View Single Post
  #4  
Old October 17th 07, 09:59 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Papa3
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 444
Default Which Tow Vehicle

On Oct 17, 3:02 pm, wrote:
You guys are leaving out a very important part of the equation when it
comes to stability and the ability to prevent sway. That would be
tires and the stiffness of their sidewalls. This makes a huge
difference. This can have as much of an impact as suspension.

Case in point; My brother and I at one time both had Dodge Ram trucks.
I had "E" rated tires, and he had really low rated tires (can't
remember which load designation). One of my trailers is a large 4-
place enclosed snowmobile trailer. We hitched it up to his truck to
head north for some snowmobiling and that rig was all over the place.
Glad the trailer had electric brakes because he had to apply them a
number of times to get the sway under control. Well, it wasn't very
many miles of this adventure before we turned back to switch to my
truck. When we got back from the trip, he replaced all of his tires
with a higher load range (don't remember if he went all the way to
"E") and we took a test drive with the trailer. The difference was
night and day. Problem solved!

Some of you guys with sway issues should see your tire dealer and
inquire about stiffer tires. Granted, the ride is not quite as soft,
but it's a lot safer. Even when you're not towing.

Cheers,
Dave


Absolutely. Look back to an earlier post on towing. When I switched
to a cheaper, lower speed rated tire to save some money on my tow
vehicle (VW Passat wagon), the tow stability was noticably worse.
Upgrading to better tires (similar to the OEM values) immediately got
me back to where I used to be, which was a stable tow at up to about
70 mph.

P3