Questions About Sway Control

[zzvyb6]

The vans are good because of the short span between the ball and the rear axle AND because they have a low load floor. This tends to lower the hitch point. A low hitch point is good because it lowers the roll axis of the trailer and induces roll understeer in the trailer suspension given the spring eyes being located level with the trailer frame. Roll understeer is a stabilizing factor in the front, rear or trailer suspesnion.

[ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Bird

Yep, that's unusual enough to attract attention. I used to attract attention myself when I went fishing pulling my Dad's 16' boat with a 35hp Evinrude behind my 1962 Austin-Healey Sprite. Everyone who came up behind me was anxious to go around, even when I was driving the speed limit or more, because from the rear, it appeared the boat and trailer were going down the road alone. And I usually drew a few onlookers at the launch ramps waiting to see if I was going to be able to pull the boat out of the water. I never had a problem, though.

What kind of boat... sounds like mine.

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by wkpoor

I'm not sure what tow heavy is but I pull a 14K deckover with mine and I feel it does well. Sure could use more motor at times though but it gets the job done and for a fraction of the price. My FIL wheened me over several yrs ago from PU's and I've yet to go back. If the big 2 would just offer them in 4WD I can't imagine sales not doubling. If and when I get another PU it won't be 2500/250 or 3500/350. I'll go for 450 or 550. Here again I'll bet those can be had for less money and why not have more for less.

I consider 14K heavy for an F or E 350 sized rig. Not too heavy, but you know it is back there! I agree on the 4WD, I don't know what they are thinking.

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by KeithInSpace

I disagree. The point of a properly tensioned/compressed friction-type sway control arm is to INCREASE the harmonic frequency at which your trailer achieves sway. This is done by creating resistance to the motion at all points. Increase that frequency enough and, as a matter of physics, the possibility of sway is all but eliminated. Saying that HAVING a friction sway control arm is more dangerous than NOT HAVING a friction sway control arm is simply incorrect.


Having said the above, I do not disagree that these seem to be more 'comprehensive' setups that promote a positive geometry between the tow vehicle and the trialer. Getting a $2,500 hitch head wasn't the first place I looked, though. But that's not to say it isn't where I'll end up...

I am using a Reese WD hitch with Dual Cam sway control on my F250 with 32 foot enclosed trailer. I bought the trailer and pulled it to SC without sway control- I got a lot of semi push and pull. With the DC sway control it is much better. I am not saying it is as good as Hensley or Pro-Pride but real good and for a fraction of the $$.

Here is a video about sway control by Reese http://www.reeseprod.com/video/runvi...wayControl.flv

[Bird]

Originally Posted by ultrarunner

What kind of boat... sounds like mine.

It was a Texas Maid Fiesta; pretty deep and wide aluminum, but relatively light weight by today's standards. This is not a picture of our boat, but looks exactly like it except we had an Evinrude instead of Johnson and did not have the canopy or rail on the bow.
S4010129 pictures from power boating photos on webshots

[zzvyb6]

Bird: Shouldn't you have had a Lone Star brand boat ? They were popular even up here in the Great Lakes ....

[Bird]

Originally Posted by zzvyb6

Bird: Shouldn't you have had a Lone Star brand boat ? They were popular even up here in the Great Lakes ....

Bill, the Lone Star boat company started in 1945 in Grand Prairie, TX, just a couple of miles from one of my aunt and uncle's home. I can't remember exactly when it was that they moved to Plano, TX, where we lived and my dad had a service station. When they started making fiberglass boats, their test driver was one of our regular customers. He'd come in with a trailer with one, and sometimes two, boats on his way to what is now named Lake Lewisville. He'd see if he could break one by running bigger outboards than they were rated for. He even turned a boat upside down at the factory, chopped a hole in the bottom with an axe, then put an outboard on it and ran it all day to see if it would crack or split from the hole he'd made.

Are you old enough to remember the old Route 66 TV series? In one episode they landed a seaplane on the lake and when they went to take off again, you could see a guy roaring around in a boat, stirring up some little waves. That was the Lone Star Boat test driver, but I don't remember his name.

In 1965 Chrysler bought the Lone Star Boat company and I think everything went downhill from there.

As to why we didn't have a Lone Star Boat . . . couldn't afford it, I guess. Dad first bought a Texas Maid Falcon (14' aluminum), then after a scare in rough water on Lake Texoma, traded up to the Fiesta that was not only longer (16') but wider and deeper. But he bought both of them used from a local dealer.

[ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Bird

It was a Texas Maid Fiesta; pretty deep and wide aluminum, but relatively light weight by today's standards. This is not a picture of our boat, but looks exactly like it except we had an Evinrude instead of Johnson and did not have the canopy or rail on the bow.
S4010129 pictures from power boating photos on webshots

Our boat is fiberglass and was also made in Texas... it's a Fiber-flite 15'6" and came with a 35 hp Evinrude Lark... lots of great memories on that boat... we all learned to water ski and a lot of my friends up at Lake Tahoe... Sadly, even though the State requires the boat be registered... 2-stoke outboards are banned from all the places we would like to go...

I still have the original bill of sale and Boating World featured my boat in a story a couple of years ago...

[Bird]

The Fiber-flite would have been by Glastron in Austin and they're still in business. I'm sure that was a good boat.

[Oldmax]

I think most truck manuls reccomend using a Torsional Hitch with trailer weights over 3000 LBS. They do this for a reason. the torsional hitch puts weight back on the steering wheels for better control .