For my "Scary Experience"
I was towing through downtown Atlanta with my Crew Cab Dually and my conventional 32 ft 'no slide' (which I prefer too) TT. It had a low center of gravity similar to an airstream and I ensured that the suspension and brakes were in great working order.... Thank God.
It happened really really fast...
I am in the heart of Down Town Atlanta and a driver in the left lane does a "swoop and stop" type maneuver where they cut you off and then slam on the brakes.
I just happened to be off the accelerator in a "coasting" mode and the driver swooped in front of me, I couldn't even see their tail lights in front of me, and I instinctively hit the brakes hard, thankfully I did and I avoided rear ending this idiot.
A Time Based brake controller would have resulted in me destroying the little car, the proportional brake controller did its job superbly and applied FULL POWER to the trailer brakes as I slammed on the TV's brakes. A 3 second ramp up would have caused me to hit this swoop and stopper.
RV.net literally SAVED a life as it was this forum that convinced me to replace the time based brake controller.
Second issue wasn't so much scary as it was dependent on a solid towing set up.
Same trip actually...
I hit lower Georgia... between Macon and Valdosta at night... there was construction for about 15 miles or so and a barrier was set right on the outside of the right hand lane... of course there were signs ever where that said trucks stay in the right lane or something like that.
Traffic was heavy that night.. very heavy... I was able to maintain my lane for 15 miles, in the right hand lane, with no room on a hard shoulder due to the solid barriers with vehicles passing me on the left... no sway, no wiggle, no issues at all.
Appropriate truck, well set up WD hitch, and dual friction sway controls, and my not so panicky self all contributed to a safe situation.
I had a dually at the time... I despised this vehicle for what it was not... It was not comfortable, it had hot floors, fixed steering wheel, manual windows, and terrible seats... but it was one heck of a stable tow vehicle.
When we go back to a TT, I may be looking at another dedicated TV just for these times when Mr. Murphy crosses my path. When that happens, Mr Murphy, You don't have time to set things up properly,buy the right tow vehicle, add the right brake controller, add another sway bar, adjust the hitch, or fix the brakes.
Being prepared for Mr. Murphy means being prepared... TV, RV, Hitch...Finally, you. You must be mentally prepared to pull that trailer (no matter what size).
I know you have been bouncing around the idea between a megacab 3500 Ram Diesel and a Half Ton SUV to tow something...
Both can do a great job... just be careful on your choice and the heavier the trailer gets lean more towards the heavier truck.
As huge of a fan of a half ton truck I am... for a 7500-8000 lb plus trailer, with my 800lb family, I am going to go with a HD truck or SUV.
Thanks and good luck!
Jeremiah
