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.

[Slojoe72]

40.5' motorhome + 32' trailer + .5' hitch receiver sticks out + 5' tongue on trailer = a good time........... I mean 78'

not trying to get rid.... just make a little better

[time_to_go_now]

ssia2485 wrote:
Some of the guys that I have seen towing a similar rig at the track have the Trailer Toad.

I use a Trailer Toad even though I don't need one. My weights would be fine if I just hitched the trailer to the motorhome. But, having towed the trailer with the Trailer Toad on a previous motorhome, I will be hard pressed to ever give it up!

[ferndaleflyer]

First ignore those remarks above from those that know nothing about what you are doing----first 40+32=72ft! I have the exact same thing and measured it. As far as the legal length----I guess the poster above never heard of North Carolina where the total length is 90ft. That being said I have towed all up and down the East coast without a problem and once to Cal and back.....In regards to your original post, you will never get rid of all the "sway". It just can't be done so go ahead and enjoy you set up. See you at the track!

[Slojoe72]

Toter + Gooseneck = $$$ but ideal I'm sure

Low budget + already paid for trailer + and older diesel MH = happy me (just trying to make it a little nicer of a ride)

[creeper]

45Ricochet wrote:

creeper wrote:
At 78 feet you're illegal in all states, except south dakota.

I was thinking the same thing. 78' is a pretty big number.

It's not surprising it has sway. I wouldn't travel at that length. I certainly wouldn't want to be near it when it's swaying. That's a disaster in the making.

[ssia2485]

Some of the guys that I have seen towing a similar rig at the track have the Trailer Toad. That helps support the front of the trailer with the long overhang of the coach. That's why I went with a toter and gooseneck. Tows like a dream.

[45Ricochet]

creeper wrote:
At 78 feet you're illegal in all states, except south dakota.

I was thinking the same thing. 78' is a pretty big number.

[NeverHome2]

Slojoe, I wasn't talking about ride height as you are absolutely right about the airbags controlling it. The issue is the Roadmaster chassis is poorly designed and needs bracing to keep the rear end going in a straight line. There is a long post with engineering upgrades on another forum that will explain the problem and how to fix it. If you PM me I will send you a link to it. It can be fixed and doesn't cost a lot of money.

[Slojoe72]

1999 holiday rambler 350 cummins 40' no tag axle. The rear does not drop at all... as soon as I put the trailer on the air bags pump back up and the ride height stays the same. imperial

[creeper]

Slojoe72 wrote:
Don't get me wrong the sway isn't horrible, just trying to make it better.

You'll never remove all the sway. You're 78 feet of wall, so you're going to get pushed around. "isn't horrible" can mean a lot of things. Does that mean it's not as good as my dually and I want it to be like that? Or is it just a little sway and I don't like it kind of sway? Or is it, I'm afraid the sway is going to get me into an accident kind of sway?

The motorhome wasn't built to pull that kind of length, so it's never going to pull like your dually.

Have you put track bars on the front and rear of the motorhome? The motorhome is going to have it's own sway. I'd start with that and upgraded sway bars and shocks.

If I was you I'd delete this whole topic. If something happens and you're involved in litigation this topic could be brought up as you knew there was a problem and towing illegally. Puts the liability right in your lap.

[NeverHome2]

You didn't say what model your HR was so I don't know if it has a tag axle or not. In any case any DP with a lot of tongue weight will handle badly because the engine and trans. already are cantilevered behind the rear axle.

The added weight causes the rear axle to go temporarily go out of alignment and steers the coach out of straight. You will need to strengthen the suspension trailing arms to fix this. Good luck.

[Slojoe72]

no votes for new shocks?

[Slojoe72]

It has a 350 cummins in it and power wise is awesome. Don't get me wrong the sway isn't horrible, just trying to make it better.

[Mr_Mark1]

Slojoe72 wrote:
I went to a fab shop and had support braces welded to hitch to support.

Just touching on what Dennis said (Executive), even if you are 'super welded', etc., your towing capacity doesn't change. I would think that you are really slow going up any kind of hill.

Hope that your swaying issues get corrected as it's scary watching something like that happening in front of us. You just never know what the end result will be.

Good luck in your travels,
MM.

[discovery4us]

The extra distance between the axle and hitch will amplify sway to the trailer. Dually short distance between axle and hitch, MH longer distance. You could try a couple sway controls on the hitch but I don't think you can completely eliminate the sway. When I pull my trailer the only fix is keeping the speed down. Much over 60MPH and I can't feel but I can see the trailer start to sway.