Stand up and take your chance.

[sranger]

I am new here and do not even have my first Airstream yet (2020 19cb Caravel) so I am going to be as "politically correct" as my personality allows.

First I would never tow a 25' airstream with a medium size SUV. I would probably buy a F250 or 2500 _____ for that towing duty. However, I would have no problem towing it with say a F150 with the towing package.

Not knowing the facts about how these type of accidents occur, one cannot simply say the tow vehicle was too small. There are situations that are simply impossible to avoid getting into an accident. I have a friend who was an EMT at a stretch of highway that was know for accidents. It looks like a realitively flat section of highway with little danger, but has deceptively steep and long grades.

I asked him what was the most common vehicle involved in towing accidents and he immediately said semi tractors and trailers. I asked if poor maintenance and over loading was the main issue and he said NO. In fact, he said he had never seen a semi accident that was directly related the being over loading in his career. He did say poor maintenance of tires and brakes did cause some accidents. However, the MOST common cause was another driver followed by falling asleep.

So think about that a little, large heavy vehicles specifically designed to tow far more weight that any Airstream still have accidents mostly cause by other drivers.

I tend to follow the 2/3rds rule in towing. I do not like towing a trailer that is more than 2/3rds of the rated towing capacity of the tow vehicle. So for a 7,300lb 25' Airstream I would want a tow vehicle rated at around 11,000 lbs.

Now of course this assumes the hitch weight and axles ratings are also within their respective ratings.

One can also call me paranoid, but I also think that if you absolutely REQUIRE a weight distribution hitch and sway control to safety tow a give trailer then the tow vehicle is probably too small. You might chose to use these devices to make the towing safer or more comfortable, but they typically should be supplemental and not in any way required.

[JamuJoe]

Analysis without facts is called speculation.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

. . . and we are off to the Sway -- Best -- Hitch -- Tow Vehicle races!

Amen.
I was thinking, reading all the speculation, that I could make a valid argument that Airstreams are unstable.
"It's the third time I've seen an Airstream involved in a rollover!"

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by hshovic

Rolled at least twice...

Thanks.

But isn't it a stretch to say that the size of the SUV caused the crash? Sure it may have been one of many contributing factors, but wasn't the reckless driver [of the other car] actually the primary initiating cause here?

Are you saying that your 3/4 ton pickup would never have crashed under similar circumstances? Did you personally witness this crash?



Thanks,

Peter

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

Amen.
I was thinking, reading all the speculation, that I could make a valid argument that Airstreams are unstable.
"It's the third time I've seen an Airstream involved in a rollover!"

Well you know, "three strikes and you're out!"



It is the nature of the human mind to attempt to create order out of the chaos which surrounds us. Inaccurate perceptions of causation are but a small example IMO.

Peter

[mikextr]

Using this tragedy to celebrate your TV and hitch choices is downright morbid. People may be injured or worse. Somebody made a tragic mistake. Mistakes can also be made in heavy duty trucks.

[J. Morgan]

Here's my point of view, if my half ton or my Tahoe pulling my Hensley equipped 31' Airstream drives, handles, and stops as well as or better than the semi trucks that I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles, well that's a pretty solid benchmark, and frankly, all of the detractors here or anywhere can't really change that. [emoji4]

Could be that some of your 3/4 tons or 1 tons are marginally better with regard to this of that, but there is a certain point where "better" doesn't mean much.

My Hensley equipped 1/2 ton handles and drives as well as any fifth wheel setup I've ever driven, that's a pretty high bar my friends.

That being the case, I'll probably just be kinda smug about it. [emoji4]

So, if you don't like a half ton or a SUV, don't drive one. [emoji4]

[Tim A.]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

So, if you don't like a half ton or a SUV, don't drive one.

Yes!

[The Twinkie]

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT and make it a 4WD.
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[featherbedder]

If you set up front end is light you are going to get sway no matter what size tv. Like J Morgan posted is my opinion also, having over 70 yrs. driving & towing w/all kinds of veh.. Yes I have had sway because I took wght. off front axle, but less than mile corrected mistake. The times sway was w/flat bed with construction equip. quickly reloaded prob. solved. My exp. driving is all over Eroupe including high Alps & All of USA & Mexico w/no chargeable accidents ever.

[majorairhead]

F250 to pull our 30 foot International. Like the heft, the brakes, the 6.2 V8, the Leer Cap, the 3,111 pounds cargo capacity, the heavy duty alternator, sittin' up high.

I really like the cavernous back seat area when the seats are up.

And the 4wd. And those two 110 outlets, they're sweet.

I can haul firewood, bikes, generator, propane, rugs, grills, jacks, toolboxes, air compressors, ladders, and all sorts of stuff in my truck, and still have room for the metal detector, books, t-shirts, antiques, and who knows what else we might pick up along the way.

Do I have an issue with the SUV, half ton, or Tundra crowd? Nope. Not at all. Tow with a Prius if you want.

I'm a big truck fan.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

F250 to pull our 30 foot International. Like the heft, the brakes, the 6.2 V8, the Leer Cap, the 3,111 pounds cargo capacity, the heavy duty alternator, sittin' up high.

I really like the cavernous back seat area when the seats are up.

And the 4wd. And those two 110 outlets, they're sweet.

I can haul firewood, bikes, generator, propane, rugs, grills, jacks, toolboxes, air compressors, ladders, and all sorts of stuff in my truck, and still have room for the metal detector, books, t-shirts, antiques, and who knows what else we might pick up along the way.

Do I have an issue with the SUV, half ton, or Tundra crowd? Nope. Not at all. Tow with a Prius if you want.

I'm a big truck fan.

I can respect that, on the other hand I had my fill of giant trucks years ago, that's one of the reasons I got an Airstream.

[Foiled Again]

I was passed by a Scamp today. What's worse, I was looking for a station with diesel and was not paying super close attention to what was happening in the left lane, consequently I was a bit too close to the poor sod who blew past at about 80 mph. I corrected, and watched that tiny fiberglass egg sway like a hula dancer. My Airstream swayed slightly then subsided, but I continued to watch in horrified fascination as the Scamp continued down the road swaying obviously. The driver passed everything in sight with apparently no idea how close he was to rolling over. Tacoma for a tow vehicle... and it looked factory fresh.
A Scamp - shaped kinda like an Airstream - still can't believe how badly it was swaying, and wondering why the driver didn't scare himself into driving more carefully. Scared ME into a hyper-alert state.

[PKI]

And there you have it. If you don't know, you don't know and that is not good. Testing, tuning, and continuous improvement will get you in the know. It just takes a little concentration and perserverance. Pat

[Profxd]

Originally Posted by featherbedder

If you set up front end is light you are going to get sway no matter what size tv. Like J Morgan posted is my opinion also, having over 70 yrs. driving & towing w/all kinds of veh.. Yes I have had sway because I took wght. off front axle, but less than mile corrected mistake. The times sway was w/flat bed with construction equip. quickly reloaded prob. solved. My exp. driving is all over Eroupe including high Alps & All of USA & Mexico w/no chargeable accidents ever.

70 years of experience? Unloading the front axle does not cause sway to happen, how you load the trailer certainly does. Please everyone don’t believe what you read on this or any forum, do your own research and get the truth.

[Profxd]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Here's my point of view, if my half ton or my Tahoe pulling my Hensley equipped 31' Airstream drives, handles, and stops as well as or better than the semi trucks that I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles, well that's a pretty solid benchmark, and frankly, all of the detractors here or anywhere can't really change that. [emoji4]

Could be that some of your 3/4 tons or 1 tons are marginally better with regard to this of that, but there is a certain point where "better" doesn't mean much.

My Hensley equipped 1/2 ton handles and drives as well as any fifth wheel setup I've ever driven, that's a pretty high bar my friends.

That being the case, I'll probably just be kinda smug about it. [emoji4]

So, if you don't like a half ton or a SUV, don't drive one. [emoji4]

JMorgan, since you are an experienced trucker, under what load are the rear axles when it’s most likely to jackknife?

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by Profxd

JMorgan, since you are an experienced trucker, under what load are the rear axles when it’s most likely to jackknife?

https://youtu.be/3nGQLQF1b6I

[SteveSueMac]

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
Perfect!

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

https://youtu.be/3nGQLQF1b6I

A jackknife is almost always caused when the rear axle(s) of the tow vehicle lose traction.

With that said, making the rear axle of the tow vehicle lighter than it needs to be can in general set a combination up for a jackknife.


Further, contrary to what many people think, sway has very little to do with the tow vehicle except that on combinations that tend to sway, the hitch center is almost always well behind the tow vehicles rear axle center.

Sway always starts with the trailer moving out of line of the tow vehicle track, this misalignment becomes magnified when the this misalignment acts upon the end of the leverage point of the hitch ball setting up the conditions for oscillations to begin.

[Profxd]

I agree that when you remove weight off the rear axle you reduce traction. So once a trailer starts to sway and the tires can no longer hold the rig will jackknife. So a rig with less weight on the rear axle will jackknife sooner than one with more weight. The rig with more weight has a better chance to come out of a sway event should it happen or handle higher lateral acceleration before jackknifing. My god what a revelation!