Re: Joel's towin experience

[Steve Stegmann <stegmann@domain.elided>]

On Tue, 20 Oct 1998, Chris & Ranae Procyk wrote:

> and maybe some helper springs will do.
> 
> And a really big truck won't help if you get it really wrong, as Steve's 15000/1000 example
> shows.
> 
Well sort of.  The small trailer thrashing around behind the big truck 
didn't bother the truck too much but it made a mess of the trailer tires, 
bearings, etc.

I am convinced that if you can pull & stop (enough power in both cases), 
proper trailer balance is the main thing.  Stiff sidewalls help a lot.  
You want to do everything to prevent the trailer from becoming unstable.  
Part of this is make the whole system laterally stiff.  

Another thing that showed up in the tests was that the trailer didn't try
to sway until something pushed it a bit.  Wind, passing truck, road ruts
from trucks, something.  A point to remember here (for all you youngsters)
is that one of the main different characteristics between radial and bias
tires is that bias tires tend to follow ruts (even very slight ones)
*much* more than radial tires.  If your trailer has bias tires it will be
following all the ruts in the road.  Believe me this effect is
noticeable!!! And if the trailer weight approaches truck weight *look out*.

Also important for compfort is longitudinal stiffness.  I noticed this
pulling my camper with my Aerostar a couple weeks ago.  Along the front to
rear axis, this combination isn't stiff.  You could feel it flexing when
the trailer went over a bump, (have to pull harder to lift it over the
bump).  It didn't seem to effect the handling but was unpleasant to me. 
Aerostars don't have a real frame, unibody.

Steve

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Steven A. Stegmann
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