look to buy a trailer and have a few questions

lenr wrote:
IMO there are cheap, cheaper, & cheapest trailers

Where do Lance Travel Trailers fit in?

WoodGlue

PartyMarty wrote:
Are you willing to buy a real tow vehicle ?
The minimum is a diesel pickup for that size.

Bull poopie

Bruce

slandry786 wrote:
Haste Maker do you feel that all forest river products are made with the same quality or do you feel that you may have gotten a bad apple. What is you new one?

Yes mine was a new one brought in 2012...I don't know about all the different brand name trailers that Forest River makes, only the one I brought & another one a friend brought (both were Sierra) and both were
poorly made & both were the same model...

this was a good explanation also:

The distribution bar sway controls need hitch weight to work - basically when the truck and trailer is in a straight ahead position the ends of the equalizing arms are centered in mating notches. As the trailer moves left or right the arms ride out of the center position and apply pressure to the slanted sides of the notch, pushing the trailer back to a center position.

This makes the hitch self-centering - the hitch is always pushing the trailer back to center. The only adjustment is the amount of tension you put on the equalizing arms, and it works equally well on dry or slick pavement.

A friction bar resists motion in both directions. If they're adjusted too tight they can actually lock the truck and trailer into a turning position if the rear axle of the truck loses traction. This is why their instructions say not to use them on gravel, dirt or in slippery conditions.

quote--Hitches like the Hensley and ProPride fight sway in a third manner - they move the effective hitch rotation to a point closer to the rear axle so the trailer tracks more like a 5th wheel. With the pivot closer to the rear axle, side forces on the hitch have less leverage to affect the direction of the tow vehicle. They do this by locking the trailer's A frame to the hitch head, so they both move as a unit. Levers inside the head act as a parallelogram, moving the hitch sideways as if the trailer was rotating around a pivot located further forward.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2012, 08:37:18 PM by Lou Schneider »-- end quote.

There are 2 types of sway control for a TT. There is a friction sway bar and there are wdh that have integrated sway control. Both the Reese dual cam and the equal-i-zer are wdh with integrated sway control. The difference is in the type of friction they apply. The friction sway bar is a term used to describe one type while wdh w/ integrated sway control describes the other. friction sway bars are recommended for under 26' while integrated sway control is recommended for over 26'.

wdh w/integrated sway control pics

Reese dual cam



equalizer


friction sway bars



Here is some reading to help you out....

wdh on etrailer

how stuff works


rv.net how wdh works

rv.net how to set up wdh

Anaro where are you finding your info on sway control? Thay are all based on friction and im havin a hard time finding any good info on whats rated for what. Also just fyi im licensed to drive any thing as per the state of tx so i fully understand hitching and weight distribution. Just a bit more infoon me lol.


P.s. if you can find any info on sway control please share it with me I cant seem to find much.

with a TT that size you should always use a wdh with sway control. ideally you want a wdh with integrated sway control as that TT is too big for friction sway bars. I'm guessing that the excursion's hitch states weight bearing limit is 500 lbs (class IV hitch). I'm guessing the F350 weight beating limit is 600 lbs (class v hitch). Your TT tongue weight will be significantly over those limits. The F350 will be fine with the TT, the ex will probably be ok with it but again use the proper equipment towing 1 mile or 1000 miles. Also make sure you have a proportional brake controller or an integrated brake controller not a time delay brake controller.

As for the AC. I have a smaller 13,500 btu single AC unit. It has held up during the heat of summer in NC, SC, and FL. It works hard and I get condensation on the windows but it kept my 30 ft TT cool. As I said above, go with the TT or 5er that works best for your needs and wants.

Thanks for all the replys I was kinda set on the jayco but the puma drives a hard hit. My puma dealer orders his 31dbts's with duel ac's the main ducted and a smaller unit in the front. I realy like the idea of 2 ac's as we rent a jflight 29qbh sometimes and in the texas summers the single ac works real hard to try and keep up. Lenr i already have a deasent wd hitch and plan on using it anytime I go any distance. I have also wonderd if it would be worth spending a bit more and going to the aluminium, fiberglass models but I judt don't think is worth it. Also we did think real hard about a 5er but have decided on the tt, because we have 3 kids we adopted just over a year ago and are debating one or two more. With the 5er we would be stuck pulling it with my truck and with the tt we can pull it with eather. Sorry about the long post im just trying to give yall as much info as i can.

IMO there are cheap, cheaper, & cheapest trailers. There are some better than others depending on how the assemblers felt the day they were built. After a bad experience, a lot of reading, and some window shopping we selected Puma as one of the less bad stick and tin trailers. We have not been disappointed. No it is not perfect but nothing bad enough to take back after 6 months of ownership. Each one of these trailer factories operates in its own little world and drawing comparisons accross the whole corporation, especially the big ones may not be valid. Of course when you personally get a bad one built on a bad day that's it for you. I've read comments such as " nothing from Thor Corp." Really? Not even an Airstream? Puma is built by Palamino bought by Forest River a while back. So, I think Puma is good for the money (IMO).

Another IMO is don't skimp on the hitch just because you have nice big trucks. We ran WD just to get proper weight on the steering axle and friction anti-sway for insurance when pulling with our F-350 diesel. Our first trailer was bumper pull while the Puma 253fbs is a fifth wheel. 35' is an awfully long trailer to bumper pull even with your big trucks. Have you thought about an inexpensive fifth wheel?

honestly all brands have good trailers and all brands have lemons. I think haste maker got one of the lemons, I have seen and spoken too lots of happy forest river owners. same thing with jayco. both brands have seen some very unhappy owners as well. the same can be said for crossroads, keystone, kz etc. what is more important is service after the sale. I would visit the owners forums for each respective brand and see how the owners feel and what challenges/issues they have faced. the owners forums can be found by a google search. A good thorough pdi is also very important to having a trouble free TT.

I would also take the family, sit them in the TT with the doors closed. have everyone pretend to do daily activities (ie mom cooking, kids playing, and dad walking to bathroom, trying to watch TV etc). Think about where you will put things (ie moms clothes in that cabinet, dishes in this cabinet, toys in that drawer, chairs in this outside compartment etc). this will help show weaknesses and strengths of each TT to you. think about how you will use it. will you be boondocking, camping in water/electric sites or primarily using fhu? this will determine your tank size needs.

I ended up making a spreadsheet with important things to me across the top (ie tank size, something about Floorplan, weight, price, etc) and make model down the side. This will help you to see which TT is more worth your money and meets your needs better. Like you I felt used was not worth the price in comparison to new. I bought new after over 1 yr of research. almost 3 yrs later we are still in our 1 st TT. We love it, it works well for us and we have had very few issues with it. We do want to upgrade to a 5er but that won't be for another couple of years. We are ok with that because we bought our TT planning on keeping it for a long time. happy hunting.