Hoping to keep it to an SUV... will it work?
I have posted elsewhere about my trailer needs but for the TV... Really would like to keep the TV to a Dodge Durango (V8) which has towing capacity of 7200 pounds. GVW is 7100 pounds and loaded wit...
Forum Discussion
First I never said anything about "Hawk" and his Pilot. The old Pilots were rated to 5000 lbs, with a 500lb TW limit, making the full weight only usable for boats. I believe they weighed about 4300 lbs curb weight....key being the old numbers weren't SAE certified. They are now and have dropped the rating to 4500ish lbs I believe. Towing a 5000lb TT is different than a 5000 lb boat. Hawk gave no indication on what he was towing.
Who claimed an Eq would "totally eliminate" a trailer from swinging? Not me. Just like a 3/4 ton won't "totally eliminate" sway either. Your illusions that a bigger truck will make everything safer is the ignorant position. Every setup is unique, and every setup needs exactly that...to be set up....properly.
But if you think the tow vehicle has anything to do with the "trailer swinging" in an emergency situation, you need to take a physics class. Case in point with this dually:
https://youtu.be/kwOqARlw1EI
Now that dually surely kept the truck upright verses a srw or suv, but the trailer doesn't know what it is being towed behind.
I'm not "ignorantly" bashing anyone...only using what you said were your numbers. I'll respectfully double down on it, anyone having trouble towing 3500 lbs with a Tahoe had an improper setup.
Just because someone has been doing something for a long time doesn't mean they are any good at it. If that were the case every cab driver would be racing NASCAR. Working as a farm hand and a roofing contractor in my younger years I have plenty of bad towing experience with unsafe setups. That still doesn't mean anything.
When I see guys claiming that towing a 35ft 11k lb rig at 70 mph with a 6500 lb srw 3/4 ton is safer than a 6000lb suv towing a 30 ft 7000lb trailer, I call it out. How is 11k lbs pushing 6500 lbs not the "tail wagging the dog" but 7000 lbs pushing 6000 lbs is? 15" of wheel base will offset 4000 lbs?
When I see guys talking about the "bigger brakes" on the 3/4 - 1 ton trucks but read reviews like this from Car and Driver about a f250 diesel: "Stopping from 70 mph required 221 feet—and maybe an anchor. After just three stops from 70, the brake pedal sank to the floor." I call it out.
When I see guys talking about "short wheel base" vehicles, but fail to mention anything about hitch ball to axle distance, or the handling tests that all j2807 certified vehicles have to meet...I call it out. That's why fifth wheels handle better, zero hitch to axle distance. If you have a 20" longer wheel base, but a 20" inch longer hitch to axle distance, you aren't gaining anything, and potentially losing some stability based on the vertical arm and moment on the hitch ball.
Again, the idea that a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton towing at it's J2807 limits is any safer than an SUV towing at it's j2807 limits is guesswork at best. Is a dwr safer than a srw? I'm sure in some situations it is. But a Semi is safer than any 1 ton is some situations. But there is CG, total weight, and a host of other issues that will make each situation unique.
The last area has to do with the driver. We all have cognitive decline as we age, that is why elderly people drive slow, and good for them. I never get upset seeing an older person driving slow, they are driving withing their limits, unlike the 1 ton driver towing his 40ft fifth wheel at 75mph. That being said, when the **** hits the fan, I'll take the reaction time of the 30 year old over the 75 year old any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Who claimed an Eq would "totally eliminate" a trailer from swinging? Not me. Just like a 3/4 ton won't "totally eliminate" sway either. Your illusions that a bigger truck will make everything safer is the ignorant position. Every setup is unique, and every setup needs exactly that...to be set up....properly.
But if you think the tow vehicle has anything to do with the "trailer swinging" in an emergency situation, you need to take a physics class. Case in point with this dually:
https://youtu.be/kwOqARlw1EI
Now that dually surely kept the truck upright verses a srw or suv, but the trailer doesn't know what it is being towed behind.
I'm not "ignorantly" bashing anyone...only using what you said were your numbers. I'll respectfully double down on it, anyone having trouble towing 3500 lbs with a Tahoe had an improper setup.
Just because someone has been doing something for a long time doesn't mean they are any good at it. If that were the case every cab driver would be racing NASCAR. Working as a farm hand and a roofing contractor in my younger years I have plenty of bad towing experience with unsafe setups. That still doesn't mean anything.
When I see guys claiming that towing a 35ft 11k lb rig at 70 mph with a 6500 lb srw 3/4 ton is safer than a 6000lb suv towing a 30 ft 7000lb trailer, I call it out. How is 11k lbs pushing 6500 lbs not the "tail wagging the dog" but 7000 lbs pushing 6000 lbs is? 15" of wheel base will offset 4000 lbs?
When I see guys talking about the "bigger brakes" on the 3/4 - 1 ton trucks but read reviews like this from Car and Driver about a f250 diesel: "Stopping from 70 mph required 221 feet—and maybe an anchor. After just three stops from 70, the brake pedal sank to the floor." I call it out.
When I see guys talking about "short wheel base" vehicles, but fail to mention anything about hitch ball to axle distance, or the handling tests that all j2807 certified vehicles have to meet...I call it out. That's why fifth wheels handle better, zero hitch to axle distance. If you have a 20" longer wheel base, but a 20" inch longer hitch to axle distance, you aren't gaining anything, and potentially losing some stability based on the vertical arm and moment on the hitch ball.
Again, the idea that a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton towing at it's J2807 limits is any safer than an SUV towing at it's j2807 limits is guesswork at best. Is a dwr safer than a srw? I'm sure in some situations it is. But a Semi is safer than any 1 ton is some situations. But there is CG, total weight, and a host of other issues that will make each situation unique.
The last area has to do with the driver. We all have cognitive decline as we age, that is why elderly people drive slow, and good for them. I never get upset seeing an older person driving slow, they are driving withing their limits, unlike the 1 ton driver towing his 40ft fifth wheel at 75mph. That being said, when the **** hits the fan, I'll take the reaction time of the 30 year old over the 75 year old any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
