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Old 12-30-2007, 09:43 PM   #41
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holland , Michigan
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Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In
We don't need a Peter-Bilt to tow and Airstream.

We also don't need 1 ton trucks, dually's and the like.

To me anything over a 1/2 ton spring rate, is excessive tow vehicle stiffness.

The simply test, for any rig is hook it up to your trailer, with the load equalizing bars that you have.

Then get up on the A-frame, and try to bounce up and down.

There should be 2 to 3 inches of bounce.

If not, your over rigged. That over rigging can be the tow vehicle, the load equalizing hitch bars, or both.

I have seen some rigs that wouldn't bounce if you had a 400 pound person jump up and down.

Anything over a soft ride for an Airstream or Argosy trailer, will eventually "GOTCHA" and you will needlessly spend good money for repairs, that could have been 100 percent avoided.

RV service departments love customers who have excessive rigging. Keeps their service department very busy, correcting everything that was torn up.
It's also good for the dealers bank account.

How to avoid the problem, is easy.

Want to improve how a Suburban handles and how it reacts with your trailer??? Soften the springs. You will be amazed.

"Don't over rig." It's a waste of money and gives you and your Airstream, nothing but grief.

Guaranteed.

Andy

I love it, for once in my life I did something right. A ford f 150 and a folding bike. You guys know how to make a bad day good. I just find all these positings that everyone needs a 250 or 350 and diesel interesting. Andy you will laugh all the way to the bank, need any investors?
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Old 12-31-2007, 11:41 AM   #42
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Originally Posted by flyfishfred
Hi bhayden,
I really made an error in the way i wrote that ?. What i ment to say was "don't i need to go slightly over the trailer tounge weight (720lb), for my weight distibution/sway control unit".
Fred,
I just wanted to make clear the difference between the hitch rating and the distibution/sway control part of the set-up. Consider that with your size of truck there are lots of people that tow trailers as heavy or larger than yours without any sort of weight distribuition hitch. Personally that wouldn't be my choice but that's bias from years of towing with passenger oriented vehicals which is what the weight distribution hitches were designed for. Your truck is designed to carry a load. Heavy trucks handle noticebly better when loaded.

The point being, I think people are looking at this backwards when they try to match the load to the trailer. What you should be looking at, my unprofessional opinion, is what the tow vehicle needs. Look at it this way, the trailer is going along for the ride. As long as the tongue height is correct (that's a biggy) then it should "tag along" just fine.

The trailer however has some major effects on the tow vehicle. Most obvious is you load up the rear of the vehicle. OK, trucks are design to carry a load in the rear. The other effect which is less obvious is you unwieght the front axle. Think of the vehcile as a teeter toter with the rear wheels being the pivot. The more weight you add the more it "picks up" the front. Also, the farther back the hitch is (lever arm) from the rear axle the more pronounce the effect. Again, a truck with it's monster motor in front and almost nothing behind the cab is front heavy when empty. But then they didn't design a workhorse like that to drive around empty most of the time.

With a passenger vehicle the combination of overloading the rear and taking weight off the steering axle is a recipe for disaster. The car wants to wander all over the road and rides like a pogo stick. This is the type of situation that can set up "sway". Some of the sway control devices attempt to dampen this but the best solution is to prevent it in the first place. That's what the weight distribution system does by restoring the "wieght distribution" to the front and rear axles. This is critical with a passenger vehicle. It's much less so, and perhaps counter productive with a large truck.

The Reese system is nice in that it not only moves some of the weight off the rear but adds in the sway dampening. You don't need the weight distribution but you do need a certain amount of tension on the bars for the dampening system to work correctly. The ligher bars will allow more than enough redistribution of the weight. You NEVER want to move all the weight from the back to the front. With the lighter bars the integral sway control will function as designed. The ride of the trailer will be much better and this will actually make the trucks job easier. The stiffer the connection the more shock from the trailer the truck has to control. Last but not least hitching up with the lighter bars is a whole lot easier

-Bernie
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Old 01-01-2008, 02:38 PM   #43
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2007 25' Safari FB SE
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Hey Benie,
Thanks for the post , i do understand the dif and its very clear now.
It actually benefits me to have a camper and trailer weight on the rear axle of my truck as it balances out the truck weight distribution between its axles. This is what Andy was basically saying ,and is why i am considering a w/d unit with lb rating(lighter bars) less than the tounge weight of the trailer. I'm going to talk to a few more hitch dealers tomorrow, and I'll let folks know what they say.
Fred
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