Towing with Class A diesel pusher

[Slojoe72]

So I recently aquired a 1999 - 40' Holiday Rambler and Im currently using to tow my 32' race car trailer (10-11k lbs) to the track. Does great and I may be expecting to much out of the 78' ride but it has a little sway to her when trucks go by and worse around 65-70mph. I did recently replace all 10 rear suspension bushings, due to panhard bar bushing being gone. I also had an alignment just before the bushings. The hitch has load leveler bars but not with the sway control. Pervious tow vehicle Crew cab dually needed nothing for sway and was great. With the dually the trailer tounge was a little lower then with motorhome (level). I did try to put a little more tounge weight with the MH moving a 1000lbs golf cart up about 2 feet, and a 2500lbs car about 18" forward. It really didn't change the sway feeling. The chassis is an 8 airbag suspension.

just looking for suggestion on what to make it better... thinking
shocks?
installing aftermarket swaybars?
adding a sway control to current hitch?

if you have a suggestion, please include brands and why.
thanks in advance.

[TDInewguy]

I have no sway issues, but I do see your point about the length from rear axle to trailer pivot point.

Without the weight distribution bars I would not like the rig or the way it handles.

[Kayteg1]

Reading all the replies sounds like you could really use tag axle.
You probably have about 15 feet from rear axle to trailer ball.
Not easy to change axle on motorhome, but I think your Airsafe hitch adds to flexibility and adds the lenght, meaning it is amplifying the sway.
Should be easy enough to put short, solid hitch and try.

[TDInewguy]

Just a side note - sorry for the HUGE photos...

The chains on the trailer are no longer that short - I had them lengthened so I'm not using the extra quick-links...

And the hitch is the massive framework under the engine cradle on the RV.

[TDInewguy]

Here are some photos from my rig..

[Slojoe72]

good stuff TD

have a new weight dist hitch ordered ..... i probaly have one of the lighter ones being ive had for 10 years and when i bought my 1st trailer 24'.
now its a 32' and golf carts, and 10x's more stuff then I probaly need.

[ssia2485]

Slojoe72 wrote:
So I recently aquired a 1999 - 40' Holiday Rambler and Im currently using to tow my 32' race car trailer (10-11k lbs) to the track. Does great and I may be expecting to much out of the 78' ride but it has a little sway to her when trucks go by and worse around 65-70mph. I did recently replace all 10 rear suspension bushings, due to panhard bar bushing being gone. I also had an alignment just before the bushings. The hitch has load leveler bars but not with the sway control. Pervious tow vehicle Crew cab dually needed nothing for sway and was great. With the dually the trailer tounge was a little lower then with motorhome (level). I did try to put a little more tounge weight with the MH moving a 1000lbs golf cart up about 2 feet, and a 2500lbs car about 18" forward. It really didn't change the sway feeling. The chassis is an 8 airbag suspension.

just looking for suggestion on what to make it better... thinking
shocks?
installing aftermarket swaybars?
adding a sway control to current hitch?

if you have a suggestion, please include brands and why.
thanks in advance.

try to center the car on the axle C/L of the trailer. if you get the car too far back it will make it tow bad. also maybe lower the front of the trailer just a bit to get it lower in the front. just past level. do you have the heaviest leveler bars that you can get your hands on?

[TDInewguy]

Hey Slojoe72,

I have almost the same setup as you and have put tons and tons of miles on.

My rig:
2002 Itasca Horizon 39QD - with a 330HP CAT
2007 Featherlite 28' trailer with V-nose (33' tongue to taillight)
AirSafe Hitch with weight distribution bars (a must!!)

I have the Class V AirSafe hitch - http://www.airsafehitches.com/receiver-hitch

The weight distribution bars do work with the hitch and the combination make a WORLD of difference in how the rig handles. My wife loves driving it - as it's so much smoother with this setup when it's all properly set up.

I also bought a tongue weight scale. This way I load the trailer so I get about 12-13% tongue weight. I've had my rig on the scales, so I know how much it weights with just the RV on both the front and rear axle, and what the trailer does to it. I used this to figure out how many chain links I needed to strap up the WHD bars. Each link made about 200lbs difference from the front to rear tires, and if you have too much tongue weight - you will lift too much weight off the front tires of the RV.

My rig is about 27,000lbs and the trailer is about 9800lbs. (trailer, GTO, golf cart and other junk)

This is the tongue weight scale I have - http://www.sherline.com/lm.htm

Here is some more reading: http://www.sherline.com/lmbook.htm

So think of it this way. If you were put 1000 lbs on the trailer hitch, how many LBS end up on the rear axle? What happens to the front axle?

Yes your air suspension keeps the rear of the coach from sagging, but the real deal is you are putting *about* 1500lbs on the rear axle and taking off about 500lbs from the front axle with the 1000lbs on the trailer tongue. It has to do with how long of a "lever" your hitch is and the rear axle is the pivot point. Remember the teeter totter? yea - I've seen trailers almost totally lift the front axle of a vehicle up, and your handling is severely affected.

by having the weight distributing hitch properly set up - it restores some of the balance to the overall rig. I won't drive without them anymore.

I used to have a 24' trailer just hooked straight up to the RV and it really bounced around a lot and porpoised and was generally unpleasant to drive. Now it's a dream to drive with the airbag suspension between the RV and trailer along with the weight distribution bars.

So one other thing - I had a mega custom hitch built for my RV. The stock hitch was only rated for 500lbs of tongue weight and 10,000lbs trailer. The new hitch uses a really beefy "C" channel steel that goes up about 6' on the frame (towards the rear axle) and the receiver part also extends really far up, as the leverage of the weight distribution bars puts a lot of torque on the hitch assembly. If you'd like to see it sometime - I can take and post photos.

I've had this setup for many years and put probably 40,000 miles on...

[tropical36]

Slojoe72 wrote:
So I recently aquired a 1999 - 40' Holiday Rambler and Im currently using to tow my 32' race car trailer (10-11k lbs) to the track. Does great and I may be expecting to much out of the 78' ride but it has a little sway to her when trucks go by and worse around 65-70mph. I did recently replace all 10 rear suspension bushings, due to panhard bar bushing being gone. I also had an alignment just before the bushings. The hitch has load leveler bars but not with the sway control. Pervious tow vehicle Crew cab dually needed nothing for sway and was great. With the dually the trailer tounge was a little lower then with motorhome (level). I did try to put a little more tounge weight with the MH moving a 1000lbs golf cart up about 2 feet, and a 2500lbs car about 18" forward. It really didn't change the sway feeling. The chassis is an 8 airbag suspension.

just looking for suggestion on what to make it better... thinking
shocks?
installing aftermarket swaybars?
adding a sway control to current hitch?

if you have a suggestion, please include brands and why.
thanks in advance.

How does it handle at 50 - 55mph and one must consider the handling capabilities of something that size, no matter what you might add to improve it? Even if it does seem safe and OK, it's not near what you might expect from your average race car. Just sayin.....
Also what might be your hitch weight rating and hopefully it's one of the 1000lb models, rather than the average 500lb products?

[Slojoe72]

The trailer is perfectly level ..............
I didn't say it wasn't.
When I had it hooked to my truck it was down a little in the front, if I moved it up one hole on the adjustable reciever then the nose would be up a tad (and the back of the trailer drags going in and out of my driveway.
With motorhome it is completly level ...............

[OLYLEN]

Just explain why you can not use a drop hitch to get the trailer level. An out of level trailer can amplify sway. There were electric sway dampeners for trailers(don't know if they are still made)that applied a small amount of braking on one side if the rig started to sway, and the sensitivity was settable.

LEN

[xctraveler]

The one suggestion I have not read here is weighing each wheel position, MH and Trailer and setting tire pressures according to tire mfg specifications.

Truck stop will get you axle weights and there are several places to get individual wheel weights, Escapees in Livingston TX and in Congress AZ for two, any FMCA or Good Sam Rally. Once this is done you will know what your unit balance is and what air pressure you really need in your tires. This is cheap fix for some of the issues and may get you enough improvement to make you happier.

[Slojoe72]

Nah .... In the enclosed race cars trailer, when they refer to the length it's just the box.
All good
Thanks for info

[ferndaleflyer]

I won't debate your length---only trying to help----I didn't know any manufacturer measured trailers that way. I have probably owned 20+ in my life and all were measured from the ball hitch to the rear, tongue included......My 32ft tri axel Pace has a 28ft box.....No big deal but I measured mine while it was hooked up and it was exactly 72ft long. And yes here in NC we are allowed 90ft......Here that 32box+5ft tongue would be a 37ft trailer......

[Cloud_Dancer]

Be aware that you are stuck with a motorhome that might not have the optimum wheelbase-to-rear overhang ratio. Someone already mentioned that the rear overhang design on your motorhome might have a rear axle(drive axle) that is too far forward of the hitch ball.
Also, someone hinted that you might not have sufficient weight on the front axle to produce good caster authority.
Look at other tow vehicles. Most of the succesful tractors/trucks that pull trailers will have a short distance from hitch to rear axle.