Level trailer
I think we all agree that the best towing experience is had by having a trailer that is level or slightly nose down. My questions is, what is considered to be "slightly nose down". I am sure everyone ...
Forum Discussion
This is what Ron Gratz (towing guru who used to post often here) posted a few years ago on this interesting thread.:
Yes, trailer nose down will move the CG slightly more forward.
But, the movement is so slight I doubt anyone would be able to detect an influence on towing stability.
Let's assume the distance from ball to axles' midpoint is 200".
Let's also assume the CG is 20" above TT's effective pivot point.
This means a 1" drop in the height of the ball coupler would cause the CG to move forward about 0.1".
With a ball to midpoint distance of 200" and a TW% of 15%, the "level" CG location would be about 30" forward of the axles' midpoint.
If you move the CG from 30" to 30.1" forward of midpoint, you change the TW% from 15% to 15.05%.
I think there would not be a noticeable effect on towing stability.
Personally, I found an improvement by having the nose slightly down compared to level. The most important thing about being slightly nose down has to do with braking. This is from another knowledgeable RV.net poster, also from a few years ago:
During panic braking the nose of the tow vehicle will dive because of weight transfer. When this happens the back of the tow vehicle and front of the trailer will raise up. This is not a good situation because the weight of the trailer will try to lift the back tires of the TV off of the ground. Braking with two tires is not a good thing and you want all tires of the TV braking equally. When the nose of the trailer is down like you have it; it will form a straight line when in panic braking mode; which is a good thing.
Yes, trailer nose down will move the CG slightly more forward.
But, the movement is so slight I doubt anyone would be able to detect an influence on towing stability.
Let's assume the distance from ball to axles' midpoint is 200".
Let's also assume the CG is 20" above TT's effective pivot point.
This means a 1" drop in the height of the ball coupler would cause the CG to move forward about 0.1".
With a ball to midpoint distance of 200" and a TW% of 15%, the "level" CG location would be about 30" forward of the axles' midpoint.
If you move the CG from 30" to 30.1" forward of midpoint, you change the TW% from 15% to 15.05%.
I think there would not be a noticeable effect on towing stability.
Personally, I found an improvement by having the nose slightly down compared to level. The most important thing about being slightly nose down has to do with braking. This is from another knowledgeable RV.net poster, also from a few years ago:
During panic braking the nose of the tow vehicle will dive because of weight transfer. When this happens the back of the tow vehicle and front of the trailer will raise up. This is not a good situation because the weight of the trailer will try to lift the back tires of the TV off of the ground. Braking with two tires is not a good thing and you want all tires of the TV braking equally. When the nose of the trailer is down like you have it; it will form a straight line when in panic braking mode; which is a good thing.
