Toy hauler

[alanmcorcoran]

Underway

[alanmcorcoran]

100 plus miles over the grapevine and still upright.

[Water Warrior 2]

Looking good Alan. ...........................Have you tried backing up yet ? :lol:

[alanmcorcoran]

A little. Couple things learnt so far:
1) gas mileage not so good.
2) put a lot of air in your rear tire
3) you won't make good time up hill
4) probably should have done a little more prep on the truck - tranny fluid, heavier weight oil, coolant check, possibly upgrade rear shocks.

I've trailer'd 300 or so miles today and so far so good. Flatter the road the better. Lots of tradeoffs to weigh vs going on the mc alone. I think this makes sense for two up exploring but I think I prefer the bike alone for solo adventures. Busy's setup might be a good compromise in between.

[bonehead]

Did you use an equalizer hitch? If not, it really helps with the sagging rear end.

[mrlmd1]

What is the hitch weight on that thing? Even with your bike in the rear of the trailer, there is a lot of weight on your rear end, the front end of the Suburban is pointing up to the sky - not good for steering either. Bonehead is right, if you are going to tow something that heavy you either need a weight-distributing hitch or much beefier rear springs and shocks.

[alantf]

One thing I found, years ago, when I towed my caravan, was to get as much of the weight as possible over the trailer axle. If you had the same weight distributed front and rear, the trailer would still be in balance, but it would set up a "pendulum" effect, causing the hitch to rise & fall, and was thus much more unstable.

[mrlmd1]

That trailer's got a tandem double axle on it and 800lbs in the back for his bike, but the hitch weight is still to high for his truck.
There should not be much pendulum effect if the weight is centered over the axle, unlike having the same weight distributed at both ends. One has to pay attention to the trailer hitch weight itself to keep the whole thing stable.

[bonehead]

Also forgot to mention the fact that if you do use an equalizer hitch it usually has an anti sway bar that helps a great deal. Cost for the whole system is around 500.00.
From experience, it is the only way to pull a bumper pull travel trailer, and feel comfortable.

[Water Warrior 2]

Just another steep learning curve for you Alan. Your observations will keep you safe and you can make some adjustments during the trip. A load leveler hitch or equalizer hitch will keep the entire rig level and more driveable. An antisway bar will keep the tail from wagging the dog.