Trailer weight distribution demonstration

On Friday, October 14, 2016 at 7:24:24 AM UTC-7, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Not adding anything to the conversation, but I had purchased a Nimbus 4 that had a Pfister (spelling?) tube trailer. The tongue weight was so heavy it could only be moved by a jack. Soon after getting the bird I purchased a double axle Cobra trailer for the glider and sold the other trailer. The new cobra had a tongue weight much less than the former trailer and could be moved by hand and towed marvelously. Of course back then I was towing with a 2500 chevy Suburban and I had to put a post it on the dash to remind me that I was towing a trailer. While not an expert in any field of this particular discussion, it seems tow vehicle has much to do with the stability as the trailer. My ASw-24 towed towed great behind my little four banger Toyota pick up and horrible behind my next car a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Suburban was my favorite tow vehicle but I had to keep reminding myself of the trailer. I am currently towing an ASG-29E with a ML 350 diesel and it tows great, but I do have a double exile trailer.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee has a bad reputation as a tow vehicle. I personally saw one (attempting to) towing a small travel trailer. It was not stable and I witnessed severe swaying at a relatively slow speed (50 mph). The driver would slow down when it went unstable, and then creep back up to the speed that it would go unstable again. It was disturbing to watch - the driver had his family in the car and they were all at risk. I think the problem was the short wheel base in combination with the suspension and the tires. If they are too soft there isn't sufficient damping to stop swaying. This is further aggravated by the length of glider trailers. Yet they are rated to tow pretty hefty trailers. The moral of the story is just because the drive train can handle the trailer weight doesn't mean that it will be stable at highway speeds.

Tom