more easily. It can damage components in your truck. Um, if it's too low in the back, your headlights are actually misaimed. 

Tony

And also, the more weight you put on the back, the less weight you tend to have on the steer axle. And that can mean your handling really gets compromised as well. So, again, back to loss of control or a dangerous towing situation. So there you go. There's there's my so how much can you tow with a Jeep? 

Tony

Well, we have a towing calculator that you can use, and you can plug in let me get my fancy graphic again. You can plug in these numbers and all the numbers from your trailer, and you can figure out legitimately what you can tow. So that's there's your basic towing primer from your friendly neighborhood RV geek. 

Lesa McDermott

But I think we need to mention, though, Tony, that even though those numbers may come in and say you can tow 3,500 pounds, you need to also factor in that you don't really wanna get to 3,500 pounds. 

Peggy

Right. 

Lesa McDermott

You wanna have a cushion in there. 

Tony

Yeah. I I totally agree with that. 

Peggy

Mhmm. 

Tony

Another thing that, uh, is important is any trailer over 3,500 pounds has brakes on it, and you will absolutely want a brake controller because then the trailer isn't just weight that's trying to shove you forward, but it's actually participating in the stopping process, which is also good for safety. But you're right. I I like not pushing things to their limits with towing because that's where you have more chance of mechanical failure or loss of control or all all the bad stuff that is not fun. 

Lesa McDermott

Exactly. And I've got personal experience with that, with towing with the Jeep. 

Tony

Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Do you wanna share that, or you're like, nope? 

Lesa McDermott

No. No. That's that's why I I when you asked about doing this podcast, I was like, oh, please. Yes. I wanna do this. 

Lesa McDermott

Because, um, I've owned two Jeeps, um, both bought them brand new and towed with with both of them. The first one and both of them had, um, 3,500 tow capacities on them. The first one was a Jeep Sahara. So it's gear ratio. Now that's important when you're looking at Jeeps because the lower I mean, I might get this screwed up, so, Tony, you as a car expert, please jump in and correct me. 

Lesa McDermott

But I believe the lower the gear ratio on it, the less it's really capable for towing or ideal, I should say, for towing. The higher the the gear ratio. So if you're looking at, like, a Jeep Rubicon, those are gonna be better for towing. But keep in mind with Jeeps, especially the Wranglers, they're really not made for towing. They are made for going rock crawling. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Can they tow? Sure. But most of them have a maximum tow capacity of only 3,500 pounds, and so that's really limits what you can tow. And then you need to take into consideration too the differentials on them. 

Lesa McDermott

So my Sahara, one of the things I didn't know at the time was that Jeep Mopar actually recommends that you change the differential fluid from the stock differential fluid into ones that is designed more for towing and that you need to do that on a more regular basis, like every 30,000 miles instead of every 100,000 miles. Um, how did I learn that? Because I burned my differential up. 

Tony

That's not good. 

Lesa McDermott

Not good. Yeah. Not good. And I was towing at the time, uh, an r pod one seventy seven, which I thought was also totally within the the towing capacity of my Jeep because at that time, that, um, particular camper had a dry weight of 2,300 pounds or 2,800 pounds, something in there. And I think it was 2,300 pounds. 

Lesa McDermott

And one day, I decided I'm gonna go to a CAT scale, one of those commercial truck scales at a at a truck stop, and I'm gonna weigh what my camper actually weighs. And I was floored to find out, yeah, with all my accoutrements, which weren't a lot, but plenty enough, that camper actually weighed 3,400 pounds. 

Peggy

Wow. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. 

Tony

It's funny. As we were unpacking from our last trip, we have these foldy crates that we, you know, that we bought at Costco that we use when we go to Costco. And the number of crates that felt very heavy that I toted out of our trailer, I was thinking, my gosh. Because our truck so we have a 2,500 Ram, uh, that it's a towing beast. And we were going through the mountains of Utah, and it was struggling. 

Tony

Yeah. And I'm thinking, man, is that trailer extra heavy? And I I think it was we have not taken it to a CAT scale, but CAT scales for if you don't know, they're all over the place frequently at truck stops. And it's, like, $15 to weigh your your vehicle, and it's worth every cent of that. But if you're if you go another reason to go to, like, FRVA conventions or escapees conventions or a lot of these larger gatherings is they'll have someone there who, uh, they weigh the truck and trailer by wheel. 

Tony

So each wheel so you not only know how heavy the front wheels, back wheels, trailer wheels are, or, you know, the weight on those wheels, but side to side. Some of these trailers are very heavy on one side are are Yeah. Heavier on one side than the other. Yeah. So that's I've already, uh, at the frog rally, which is coming up, I've already scheduled to have our trailer weighed. 

Lesa McDermott

Lippert also makes, um, a home use tool, and, um, we'll I'll I'll I'll give you the link to it so you can put it into the show notes, um, that they sent me one a few years ago. And you can plug it into your little, um, oh, it's the little connector under the dash. 

Tony

Yeah. The OBD two. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. That. And it will, yeah, it will actually tell you what you the weight is of what you're towing. 

Tony

It's we have one too. And you know what? I haven't used it on this trailer yet. Oh. But I now you've given me something to do, you know, something to do, but you know what I'm saying. 

Peggy

Oh, I think I know where that's hidden. 

Tony

I know exactly where 

Peggy

it is. 

Tony

Oh, yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

Mhmm. 

Tony

That's also good. Um, and then there's a company called Weigh Safe that makes hitches that actually have scales in them. 

Lesa McDermott

Oh, wow. 

Tony

So that we have one on the way. Yeah. Because I'm curious. But, yeah, I mean, weight is, as my doctor keeps telling me, it's really, really important how safe you're going to be, and it's it's always best to know your numbers. And it's not just I mean, Jeeps, of course, but any vehicle you're towing with. 

Tony

And some of the other factors of towing is you're really putting a lot of strain on brakes and cooling and transmission and engine and all of that. And some vehicles have cooling systems, auxiliary cooling systems for the transmission and for the engine oil, and that helps to keep those running better. Um, so there's a lot of it's not just the brakes, but all these different systems. The brake controller is important, um, and all of that so that this is one of the reasons a lot of times people say, but I don't wanna buy a pickup. But they're so well designed for towing. 

Peggy

Well, and then then you get into if you're overloaded, if you've got too much trailer for your tow vehicle and like Tony said, then you, you know, it it pulls the back of the vehicle, it lifts the front of the vehicle, you don't have as much control, you're fighting it constantly. It's way more stressful even physically on yourself. 

Tony

Yeah. Boy, that's the case. It's it's Yeah. Yeah. As you're fighting that thing, it's no fun. 

Peggy

Yeah. Well, I 

Lesa McDermott

don't know what your guys' feelings are on weight distribution hitches, but I swear by them. I will I don't care what vehicle I am towing with. Um, we have a 3,500, um, Ford truck because, you know, we tow you know, we're at the construction business, so we tow massive, um, pieces of equipment. But, you know, again, I don't then that's not my tow vehicle. My actual tow vehicle is no longer a Jeep. 

Lesa McDermott

It is a Toyota four Runner. We can talk about that a little bit. But I I I don't care what vehicle I'm towing with. I'm gonna swear by a weight distribution hitch with built in sway control because, one, it's going to help distribute that weight, um, to make it a little bit easier on your tow vehicle. And the sway control, yeah, I I I I cringe every time I see someone online say asked, do I need a sway a sway bar or anything? 

Lesa McDermott

And someone says, I've towed for ten years, and I've never needed one. 

Tony

Yeah. That's yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

You only need it once. Right? 

Peggy

And those guys don't know how much they're tiring themselves out by the, you know, by fighting that. 

Tony

Peggy has a great tip. So one of the one of the reasons I've heard said of why people don't like weight distribution is how difficult, like, forcing those bars off. But Peggy has a great tip. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. There's tricks on how to do that. 

Peggy

Well, so we have the it it I think it depends on how your bars are, and some people have chains and stuff, but our bars slide directly into, like, sockets, basically. And we used to, you know, lift and then pry that bar out and then pull it out of the socket and the hitch. And then one day, I just pulled backwards and balanced it so it stayed in that bracket on the tongue of the trailer, and now that's where we store it. Like, we don't have to fight it and take it all the way off the trailer. We just take it out of the truck. 

Peggy

And I don't know what took us so long to figure that out, but now it's like you just slide them backwards, balance them in that in that, um, bracket, and then that's a good place to store them. You don't lose them. You don't misplace them, And they're right there ready to go back in. 

Tony

Well, I know probably the vast majority of the people listening to this are saying that's why you have a power tongue jack. You lift the back of the tow vehicle 

Peggy

Well, yeah. 

Tony

So that you take the stress off the bar, And then you don't have to use any tools. You have a tool, and that's the power tongue jack. 

Peggy

Oh, was that the tip I was supposed 

Tony

to give? 

Lesa McDermott

Sorry. I was gonna give that one, though. So give me the two a tow. 

Tony

Like I say, probably the majority of the people here are like, hey. Hey. You know, they you can hear them hollering from 

Peggy

miles away. So definitely, that's what we do first. We lift the lift the tongue up high enough that it takes the pressure off those bars, and then it's not a fight to get the bars out. 

Lesa McDermott

Exactly. And you don't need a power tongue jack for that. You can I mean, I don't have 

Peggy

one? So That's true. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Just screw them up. But but the other benefit of a weight distribution hitch that people don't often think about is that secures that down onto the ball of your tow vehicle 

Tony

Mhmm. 

Lesa McDermott

Really, really well. So the chances of your camper popping off the ball when you go over a bump are pretty slim. Good call. Alone. For 5 or $600, the cost of a weight distribution hitch is so worth it to me. 

Tony

Yeah. And the sway cam Camco made the hitch we have now, that EASELIFT TR three. I love that thing. It is just you can dial in and out sway control with it, which is good because if you know it's gonna be windy, you just add some more sway control to that hitch, and it it it works. It's really well done. 

Tony

It even will survive getting rear ended. 

Lesa McDermott

There's a story there, I'm sure. 

Tony

Not that 

Peggy

we recommend getting rear ended. 

Tony

No. Yeah. We don't. That's that's not something we recommend. 

Peggy

The trailer didn't survive it, but the hitch did fine. 

Lesa McDermott

That's so good to hear about that hitch because I'm actually trying to get Camco to send me one. I have, um, a a a different brand of a weight distribution hitch that I've had for years. I do love it, but it is one that metal grinds on metal. 

Tony

And those are common. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. But I'm pretty sure people from five miles away hear me coming when I go around. And I know the one that you're talking about from Camco, uh, that's one of the selling points on it is that there's not the metal grinding on metal sound. So 

Tony

Yeah. It's it's really I'm very, very pleased with it. It is it has now lasted us through three trailers, one rare ending. 

Peggy

True. 

Lesa McDermott

That's good. But let's get back to talking about Jeeps and what you can and cannot tow. So, you know, I think it is, yeah, really important that you do know what the tow capacity is. And you were talking about what your vehicle can carry. Now is that the same thing as tongue weight? 

Tony

Yes. 

Peggy

Okay. Tongue weight is part of what your vehicle can carry. 

Tony

Right. I mean, it's like the you know, like I said, all the all the cargo you put into the so let's say it's you bring here it is. Here's the fancy graphic again, and that's fifth you know, about 15% of the trailer is being actually carried by the tow vehicle, whatever it is. 

Peggy

And that's a really generic number. Every trailer is gonna be a little bit different. So that's why weighing is so important. You can't just assume 15%. 

Tony

But that's a rough number. 

Peggy

But it's a yeah. It's a good estimation. 

Lesa McDermott

Most, um, RV manufacturers indicate what their tongue weight is? 

Tony

They do, but they give you the dry tongue weight. And you've gotta think when you go get a travel trailer, now you're filling the propane tanks and putting a battery or two. And, you know, then you put all the stuff in the front compartment, if you have one, of, you know, like, the blocks and the the sewer supplies and all that stuff. And, usually, that's ahead of the axle on the trailer, so you're adding to the tongue weight of that trailer. 

Peggy

Or conversely, all that stuff is going in a con in a pass through. Ours is a pass through in the back of the trailer, so all the storage is in the back. So then we're lifting the weight of and and taking that much tongue weight off of the trailer isn't necessarily a good thing either. 

Tony

No. That's where they get squirrely. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Exactly. That's where that you've seen that video online of the little the tow the toy truck. Yeah. Pulling something, and he's able to move the weight around. 

Lesa McDermott

And when he gets it all to the back of the trailer, the trailer, yeah, starts doing 

Peggy

that. Yes. 

Tony

Gets all squirrely. 

Lesa McDermott

Such a good vehicle. And I always get nervous when I hear people talk about, oh, I'm putting a bike rack on the back of my trailer. I think that is the worst thing you can do. You know? Because one, they're not made for that back there most of the time. 

Lesa McDermott

They're not you know? Those areas are not made. Those axles are not made. You know? It's gotta really be attached to the axle, I believe. 

Lesa McDermott

And you start putting bikes back there, especially ebikes, that g forces that are going on back there, oh, man. Yeah. 

Tony

Yeah. It's most very, very, very few bike racks actually will say approved for use on a trailer. Because if you look at how well, most trailers have really lousy suspensions. And the if you look at behind the axle, how much of travel there is and how much motion 

Peggy

Bounce. 

Tony

That you know, take, uh, like, let's say you take an aluminum can, you know, or a piece of aluminum. Right? You can you can flex it, and it's fine. But if you really flex it a lot, you're gonna break it in half. And that's the same thing with what's behind the axle of a trailer, is you're really putting a lot of stress on that, all those components, and that's how stuff breaks. 

Tony

And suddenly you get to the campsite like some friends of ours, and, hey, we don't have bikes anymore. There are there and, I mean, the other hazard of that is if they fall off and cause an accident 

Peggy

Yeah. Where did those bikes go? Were they on the highway? Did someone hit them? You know, if you didn't know they fell off, you don't know if you caused an accident with them. 

Tony

But your lawyer may find out. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And if people are questioning what we're saying here, uh, take an opportunity to go ride in a bus and ride in the front seat and then ride in the very back seat and see if you can feel the difference. You know? 

Lesa McDermott

Or the same with an airplane if you're flying commercial, ride in that very back row and see how much rougher it is back there than it would be if you were there's a reason first class is up first. 

Peggy

Can I can I try it in a travel trailer? Right in the front 

Tony

No. We've done that. 

Peggy

No. Don't do that. 

Lesa McDermott

When I was, uh, a volunteer on our ambulance crew, they had us ride in the back of the ambulance to kind of really drive into us. If you are driving the ambulance, be very cautious going around curves, especially if you're running hot because the people in the back are gonna be thrown around. 

Peggy

Flopping all over. 

Lesa McDermott

Wow. Yeah. 

Tony

How did you get an IV there? 

Peggy

I didn't have this bruise when I got on the ambulance. 

Tony

Right. I was healthy. I just stubbed my toe. Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

And now I'm carsick too. 

Tony

So I I think, really, the bottom line is know your numbers and tow within your numbers and just be the more you know, the the better you tow. Oh, how's that? 

Lesa McDermott

Well, and especially with Jeeps because I do see and I get it. Jeeps are cool. Jeeps are fun. Jeeps have done the Jeep company has done a wonderful thing of building community, And, you know, you got your Jeep wave. 

Tony

And the Ducks. 

Lesa McDermott

And the Ducks. And, you know, that started in COVID. Thank you, Canada. That was a Canadian thing that happened. Oh, really? 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Um, so, you know, I I get that. But they really aren't the Jeep Wranglers are really not meant for towing. I don't care what the dealership is going to tell you. That and and keep in mind, your salesman who's selling you the car, don't trust them per se. 

Peggy

Right. 

Lesa McDermott

Do your own research, especially when it comes to towing. Um, and like I was telling you about the differential, my own Jeep dealer did not know that, that the differential fluid should have been changed out, um, and and kinda questioned where I came up with that. And I found it online, and they ended up calling Mopar and which is Jeep's, you know, parts division. And Mopar said, oh, yeah. It's right here in the service manual. 

Lesa McDermott

And Oh, man. Was. So when I traded that Jeep in for my second Jeep, uh, I did have the dealership at that time switch out the the differential fluid. Um, but even my second Jeep always had issues when I was towing. I never went on a long time trip without something happening with it. 

Lesa McDermott

So, um, and in fact, the the the last one was heading out to Girl Camper Camporee in California, and I ended up breaking down in California and had to trade it in on an on a new vehicle. But, ironically, I had just, uh, done an article on six tow vehicles based on a consumer report, uh, article that had just come out on vehicles that were known to go the distance, and that meant 200,000 miles. So I extrapolated from consumer reports what were six vehicles that could be used for towing, and four of them were Toyotas. And Wow. Superbuzzing. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. One was the Ford f one fifty, and then the other one was a Honda. Um, so I knew at that time, yeah, I was gonna be looking at a Toyota, and I ended up with a Toyota four Runner, and I have not looked back since. And the Toyota four Runner has a 5,000 tow capacity, so I'm super happy with that. But Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

They're a community. We don't do Ducks. We do baby Yotas. 

Tony

Oh, yeah. Toyota. 

Peggy

Yeah. You 

Lesa McDermott

know? But I will say, come on, Toyota. The the the TRD, I should know what that means 

Peggy

on the side of them. But you know what everybody says. You know how everyone pronounces it. Right? 

Lesa McDermott

I did not know that until somebody pointed out that I now drive a turd. 

Peggy

That has 

Tony

to be, like, one of the from such a brilliant company, that TRD has to be one of the one of the most crazy things because it stands for Toyota Racing Development, but it's Turd. 

Lesa McDermott

It's a Turd. 

Peggy

And you don't really need a racing truck to drive to tow a travel trailer. 

Tony

I think the I think the implication is Toyota did very, very well in the Baja races. And so that's where that's the races they're talking about. And they did very well, and they did do a lot of racing development, but there's better acronyms than turd. 

Peggy

But I wanna I wanna make sure we don't kind of gloss over what Lisa said. Dealers don't necessar not okay. I'm not saying dealers are liars. I'm saying dealers aren't always educated. Right? 

Peggy

And and I'm talking about RV dealers and vehicle dealers. They Yeah. They might both be wrong. So this is why, you know, it's up to you to well, might. Yeah. 

Peggy

It's up to you to educate yourself. Whatever your dealer says, you know, that that saying trust, but verify, you can believe them, but make sure that you, uh, you know, you understand how things work and follow through. Use your stickers and use your calculator and make sure that they they want to sell you something. Right? And so they're gonna tell you anything. 

Peggy

And we know so many people who didn't know ahead of time and unfortunately listened to a dealer, and then either they've gotten an accident or they've had to, you know, sell their two month old truck and start over, or they can't tow, you know, all these different things because they just didn't know. And so that's what we wanna make sure that people understand what it is they need and understand that not the dealers don't understand. 

Tony

Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna say, as somebody who worked at an RV dealership, there was literally zero towing information available. I'm sure it's out there, and now that's one of the reasons we've become such you know, they talk about the tow police. Well, that's us. And we've become such advocates of knowing your numbers because at the dealership, there was no place I could go to learn more about this. And it was, you know, again, it was what the what the vehicle manufacturer said and is, oh, you can pull 5,000 pounds with this thing. 

Tony

And you're like, Yeah, but you can't use I 

Peggy

can pull 5,000 pounds with my teeth in the right situations. Dang. She dang. 

Tony

That's pretty I do 

Peggy

have good teeth. 

Tony

Yeah, she does. Not me. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Because just because you can doesn't mean you 

Peggy

mean you should. 

Tony

Right. Oh, yeah. That's for sure. There's not really a good well, I'm sorry. There hasn't been a great resource to learn this. 

Tony

We hope that we've created one 

Lesa McDermott

Right. 

Tony

That people can use. But but, yeah, there was no that's something the RV industry could really get behind is better education on towing or just refer them to us. 

Peggy

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

You know, and if you're con curious on what your vehicle's tow capacity is, there are sites online, and, again, we can put links to them in the show notes, that you can plug your VIN number in, and it's going to tell you for your specific vehicle exactly what its tow capacity is, your dry weight. 

Peggy

Right. And and because that kinda brings up another point. Somebody somebody who has two visibly identical vehicles Jeep Wranglers. Two Jeep Wranglers with the same model number and the same year and the same color and the same leather. I don't know. 

Peggy

They don't necessarily have the same numbers because there might have been a tow package put in one or there might have been, you know, you just they're not all the same. So when someone says, well, I tow with an f one fifty, you can tow with an f one fifty, There's so much more that goes into it than that. 

Tony

Well, and here's another thing. You know, you talk about cargo capacity. So let's say your Wrangler, the cargo capacity on that sticker is 900 pounds, which is kinda typical. Well, then you add running boards and kayaks and a roof rack and brush guards or whatever, the hot dog. All of that is cargo. 

Tony

Yeah. And so you may have started at 900 pounds, but now you're down to seven. And then you add, you know, a co pilot and a dog, as you said, and now you're putting your kayaks and bikes. Well, you may be close to the total capacity before you ever put a hitch on that thing. 

Peggy

Yeah. And things that you don't you don't think to measure, like you said, the running boards or if you, I don't know, change the rims on your tires and you end up with some heavier fancy thing or, you know, roof racks. Those things that weren't counted when it was come came out the manufacturing line, and you don't think of them because they're permanent fixtures now. Those 

Tony

still don't. Cargo. Well, we'd weighed our previous Ram, which was a 1,500, but it had the we bought it used. It had running boards and wheel flares and a camper shell and blah, blah, blah. There was hundreds of pounds of stuff put on that truck, all of which made it less capable as a towing vehicle. 

Peggy

Right. And that wasn't reflected in the sticker because it all was after. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Very good point. Very good point. You know, but the nice thing too, getting back to, you know, what can you tow with a Jeep? And and, I mean, I'm really focusing on the Jeep Wranglers. 

Tony

Right. Which makes sense. 

Lesa McDermott

Because when you start looking at I mean, you do have to look at the Gladiators, um, because I'm I'm not sure if they are all 5,000 capacity. Some of them may be only 3,500 too. But when you're looking at the other you don't wanna tow with anything less than a Jeep Wrangler. Let's put it that way. A Liberty and all that, I don't think are probably capable of it. 

Lesa McDermott

Um, could be wrong, but let's just stick with the Jeep Wranglers and a 3,500 tow capacity, which is a majority of them. They do have, I believe, one very expensive model that can do 5 or 6,000 now, um, but a majority of them are either 3,500 or less. The nice thing is there are still a lot of options out there of campers that you can tow with them and tow with them safely, especially when you start looking in the overlanding area. At the the campers, they're gonna be small. You're not gonna have a lot of bells and whistles on them, um, but you still can there are still a lot of options out there that can 

Tony

Yeah. 

Peggy

Tint you 

Lesa McDermott

out camping, and then you can have a ton of fun with them. 

Tony

Yeah. And there's there are some great overlanding. And some of the new tents, you know, the pop up campers are actually pretty doggone nice and surprisingly easy to deploy. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Did you guys get to the Overlanding Expo in Arizona? 

Peggy

In Flagstaff. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I'm jealous. 

Peggy

I can only imagine. It was our first time going to an Overland Expo, so we had a good time. 

Tony

Yeah. It was there was so much to see. 

Peggy

So much. 

Lesa McDermott

They are like an outdoor RV show on steroids. 

Peggy

Yes. Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

The Overland Expo ones that you and I are talking about, and that's what they're actually called, Overland Expos, um, have such great educational opportunities there all day long. 

Tony

Yeah. I see. And we didn't go to any of that because we're too busy looking at all the gadgets. 

Peggy

Yeah. But on the other hand, we're not we're not gonna go jeeping. We're not gonna go, you know, off not, uh, camping and not, you know, it's just not a thing that we do. You know, all my nephews go out mudding and tear up their trucks and stuff, and that's just not if we're gonna do that sort of exploration, we're gonna pay a tour company to go on that trip with a driver who knows what they're doing. We've got 

Tony

tent camping, though. 

Peggy

I know. But I'm saying the off road stuff. Like, the the really heavy the really Well, 

Tony

that's true. Yeah. 

Peggy

Serious off road over landing stuff, rock crawling. That is not our lifestyle. So the education of learning how to do that wasn't really that vital to us. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's, I guess, why I ended up with a Jeep is that was something that my husband and I thought we really wanted to kinda get into. And we did do it a little bit, but, honestly, I was so terrified of scratching my Jeep. A little more stressful. 

Tony

I've taken our truck on some of the trails here in, you know, in the desert. And that's actually fun, the stuff it's capable of doing. 

Peggy

And when he says trails, he means, like, labeled roads, but they're barely more than washes. 

Tony

Yeah. Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

For us out here, too, kind of the same thing. Some of the forced service roads, um, I love I I still love doing that with, um, even though it's not my Jeep anymore, but with my Yoda my Yoda turd. 

Tony

Well, you know, you had two Jeeps, and now you could say turd times the charm. 

Peggy

Oh, boy. 

Tony

Dad jokes. 

Peggy

I guess I'm downloading the pun alert again. 

Tony

Well, I think we've done a good job of of giving people enough information that they're like, oh, doggone it. 

Peggy

I can't tell with this. I gotta buy a new vehicle. Yeah. Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

Or I'm more confused now than ever. 

Tony

Well, we have a whole towing guide, uh, and a story about what can I tow with my jeep at stresslesscamping.com? There's your cheap plug 

Peggy

for the bait. 

Lesa McDermott

I think that's great. Because it's it's all about education, whether it's stressless camping, girl camper, you know, that's what we wanna do. We wanna help people learn because, I mean, we weren't born nor this information ourselves either. We had to learn, and in my case, I had to learn the hard way. 

Tony

Well, I think that's everybody. And I think resources like the GirlCamper website and Facebook group are really good at helping people understand these things. Because it's not you get so much misinformation from dealers of all sorts and also some, you know, social media sites. And so being able to truly put this knowledge in people's brains is we may be saving some people's wallets or lives. Yes. 

Lesa McDermott

Yeah. We sure hope so. 

Tony

Yeah. That's the goal. 

Lesa McDermott

Yep. And, you know, both of us are available too. You know, if you've got a question on any of this, just shoot us a message. Um, you know, either either website or whatever. Um, especially if you're looking at a specific camper. 

Lesa McDermott

Um, you know, like, take my Newcamp three sixty c s. Can I tow that with a Jeep? Nope. Can I tow it with a four Runner? Yes. 

Lesa McDermott

I can. Alright. 

Tony

Yeah. We're all available for if you have questions in it. It's a pleasure when people reach out. 

Peggy

Yes. Yes. It is. So It makes it worth looking at all the junk email that we get to find those legitimate actual questions where we can help someone. 

Lesa McDermott

It does. Isn't that so true? 

Tony

Did you see that the Girl Camper podcast is in the top 10 in there's this study thing. I don't know if it's a study. I don't know what criteria they used, but it's this 50 podcast or million podcasts website, and Girl Camper is in the top five. 

Lesa McDermott

Oh. Aren't you guys in that list though too? Yes. 

Tony

We're in the top five too. 

Peggy

Yeah. That's what 

Lesa McDermott

I was thinking. 

Tony

So we're both in the top five. 

Peggy

Yeah. Yay. 

Tony

It's always a pleasure seeing you. I own my only regret is that we're not physically there where we could pop a beer or just share a hug or whatever. 

Peggy

Yeah. 

Lesa McDermott

Wish you were here too. I mean, just filming this as we were, um, a little baby deer, and you might have actually caught it on camera, went running right by. Um, and then about ten minutes later, his mother just went by and one of the cats just came running up here, wearing a little tickerem tree. So 

Peggy

You know, we were filming one time in our backyard, and about three quarters of the way through, someone said, did you know that coyote ran through there? And we hadn't I hadn't seen it well, we hadn't seen it filming, of course. I hadn't even seen it when I edited. Like, I didn't even notice it. 

Tony

They're they're really they fit, uh, blend in really well, which is, you know, kinda how they're designed, but 

Lesa McDermott

That's true. Well, guys, it has been so much fun, and I appreciate you having me on. I love doing this and love always visiting with you guys. 

Tony

Yeah. Absolutely. Appreciate you're having us on. So thank you again, and always a pleasure. 

Peggy

Yes. 

Tony

Are you gonna go tow with a Jeep or not? 

Peggy

Uh-huh. Well 

Tony

Yeah. Well, you you 

Peggy

You know if you want the kind of RV that the travel trailer that you can tow with a Jeep, then tow it with a Jeep. Yep. That's the answer. 

Tony

So Peggy made something really good this week. Yes. Well, not that that's unusual, but 

Peggy

Kind of. 

Tony

Well, it kinda is. 

Peggy

Well, anyway, I have been trying to really, really stick to my low carb diet, not diet, food plan, eating plan, way of life. And this week, earlier this week, I really wanted a bread, you know, like, I really like sandwiches. I like to hold something. And that requires some sort of bread or something so you're not, you know, just holding a piece of cheese. Well, I decided to make some chaffles. 

Peggy

And I don't know if you know what a chaffle, if you've heard of a chaffle, it's basically you cook it in the waffle iron, but it's essentially made of cheese. So I used, in this particular case, I used some shredded cheddar. I add some fiber, some psyllium fiber so that it kind of helps it puff up a little bit and an egg. 

Tony

So Wait. Why is it being so psyllium? 

Peggy

Why are you being so psyllium? 

Tony

Because it's me. 

Peggy

So I mixed all that stuff up and I was putting it in the waffle iron and I thought, well, you know, I I guess I'm gonna make a ham sandwich. And then I thought, well, wait a minute. Can I make a hammy chaffle? So I did. I used that cheese mixture. 

Peggy

I put a thin layer. I stuck a slice of ham there, put more cheese, and closed the waffle iron. And then the ham was baked right into the wall. So then I just had a handheld pocket, I guess. I don't know. 

Peggy

But anyway, uh, it was really tasty and there is, uh, you know, I just figured this is a super easy and really, really, really versatile idea. You can put anything in the middle of the cheese. You can use any kind of cheese, you know, just an an egg and cheese is really all it takes. Well actually I guess cheese is really all it takes. But I like the egg and I like the fiber to help it puff up and look more waffle like. 

Tony

Well, there you go. 

Peggy

So that recipe is on the website. And, you know, like I said, there are probably a million combinations. So, you know, if you have an idea, why don't you go on Stressless Campers Facebook group and tell me how I can ham up my 

Tony

next No. My next 

Peggy

batch of 

Tony

Yeah. And don't make it too cheesy. Actually, is there really such a thing as too cheesy? No. Well, something that's not cheesy is our air gear tire changing kit and torque and part of what that includes is a torque wrench. 

Tony

And if you have almost any vehicle, but especially a trailer with aluminum wheels, you really should have a torque wrench. And we really, really like this air gear tire changing kit and the torque wrench that comes with it. And we use it for a number of things. We use it for the obvious thing to check the torque on our lug nuts on our travel trailer. 

Peggy

Right. And so we just had the bearings greased, which means they had to take the whole thing off. Right? 

Tony

Right. The wheels had to come off. 

Peggy

The wheels had to come off. They put it back on. Hopefully, they torqued the nuts on properly. But as we learned from Dexter a couple of years ago, after you drive and this is, you know, not really a a set number, but in my mind, I do it this way. 10 miles, a 100 miles, every thousand miles. 

Peggy

So when you first do it and you drive a little way, you know, when you first have your wheel off and you put your wheel back on, you've drive you've driven a little ways, check the torque again. And then in a 100 miles or so, check the torque again. And then if you're not having any problems, then you can let it go a little longer. 

Tony

And it's particularly gear tire changing kit out, and I checked all of the torque and it was all good. Uh, we, the place that did the wheel bearings is about 40 miles away. 

Peggy

So That's the 10? 

Tony

Yeah. There there is the first one and then we'll check it, uh, on our first night again. Um, but I also use that thing, as I've said, for checking the the anode rod in the water heater 

Lesa McDermott

Mhmm. 

Tony

So that I don't over torque it. And we have a new gadget that we're testing, and I use the heck out of that wrench when I put that on the trailer. So Oh. But, yeah, it's just a good thing to have a torque wrench. 

Peggy

Yeah. 

Tony

It's funny how the more you know about the RV world and lifestyle, the more you're like, oh, I need one of those too. So let's hear it as a big cheer for the RV companies that have decent size cargo bays. Yeah. And knowing your weight of your trailer or whatever. 

Peggy

Absolutely. So our torque wrench came from the Air Gear store along with the entire tire changing kit, which is all in a beautiful bag, and we can find it easily. And you can find it easily on our favorite products and services page at stressless camping dot com. 

Tony

Right. Or at the link, uh, in the show notes at stresslesscamping.com. Just look for podcasts, and this is episode three one eight. There'll be a link to the Air Gear tire changing kit there. Ain't that cool? 

Peggy

Cool. Well, the last couple of weeks, we talked about the Pacific Northwest and we were, you know, really pleased to have Brooke Smothers tell us kind of some really good highlights of where to go and when to go to the Pacific Northwest. And we had also on the Facebook group, the Stressless Campers Facebook group, asked for you to give your tips and a lot of you did and we appreciate that very much. Thank you so much for telling us about your locations. We, I don't know, tentatively, I guess, penciled in 02/2017. 

Peggy

No. 02/1927. Uh, 02/1926, of course, we'll be going on Route 66. 

Tony

Yep. That's pretty much gonna consume next year. 

Peggy

And then 02/1927, hopefully, we can make a trip up to the Pacific Northwest. 

Tony

That's the goal. 

Peggy

Based on this week's topic, our question for you for this week is, do you know your vehicle's tow vehicle's numbers? Have you opened that driver's door and looked for that yellow sticker and compared that to the sticker on the side of your travel trailer, uh, and make sure that you weigh your travel trailer because the dry weight is not the weight that it is now. 

Tony

No. I know. That's that's a big surprise for a lot of folks. Yeah. You can answer that at our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group. 

Tony

Yep. You can get to that from our website. We also do a once a week newsletter, which is absolutely free. 

Lesa McDermott

Mhmm. 

Tony

And there is something special. Uh, we are giving away a Camco Rhino Rhino Drain Lock to someone at frog who is on our newsletter subscribers list. So if you're not, now is a great time to join because someone buddy is gonna win one of those Camco drain locks. 

Peggy

That's right. So if you haven't already joined that group, that that list of people who receives a weekly email, just go anywhere on the website. It's gonna pop up. It's gonna be in the middle of every page. It's gonna be on the bottom of every it's all over because we wanna make sure that you don't miss out your opportunity. 

Peggy

We don't want you to forget by getting all distracted by all the cool stuff that's on the list. That's right. 

Tony

You will find the show notes for this episode, number three one eight on the podcast page at stressthescamping.com. 

Peggy

And of course, as we said before, you'll find our page called favorite RV products and services, and that will show you all the things that we think are essential to stressless camping and a lot of discounts. 

Tony

Yeah. There are discounts and also some stuff that's just fun. So there you go. Of course, you know, we're in all the social places, but you can start at stresslesscamping.com because we have links to all the places that we like wasting time because it's probably where you're wasting your time 

Peggy

too. If you're an audio listener and you don't wanna miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping podcast It's free. It's free to subscribe on any podcast catcher, and we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire. 

Tony

And if you're watching on YouTube, we will pause a moment while you find the like button. Oh, thank you. And now find the subscribe button. 

Peggy

You Thank you. 

Tony

Yep. So there you go. It really does help us a lot. So hopefully, you are part of our online family. And now That's right. 

Tony

Back to us. 

Peggy

So did you read also something that you liked on the website? Because there is really easy not to like, but to comment for one thing. I love when people comment on the website. Absolutely. And it's really easy to share. 

Peggy

Just, you know, click a link and go over to Facebook and paste the link. Or if you, you know, need help learning how to share there's actually a whole page on our website about how to share. 

Tony

That's what we have for you this week. We, again, sincerely appreciate your being here with us every week. Uh, it's a pleasure to spend this time with you even though we can't see you, but that's okay. We are packing up. You I don't know if you can see around, like, the piles of stuff. 

Tony

Thursday, of course, it will be, uh, packed in the trailer. And Friday, we will be Uh, we are on our way to the frog rally in Indiana, which is Forest River owners group. So if you have a Forest River RV, you might already be there, and hopefully, we'll meet you. After that, we will be doing some things in Indiana. Then we are headed to, uh, Pennsylvania, our first time there Yep. 

Tony

For the Hershey RV show, also called the world's largest RV show. 

Peggy

It's odd. That's what it's called. 

Tony

Yeah. It's not. But that's okay. I don't care what they call it. We're gonna be there looking at RV. 

Tony

So maybe we'll see you there. Uh, so that's where we're headed. And hopefully, maybe we can have a beer or shake hands or whatever it is. And most of all, stressless camping. Now stay off my lawn. 

Mark Ferrell

Again? We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next stressless camping adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts, which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure, and we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping. 

StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 317

StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 317

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