Quote:
Originally Posted by Persistent
...tongue weights of trailers are often much higher than the published weights. Get it weighed.
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Agreed!
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Weigh each axle, then weigh each axle-end.
Weigh the whole darn shootin' match, then weigh the tow-vehicle.
Tug the trailer onto the scale, unhitch, and weigh the trailer stand-alone.
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Although the total weight on both axles plus the hitch may be within the trailer GVWR, determining the tonnage on each axle end might reveal an 'out of center-of-mass' potential problem.
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One issue with a bumper-pull trailer -- everything behind the rear-axle of the tow-vehicle is constantly pushing the tow-vehicle 'slideways'.
Fortunately, a tow-vehicle with good tires on dry-pavement in a straight-away *usually* manages to *generally* control all that trailer mass outside the tow-vehicle center-of-mass.
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Then... add centrifugal force during turns.
Then... add a curving road with multiple 'S' curves.
Then... add rain, wet leaves, snow, an unanticipated gravel patch of ball-bearings.
Then... add a tired or inexperienced operator.
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Then... add, irregardless of engineering, a poorly-loaded trailer.
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I am biased toward a fifth-wheel hitch on a MediumDutyTruck.
This is the result of decades of full-time live-aboard in a vast variety of busses, fifth-wheel RecreationVehicles, and our current rig, an ExpeditionVehicle we converted from a commercial truck.
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Another instigator leading us away from a Class 3 pick-up truck (aka '3500', '350') to a stouter Class 7-8 vehicle (aka '8000') with massively over-built hitches?
The two years / hundred thousand miles we delivered RecreationVehicles manufacturer-to-dealer and dealer-to-shows.
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Shoppers looking at any RecreationVehicle tend to notice price, the asking price, the sticker price, comparable sales prices on KellyBlueBook and NADA.
Astute manufacturers realize this, and adjust their components to stay in the general pricing range of similar rigs.
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Safety and reliability are often an after-thought for manufacturers, a 'distant second' to keeping within the budget of the 'every-person' shopper.
This is the reality of a competitive market.
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The best-built, most-reliable, longest-lived, never-quit rig tends to be the machine you build at home based on your needs, your experience.
As any fabricator or convertor knows, that one-off custom 'best- most- longest- never-' vehicle cannot be economically duplicated to sell in a market dominated by less-expensive mass-production irregardless of safety or reliability.
Buyers are interested in price.
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I know I am.
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PS:
Weigh it.
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