Sway Control - Who Saved the Day?
Hello, folks. Been an RV'er for a little over two years, and had an experience about seven months ago that prompted me to join this forum just to get your thoughts on it. I grew up towing EVERYTHING...
Forum Discussion
Wow, John. Sounds like an exacting case study. I have pulled across the Cat scales at truck stops a few times just to check GCW and get a mental picture of weight distribution but I don’t remember the exact numbers. We are set up at an RV park down at the beach this weekend but I may hit the scales on the way home Sunday and take you up on a more detailed workup.
I didn’t get too much into the cause of the incident earlier because it wasn’t the point of the post, but for the benefit of those interested, the replies here are spot on. Not enough tongue weight. At the time I was unaware of the location of the fresh tank and didn’t realize what I was doing to weight distribution when I filled it up. Additionally, I had recently had a receiver hitch welded into the frame on the back for a bike carrier. We had four bicycles hanging on it, and I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference. With hindsight, four adult bicycles hanging 18’ or so behind the center of the axles would exhibit a TON of leverage.
After the “event”, I pulled over into the breakdown lane and drained 3/4 of the water out and put two of the bikes in the living area. That eliminated the white knuckles for the rest of that leg and the next morning I made more adjustments prior to starting the second leg. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
I didn’t get too much into the cause of the incident earlier because it wasn’t the point of the post, but for the benefit of those interested, the replies here are spot on. Not enough tongue weight. At the time I was unaware of the location of the fresh tank and didn’t realize what I was doing to weight distribution when I filled it up. Additionally, I had recently had a receiver hitch welded into the frame on the back for a bike carrier. We had four bicycles hanging on it, and I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference. With hindsight, four adult bicycles hanging 18’ or so behind the center of the axles would exhibit a TON of leverage.
After the “event”, I pulled over into the breakdown lane and drained 3/4 of the water out and put two of the bikes in the living area. That eliminated the white knuckles for the rest of that leg and the next morning I made more adjustments prior to starting the second leg. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
