Please don't let me be misunderstood

As Eric Burdon opined in his 1965 version of the Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus classic "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", certain people just don't seem to get it. At all.

Unlike Burdon, though, I'm not singing about boy loves girl stuff, but rather why some in the RV community refuse to see (or read and digest) simple stuff relating to the dynamics of towing. OK, I can hear you all groaning about yet another foray into the world of towing, but hear me out one more time; you never know, you may learn something. Alternatively, you may not learn something but read on anyway as I'll try to keep it light.

This started when I wandered into the online community of RV.NET, a general RV site rather than a specific Airstream, or even travel trailer, site. I should have known better as I perused the galleries of huge pick-up trucks, ever bigger, ever uglier (in my opinion, it's very subjective you know!) than usual, and wondered how a photo of my little minivan might go down. Provocative to the last, I thought "publish and be damned" and put up a picture of the Toad Mobile, conveniently hitched to Towed Haul of course. The first enquiry was as expected, asking how a vehicle with a Tow rating of only 3,500lb could pull such an Airstream? Diligently I wrote back and explained the modifications, the specifications and the general towing ability of the Toyota, expecting perhaps a polite "Oh" or "That's interesting". Only that didn't happen; what I did get was a couple of "you're all going to die if you tow that with that" messages, laced "keep away from me" and "you really need to understand that a truck is the ONLY tow vehicle you simpleton". There was even a "I came across some of these people last summer" line in one message (that was later edited by a moderator, which was interesting).

I wouldn't have minded so much had I not taken the effort to explain how the Sienna worked, but I had. Mention of horse power, centre of gravity, wheelbase, suspension geometry, weight distribution and oil coolers was lost entirely on the respondents, consumed as they were by the holy grail that is the manufacturer's tow rating. 

But there is the misunderstanding.

The Sienna works. With its modified hitch set up, it tows well above the tow rating but without exceeding the axle ratings or the gross vehicle weight rating. It starts well, it stops well and it tows straight. Pound for pound the Sienna's brakes are no less effective than those on a pick up truck, it corners better than a truck, it's more aerodynamic than a truck, the suspension is better than a truck's and the gas mileage is streets ahead of a truck's. But with all this laid out, the good folk of RV.NET still have trouble getting past the tow rating figure. It's a shame that I can't persuade them that this is a figure derived not from exhaustive testing or matching exacting vehicle specifications but decided by customer demand, from marketing requirements and from what the other manufacturers are doing. Fellas, you misunderstand me, and my minivan, but I wish you didn't. Hey ho.

Anyway, I'm getting all geared up for the forthcoming camping season and am looking forward to discussing how the Sienna works as a tow vehicle with anyone unwise enough to ask me about it. If you want to avoid me, though, send me $10 in cash and I'll send you a list of where I'm camping this summer.

To Rally Or Not To Rally?

That is the question.


A large part of the Airstream culture is to meet up with like minded Alumaholics in a field somewhere and exchange tales from a life on the road, swap recipes and suck through one's teeth and cluck disapprovingly at the sight of some poor imbecile towing their trailer with a car, of all things. Tsk. This gathering is known as a Rally.


Bigger Rallies include much music (and singing, probably) and bonhomie around the campfire, weather permitting of course, with organised outings and a whole plan for weekend.


Take it a step up and you can join the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI) where very keen people drive with their Airstreams in a convoy, or caravan, vast distances and enjoy gathering each evening in convenient campsites along the way. Much organisation and camaraderie, I think, and almost reminiscent of the pioneer wagon trains, traveling together and forming up in a protective circle each night. 

A caravan of trailers, or as we Brits might say, a convoy of caravans

The thing is, do I want to be a part of this? Mrs Toad and I are renowned anti-socialites and this sort of activity tends to send us both into a cold sweat even at the very mention of it; could we put ourselves through so much self-inflicted agony?


Well, I know that I don't want to be part of the WBCCI. It does sterling work and I know that many thousands of people get much enjoyment from it, but it's not really very toad friendly. Firstly, it seems to be very hierarchical, with hoards of "officers" who can and do vote themselves privileges not made available to the proles. Secondly, the age structure seems to be weighted very heavily to the older set; not a problem for me normally but on occasion things can be done to the detriment of the younger set, which isn't very smart, really. Then they like you to display your membership number, big and red, on one or both ends of your Airstream, to show that you're a member, naturally, and to identify your trailer in a field of similar trailers. It's not mandatory to display your numbers whilst on the road but when at a rally it is and, being such a contrary toad, I don't really like being told what to do, at least not in my leisure time. Similarly, when at a WBCCI rally, name badges are mandatory as well. Erm, sorry chaps, this sounds too much like something I'd do at work. Finally, there are some cultural issues relating to the over use of plaid shirts, blue berets and country music, but I won't get into that territory; I'd be leaning on an open door, as Terry Wogan used to say.

Airstream with WBCCI number (red) and Air Forums number (blue). Moosetags is an Air Forums chum and I hope he doesn't mind me using this photo - it was in the public domain, Moosetags!

Anyway, having denigrated the WBCCI I should say in their defence that they've brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people and those that run the club are mostly unpaid and hard working; it's just not for me, fellas.


So, not joining the WBCCI, can I still rally? Well yes of course I can. There are lots of people out there who can and do organise much less formal rallies and it's to these that I would go, if I could make my mind up about rallying in the first place. The Airstreamers Club (TAC) is a sort of anti-Wally club where rallies are deliberately free form and no one has to wear a name badge, and I have to say that they're very tempting. Unfortunately, someone at TAC has my appointments diary and is hell bent on me not going to any of their rallies. Without fail, every one they have set up for 2012 clashes with something immovable that I'm doing, which must mean that they really don't want me along! There are also Air Forums rallies, again quite tempting, but none that are yet either on a date that I can do or a distance I can achieve in a weekend. There was even the annual Alumapalooza rally at the Airstream factory (known by some, but not by me of course, as "The Mothership"), close and interesting enough to get my eyebrows raised, but I can't make that, either. 


It seems then, dear reader, that I probably won't be rallying in the immediate future. I shall drag the Airstream independently of other Aluminium Heads, at least this year, and wonder how many recipes I'd missed out on and whether or not I would have overcome my aversion to country music. 


That said, a certain nomadic lady from the Denver area was threatening a rally for those imbeciles that tow with *gasp!* a car. Now that is one rally I would really want to go to, especially as I know that the music would be of the Irish country type!