Re: ihc-digest V5 #202

[<hofs@domain.elided>]

> On any kind of down grade this will bother 
>the heck out of you(if you're smart ;)). I pushed the envelope a couple 
>months ago bringing an S pickup back from 200 mile away, and I came down 
>Cuesta Grade(well over 6% in spots) in first gear, braking to keep it below 
>30 mph. I felt really lucky to make it down the hill in one piece(semis 
>passing, narrow lanes), and will NOT be doing that again until I have my 
>own trailer with electric brakes. My $.02....
>
>Coming back from MN last year with the '53 T-all in tow behind a rental 
>truck, I saw a Jeep Cherokee(2 door, I believe) that a 25'(or so) travel 
>trailer had gotten the best of in crosswinds on I15. Jeep and trailer were 
>still attached, at about a 45 deg angle across the median. Jeep was on it's 
>roof, trailer on it's side, personal effects strewn like a plane crash. 
>Looked like everybody was OK, but emergency vehicles hadn't reached the 
>scene yet(middle of nowhere). Ugly...
>
>Jim

Proper setup is so damn important as you pointed out several times there, 
Jim. I have a car trailer with dual axles and electric brakes, in 
addition to an equalizer hitch. That trailer with a car on board feels 
much less secure than my house trailer which weighs as least as much. 
Maybe the center of gravity is different with a car up on top of it?? In 
my younger days, I was traveling through Louisiana in my Travelall with 
my kids inside and my trailer on behind, when I looked at the lane next 
to me on that causeway, I said, "There's a trailer just like ours". It 
was just like ours, exactly like ours. The bumps in the causeway had 
broken the hitch and it didn't even notice the safety chains I guess, 
just pulled out in the lane next to us and proceeded to try and pass us. 
We survived, even the trailer mostly survived, and I've never been the 
same about hitching up since.
John