First long distance tow, questions
We took our travel trailer on our first long distance trip this past weekend. Did about 500 miles round trip. Kept the speeds at 60-65mph or lower depending on curves, so I would say for the first ever long distance tow it was pretty good. I didn't really have any white-knuckle moments. There were a handful of incidents where it felt like I needed to slow down because of sway from crosswinds and the semi trailers would occasionally suck me in/push me away.
This is the WDH that came with the trailer when I bought it used.
http://www.ultra-fab.com/new_detail2.cfm?productid=147
I had two main questions though.
First, there was some "porpoising" of the trailer back and forth. I don't think it occurred all the time, just over certain rough road surfaces. Some threads seem to imply this is normal for travel trailers over rough roads, some imply that it should never porpoise. Just looking for some feedback in that regard.
Second, when I originally setup the WDH I measured the front wheel rise as Ford specifies and it didn't really seem to rise all that much without the weight distributing bars attached. Maybe 1/2 an inch? I would have to lookup the specs of the trailer since I don't have scale weights, but the trailer GVWR is <7000lbs.
When I bought the trailer/WDH used, it was setup with the trailer sitting slightly inclined on the hitch. I adjusted it before we left and it is as even as I can get it. Should I drop the ball down another notch and try to get the trailer pointed down slightly? Also, the ball is angled slightly away from the tow vehicle. Should I try to adjust the ball angle?
Or should I leave good enough alone since it didn't give me any real problems? Realistically, I'm not going to have the time to go find a scale and spend an hour adjusting things at a scale.
Obligatory picture outside of Baker City, Oregon
This is the WDH that came with the trailer when I bought it used.
http://www.ultra-fab.com/new_detail2.cfm?productid=147
I had two main questions though.
First, there was some "porpoising" of the trailer back and forth. I don't think it occurred all the time, just over certain rough road surfaces. Some threads seem to imply this is normal for travel trailers over rough roads, some imply that it should never porpoise. Just looking for some feedback in that regard.
Second, when I originally setup the WDH I measured the front wheel rise as Ford specifies and it didn't really seem to rise all that much without the weight distributing bars attached. Maybe 1/2 an inch? I would have to lookup the specs of the trailer since I don't have scale weights, but the trailer GVWR is <7000lbs.
When I bought the trailer/WDH used, it was setup with the trailer sitting slightly inclined on the hitch. I adjusted it before we left and it is as even as I can get it. Should I drop the ball down another notch and try to get the trailer pointed down slightly? Also, the ball is angled slightly away from the tow vehicle. Should I try to adjust the ball angle?
Or should I leave good enough alone since it didn't give me any real problems? Realistically, I'm not going to have the time to go find a scale and spend an hour adjusting things at a scale.
Obligatory picture outside of Baker City, Oregon
Moderator edit to re-size picture to forum limit of 640px maximum size.
