Sep-07-2014 06:09 AM
Sep-10-2014 01:34 PM
Sep-08-2014 11:37 AM
mkirsch wrote:
There's no jumping in and out of the bed to hitch up a 5th wheel either.
Sep-08-2014 11:07 AM
Sep-07-2014 11:07 AM
Sep-07-2014 10:30 AM
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
A 5er is more forgiving with weight distribution.
As you know, you have to get the weight just right with a TT to make it tow correctly. The window is pretty small. Get it under 10% tongue weight and it will sway like a big dog. Get it over 15% and you better have a big truck to handle the rear load axel weight.
To give you an example of how critical it is to get weight distribution correct let me tell you a story.
Many moons ago I needed a car trailer to haul my race car around. I had no money to buy one but I could weld and I thought man I will design and build one. And I did. A really nice flat bed trailer. Towed like a dream loaded or empty. I mean it was like a slot car.
After a while I wanted to step up and have an enclosed trailer. Still having more time than money I decided to design and add a really nice box onto my flatbed. It came out great! I wanted a ramp door just like everybody else so I built that into the design. A really heavy ramp door.
Man my trailer looked nice! I was so proud of it! Then I took it for a drive down the road. WHAT THE.................??!!!!!! I couldn't even keep it on the road! What the hell happened??? After a little thinking I remembered the "really heavy ramp door." This took a ton of weight off of the tongue and bam, lots of sway!
No problem I will just move the axels back. Oh, sheet..........I can't because of the design of the trailer wheel cut outs!!
I thought to myself I just ruined my beautiful car trailer! Well one day I bought some metal added a work bench and vice and a bunch of cabinets up front. I took the trailer out for a drive and low and behold it wasn't too bad. Nothing like the flat bed and nothing like when I fist put the box on it. Somewhere in-between. I need to add my 700lb tool box and a bunch of tools and parts to the front cabinets. I bet after I do this my trailer will tow like my flatbed used to tow.
My point of all of this ^^^? It's a lot easier to design a 5er toy hauler because they are WAY more forgiving with weights and balances. Not so with a tag toy hauler because the window is small.
Empty is where the rub comes in. Loaded you can always fix the weights and balance problem by the way you load your tractor or car or whatever you haul. Just a foot more up front or a foot back made a HUGE difference on how the trailer towed. And I do mean HUGE!!!
One last thing. 90% of the people on this forum say a 5er will tow better than a tag. That is just BS IMHO. I can get a tag to tow like a dream or tow like a nightmare. I can get a 5er to tow like a dream or tow like a nightmare. It's just the error window is bigger for the 5er.
It's all in the setup.
Sep-07-2014 09:01 AM
Sep-07-2014 08:56 AM