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lhamblin View Drop Down
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Joined: 27 Sep 2018
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Posts: 13 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Weight Distribution Towing
    Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 3:48pm
Unfortunately where I live we do not have an RV dealer and the one that installed it is 300 miles away where i bought the trailer used. One has to take BC Ferries to get to and from our residence.  My original question was: If I add more free chain links from 4 to 6 might that bring my level up?
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gpokluda View Drop Down
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Posts: 398 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 3:24pm
I installed the Fastway WDH on my vehicle and can tell you there is a lot that goes into setting one up to get it right, so I won't go into depth. In a nutshell you basically want your loaded tow vehicle and loaded trailer to end up level when hitched up. That's not what I see in your picture. If it were me I would go back to the RV dealer or to another RV dealer for a second opinion.

Our Nissan Frontier V6 will pull in about 12mpg at 65-70mph depending on wind, grade, etc.

Gino
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OldNeumanntapr View Drop Down
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Posts: 204 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 3:15pm
Originally posted by GlueGuy

Originally posted by OldNeumanntapr

It could be an accident waiting to happen. For example; The other day I saw a Honda Pilot towing a single-axle travel trailer that was the same size of an rPod or maybe a foot or two longer. He was going down the Cuesta Grade (A long 6% grade on US 101) IN THE RAIN, and was towing at about 75 mph!

The back wheels on the Pilot were splayed outward and from what I noticed when he passed me he had NO sway control at all and was simply towing with a standard ball hitch. 

I slowed way down, in case he lost control of the trailer. That was simply too fast to tow a trailer like that in the RAIN, down a steep grade.
Eeeesh! Cry That is wrong on so many levels! 

For one thing, the maximum for ANY vehicle towing a trailer in CA is 55 MPH. That is more than 33% over the limit. Second, doing that in the rain "could" be considered illegal just for the rainy conditions. Most areas of CA have not seen rain in over 6 months. That means there has been 6 months of oil and crud deposited on the roadways, and adding water to the mix just makes it all the more dangerous.

When we encounter someone like that, our general approach is to slow down, let them pass, and then let them get WAAAY in front of us so that we will have plenty of time to avoid the coming excitement.


Yep. I agree. I considered calling the CHP but didn't want to use my phone while driving in the rain. I guess he made it OK because I never saw an accident. People tow trailers here in CA way too fast and 80% of them are going faster than the 55 mph limit. I drive a delivery route for a wholesale auto parts company (with their vans) and I've seen so many trailers (mostly toy haulers, but others as well) pass me like I'm standing still.

Once I saw a utility trailer overloaded with drywall flip in front of me on a downgrade while I was on my route. The load was shifting because it wasn't secured very well and that led to the accident. The trailer started swaying ever so slowly but whipped around more and more. The driver was traveling too fast and tried to correct but couldn't. I could see what was going to happen so I slowed way down. What did the other drivers do? They all passed me, and one honked at me and gave me the finger for slowing down. They almost had a multiple vehicle pileup. Idiots. 
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2707 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 3:03pm
Originally posted by OldNeumanntapr

It could be an accident waiting to happen. For example; The other day I saw a Honda Pilot towing a single-axle travel trailer that was the same size of an rPod or maybe a foot or two longer. He was going down the Cuesta Grade (A long 6% grade on US 101) IN THE RAIN, and was towing at about 75 mph!

The back wheels on the Pilot were splayed outward and from what I noticed when he passed me he had NO sway control at all and was simply towing with a standard ball hitch. 

I slowed way down, in case he lost control of the trailer. That was simply too fast to tow a trailer like that in the RAIN, down a steep grade.
Eeeesh! Cry That is wrong on so many levels! 

For one thing, the maximum for ANY vehicle towing a trailer in CA is 55 MPH. That is more than 33% over the limit. Second, doing that in the rain "could" be considered illegal just for the rainy conditions. Most areas of CA have not seen rain in over 6 months. That means there has been 6 months of oil and crud deposited on the roadways, and adding water to the mix just makes it all the more dangerous.

When we encounter someone like that, our general approach is to slow down, let them pass, and then let them get WAAAY in front of us so that we will have plenty of time to avoid the coming excitement.
bp
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2707 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 2:56pm
Originally posted by StephenH

Looks like iPhone auto mistake works like Android auto mistake.
The last time I measured the tongue weight for our RP179 using the scale and beam method, I came up with about 600 lbs. That was before I added the Hensley Cub hitch though. I'm not sure how that figures into the calculations as the main part of the hitch stays attached to the trailer. I'm not sure if all the weight is measured with the trailer or whether part of it should be measured with the truck. I haven't found anything in print to say one way or the other.
It all comes down to distribution and where the weight ends up being. If you weigh your vehicle and the trailer before "coupling", the total weight added to the TV (front axle + rear axle) is, essentially, the tongue weight. The remainder ends up being on the TT axle.
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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OldNeumanntapr View Drop Down
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Posts: 204 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 2:42pm
Is the OP's TV a front wheel drive? I for one would not tow a travel trailer with a front wheel drive vehicle.

It could be an accident waiting to happen. For example; The other day I saw a Honda Pilot towing a single-axle travel trailer that was the same size of an rPod or maybe a foot or two longer. He was going down the Cuesta Grade (A long 6% grade on US 101) IN THE RAIN, and was towing at about 75 mph!
The back wheels on the Pilot were splayed outward and from what I noticed when he passed me he had NO sway control at all and was simply towing with a standard ball hitch. 

I slowed way down, incase he lost control of the trailer. That was simply too fast to tow a trailer like that in the RAIN, down a steep grade.

Yes, accidents can happen with any combination of trailer & TV but it seemed to me like this rig was especially dangerous. Would the accident have been due to an overloaded front wheel drive TV with no sway control  / WDH, or simply stupidity? Perhaps a bit of both.

Know your limits and take precautions, and use common sense! It's the same thing when going out on the ocean. I knew a commercial fisherman who failed to heed to respect the ocean, and now his name is etched into the monument in Morro Bay for fisherman lost at sea.
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Posts: 2707 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 1:59pm
Originally posted by OldNeumanntapr

Originally posted by OldNeumanntapr

Our. Assured tongue weight ....


AGGGG. Stupid iPhone auto correct.

That was supposed to be 'Our MEASURED Tongue Weight'.
I think I almost read that correctly anyway. LOL

You will find that if you hit [space] twice, the keyboard will automatically add a period to the end of what it thinks is the end of a sentence.
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6422 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 1:59pm
Looks like iPhone auto mistake works like Android auto mistake.
The last time I measured the tongue weight for our RP179 using the scale and beam method, I came up with about 600 lbs. That was before I added the Hensley Cub hitch though. I'm not sure how that figures into the calculations as the main part of the hitch stays attached to the trailer. I'm not sure if all the weight is measured with the trailer or whether part of it should be measured with the truck. I haven't found anything in print to say one way or the other.
StephenH
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OldNeumanntapr View Drop Down
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Posts: 204 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 12:52pm
Originally posted by OldNeumanntapr

Our. Assured tongue weight ....


AGGGG. Stupid iPhone auto correct.

That was supposed to be 'Our MEASURED Tongue Weight'.
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2707 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 12:22pm
Originally posted by mcarter

FR specs show the hitch weight of a 180 at 332 lbs. That's no cargo or add ons.
See? I said the 295 lbs was a fantasy!
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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