towing a travel trailer cross country

[Moend]

5 hours ago, bshort said:

The passing vehicle "suck" is normal.  Nothing can be done about that.  Too bad you couldn't get a bigger fuel tank, as stopping every 200 miles will surely get old fast.  

I hear ya there. 8~10mpg mean lots of pit stops. I am sure the wife and the kids wont mind that tho

 

The days of driving 6 hours without stop are long gone for me anyways

[Transient]

The passing vehicle "suck" is normal.  Nothing can be done about that.  Too bad you couldn't get a bigger fuel tank, as stopping every 200 miles will surely get old fast.  

I wonder how long it'll take Titan Fuel Tanks to create a large replacement fuel tank

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[cmysstailights]

thank you guys, it sounds like i should be replacing my WDH and i will be putting an LT tries before taking off, I will also take it the CAT scale to make sure tongue weight is approx 12% - as far as speed I am on vacation so getting to my next stop an hour or two late better than putting my family in danger - we even thought of having a back up plan in case we needed to stop for an extended period of time.
 
does anyone uses helper spring or airbags - sumospring is what i am looking for

I ran airlift 5000 in my 1500 and now in my 2500. Love it, levels out truck with heavy load. When towing i just air up Little since i have a equalizer e4.

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[AlaskaErik]

11 hours ago, Transient said:

I wonder how long it'll take Titan Fuel Tanks to create a large replacement fuel tank

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Not going to happen.  EPA rules and the tank being part of the emissions system have shut that down.  They have already indicated that to people who have contacted Titan.

[Transient]

Not going to happen.  EPA rules and the tank being part of the emissions system have shut that down.  They have already indicated that to people who have contacted Titan.

I can see that being an issue affecting diesel engines, but didn't think it would affect gasoline engines.

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[the wanderer]

On 9/23/2020 at 11:21 AM, Moend said:

does anyone uses helper spring or airbags - sumospring is what i am looking for

I have a different truck than you, but tried out sumo springs to help with towing my 23' TT. Installed the springs and discovered that they definitely change the unloaded ride quality, which is something I was not prepared to sacrifice.

 

I hooked up my trailer to my WDH, and truck still had a bit of rake to it, so springs helped with that. When testing the truck during a fairly windy day, I was blown all over the road. Ended up dialing in the WDH several times. I use the Husky centerline WDH, and the bars absolutely need to sit perfectly level on the brackets that provide tension to the bars, since the the bar sitting flat gives the most surface area for the bars to rub over the bracket to provide friction. If the bar is slightly on an angle, then the edge of bracket is the only spot that provides friction/sway control.

 

Long story short; sumo springs did not help with sway control in any way (which seems obvious, but they do claim that it should help in this area). Dialing in the WDH is what fixed my issue, and the sumo springs have been returned. My truck sits level now without them, I can live with that.

Edited September 28, 2020 by the wanderer

[Moend]

Thank you all for the good info.   I have a question. Why people advise against using friction sway control bars in the rain. And how is that different from using the other anti sway WDH. after all most of them are delaying on friction to control sway.

[Moend]

I found the answer: so friction bars aka sway control bars. Will cause the pivoting across the ball hitch to be harder. In wet slippery conditions will cause the truck to oversteer if the grip on the front tires is weaker than the sway bars friction.

 

Lots people on the RV forum recommend loosening them and drive slow. Which what I am going to do, or even stop if it get too wet.

[UGADawgs]

1 hour ago, Moend said:

I found the answer: so friction bars aka sway control bars. Will cause the pivoting across the ball hitch to be harder. In wet slippery conditions will cause the truck to oversteer if the grip on the front tires is weaker than the sway bars friction.

 

Lots people on the RV forum recommend loosening them and drive slow. Which what I am going to do, or even stop if it get too wet.

What if you used 4 auto to leverage the front tires in these situations ?   I usually always put it in 4 auto in summer thundershowers.

[Moend]

On 9/29/2020 at 8:53 AM, UGADawgs said:

What if you used 4 auto to leverage the front tires in these situations ?   I usually always put it in 4 auto in summer thundershowers.

I am not sure if that will help, it is not taking off the issue, it is steering - I live in the ND, and it is pretty slick during winter time ice, slush and what have ya. if you lock your truck in 4wd it will help you taking off, but steering and breaking is solely relay on your traction and contact with road.

 

I can see 4wd help with steering by pulling you in the direction you are desiring on take off but it is not while stopping or rolling.

[Moend]

I think I started understanding the concept of the friction bars and their side effect during slippery/low traction conditions. basically you want the friction bar to be just ever so slightly weaker than your contact with the road. otherwise, your trailer momentum will cause your steering to be ineffective (pushing you in one direction). on contract if the friction bar are too weak or off then your trailer will be jostling you around (moving you side to side "sway condition")

[oldmann]

It is really all about tongue weight as others have said.  Also higher weight rating tires with lots of air in them.  It is tough towing todays travel trailers.  They are often heavier on one side because of the slide outs and sit so stinking high because the slides have to clear the tires.  Wind really catches them.  I have towed a '33 TT with my GMT900 and it was fine with lots of tongue weight and a early design WD hitch with separate sway control.

[Moend]

28 minutes ago, oldmann said:

It is really all about tongue weight as others have said.  Also higher weight rating tires with lots of air in them.  It is tough towing todays travel trailers.  They are often heavier on one side because of the slide outs and sit so stinking high because the slides have to clear the tires.  Wind really catches them.  I have towed a '33 TT with my GMT900 and it was fine with lots of tongue weight and a early design WD hitch with separate sway control.

What is the max speed you felt comfortable with, and how did you calculate the tongue weight?

[oldmann]

21 minutes ago, Moend said:

What is the max speed you felt comfortable with, and how did you calculate the tongue weight?

Good question.  I felt 65 was fast enough.  Just experience on the weight.  I hook up without the WD bars first.  Squat the truck about 3 or so inches.  Then use the bars to take 2 or so inches of squat back out.  Don't try to get it level.  For some reason people have a hang up about levelness.  I just want it to pull well!  Let is squat an inch or two!

[Moend]

1 hour ago, oldmann said:

Good question.  I felt 65 was fast enough.  Just experience on the weight.  I hook up without the WD bars first.  Squat the truck about 3 or so inches.  Then use the bars to take 2 or so inches of squat back out.  Don't try to get it level.  For some reason people have a hang up about levelness.  I just want it to pull well!  Let is squat an inch or two!

Good to know sounds like 65 is the magical number, I didn't feel too comfortable going over 65 - and i think leveled with WDH is about an inch lower than the standard ride as these trucks comes with about 1"~1.5" rake so when they are leveled they are about 1"~1.5" lower.

and this is what I have been doing putting the camper on, then left the back with the WDH till there is only 1" sag give or take - I don't know maybe I am over thinking this, but is it normal for small sedans to pass and cause the ass of the truck to wiggle about?