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Towing Advice

A

avking

SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
1,297
Location
Buellton, CA
I need some advice. I have a Coleman Niagra pop-up camper. The GWVR is 3600lbs and it is usually about 3300 or less when I tow it. I have not towed it very often and I am not at all an experienced driver when it comes to towing. I have a 02 Z71 4x4 with 3.73's. I just had a RCD 6" Lift and 295/75/16 Tires and 16x8 wheels installed. I have the factory tow package. Ok, so those are all the gory details I could think of. Now for the questions.

1. How will it handle towing with the lift? Do you think I will have any stability problems?

2. I do not have anti-sway bars installed on the trailer. Do you think I need them now I am lifted? I towed before the lift and had a little sway above 55, but not much. Now I have to use a 8" drop hitch, will the sway get worse?

Thanks for the advice. When/if you reply, can you let me know if you have towed with a lifted vehicle, and you experience? Thanks again.
 
Avking,

I think for starters the 8" drop is too much. I have towed a double Jet Ski trailer(approx 2800 loaded) using my lifted AV and using a 6" drop, and I am running larger tires than you at 305.

I did not get any real noticeable sway when I towed. Personally I do not think you will notice anything different.

Like I said the onyl thing I would do is change from a 8" drop to a 6" drop.

 
Hi Avking,
You want to tow with your trailer as level as possible. You can find the ball height of your trailer by leveling it and measuring from the ground to the top of the hitch at the point where the ball goes. You then measure fron the top of the receiver hitch on the Av to the ground. The difference will be your drop.

If you can't make a perfect match you will be better off with the front of your trailer tilted down.

Trailers usually sway because they are loaded wrong. Not enough weight on the hitch. Thats why fifth wheels never sway. They have lots of weight up front. I am not sure but I believe you need 10 or 15% of the trailer weight on the hitch. If your trailer is 3000 lbs. you need at least 300 on the hitch.

Hope I've helped. :)
 
One other trick I learned, is about the air that gets under a trailer. It seems that when I tow with the nose of the trailer up a little bit (2 inches or so) the trailer will sway. But if I tow with the nose of the trailer down 2 inches or so from level, all the sway goes away. A buddy of mine who tows for a living said that the air that gets under the front of the trailer will cause some sway. He suggests to tow as close to level, but then bring the nose of the trailer down a bit from that point. This is only for single axel trailers though. If you are using tandum axel (2 axel) trailers, be sure to ALWAYS run the trailer as close to level. The reason for this is the preasure on the two sets of tires. You do not want to overheat one set of tires because of your trailer was not level. That is what will happen.

Wheewwwww that was long winded for me.

Wiki
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I found and purchased a hitch that has an adjustable drop. I paid very close attention to weight distribution and loaded as much up front as I could. Sway was not as bad, but I still could not go over 60. I also got significant sway when big trucks or huge suvs passed me going very fast. I guess I have to invest in the sway bar. O well. Thanks again.
 
boy, I wouldn't think you should need an anti-sway bar or an equalizer hitch for a trailer that small. Of course, it won't hurt, and if it makes you feel comfortable thats all that counts. Be careful about loading everything to the front, you don't want too much tongue weight, then you will "unload" the front axle of the tow vehicle, and cause light steering and wandering, which in turn will lead to trailer sway, but only because you're steering too much. The lift and taller tires will have a slight negative impact on towing, but shouldn't be bad. The trailer being tilted back too far lightens the tongue weight too much which is your primary cause of swaying. That or poor tires/ inflation. I've never heard the thing about the air getting under the trailer. I'll have to sit and think about that for a day or two... :cautious:
 
I have used sway controls on trailers as small as 15 ft. Especially the single axles. They seem to be the worse.

As for Weight distribution hitches, it is always nice to be able to balance your load. But having the luxery at home to do so vs. packing up at the campground are usually two different things. Add to the the subtraction or addition of water in your storage tanks, and in my case, two 100 lb. dogs that can't make up their mind whether they are going to sleep on the front bed or the back bed on the way home. The weight Dist. setup takes all that mystery for me away.

And low and behold, on my first long distance trip with the 24' camp trailer I discovered I will not need a sway control as long as I keep it under 75.

Avking, if your coleman is a single axle, and you are swaying, get the Reese, best 80 bucks you will spend on it. Oh, and see you at Dinky!
 
Having owned a Niagara and now an Av I can share a bit. The Niagara and other heavy end of the Coleman lineup are known for sway issues. I towed the Niagara mostly with the old F150 and TrailBlazer. The basic friction sway control made a big difference with both tow rigs. I only towed it once with the Av, as I drove it about 250 miles to a new owner. Av towed it great, but I had it level and was using the friction sway control and also had a the Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. Above 55mpg the Niagara had some sway, but I've also had it below that with some too. I would highly suggest a drop receiver to tow it level, friction sway bar and the Prodigy brake controller.

Also, if you are not yet a member or haven't checked out PopUp Times I would visit there too like this group you will find a great group of PopUp owners, the address is www.popuptimes.com
 
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