Air bags and Equalizer????
Wow....I feel like I have been the prodigal son.....first post on RV.NET since 2006. We have had 10 years of sabbatical from RV'ing. But we pick up our new camper in two weeks....and I am stoked!!!!...
Forum Discussion
With a steel spring suspension there is a direct correlation between suspension load and height. Therefore, using an equalizer hitch to bring the front end back down to the normal empty height is simply returning it to its normal load and and position when the front end was aligned. Actually, not quite its position since the rear end is lower and that will affect caster angle some but not nearly as much as leaving the front end up and the back end even lower. If the vehicle drives decently empty there is no way bringing the front back to neutral position is a bad thing. Leaving the front end up can also affect camber and tow-in, depending on how the suspension is designed.
On the other hand, with a weight carrying hitch the rear attachments become pivots and have to carry all of the tongue weight plus the downward force on the front attachments required to balance out the tongue weight. This puts a lot of stress on the rear attachments. Bringing the front of the truck down 25 to 50% simply requires moving the effective tongue weight the same amount closer to the rear axle which places it in the vicinity of the attachment points so that all are pulling down instead of being cantilevered with some pulling down and others pushing up. That would greatly reduce stress on the attachment points. This sounds like what Ford is trying to accomplish, handling be damned. I would love to get a Ford engineer to comment on this. It sounds to me like they need longer and sturdier stringers on the hitch attachment.
More weight causes oversteer, but only if it is more than what was on it when it was aligned and generally only if the front is lowered more than the back. While trailer pulling I would prefer oversteer to understeer.
On the other hand, with a weight carrying hitch the rear attachments become pivots and have to carry all of the tongue weight plus the downward force on the front attachments required to balance out the tongue weight. This puts a lot of stress on the rear attachments. Bringing the front of the truck down 25 to 50% simply requires moving the effective tongue weight the same amount closer to the rear axle which places it in the vicinity of the attachment points so that all are pulling down instead of being cantilevered with some pulling down and others pushing up. That would greatly reduce stress on the attachment points. This sounds like what Ford is trying to accomplish, handling be damned. I would love to get a Ford engineer to comment on this. It sounds to me like they need longer and sturdier stringers on the hitch attachment.
More weight causes oversteer, but only if it is more than what was on it when it was aligned and generally only if the front is lowered more than the back. While trailer pulling I would prefer oversteer to understeer.
