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Re: First time tower - multiple questions
Raife wrote: Good afternoon. I have read many posts regarding towing Scale Tickets are the towing baseline. CAT SCALE is a nationwide partner to the truckstop chains and worth having the phone app (go indoors to fuel desk for paper copies). The numerical baseline is also part of the diagnostic tree. 1). How to set WDH 2). How to correct TV tire pressure. The information needed is the weight per axle. Your first attempt was correct given fuel topped off and driver aboard. The only gear that which is permanently aboard until sold. a). What was Steer Axle weight? b). What was Drive Axle weight? — This is the corrected curb weight. It’s accurate, unlike many junkyard or other scales. Nationwide-comparable. c). On the Drivers door, what is the Front Axle weight limit? d). (Same) What is the Rear Axle weight limit? What is the difference between the scaled value and the limit for: e). Front Axle: f). Rear Axle: We’re up to (6) six numbers needed from the above. (Plus Curb, but not relevant). That’s the end of the non-problem of “weight” or “payload” issues. Hasn’t mattered since 1967. First off, tongue weight isn’t payload any more than it’s a constant value. It’s a placeholder number. If at rest — trailer level — full propane & fresh water plus loaded for camping, it is above 10%, and below 15%, it’s good-to-go. The ideal is 12.5%. It is a placeholder because once underway TWis subject to dynamics of being a vehicle in motion. It is moving up & down AND side-to-side relative to the tow vehicle. It represents the lever-force (leverage) from hitch ball to trailer axle center and never retains the static weight value as measured (except at rest). This force can exceed several thousand pounds of downward force. Or hundreds when moving upwards. Even more when violent winds force it aside from the TV path. The purpose of a weight-distribution hitch is to spread this force over the three axles of Steer, Drive & Trailer. To take the genuinely bad advice of adding more rear spring capacity to a rear live axle vehicle past what’s needed for passengers and their gear is to have gone the exact wrong direction in tow vehicle spec. A 1,000-lb TW is for cars & SUVs. As once hitched (properly, not as done around here) both Steer & Drive Axles are going to split about 780-lbs between them with spring bar leverage. This same leverage will put the other 200+ lbs on the trailer axle. The above acquired numbers from the Cat Scale at the outset told us the margin available. . 400# to the front, and to the rear is next to nothing for a car to deal with. Towing Limits are a laugh. As is SAE J2807 which reveals that automotive enginners have been lying to you since 1965, or they just wanna sell more pickemups. A pickup is a work vehicle. Unloaded, it’s unstable. Loaded, it ain’t much better. It’s a compromise. Discover the genuine payload. TW is maybe 400-lbs of it. Too high a spring rate means a greater likelihood of a loss-of-control accident as that rear live axle gets airborne damned easily. Trailer towing worsens the tendency. An LCA is due primarily to adverse winds. Not combined rig weight, and not from trailer weight. A travel trailer has an ENORMOUS sail area, and if a square-edged conventional on leaf springs with a high center-of-gravity (hello, slide-outs) the problem is worsened as it ALSO gets airborne at the stern due to wind forces building (unable to escape). Typical pickup recirculating-ball steering is dead. Has no feedback. Once a problem is felt, it’s too late to correct. Adverse winds are sudden gusts. The worst is from passing traffic. Alongside or opposite direction. Add in a tripping hazard (pickups catch air under rear tires as low as 20-mph with not much of a bump or pothole) and it’s over in under one-second. Barely 100-feet traveled. The short version of good hitch rigging is that the tow vehicle will be able to resist side-sway. This means an ideal of: low center of gravity, wide aspect tires, and independent suspension. Short rear overhang (rear axle distance to hitch ball). The vehicle with these features is hardest to side-slip. TV weight loses any advantageous margin once above 4,000-lbs. After that, it’s fighting itself. Same with wheelbase. High speed steering is maxed with 122” WB. This has been well-known since the earliest 1960s when Dodge altered its entire full-size fleet to that WB after the LA County Sheriffs Dept and CA State Highway Patrol conducted extensive testing. It’s why a 1969 Dodge Polara Police Pursuit and 2019 Dodge PP have the same dimensions & basic weight. “More” isn’t better . . . it’s a handicap. A tow vehicle basically at 50/50 FF/RR weight balance before being hitched is a starting point. Once the WDH hitch is tensioned, the additional weight (think instead, the more accurate term of force is the same front & rear. The priority for safe travel is: 1). Steering 2). Handling 3). Braking 4). Throttle To read RV forums is to believe the opposite order. TV advertising, the RV echo chamber, and failure to perform tests an ordinary eighth-grader can do results in tow combinations so bad that “vacation” turned into work. Travel at a higher risk than was ever necessary. The later Durango shares the same IS & unit-body design of the Grand Cherokee. Both advantageous. Wheelbase is okay. It’s the short rear overhang that puts it in good position, live rear axle or not. (Tires should be Highway-spec. Michelin or Bridgestone. Bilstein or Koni Shocks). Want to live a long life? Drink to excess, smoke 3-packs a day, use illegal & prescription drugs indiscriminately, gain 160-lbs, then make job hopping a career and leave behind a string of divorces. Have an admirably long arrest record. Because to avoid being gunshot or in a serious car accident is the main predictor . Those two change the statistics for long-term survival with no peers. The “bad habit” and “bad character” categories aren’t even close in deadliness. Bigger truck (bigger TV of any sort) isn’t better. It’s worse. “Faster up the grade” is laughable (it’s the downslope that matters). Bigger truck has WORSE brake performance, not better. (Guys too dumb to upgrade trailer brakes to antilock disc). The best tow vehicle is the one which best suits family duties (low-risk design). As maybe a quarter or third of annual miles will be towing, an upgrade of what presently works well (not ego, vehicle design) is adequate. Short version of that is one with fully independent suspension & short rear overhang. Car, van, SUV. Understand that on RV forums are otherwise well-meaning, but ignorant people who’ve never experienced much less ever set-up a very good towing rig. 15 or 20 years worth of (thus far) good luck thinking they’re “experienced”. Takes but once. (No replay. No rewind). The RV forum typical, “You gotta have a pickup”. Maybe if it’s as an IRS-deductible business vehicle (farmer, rancher, contractor). Any vehicle above suited to family and to tow (in other words; of them) can also pull an open deck trailer that’ll carry more than any pickup can. It’s the worst vehicle design The real problem with travel trailers isn’t their weight. That’s another 30-40 HP at highway speed. Irrelevant. The problem is in their design. High off the ground (these days) genuinely bad suspension, and the aerodynamics of a brick. 7,000-8,000/lb travel trailers are what a (police car in civilian mode) can tow. Covered all of the US, most of Canada and a good part of Mexico in cars pulling TT of THAT weight growing up. Family of five. Car only lasted 190,00-miles before being sold to a guy hauling race cars who still hadn’t opened the engine at 240k. One trans rebuild. Second brake job just before sale. That was the first dozen years with that TT. The next eighteen was with another TV also sold at around 200k. Trailer sold after 30-years of use. It’s still on the road at age 45. 1). How long will you own the TT? 2). How many miles per year do you expect to travel additional to current work & family needs? (Average RVer is 5k extra on top of 15k typical). The quality of both vehicles matters greatly if any extensive travel is considered. The typical square box trailer lasts ten years or about 70k miles. My current TT turned 30 last fall. 25-years or 250k miles is about average prior to some restoration. Airstream was the entry-level aluminum trailer. Only survivor of a better era as it became the prestige brand of THOR. Many thousands built. Huge following. Best towing trailer ever built. Depreciation bottoms at about 10-15 years. That’s the point to grab one. (I’d have a cutoff of about 1996). Quality greatly higher than all others today. Besides testing failures — and besides ignoring the most important role of a family vehicle — the point to travel is also forgotten on RV forums: to sight-see in a new region. A pleasant-to-drive car or SUV beats a long & heavy, bad-handling pickup on any day-trip. That’s where most of the miles of a trailer-trip accumulate. You’ll see plenty of nay-sayers to the above, but note they can’t back their assertions (no tests) , haven’t the multi-vehicle experience, lack the fifty-plus years (third generation) of travel this way, and also don’t have the 10,000-miles per month I do as a long-haul trucker. Commuter miles don’t count once you are on the open road. Today’s drivers without exception are worse than they’ve ever been. Twenty years ago those exceptions existed. They do no longer. No one here would willingly have me as trainer. There almost aren’t even truck drivers excepted from the ranks of the pitiful any longer. Yet the 2-3 basic rules have never changed. (A demonstration would suffice, and some analysis tools blow holes in childish ego). You’ll do what you will, granted. But there’s more (much more) than what TV ads, misleading dealership & RV forum “information” to be found and used. Take your time. Read widely & broadly. What works is the physics a middle-schooler can deal with, so it’s not difficult in & of itself. It’s parience, and discipline. A Durango isn’t limited by the numbers thrown around here and elsewhere in RV fantasy land. It’s more than suitable. Get real numbers, and work with those. Guesstimates and “tow limits” and “payload” and “tongue weight” will take you and your family on the dead-end highway in the dark. The important choice is the trailer design. All else is second. That said, TV & TT together are almost as important as the hitch rigging. But this is not represented in a separate sub-forum. Nor is trailer-braking. That they are missing is the biggest clue of all. Good luck348Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ham radios
I put up a very long post about CB the past week or so. The point to it is greatly that it is the radio most likely to be in use. . What one has arranged with specific others is another thing. CB is basic. A CB is a worthy start for mobile radio. And there’s no need to skimp on a high-quality installation. Next to none of you has heard or used such (point being, start fresh). Doesn’t matter your step-uncle was a truck driver, those vehicles are flat difficult to make decent much less exceptional. And the nephew with an antenna on the pickup headache rack is no better. As to Ham: An Icom-718 or a Yaesu ft450d aren’t terrifically expensive as starters for Amateur, especially used. Have a look and see if either appeal. (It’s the antenna system where things get more complicated ). 1). Radio is magic. 2). No corporate intercessor. 3). Others are just as decent as you, give them the chance. .572Views0likes0CommentsRe: Tow weight
Thanks. Yes, I’m looking to buy something we won’t easily outgrow with a nice floor plan. We would def be open to pulling out for Trips in the future. That’s why I’m looking at trailers in 27 to 30 feet range. There’s a lot of trailers in that range with a gvwr under the towing capacity of my truck which is 7400 lbs. that’s for a fully loaded trailer. There isn’t ANY reason to continually buy travel trailers. My folks bought but one and kept it thirty years. From when I was in high school until my son graduated college. The five of us traveled the USA, Canada & Mexico for weeks on end, every year. In retirement my folks were full-timing six months or more at a stretch. Had two tow vehicles over that entire period. (By choice, not necessity). The TV spec is Solo duty first. A typical RV’er travels but 5k miles per year. The other two-thirds of miles drives the decision. Towing a TT isn’t difficult. TT weight has little to do with TV spec. What matters is on-road stability. Steering control, braking & handling. Serious accidents are about driver loss-of-control (over-correction), NOT about “weight”. The new & 20-year stil new-and-clueless imagine that trailer tongue weight is a payload problem, and it isn’t. TW is a placeholder number as TW is NOT a constant. It’s changes continually once underway. It’s the force exerted by a lever. Which extends forward from the trailer axles to the hitch ball. TW was a problem solved more than fifty years ago by correct use of a weight-distribution hitch. . Change the name of the device to Lever Force Control Unit for a better description. The hitch ball location — relative to the road — can’t move UP or DOWN or SIDEWAYS without that force being resisted by tires & springs ALL ACROSS the combined rig. RV’ers who think they have it right (hitch rigging), don’t. Have only set things to counter that force in maybe one direction. What is at stake is that the TV rear axle NOT lose contact with the road, AND that it resists side-sway without breaking loose. A live axle (solid axle) TV — the pickup truck — is LIKELIEST to fail in these. 4WD with even limited off-road tire treads make this worse yet. Too much spring capacity (unused) only exacerbates the problem. A WDH spreads over ALL THREE axle [sets] the levers attempts to disengage the rear axle tires from their job versus concentration of force at a single point. A 1,000-lb TW is EASILY handled by car, SUV or minivan. As the axles on the TV see 350-400/lbs after lash-up. (Axle/Tire Capacity chart is what matters). What’s best TV spec? Family duty. The short version there is fully independent suspension & shortest rear overhang b (distance from rear axle to hitch ball). Low center-of-gravity, is the other. When’s a pickup a good choice? When it’s subject to IRS rules, and not otherwise. It’s a heavily-compromised vehicle. Least-capable when it matters, as it is MORE likely than the trailer to initiate a loss-of-control incident. . Where when solo it’s weight ratio FF/RR is 48-50% equal AS USED DAILY is when it comes into its own. Not otherwise. Want to be laughed out of the room, tell us about what a good driver you are. Risk-avoidance is statistically ordered. The worst pair of vehicles in combination is a 4WD pickup with a box-shape travel trailer (including 5’ers) raised for slide-outs and riding on leaf spring suspension. The opposite end is a high-end European sedan or SUV pulling a truly-aero TT on fully independent suspension. “Skill” can’t overcome physics. Mario Andretti couldn’t correct from loss of rear axle tire patch contact. There’s not time enough at highway speed. And there’s not an adequate training regimen to introduce familiarity. Good habits are second to “best” combination rig. Assembling that rig (on RV forums) tries to use the wrong assumptions to correct problems which don’t exist. Usually makes bad into worse. (Where words like Payload and Tow Rating occur. Which don’t exist in the real world of commercial trucking; thus, liability). Liability is on the operator. “Too fast for conditions”, if a citation is required. Were these discussions truly about what is safe, physics would play its role. It’s shut out. The other end we’d expect to see discussed. It isn’t: Torsion-Flex axles on the trailer, and anti-lock disc brakes. Instead we listen to children happy they can GO FASTER on an upgrade (bigger pickup!!) instead of understanding that worsens everything which actually matters. OP, your family’s miles SOLO miles demand best stability, steering & braking. Towing a trailer is second place. That’s cart & horse In proper order. The two vehicles go together EASILY with minimal changes to TV spec to enhance vacation travel. It’s not rocket science. And it’s not in TV ads. It’s especially not in an RV crowd where 95% get it wrong (to be generous). There are Engineering formulas which predict, and there are tests by which you can verify & confirm. Both are missing without a long search, here. Second to what’s missing (trailer upgrades needed was first), are the tests. Where Joe Smith dialed in his hitch rigging (after Three Pass Scale Method; also corrected tire pressure) to get best braking. His rig — and yours — should stop SOONER once hitched. (Both vehicles loaded for camping with passengers aboard). The echo chamber of bad advice is king in RV forums. Any site or brand. It’s subject to a numerical baseline of performance testing. This is always missing. Numbers, not anecdote. Those who don’t understand what’s possible aren’t reliable. What actually works an eighth grader can parse. Take your time. (Read). Good luck! .396Views0likes0CommentsRe: Okay How many RV'ers here use CB-Radio's?
Twice in the past three weeks have been able to divert around a closed Interstate due to fatality and NOT get trapped on an alternate routes with the illiterates. A better than average CB radio system, an Atlas, and knowing how to use both takes practice. (The usefulness of Waze is in knowing how the stupids will respond. Mob prediction). Your commuter miles in a metro area don’t count when out on The Big Road. Take that as a humility pill, if it’s understanding you want. The assumptions about services will put you into real trouble if you miss the mark. Today’s cars are harder in which to make a good radio installation than a 1971 Dodge Polara wagon, and while experience in mobile radio use adds confidence, it still needs to be turned on more than turned off. What distinguishes the road of today versus 1980 and earlier is that the level of co-operation has dropped to near zero. CB Radio replaced a whole slew of hand and vehicle signals needed to negotiate two-lane highways. Bad driving practice is universal now. Include yourself. Metro commuter habits are worse than terrible. It’s ME versus being WE. Rules are for someone else. The underlying principles don’t pertain to special people. Most truckers don’t use CB, install, or know how to do either. Most private vehicle owners aren’t willing to do a good installation of a radio and antenna system, much less invest the time to learn its ways. Again, include yourself. Humility is: don’t yet know what’s possible. It’s the Citizen Band. Not the Slave-Tracker (cell phone). You’ll get what you put into it. Use the Internet window while you can. There are experienced operators out there DESPITE morons crowding some areas at some times. Better radios can scan all channels fast. AM-19 isn’t the only action An NMO-Mount Larsen NMO27C on the roof practically guarantees king of the hill status in terms of being heard — and being able to hear — with a radio system of reasonable cost (well-installed). Your neighbor with an antenna stuck to the aftermarket rack on his pickup for his CB hasn’t a clue. That’s performance as bad as most composite-body Class 8 trucks of today. Abysmal. 1). Radio gear will last a decade or more in constant use. The price divided by ten years is next to nothing when compared to cell phones, WiFi routers and the rest over the same period. 2). Where family vehicles — all of them — also feature radio installations and there’s a radio at home mounted under a kitchen cabinet completes a circle not dependent on your owners willingness to allow you communication AT A DISTANCE. 3). Other radio modes may be “better” in a technical comparison, but CB is the one that’s everywhere in someone’s attic or garage, gathering dust. What you and your family have is one thing. What MATTERS is what you share with your neighbors. — a record number in Great Britain are sitting for Amateur Licensure. Reports here are similar in re equipment purchases and interest. 4). The “minimum” unit is AM/SSB capable. Sideband is the bees knees. Solid-value & rock-steady performance is with the Uniden 980 at very low cost. ($180 retail, $140 all over). I recently sat in NE Ohio on a break and listened to Wisconsin talking with Georgia. Florida, with Chicago. 11-Meter is an introduction to Ham Radio (Amateur), but without having to prove technical competence through licensure. — while conditions and gear questions apply, conversing with others in the Caribbean, South America and Europe isn’t outside what’s possible. Canada and Mexico aren’t anything remarkable. No, this isn’t automatic or plug & play. . But it’s close. 5). An RV is a natural home for Radio. Wherever it is. Mobile, or stationary. Any tools or supply needed to make installations is reduced when spread across home, family cars, and an RV. Money spent is in paying yourself is an important understanding. — the 1960s saw the peak of RV adventure travel. It established a norm of having a “campground radio” as common right into the early 1980s. CB outnumbered TV in use by a large factor. One IS dependent on others, thus easy communication “fixes” problems, one man to another, one family to another. Ordinary AM radio had at that point a thirty year history of providing local news and maybe weather. Network-affiliation. Shortwave, the international scope. CB was what closed the loop. The “adventure” was in providing ones self with what before was corporate-controlled. — A cell phone connects you to someone with their hand out for money. And then only if they deem you worthy of access. Not yet banned. The Net is no different. Full dependence is the model. AWAY from independence. 6). RADIO is a system of systems. Of which — by far — the most important is the antenna system. That all parts of it work together. There are simple and complex mobile antennas. An RV Radio is likeliest to be used while stationary, so one is not limited to typical mobile mounting. (Motorhomes have their own problems, but nothing that applying one’s self can’t remedy). A tripod-mount away from the vehicle or a wire antenna strung in trees are starts. CB is generally, but not wholly a line-of-sight TX/RX performer. As to antennas: Height is Might. 7). An installation where details are attended to the higher standards of Amateur Radio ensures best performance. And eases entry to that world should it prove attractive. Makes every vehicle or structure treated that much more valuable. The cost of quality supply goods is as nothing compared to the brains to use them well. 8). Many will worry over memory or reports of CB Radio theft sensationalized in the 1970s. The Enemy wants you dependent, should be your first reaction. And common sense should dictate how to look at the problem otherwise. — What’s in your RV or home is easily concealed from view. — Your family vehicles need this: Don’t tell a story to a passer-by. Mounting a radio inside a console or on the back of it is one approach. An NMO-Mount antenna can be removed and the mount capped (no, a magnet mount antenna attracts MORE attention, and suffers significantly diminished performance). If you want the most, get the most. And that’s in the installation far, far ahead of the gear chosen. 9). As to a large difference between CB and true Amateur Radio equipment Digital Signal Filtration in the audio chain so lessens the noise that signals previously unknown can now be not only deciphered, but one can at times communicate. Ears trump Voice. — there is quite a bit of Amateur equipment being used on 11-Meter (total number, not percentage) even though it is prohibited. “Noise Abatement” is a large reason why. — there are stand-alone DSP units that go between radio and external speaker. I prefer where it’s integrated with a mobile speaker, specifically, the West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker. A $200 purchase I made six years ago and has covered past 300k miles in a big truck including off road oilfield without incident. Marketed to the Amateur crowd, it’s an amazingly effective device. There are those with $2,000 HAM radios who use it even though the radio has a multitude of filtering controls built-in. — a guy with a good radio system — “better” than mine — will tell you he gets reports of problems 7-8/miles away. That’s outstanding . . . but I get them 12-15/miles out with the WM Spkr added to a VG installation. 10). CB Radio was given a clowns image by Hollywood. (Gee, imagine that). It has no substitute as the immediate area communication device. As before, your family or group may use another choice. So what? Eventually it WILL matter you can speak with strangers nearby. Who, remember (even if you haven’t the experience) have the same concerns and feelings as you. 11). The basic system, IMO, is: Uniden 980 AM/SSB Radio. West Mountain Radio ClearSpeaker RM Italy KL203 amp SOTABEAM 4-way DC distribution (or similar; make disconnect E-Z). Harbor Freight “Apache” 3800 Transport Case to keep it safe. This set-up outperforms every high dollar Big Radio. Use as is. No upgrades or grubby tech fingers inside units. (The amplifier is small and the current draw remains under 20A for all devices working at peak. Get at 88 Radio website. Yeah, CB is limited to 4-watts. But this isn’t nice & quiet 1959 any more.) This radio rig is, Hear & Get Heard. The default mobile antenna is ALWAYS the quarter-wave whip. 102” Stainless. All else tries to emulate its virtues. Skipshooter is an excellent American-made top-load whip. Limit overhead clearance to 13’5” maximum. Aim at height as the virtue. More money pertains to supply & tools depending on what you already have. The above is the best $500 you can spend. Over ten years it’s $4 per month. Mine pays for itself all over every couple of months. Safety on the road is risk-avoidance. Knowing what’s around a curve ahead doesn’t have a price tag. One serious accident is life-changing. (Waze and the like are too slow EVEN IF they report). Extrapolate the desire to make choices to more than just what’s on the road. Rioters in Nashville mean I’m not using IH-40 to travel west and am now diverting north to IH64 across Kentucky. No propane in one place. Power out in another. Etc And, for what it’s worth, some of the funniest things I’ve heard in this lifetime came across that radio. It’s friend, fair weather and foul. A good place to eat. A fair-minded tire store owner. Heavy crosswinds just ahead. A). The bible of Amateur Radio installation is at (link) K0BG He includes many links. Make notes. B). Internet retailers of repute (all of which I use) include: Bob's CB (Pennsylvania) Bells CB (Florida) Walcott CB (Iowa) DX-Engineering (Ohio) Universal Radio (Ohio) HRO Ham Radio Outlet (Online, and regular retail across nation) Radio Shack is long gone. Websites include: RadioReference WWDX QRZ Equipment Reviews at CB RADIO MAGAZINE eHam YouTube Farpoint Farms Series (on the 980 as SSB choice). “102 Whip CB Base Station Antenna” (title) As before, one gets what he puts into it. Read up on best practice. .1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Sway Problem / Need Help
djsamuel wrote: Slowmover wrote: An Andersen shouldn’t ever be considered if a WDH is needed. It isn’t one. . Seriously? The Andersen is a great WDH in the proper applications. In applications where there is a high tongue weight and a lot of redistribution is required, then the Andersen is not the best choice. However, for many applications the Andersen is an outstanding choice. It's worked great for me over the last 6 years. Numbers. Opinions ain’t worth much otherwise. Very likely your rig also in need of help. There are formulas which predict how WDH works. Basic engineering. Meet them first. Anything that makes the day on the road easier is worth the trouble. Hitch rigging isn’t met with success by even 3% of owners. Start over with what you have. . .574Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sway Problem / Need Help
01tundra wrote: Slowmover wrote: An Andersen shouldn’t ever be considered if a WDH is needed. It isn’t one. An Andersen No-Sway WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION hitch is exactly that, a weight distribution hitch that also incorporates sway control. I've used one for several years with a few different trailers and tow vehicles. It may not be as efficient at returning weight to the front end of the tow vehicle when used with heavy trailers (i.e., tongue weights greater than 1,000 lbs), but for sub 1,000 lb tongue weights the hitch works wonderful and it absolutely is a weight distribution hitch. It offers nothing in sway resistance that the cheapest WDH doesn’t already have, and it FAILS by definition in distributing tongue weight. Where are the scale tickets? CAT Scale. Three-Pass Method. See Ron Gratz post from 2010. Full fresh water & propane in trailer. Loaded for camping. TV with fuel topped off at truckstop, loaded for camping, all passengers aboard. Do that procedure and post them. Check tire pressure before heading to scale. Overnight cold. The scale values are how to dial in pressure correctly. From the Load & Pressure Table, but inside TV door sticker range. Pic of axle/tire/wheel limit sticker. Trailer needs to be dead-level once hitched and everyone aboard plus all liquids/gases topped off. Carpenters level across doorway. In, or mainly inside bubble. — One of several tests of WDH is braking. It the combined rig DOESN'T stop faster than the loaded truck, solo, you’ve not gotten the hitch rigging right. — Absent crosswinds, you should be able to “let go” of the steering wheel for at least a three-count. (1001, 1002, etc) without heading for the ditch. — Passing traffic should have little effect. Minor, gradual, steering correction (singular, not plural) is the mark. — Solid-axle 4WD pickup is the worst TV. Ideally, the truck balances very closely to 50/50 FF/RR in weight BEFORE you hitch the trailer. Anything heavy in the bed (the same problem exists with the front axle) is ON or AHEAD of the Drive Axle. No exceptions. It’s ALSO secured against ANY movement. None of this is optional. (My ‘04 Dodge is 8,940-lbs and within 40-lbs at all four corners. It was a pain to get it there as it remains loaded, always. The point is to get it right, get proper storage containers, lash down, and take some pics for reference). — What’s the weight of yours when solo at this point (per axle) as against the limits? The addition of TW (a static value; meaningless except as starting reference) SHOULD see the Steer & Drive Axles split the difference of 75% of TW. With about 10% more to the Drive Axle once done. Extra spring capacity — unused — is detrimental. Means the Drive Axle is MORE LIKELY to get loose, even airborne, if that TT decides to get frisky. Keeping that set of tires in contact with the ground — then losing it momentarily— IS the reason that pickups have their poor safety record. Upgrade the shocks today. I wouldn’t take it home from the dealership brand-new without this. Tires can’t control the springs (and if you have overinflated tires, even less so), and better shocks are first step. Second is replacing FF/RR anti-roll bar rubber bushings with polyurethane. They don’t give or wear. Those bars act sooner and more consistently. Your TV needs issues addressed before a WDH can be best understood. A WDH that can’t leverage TW is NOT a Weight-Distribution Hitch. It may be light in weight, etc, but as it offers no more sway resistance than the cheaper offerings, it’s an expensive way to have gotten next to nothing. A 350-lb TW is where a WDH starts to become useful. So unless your trailer is 4,000-lbs, the Andersen is a really poor choice. As it hasn’t leverage enough BY DESIGN. Get the baseline numbers. Do it correctly. Address the truck problems. Minimize problems with what you own, now. . . .573Views0likes0CommentsRe: Not your dad's Airstream
Hannibal wrote: Good grief! How high can you stack bovine biscuits in an attempt to glorify an old outdated trailer? So stable it needs a $3k hitch to keep it from flying off the road, rolling multiple times risking lives all around. A $140,000 AS has a particle board floor. The fuselage requires regular maintenance to keep it from leaking down to the particle board floor. Appliances are the same as the Walmart trailers. The chassis and running gear will rust and wear out just as fast as any other. I like a new trailer every 5-7 years. Cousin’s ‘87 24’ stick and tin Walmart special is still serving him very well. He tows it on a $40 tri-ball, stable and safe. You like having a payment. You’ll buy, what, 4-5 when you could have had one. Will have spent far more. Senor Spendthrift. They’re far easier to tow. Wanting a hitch not obsolete in design is a choice. As it’s equal in importance to the vehicle pair it’s cheap at twice the price. Sway is eliminated. While your trailer jigs back and forth all day. A Hensley stands out. Rock solid. No movement not initiated by TV. But, not yours. Wearing out that cheap leaf suspension in a year. There are 30-year old AS that have suspensions still test within spec. Yours won’t make it 5,000-miles. You don’t want one, fine. My thirty year old SS is nicer than what you have. Always was and always will be. The difference is that I bought mine for less than you paid for whatever you have And even with changes along the way, I’ll still have less into it. A 10-15 year old AS is still new. But depreciation has bottomed. That’s the time to buy one for a typically poor American. What little it will need can be spread out as time, funds and DIY allow. That’s a FAR better trailer than whatever is brand new on the RV lots. And your cousins trailer won’t pass a moisture intrusion test. Nor is it stable at typical highway speeds when the rig encounters severe crosswinds. The ones I almost don’t notice. As 5’ers, big trucks and rigs like your can’t stay on the road. Crosswind resistance is the crown. That’s the single largest cause of driver loss of control. Which you can’t control for. Mario Andretti can’t control a rig when the Drive Axle gets loose. Design matters. Frou-frou doesn’t. AS still has the basic design which hasn’t been improved by anyone in sixty years. So, if your definition of going camping is watching TV somewhere else, have at it. If you really wanted to travel, you’d have been a serious student. You weren’t. You took the higher risk & more expensive route. Enjoy. .576Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sway Problem / Need Help
LarryJM wrote: Slowmover wrote: Equalizer brand NOT as good. Period. And that statement is Pure BULL ... PERIOD! PERIOD! Both the Equal-i-zer and Reese Dual Cam are performance wise equal to one another when properly set up and matched to the TT loads and the choice is a matter of personal preferences. The one single adavantage of the Reese is that it can be had in a 1700lb TW version whereas the Equal-i-zer maxes out at 1400. Larry Shock load on receiver. Equalizer inferior. Crude574Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sway Problem / Need Help
Work on getting the truck “right”. Mine — at 8,940-lbs solo with driver and ready to hitch for any trip — is within 40-lbs at each corner. 1). The gear in the bed MUST BE ahead of the rear axle. Barely on it if at all. No matter how many changes you must undertake to do this, do it. I had to spend days by myself to get things organized in this way. 1,200-lbs of gear. 2). THEN the gear MUST be secured against movement. If the truck rolled on its side, it would still be in place. Contacting the bed. 3). The empty box is a penalty to overcome. Flawed design for a road vehicle. A compromise so a contractor or farmer/rancher can carry needed gear or supply. A truly lousy choice for anyone else. Who is without corresponding IRS miles. 4). A pickup will roll over in an accident where a car or SUV just spins around. Rollovers account for a quarter of all fatalities, and an even higher percentage of dead serious injury. They are a low speed farm vehicle. 5). Lousy highway dynamics which are worsened by hitching a wind-catching trailer. 6). The dumb guys believe “weight” to be a problem. It isn’t. WDH solves it over 50-years ago. A 1k TW is the province of cars and minivans. A nothingburger. The problems in towing are the same as when solo. The order of importance for stable control is: 1). Steering control 2). Braking 3). Throttle. Crosswinds are what cause loss-of-control accidents. Natural, or man-made. If my 63’ rig can go down the highway in winds that park 5’ers and tractor-trailers — with fingertip steering — the EQUAL IMPORTANCE of Tow Vehicle design Hitch Rigging Trailer design cannot be overstated. Those three are EQUAL. The hitch (and it’s actions) is about STEERING. About minimal BRAKING distance. About EFFECTIVE throttle use. These are each about DEGREE of input, and DURATION of same. Details matter. Some take effort. Test. Verify. Confirm. Start with the pickup. Stock suspension and highway tires matter. Clue #2 about who are the dumb guys: bought a bigger truck that climbs the ascent faster. But his trailer is still on leaf and with drum brakes. A cheap hitch (as he willfully “fails” to understand the importance), and an even cheaper brake controller. There’s no situation MORE dangerous than a mountain descent. A crosswind gust. The source may be a straight truck blazing past or Mother Nature. What acceleration distance do you need to simultaneously floor the throttle and slam home the brake controller? How fast up the hill? (Dunce caps on sale in quantity). All the details come together here. The worse the pickup flaws, the less likelihood there will be time to act. A billboard trailer on leafs will have all tires in the air before the 1-T 4-WD driver notices. The hitch is a STEERING component. Make its working conditions best .574Views0likes0Comments
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