Forum Discussion
BarneyS
Nov 14, 2016Explorer III
Grit dog wrote:
taken,
I understand your justification for it. No worries there.
And yes if I was pulling as big a trailer as yours with a pickup that is maxed out, couldn't argue that I'd probably want every option available to me to control it in the age er situation arises.
And since we're both repeating ourselves ad nauseum, I'll repeat that my question is, in general, what makes these systems more needed on rvs than all the other trailers out there?
The reason has already been explained earlier. Travel trailers usually have the axles positioned nearly midway under the trailer body/frame. This is done to keep the tongue weight manageable in most cases. Most cargo trailer have them more to the rear and most boat trailer have them almost all the way to the rear. Commercial truck/trailer combinations have the trailer wheels well past the mid point and most are able to slide them to balance axle loads. Often people do not realize how close they are to having an unmanageable trailer until they load it wrong, try to travel with some tanks full, or bump up their speed a bit more than normal and find that "sway point".
They also have more side area than most other types of trailers so are more susceptible to wind forces. They are also often built with axle loading near the limits and with higher CG than many other types of trailers.
For all these reasons, the travel trailer has more tendency to sway at higher speeds than utility, cargo, boat, commercial trailers and should, in most cases, utilize some type of sway control. It may never be needed but is too late to get if needed and not installed.
Barney
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