Turning Radius

[Carmen]

Hi,
I'm looking at purchasing a 21C. It is equipped with an E2 Fastway WDH. My tow vehicle is a Cayenne diesel with a turning radius of 20ft. I need to be able to drive up my driveway and do a 270 turn before backing the trailer into its parking space. I don't want to back it up the driveway because it is relatively steep so not ideal. My turnaround space is tight so I need to make the turn at full lock of the wheel.

My question is does the E2 Fastway limit the turning radius of the trailer due to the bar movement. I read what I could on their website and it indicates it could be a problem with binding depending on setup. I would appreciate feedback if you have found you can only turn so sharp with your trailer before encountering a problem.

Bob

[Ron in BC]

I've made some pretty tight turns with my WDH and not had a problem. But my parking place off to the side of the driveway involves a couple of pretty tight turns. Since one parked the WDH is coming off anyway I just pull over before my driveway, remove it, and park.

Ron

[Pauly D]

Hi, I only have about 3,000 km of experience with our E2, but I can also confirm it's capable of very tight turns. Our Jeep GC has a turning radius just a little less than your tow vehicle, I think. I've been very impressed overall with the E2. Before picking up our E19 in July, I wondered if we'd need to remove the anti-sway bars for parking, etc, but nope. Hopefully you don't need to remove the bars to park your trailer as this would (for me anyway) involve an extra step to raise the tongue slightly to take the pressure off so you can remove the bars, then lower again. Even if if you have an electric jack (which I don't), it would still be an extra step. (They all seem small but they all add up.) I really appreciate the E2 for stability, safety, and relative ease overall. Have fun and safe travels, Paul

[JeffinBC]

F-150 here. The E2 can accommodate very tight turns if needed. I’m usually more worried about cracking my tail light on the trailer than the hitch binding up. Good luck.

[diannelgraham]

Originally Posted by Carmen

Hi,
I'm looking at purchasing a 21C. It is equipped with an E2 Fastway WDH. My tow vehicle is a Cayenne diesel with a turning radius of 20ft. I need to be able to drive up my driveway and do a 270 turn before backing the trailer into its parking space. I don't want to back it up the driveway because it is relatively steep so not ideal. My turnaround space is tight so I need to make the turn at full lock of the wheel.

My question is does the E2 Fastway limit the turning radius of the trailer due to the bar movement. I read what I could on their website and it indicates it could be a problem with binding depending on setup. I would appreciate feedback if you have found you can only turn so sharp with your trailer before encountering a problem.

Bob

I tow my 21C with a Tacoma and tight turns are no problem except when it's too tight. Last winter in AZ I got myself into a situation where the turn was way to tight and I cracked my trucks back taillight on the storage box. Lucky it's a complete module and it was an expensive but easy replacement.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Pauly D

Hopefully you don't need to remove the bars to park your trailer as this would (for me anyway) involve an extra step to raise the tongue slightly to take the pressure off so you can remove the bars, then lower again. Even if if you have an electric jack (which I don't), it would still be an extra step.

How do you figure that? The jack goes up, the jack goes down, whether you do it before or after a tight parking situation it's still the same one step. I don't do it because I've ever had a problem and it's much easier to remove (and hookup) when the tug is straight on to the trailer, not at an acute angle.

Originally Posted by JeffinBC

F-150 here. The E2 can accommodate very tight turns if needed. I’m usually more worried about cracking my tail light on the trailer than the hitch binding up. Good luck.

Me too.

Originally Posted by diannelgraham

I tow my 21C with a Tacoma and tight turns are no problem except when it's too tight. Last winter in AZ I got myself into a situation where the turn was way to tight and I cracked my trucks back taillight on the storage box. Lucky it's a complete module and it was an expensive but easy replacement.

Probably, hopefully, not as expensive as one on an F150. They wanted $3500 at first then $2400 after loud protests to replace a tail light with a known defect. Fortunately reached a settlement for $600.

Ron

[Carmen]

Thank you for all of the answers. They give me peace of mind that I should not have any problems maneuvering in my back yard.

Sorry to hear about mishaps turning too tightly but appreciate the heads up.

Bob

[SageRpod]

You should be fine. Just heed the advice from the others about potential contact between the front storage box and the vehicle. We used an E2 when we had our Rpod/Nissan Frontier rig. Made some super tight turns(well, as tight as a 2017 Frontier can turn (which is similar to an ocean liner)but didn't have a front storage bin like the Escapes. That is a terrific hitch and once you dial it in, it will serve you well.

[Vermilye]

I was lucky - my 2018 "dumb" tail light (version without the additional electronics) was under $50.00.

After that I moved the storage box latches so that they were no longer in line with the taillights.