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Forum
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RE: News, Would you have this done? Nederland's Frozen Dead Guy.
Years ago (way to many to count), when I was a sophomore in college, I had a professor named Robert Ettinger. He wrote a book called The Prospect of Immortality which started the Cryonic movement that, as far as I know, continues to this day. The idea is that when you die, your body is put into deep freeze and kept that way until such time as science comes up with a cure for what ever killed you, and finds out a way to thaw you out and bring you back to life. I know, sounds pretty far fetched, but I did buy his book and got an A in the class!:B
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/20/09 05:55pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Bean Bag Mount for Garmin Nuvi?
I have the Garmin bean bag mount and it works great. It does not slide around because of the soft rubber like stuff on the bottom. Once in a while, if driving on a really bumpy road I will have to adjust it but that is about it.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/20/09 05:23pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Hitch on vehicle not right size
When you go to get the new hitch, check to see that the class III hitch has two sets of numbers on it if you plan to use the weight distribution with it. The first set of numbers will tell you the weight carrying ability and tow limit of the hitch without WD. The 2nd set will tell you the carrying ability and tow limit of the hitch with WD. If there is only one set of numbers, the hitch is not to be used with a WD hitch and bars. You can purchase class III hitches both ways - those that are capable of using WD and those that are not.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/20/09 12:16pm |
Towing
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RE: Hitch on vehicle not right size
Make sure you use a sway control with that new trailer. I noticed that the dry weight is 1450lbs but the hitch weight is only 130lbs. That is well under the minimum 10% that is normally recommended for safe and sway free towing.
It will probably be a bit difficult to load the trailer heavier in the front also because it has a rear kitchen where most of the heavy stuff (pots & pans, canned food etc.) is likely to be stored, and I see the front of the trailer does not have any or very little storage area. That will make the tongue even lighter when you start loading it up to go camping.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/20/09 07:54am |
Towing
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RE: towing an avalanche
Moved to Dinghy Towing forum from Towing.
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BarneyS
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11/20/09 07:46am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Towing Jeep Wrangler
Moved to Dinghy Towing forum from Towing.
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 05:58pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Tongue weight - how much is it and does it change
Larry,
The weight off the rear axle has nothing at all to do with the pressure between the ball and the coupler. By the way you said "off the rear axle of the TT" and it does not do that. It takes weight of the rear axle of the truck. I think you may be confusing the rear axle of the truck with the pressure between the BALL and the trailer COUPLER.
When the chains pull DOWN on the trailer tongue, that puts downward pressure on the coupler. Since the coupler rests on the ball, that puts that downward pressure on the ball.
Now, at the same time, the WD bars are pulling UP (with a twisting motion) on the hitch head. The ball is attached to the top of the hitch head. Since the ball rests within the coupler, the ball pushes UP on the coupler. Combine the Down pressure from the coupler, the original tongue weight, and the UP pressure from the ball and you have that huge amount of pressure between the ball and the coupler. That is the question the OP asked.
Notice, in the above description, I have not said a word about the rear axle - now I will.:) That same UP pressure that is pushing up on the ball via the WD bars/hitch head is also pushing UP on the receiver via the shank. Since the receiver is attached to the frame of the truck, the frame of the truck moves UP and therefor relieves some of the pressure from the rear axle. That twisting motion I mentioned earlier by the WD bars on the hitch head is input into the frame and while relieving the rear axle of part of its' load it also adds that to the front axle.
While all of this is happening, those snap-up brackets back there on the trailer A frame that are pulling DOWN on the A frame are at the same time pulling DOWN on the whole trailer frame. That puts pressure on the trailer axles. The different amounts of pressure (weight) that occurs at each of these places can and has been calculated by Ron Gratz and can be seen by the results from the active weights taken by another member earlier.
Notice, during all of this pressure (weight) moving around, NOTHING has been done to the trailer itself to change the actual tongue weight. It remains what it was before the WD was even hooked up. No firewood, bicycles, or food was added or taken out of the trailer. It is the spring bars acting through the hitch head, trailer frame and truck frame that gives you the different numbers.
Here is a copy/paste of a post that I made some time ago that might help explain it a bit better.
Compare it with a wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow contains a load of sand (tongue weight) and the bed of the wheelbarrow is the tongue/hitch of the trailer. The handles of the wheelbarrow are the WD bars and your arms are the chains that lift them. The front wheel is the front axle of the truck. The rear supports are the rear axle of the truck and your two feet are the trailer axles. When you lift up on the handles (bars & chains), you transfer the force (weight of sand) from the rear supports (rear axle of truck) to the front wheel (front axle of truck), but at the same time the lifting force of your arms (chains) increases the load on your feet (axles of trailer). At no time during this whole operation did the load in the wheelbarrow change. It is still the same weight of sand (tongue weight) that you started with. The forces that that load of sand created in the wheelbarrow has been moved around but the weight is still the same. The same thing happens with the tongue weight of the travel trailer when you use WD. The actual tongue weight does not change, only the forces that it creates is moved around.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 05:39pm |
Towing
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RE: Air Shocks?
If your tongue weight is within the limits set by Honda then the air bags should do the job of leveling out the vehicle so the headlights don't point into the trees. I doubt if your vehicle or trailer are even capable of using a normal WD hitch.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 05:22pm |
Towing
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RE: Brake Controller -Cheap vs. Expensive
The only ones that I am aware of that will do exactly as you describe are the BrakeSmart and the MaxBrake. The Prodigy and P3 and their clones will also do as you want but will require a push of a button when you get into a slow area like city streets or campground roads. after driving highway speeds. After you get them set up the first time, you don't need to re-adjust every time you tow. They are very smooth in braking in all situations as long as you remember to take the boost off by pushing the button when you get in slow areas. Then you also have to remember to push the button to get the boost back on when you get back on the highway.
If you don't want to do that, and still want the smooth braking under all conditions you mentioned, then the BrakeSmart or MaxBrake are you only choices as far as I know.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 09:21am |
Towing
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RE: Does a digital thermostat cause more cycling of furnace?
Until I find an after-market thermostat that includes a switch for low/hi fan, as well as switching between furnace and A/C...Well, I'll stick with what I have.
Will,
I believe this one will do exactly what you have described. I have one and it works great and has a three speed fan control. It came with my Sunnybrook so I didn't have to add it, but I think it is quite pricy. Might be worth it to you though.:)
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 08:44am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Awning
I also have a 21 foot awning and the part you are looking for at Camping World is here. It is easy to use and works great. Can be used in the down position as shown or just left up to keep the tension on the fabric and tube. It also stabilizes the roller tube from flexing as you drive down the road.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 08:30am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Tongue weight - how much is it and does it change
Enough with the theory. Here is data based on actual loaded weights. Three passes were made at the scale: TV alone, TV and Trailer no load bars on hitch, TV and Trailer with load bars.
TV alone: Front axle: 3140 Rear Axle: 3280
TV+Trailer no WDH: Front axle: 2880 Rear Axle: 4300 Trailer Axle: 4780
TV+Trailer w/WDH: Front axle: 3080 Rear Axle: 4040 Trailer Axle: 4840
From this we find that by adding the WDH the tongue weight went from 760# with no WDH to 700 # with. The TV front axle ADDED 200#, the TV rear axle WENT DOWN 260# and the trailer axle went UP 60#.
These are real numbers - all weights with the same loads on the same day at the same scale.
Jerry,
You need to look at the OP's question a bit more carefully. He did not ask how much weight was removed from the rear axle or transfered to the other axles of his rig. He simply asked how much pressure would occur between the trailer coupler and the ball of the hitch if one were to put a gauge in between those two items. That pressure would INCREASE by quite a bit (1700lbs in the example in the hitch sticky post).
The example you gave is typical of WD use which removes weight from the rear axle but DOES NOT remove weight from the tongue. Tongue weight is tongue weight and does not change. The only way to remove weight from the tongue is to move the trailer axles forward, or load the trailer differently.
Depending on the geometry, weight could be negative at the ball and very high at spring bar sockets.
That is not possible. The pressure (weight) at the ball will be INCREASED any time a WD hitch is used. The only way to make the weight negative at the ball would be to load the trailer with more weight behind the trailer axles than in front or to move the trailer axles forward, and NOT use a WD hitch.
What you have described is the weight at the rear axle or at the receiver of the tow vehicle. The more you draw up on the spring bars, the harder the coupler pushes down on the ball because of their attachment to the tongue via the snap-up brackets. HOWEVER, the more you draw up on the spring bars, the harder the hitch head/drawbar combo pushes UP on the receiver because of their attachment to the hitch head, and therefor removes some of the pressure on the rear axle. That pressure is then moved to the front axle of the truck and back to the trailer axles.
The reason I am being so picky in correcting the above two posts is because many people know that the tongue weight of a trailer should be between 10-15% of the trailers loaded weight and they are afraid that the use of the WD hitch will reduce that weight and make the trailer prone to sway. That will not happen. Using a WD hitch DOES NOT change the trailer tongue weight in any way. If you have 12% tongue weight before hooking up the hitch you will have 12% after hooking up, no matter how much pressure you put on the spring bars. What WILL happen is that the WD will remove some of the weight from the receiver and rear axle of the truck. There is a big difference between that and the tongue weight.
Hope this clears up a bit of confusion out there.:)
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/17/09 07:43am |
Towing
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RE: Brake Controller -Cheap vs. Expensive
If you have the boost turned up you may get a little bit because boost adds the the base voltage for 5 seconds.
It is WAY more than a little bit, especially if you have B2 or B3 selected! I agree with the rest of your post.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 05:19pm |
Towing
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RE: Can the same breaking system work for dollies and tow bars??
I would expect that when any of these systems - BB, ReadyBrake or any other - applies the brakes, there will be a significant force exerted by the street-contact wheels to pull the car from the dolly. I would doubt that the straps holding the car to the dolly are designed to handle this - they would always expect the street-contact wheels to be free-wheeling.
Dave
Dave,
The BB, ReadyBrake etc are only used when a vehicle is towed 4 down. They are not used with a tow dolly. A tow dolly uses its' own brakes so there would be no "pull" from the car. There would be some "push" from the deceleration however.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 02:28pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Dodge and Ford among the Clunkers?
I love my clunker also! 210,000 miles and still looks and runs like new! :)
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 01:53pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Does a digital thermostat cause more cycling of furnace?
BTW, the new RV's are using a digital stat and not the analog type.
Not just the new ones! My old 1997 Sunnybrook and my present 2004 Sunnybrook both have one of these. :)
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 01:25pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Lube WD hitch bars?
They're on the way!:)
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 01:03pm |
Towing
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RE: Brake Controller -Cheap vs. Expensive
It is desirable to have some braking effort on the trailer before the TV. This is the purpose of the boost feature. This keeps the trailer behind the TV and less chance of a jack knife. This is why I think the P3 is superior even to the hydraulic based systems. Hang on for I am going to catch a lot of flack for this statement.
Don't know why you should expect flack about your statement.
As far as I know, all modern brake controllers have provision for making the trailer brake ahead of the tow vehicle. The Prodigy, P3 and some others do it via the brake switch and the boost which makes the trailer brake with more power for the first couple of seconds. The MaxBrake and BrakeSmart also have provision for harder braking at the beginning of the brake event with the Initial Brake Constant. According to the BrakeSmart website, this starts at the signal from the brake lights just as the Prodigy and P3 controllers do.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 12:47pm |
Towing
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RE: Selecting WD hitch
I would not even consider the E2 for your rig. Go with the regular Equal-i-zer or the Reese/Draw-Tite with Dual Cam sway control.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 12:25pm |
Towing
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RE: Lube WD hitch bars?
see the last page 'Maintanece' & warningshere
Red - the link didnt work - it was just blank. I have been looking for some type of manual to go with the hitch system. All that I got from the dealer was a parts list and assembly instructions. I figured there should have been a general use and maintenance guide - but no such luck so far.
I have the Draw Tite (same as Husky) installation and operation instructions along with the friction sway control installation and operating instructions in PDF. Both of them tell how to use, maintain, and lubricate the items. I know of no general use and maintenance guide but these are very simple devices and once you use them or even read about them that will be all you need. You can always ask here if you get stuck.:)
If you would like a copy, send me an e-mail (not Private Message) and I will reply with the documents attached. You can get my e-mail by clicking on my profile at the left of this post or by visiting my website link in signature at the bottom of my posts.
Barney
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BarneyS
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11/16/09 12:15pm |
Towing
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