A shout out to the forum towing pros!

Picked up our new TT earlier this week after having been out of the hobby since 2011. Went from a Tundra back then to towing with a Sierra 1500 now. The first thing I noticed is that the delivery/demo guy setting up my rig has already got the head height on my bar and ball set without knowing what my truck is or ever putting a tape measure to anything. I know...should've been a big red flag. I'm just way to quick to assume the other guy is smarter than me and knows something I don't. Next thing I noticed is that the GMC suspension compresses a lot more than the Tundra did when the tongue is lowered onto the ball even though trailer tongue weights and truck tongue ratings are about the same. Lastly, he didn't seem to put much tension on the WD bars at all. Long story short, the thing towed like **** all the way home. Bouncing, light in the front, just not a pleasant experience. So yesterday, while supposedly being productive at my desk, I turned into a sponge here on the forums to soak in as much as I could. With printouts in hand, I reset my ball height and angle properly last evening and then put some more tension on the bars. What a world of difference in just appearance. The trailer is as level as I could have ever hoped for. In all honesty, I thought I would have to invest in some Firestone Ride-Rite air bags to be able to get it right so this is a big sigh of relief. I still need to re-adjust the length of throw on my dual cams to match the changes I made and will do that in the school parking lot up the street tonight as we head out on our maiden trip. Speaking of the Reese Dual-Cam setup, despite everything else being wrong with the WD, the sway performed flawlessly. I had about a 40 minute ride up the 3 lane highway to get home and sway was absolutely non-existent in all situations, so kudos to the Reese DC from this guy! Anyways, thanks to all who have contributed to the towing and WD threads. It was a big help to me & I'm looking forward to getting on the road tonight.

14 Replies

mkirsch
Nomad II
Aug 31, 2015
BarneyS wrote:
mkirsch wrote:
I wonder how the RV dealer would react if you refused to take delivery of the trailer until the WD hitch was properly set up?

I suspect they would claim it IS properly set up, even though they may have no idea what "properly set up" means.
Barney

You're probably right, which then makes me wonder how many people are out there suffering because they don't know any better? "The RV dealer said it was set up right. This just has to be the way it is." How many trailers sit because the owner hates, or is afraid of, towing it?
BenK
Explorer
Aug 31, 2015
Congrat's on doing your self and learning the HOW2's !!!

Too many (both dealer tech's and owners) do NOT step back to take a look at
the Big Picture vs the setup adjustment goal

Turn this dial, turn that knob, tilt this more/less, tighten/loosen, add/subtract
washers, etc, etc and have seen newbies told to run in circles adjusting, readjusting
because 'one' adjustment worked for that adviser...there is no "one size
fits all" here. Myopic and needs the big picture view (60,000 foot level view of the goal)

As it is a system made up of many components and sub-systems
BarneyS
Explorer III
Aug 31, 2015
mkirsch wrote:
I wonder how the RV dealer would react if you refused to take delivery of the trailer until the WD hitch was properly set up?

I suspect they would claim it IS properly set up, even though they may have no idea what "properly set up" means.
Barney
mkirsch
Nomad II
Aug 31, 2015
I wonder how the RV dealer would react if you refused to take delivery of the trailer until the WD hitch was properly set up?
fla-gypsy
Explorer
Aug 29, 2015
Nice work getting it set up right. The Reese DC is an excellent system that performs great.
GMandJM
Explorer
Aug 28, 2015
Shhhhh.....wake not the sleeping wolf....er.....Integrated WatchDog
scbwr
Explorer II
Aug 28, 2015
Personally, I don't see **** (see, are, hay, pee) as a vulgar word, but a much better word when avoiding the four letter word starting with "s" and ending in "t". And, I do believe there is a time and place for vulgarity, but I don't care to use it excessively, otherwise, it has diminished effect. But, what the heck...........
SparkDr
Explorer
Aug 28, 2015
GMandJM wrote:
I really don't see why **** upsets to NaughtyWord Editor anyway. It's pretty tame as vulgarities go.

And yet you somehow managed to get the word past the censors when my use of the same word got ****? How??? Was it my use of a phrase? Profiling? Here come the men in black...you did it now.
GMandJM
Explorer
Aug 28, 2015
I really don't see why crap upsets to NaughtyWord Editor anyway. It's pretty tame as vulgarities go.
BenK
Explorer
Aug 28, 2015
Why too many of the 'advice' on these types of forums are provided as a
'one size fits all' by the advisors

Why it is best to understand and know what the goal is in setting up...

TV OEM's have different 'recommendations' for how much weight is WD'd back to
their TV's front axle...others how much 'height' it should be brought back to, etc

Goal is to have the TV loaded 'within' spec, front end brought back to whatever
the OEM 'recommends'

The trailer tongue is level at its highest pointing, to pointing slightly down

That the WD Hitch system is setup properly and rated for the *ACTUAL* tongue
weight

and a bunch more 'details'...