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Originally Posted by 59toaster
Since you are towing with a 3/4 ton truck You need the more flexible bars. The tow vehicle has stiff suspension so it doesn't need the rear to lift as much to get the weight transfer to the front.
The reason you want the more flexible bars is if the bars become unloaded you loose sway control. The more flexible bars will take a greater attitude change between tow vehicle and trailer before you loose tension on the bars.
Now you are going "More Flexible" ...what the heck is this guy talking about.!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I believe that the weight rating currently on the bars is misleading. That weight rating was designated when people were towing with cars with soft suspension. When you get into a truck especially a 3/4-1 ton the stiffer suspension plays heavily into the system.
There has been quite a few wrecks analyzed on this forum and if you get down to the core problem what happened is in an evasive maneuver if the sway control is lost you are a goner. Its often found that "over hitching" (coined by Andy if Inland RV who use to be an insurance adjuster for Airstream and had done extensive testing and relates to the load bars being too stiff for the application) to be at blame.
So the bottom line is you need the "most flexible" bars you can get that will get the tow vehicle back to level. If you can't get the bars to level the vehicle then you need to go up to the next level of stiffness.
The above formula is good guide. If towing with a half ton or a car you probably want to go on the stiff side but on a HD truck like yours you want to go on the flexible side.
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59toaster,
Thanks for the quick repy. I see where you are coming from on the springyness of the tension bars and it does make sense. The flex in the bars is really what provides the tension over a range of movement. A stiff bar althought under tension in the static position would easily unload with any movement between trailer and TV. Thus especially for smaller trailers and stiff TV's the smallest size tension bar that keeps the TV level is the best.
Am I understanding what you have said? Also if possible please point me to Andy's thread on the subject. I'm new at these forums and still a bit lost in finding my way around them.
Somehow life was easier with my old Streamline Prince. I just hooked it up with the Reese hitch that came with it and towed it all over the place forgetting it was behind the truck. Ignorance was bliss. Jerry