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Old 04-10-2016, 04:31 AM   #1
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Towing Sport 16 without WD - Maybe?

Ok, I know this can be a touchy subject but I thought I would throw this one out there and see what discussion develops.

Before we start, a little about me. I'm not new to towing with quite a bit of towing experience (decades + 1000's of miles) with utility and travel trailers with and without WD. I'm a mechanical engineer with some professional experience testing military trailers.

I have a 2013 T-reg TDI (5000 lbs empty) towing an Airstream 16 foot Sport. The trailer is 2860 lbs dry, 3500 lb GTW and 350 lb dry tongue weight. I towed last year without any WD hitch without problems. Yes, the T-reg squats in the back a bit but the handling seems very acceptable, even in cross-winds that I've encountered during high cross-wind warnings. I keep the T-reg as empty of gear in the back as possible (maybe 150-200 lbs max). I'm surprised how stable this combination is when being passed or passing tractor-trailer and other much larger RV's.

I have an old Reese Strait-Line from our 1963 Airstream but it has 750 lb bars and I feel it's much too stiff for the new Airstream. Here are photos with the Reese installed.





Comparing our new setup (T-reg/16' Airstream) to our old setup (2010 Explorer/19' Airstream) The T-reg handles better without WD than the Explorer did with WD. The trailers are about the same weight and not too much different in length so I believe the primary difference is the tow vehicle (low profile tires, better suspension, shorter rear overhang, etc).

As I see it the trailer is short, the T-reg is stable - do I really need a WD hitch and/or sway control?

Thanks,
Matt
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Old 04-10-2016, 06:01 AM   #2
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You are more qualified than I am based on your quick bio but...
We went in the other direction with our Bambi.
Started with an Equalizer and ultimately switched to a Hensley Cub.
The difference in the way the trailer tows is remarkable! We tow about 10,000 miles a year and I love the ppp hitch. The other advantage is the ability to dial in weight distribution with the jacks... It's not all or nothing, just the amount you need.
I've always wondered if the smaller Airstreams were in fact less stable towing than their longer siblings...that certainly seems to be the case when backing up!

Towing with the Hensley is simply far more relaxing than towing with the Equalizer no matter how I adjusted things on that hitch.

Can't say I'd want to tow without sway control or weight distribution...

Bruce
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Old 04-10-2016, 06:15 AM   #3
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My thoughts based on my experiences towing trailers since the 70's, I agree the 750lb bar Reese hitch is too much for your setup, and may even do damage to the trailer in the event of some severe angle driveway entrances.

However, It has been my experience that a properly sized and setup weight distribution hitch will always handle better than just a ball, no matter the tow vehicle size. My experience in this area is with a 17' Casita (very similar size and weight to your 16' Airstream) towing with two different 3/4 ton trucks, and smaller vehicles. Even the 3/4 tons drove and rode better with a small WD hitch while towing the Casita than they did with just a ball.

So, can you do it without a WD hitch? Obviously. Is it better with a properly sized and setup WD hitch? Yes, IMHO.
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Old 04-10-2016, 06:32 AM   #4
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We have sold several of these little trailers, and WD and sway control on them ranging from nothing to a Hensley Cub.
Have you considered not using WD, but adding a friction anti-sway bar to it? Depending on how you load the car and trailer, it may be all you need. If you want to continue using WD, try to find something with 500 pound bars, which will be more than adequate. I seem to remember several years ago, one of the WD manufacturers offered a single bar WD system designed for small, light trailers, such as the larger pop-ups, to be used with smaller tow vehicles.

Something like this: http://www.reeseprod.com/products/we...Js3r0m2XWmdIti

Or this: http://www.amazon.com/Reese-Light-Du.../dp/B003VATKZC
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Old 04-10-2016, 06:46 AM   #5
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We have been successfully towing our 16' Sport with a Honda Pilot (smaller and lighter than your VW) with no WD setup. We have never felt any hint of sway and the trailer tracks behind very nicely. We have a few inches of squat but is within the factory recommended squat limit as is the 4,500/ 450 TW limits. Also, Honda recommends not using a WD. Both our dealer and hitch shop did not think we needed one and recommended trying without first because of the ease in hitching, lower added weight, etc. YMMV.
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Old 04-10-2016, 07:20 AM   #6
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I've towed several trailers from a 13' trillium to a 25'race car trailer, with several vehicles ranging from a Pontiac grand am to a F350 both with and without weight distribution. In every case the trailer felt more connected to the truck with weight distribution, as if the combination was one unit instead of a trailer pushing up and down and side to side on the bumper.
Even when I don't need to distribute weight I still use the weight distributing hitch.
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Old 04-10-2016, 07:25 AM   #7
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To WD, or Not to WD, that is the question...

Quote:
Originally Posted by remphoto View Post
Both our dealer and hitch shop did not think we needed one and recommended trying without first because of the ease in hitching, lower added weight, etc.
We talked with the people where we bought our AS and they said the same thing.

Thanks!
Matt
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Old 04-10-2016, 07:29 AM   #8
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Has anyone considered active sway control like the Dexter Sway Control module? This would be a much more capable system than friction or even Hensley sway control. Semi-trailers have been using this type of system for some time now tied with their anti-lock brake systems.

Sorry, I did find a thread - sounds like people were interested for a while and then went back to their Hensley's...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f238...le-114178.html

Thanks,
Matt
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Old 04-10-2016, 07:50 AM   #9
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As you go down the highways and byways in your daily life you will see every conceivable kind of bumper pull trailer being towed.
Utility trailers, box trailers - many of them much larger than your AS , equipment trailers 1, 2 and 4 horse trailers, other brands of travel trailers, etc, etc.
As you pass them look at what kind of hitch they are using.
I'll bet about 95% of the time you will see a ball and nothing else. Then ask yourself this:
Are all those thousands of people just clueless or are Airstreamers kind of an overly cautious bunch who have more $ for gew gaws and doo dads than most people?
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Old 04-10-2016, 08:15 AM   #10
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Goin' Down the Highway...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultradog View Post
As you go down the highways and byways in your daily life you will see every conceivable kind of bumper pull trailer being towed.
Utility trailers, box trailers - many of them much larger than your AS , equipment trailers 1, 2 and 4 horse trailers, other brands of travel trailers, etc, etc.
As you pass them look at what kind of hitch they are using.
I'll bet about 95% of the time you will see a ball and nothing else. Then ask yourself this:
Are all those thousands of people just clueless or are Airstreamers kind of an overly cautious bunch who have more $ for gew gaws and doo dads than most people?
I also notice TV/hitch/Trailer combinations. I think I've seen as many poorly adjusted WD hitches as as properly adjusted ones. I've also seen many people towing without WD.

One of the tech's I talked to when we bought our 16 Sport said they use the Equalizer w/ 1000 lb bars for "all" the trailers they sell and that's what they'd recommend for our 16 Sport. I think I know enough about structural mechanics to say that a 16 Sport chassis wasn't designed to carry that much load from the tow vehicle when going over dips (like the crazy one at the end of my driveway).

Matt
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Old 04-10-2016, 08:40 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhutchinson View Post
One of the tech's I talked to when we bought our 16 Sport said they use the Equalizer w/ 1000 lb bars for "all" the trailers they sell and that's what they'd recommend for our 16 Sport.
Matt
They do that for their own stocking convenience, and profit margin, not for any other consideration. The dealer would be the absolute last person I would want a hitch recommendation from, unless it from Andy Thompson who actually makes an effort to do it right. The vast majority of them want to sell the trailer, and get you off their lot as soon as possible. Been there, done that.
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Old 04-10-2016, 08:58 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultradog View Post
As you pass them look at what kind of hitch they are using. I'll bet about 95% of the time you will see a ball and nothing else.
A wise man once wrote that 90 to 95% of the rigs on the roads today are not set up optimally.
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Old 04-10-2016, 09:45 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Road Ruler View Post
A wise man once wrote that 90 to 95% of the rigs on the roads today are not set up optimally.
I'll bet he had an AS.
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Old 04-10-2016, 10:07 AM   #14
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I'd always recommend using a WD system, regardless of the relative weights of the trailer and the tow vehicle. It seems to me that properly adjusted, a system that evens out the load between the axles of your trailer/TV combination can only be a good thing. If nothing else, it's cheap insurance. Where you're looking at a lighter trailer then lighter, more flexible bars are obviously better than the more rigid variety.

A fellow down the road from me uses a basic Eaz-Lift WD when towing his pop-up trailer with his SUV, and I noticed that a local counter-top supplier here in town has a simple WD system on their utility trailer that's being towed by an F250.

Of course, this is only my opinion and shouldn't be taken as criticism if you choose to run without WD. I don't want to be accused of scare tactics again!
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Old 04-10-2016, 10:46 AM   #15
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I've a 2014 Sport 16 and tow with a Ram 1500 ecodiesel. I use a Reese wd hitch and antisway bar. Don't know what it tows like without, maybe ok, but it tows so nice with the setup that there's no reason to experiment. Makes things solid and don't care to see what would happen in a real mixup without. I do have a friend that tows his 16' with a Jeep Cherokee with no WD setup and he drives way faster than I do and claims no issues. I think I like the margin of safety myself. Lots of posts about towing seem to be folks that want to tow without much of safety buffer. Doesn't make much sense to me!
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Old 04-10-2016, 10:58 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhutchinson View Post
Ok, I know this can be a touchy subject but I thought I would throw this one out there and see what discussion develops.

Before we start, a little about me. I'm not new to towing with quite a bit of towing experience (decades + 1000's of miles) with utility and travel trailers with and without WD. I'm a mechanical engineer with some professional experience testing military trailers.

I have a 2013 T-reg TDI (5000 lbs empty) towing an Airstream 16 foot Sport. The trailer is 2860 lbs dry, 3500 lb GTW and 350 lb dry tongue weight. I towed last year without any WD hitch without problems. Yes, the T-reg squats in the back a bit but the handling seems very acceptable, even in cross-winds that I've encountered during high cross-wind warnings. I keep the T-reg as empty of gear in the back as possible (maybe 150-200 lbs max). I'm surprised how stable this combination is when being passed or passing tractor-trailer and other much larger RV's.

I have an old Reese Strait-Line from our 1963 Airstream but it has 750 lb bars and I feel it's much too stiff for the new Airstream. Here are photos with the Reese installed.





Comparing our new setup (T-reg/16' Airstream) to our old setup (2010 Explorer/19' Airstream) The T-reg handles better without WD than the Explorer did with WD. The trailers are about the same weight and not too much different in length so I believe the primary difference is the tow vehicle (low profile tires, better suspension, shorter rear overhang, etc).

As I see it the trailer is short, the T-reg is stable - do I really need a WD hitch and/or sway control?

Thanks,
Matt
Towed a 17ft.Casita with gmc1500 from Dallas to fairbanks with factory installed sway control and absolutely no sway or wind problems at all. In fact no problems whatsoever. Hardly knew the darn thing was behind me. Really don't think the sway bar was needed but I was new to tt world and took their advise. Loved the Casita but my a/s more betterer!
Happy trails.
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Old 04-10-2016, 11:27 AM   #17
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I'd go with lighter bars for sure like some others suggested. I definitely would also suggest sway control. Even if your trailer exhibits no sway tendency, situations can pop up that can create conditions that could induce sway. I have a friend who lost their trailer due to a fast passing truck passing her on a down hill stretch of interstate. The truck was entering the interstate, she pulled to the left lane to give him room to enter. He came close to her right side and the single axle SOB went into a sway. She was pulling with a Suburban but all the conditions were perfect to induce the sway.

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Old 04-10-2016, 11:56 AM   #18
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You might want to check with VW, some of the WD bars can cause problems with some of the Touaregs, I use an ezlift hitch with just an anti-sway bar for about 6,000 miles and so far I am real happy pulling my 25' souveriegn, most of those miles going from Texas to Seattle and back.
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Old 04-10-2016, 12:42 PM   #19
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I towed a 5K lbs boat with a Range Rover HSE for three years without any consideration for a WD/sway hitch never had a problem. When we got the 7K lbs AS last year there was no question that we would have a WD/sway hitch. If your rig is within manufacture's recommendations and the steering doesn't feel light, then you are the best judge of what you need.
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Old 04-10-2016, 01:17 PM   #20
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My 2 cents.

You may not need weight distribution, but sway control is never a "bad thing".

I have a co-worker who bought a darling vintage Scottie. We were discussing hitches, etc.

I mentioned that in the case of an accident, if you do have the sway control, then "the other guy" (who may be looking for a payday$) can't say that there was a way for you to have avoided the accident, but you weren't using the best safety setup.

Sometimes CYA insurance is a good thing too.
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