โJul-06-2014 08:46 AM
โJul-15-2014 02:05 PM
the_happiestcamper wrote:
Had a similar situation last week. There was a cement mixer that was shaped almost like a box. He would go 70 downhill but only about 45 uphill. So I passed him going uphill since his combined actions were slowing me down from my consistent speed of 60. After the pass, on the second down hill, all of a sudden I got the severe tail wag, Turns out the jerk got inches from my trailer's bumper, causing it to get loose like NASCAR.
โJul-15-2014 10:17 AM
RobWNY wrote:
On a recent trip, I had one fairly serious tail Wagging the Dog incident. After exiting one Interstate onto another and after going around a large curve to the merging area, I encountered a lot of traffic. The window for me to enter the Interstate was small and I had to get on it to avoid impeding traffic. Once I was in the normal driving lane, the Tail Waging the Dog issue happened. I was going about 60MPH at the time. I applied the trailer brakes moderately as well as took my foot off the gas and it straightened out. I didn't have any further issues on my trip but that one incident was enough to scare the******out of me. I have a 27' Heartland Trail Runner (30ft total length) that when loaded is about 7,500 pounds. I'm towing it with a 2012 F150 with regular tow package and Ecoboost. I had the proper tongue weight and the WD setup was where it was supposed to be. I have a Husky WD Hitch with two sway bars. Now before anyone scolds me for having that heavy of a trailer and a 1/2 ton pickup to tow it, I already know I don't have the right setup. I am planning on doing two things. Upgrading my Tow vehicle and getting a much better hitch. Since I can't afford to do both at the same time, if you were me, which would you do first? Buy a new truck or get the new Hitch?
โJul-15-2014 08:30 AM
โJul-15-2014 08:14 AM
Lynnmor wrote:RobWNY wrote:
93Cobra2771, I crank down the sway bars as hard as I can with my hands and then for leverage, I use a tube bar to fit over the handles and crank them down another quarter turn. I don't know if they need to be cranked down THAT hard but in my mind, the harder it is for them to move, the less the trailer will move. On the other hand, if the trailer does sway, then the harder it will be for it to come back the other direction too. I have read that some people lube them for the noise while others claim to just barely hand tighten them and that just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe I'm wrong but there doesn't seem to be any definitive answer on how to do it. I have noticed however that by cranking them down as hard as I do, after turning a corner, I have to overturn slightly to make sure I have things straight again. This can't be right either but I don't have any problems when doing this because I'm going maybe 10ph. I'm starting to think that a new hitch might be in my future. The top of the line are a lot of money but it seems that most of my problem will be relieved.
Making the handle extremely tight on a friction sway control does nothing. Just bottom out the handle bolt and make the actual adjustment with the bolt on the other side of the bar. I adjust that bolt by testing for sway when the steering wheel is given a small, quick turn and watching how the trailer responds.
โJul-14-2014 06:54 PM
โJul-14-2014 04:22 PM
โJul-11-2014 05:03 AM
Lynnmor wrote:RobWNY wrote:
93Cobra2771, I crank down the sway bars as hard as I can with my hands and then for leverage, I use a tube bar to fit over the handles and crank them down another quarter turn. I don't know if they need to be cranked down THAT hard but in my mind, the harder it is for them to move, the less the trailer will move. On the other hand, if the trailer does sway, then the harder it will be for it to come back the other direction too. I have read that some people lube them for the noise while others claim to just barely hand tighten them and that just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe I'm wrong but there doesn't seem to be any definitive answer on how to do it. I have noticed however that by cranking them down as hard as I do, after turning a corner, I have to overturn slightly to make sure I have things straight again. This can't be right either but I don't have any problems when doing this because I'm going maybe 10ph. I'm starting to think that a new hitch might be in my future. The top of the line are a lot of money but it seems that most of my problem will be relieved.
Making the handle extremely tight on a friction sway control does nothing. Just bottom out the handle bolt and make the actual adjustment with the bolt on the other side of the bar. I adjust that bolt by testing for sway when the steering wheel is given a small, quick turn and watching how the trailer responds.
โJul-10-2014 01:22 PM
RobWNY wrote:
What about Hensley, ProPride and the other hitch manufacturers that guarantee to eliminate sway. I realize when I bought my camper I received the basic hitch setup which is obsolete and I know the ones I mentioned are pricey but many people swear by them. Does sway happen with those setups also from time to time or are they really as good as the hype and worth the money they want for them? I would hate to go spend a bunch of money on one of those hitches only to learn that sway happens with them too. I just want to travel down the highway without being nervous all the time and reduce or eliminate white knuckle experiences.
โJul-10-2014 01:10 PM
lantley wrote:
...and go to a real CAT scale and weigh everything. Otherwise it's all a guess.
RobWNY wrote:
The reason I know the weight of my camper when loaded is because I have a metal scrap yard near me and I use their scales to check the weight. They leave them on 24/7 so I spend quite a bit of time there after they're closed checking the weights of my truck, my truck and hitch system, the trailer and then the all hitched up combined weight before I head out of town.
โJul-10-2014 12:57 PM
โJul-10-2014 11:35 AM
BenK wrote:
It's a whole system made up of components/sub-systems and most of the
advice deal with the components...not the whole system
Given that the OP admits to needing a higher weight class TV, but have
what you have...for now (congrats to the OP...most half ton owners
refuse to acknowledge that)
At or over the limits will NOT have the wheels instantly fall off, but
they will sooner and the biggie...ability to manhandle the setup
Engineers/designers do NOT design for the good days out there, but for
the worse day out there when Mr Murphy crosses your path. Either you
have the proper stuff or not. No time to go to the store for better/bigger
and/or resetup
Passenger class tires on full sized TV's is not a good thing when at
the limits. Even the higher class TV's with their higher class 'LT'
tires, but aired down for 'ride quality' will display this:
Go to any showroom and do this to bone stock 'P' and 'LT' shod TV's
Take your foot and shove the rear bumper sideways. Keep doing that to
find the natural harmonic and play on that
The softer tires (both 'P' and 'LT', but aired down) will continue to
yaw and have had them yaw so much the salesman thought it would hit
the window
That is what is being discussed now, but it is only one aspect of towing
well
This is, in part, why having a goal of proper TV & trailer attitude
is so important. More so at or over the limits. It's all about
that worse day out there and the ability of the TV to manhandle whatever
it is that you need to do
Back on tires...and the yaw that comes with them.
When the setup is swaying, it requires tires and suspension to have
the ability to manhandle. On that, there are two basic attributes:
slip angle and response, which are mainly the same thing
Slip angle is the angle the tires impart on the vehicle VS the dialed
in angle by the steering wheel.
Response is the time it takes the steering wheel change and the time
it takes the tires to impart that angle to the vehicle.
โJul-10-2014 09:32 AM
โJul-10-2014 09:05 AM
โJul-10-2014 08:43 AM