newbie towing mistake

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Posted by Peter (170.218.219.21) on 15:54:58 07/30/10

I'll be the first to admit that this could have gone very badly.

I offered to rent a scissor lift for my local religious insitution to help save the cost of hiring someone to change lightbulbs in the sancutary's 25ft ceiling. This was to be a $200 DIY instead of $1000 service call charge. The rental location is about 10 miles away with a 1 mile downhill and 1 mile uphill between us (elevation change of about 200ft each way so roughly a 4% grade).

The weight of the lift was 4000lbs but I don't know the weight of the trailer (see similar) .

My vehicle is a 2000 K1500 Suburban, 85K miles. No towing upgrades and an aftermarket class 3 hitch.

I pulled out of the rental facility and got to the downhill (speed limit 45mph). I knew enough to drive slower than the rest of the traffic so everyone passed my going downhill. I used gear "3" and "tow/haul". I pumped my brakes as I went to keep from speeding up too much but by the time I hit bottom, I had no brakes and a yellow light in front of me. I hit the horn and kept right on going. I used the uphill to reduce my speed and ended up doing about 25mph by the time I hit the top. The rest of the route was pretty flat (I was so paranoid by then that I avoided every slight rise or downhill I knew of). By the time I got to my destination, I was ready to park it and call to have it picked up instead of driving it back.

In the end, I drove it back but this time I used "2" on the gear selector for the downhill and was able to keep my speed at no more than 25mph going downhill. My brakes held and all was well.

I have to think I was lucky not have killed myself or anyone else on the first trip. I also think that the surge brakes on the trailer did not perform and I mentioned this to the rental place. They seemed puzzled.

I asked my tech about the brakes going out and he was not concerned - he didn't think I did any damage to my vehicle. He did remind me to pump the brakes more next time.

I know there is a lesson here but aside from the general "don't do ______ if you don't know what you are doing", I can't quite phrase it.

Any comments?

Follow Ups:

Re: newbie towing mistake - 92sub 17:41:26 07/30/10 (5)
- $1000 service call - Peter 08:43:40 08/02/10 (0)
- Re: newbie towing mistake - Ben 23:21:58 07/30/10 (3)
  - Re: newbie towing mistake - Ben 12:07:17 08/05/10 (2)
    - surge brakes - Peter 15:29:56 08/05/10 (1)
      - Re: surge brakes - Ben 23:14:46 08/05/10 (0)

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Comments:	: I'll be the first to admit that this could have gone very badly. : : I offered to rent a scissor lift for my local religious insitution to help save the cost of hiring someone to change lightbulbs in the sancutary's 25ft ceiling. This was to be a $200 DIY instead of $1000 service call charge. The rental location is about 10 miles away with a 1 mile downhill and 1 mile uphill between us (elevation change of about 200ft each way so roughly a 4% grade). : : The weight of the lift was 4000lbs but I don't know the weight of the trailer <a href="http://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/equipment.aspx?itemid=0240150&catid=s421"> (see similar) </a>. : : My vehicle is a 2000 K1500 Suburban, 85K miles. No towing upgrades and an aftermarket class 3 hitch. : : I pulled out of the rental facility and got to the downhill (speed limit 45mph). I knew enough to drive slower than the rest of the traffic so everyone passed my going downhill. I used gear "3" and "tow/haul". I pumped my brakes as I went to keep from speeding up too much but by the time I hit bottom, I had no brakes and a yellow light in front of me. I hit the horn and kept right on going. I used the uphill to reduce my speed and ended up doing about 25mph by the time I hit the top. The rest of the route was pretty flat (I was so paranoid by then that I avoided every slight rise or downhill I knew of). By the time I got to my destination, I was ready to park it and call to have it picked up instead of driving it back. : : In the end, I drove it back but this time I used "2" on the gear selector for the downhill and was able to keep my speed at no more than 25mph going downhill. My brakes held and all was well. : : I have to think I was lucky not have killed myself or anyone else on the first trip. I also think that the surge brakes on the trailer did not perform and I mentioned this to the rental place. They seemed puzzled. : : I asked my tech about the brakes going out and he was not concerned - he didn't think I did any damage to my vehicle. He did remind me to pump the brakes more next time. : : I know there is a lesson here but aside from the general "don't do ______ if you don't know what you are doing", I can't quite phrase it. : : Any comments?
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