<VV> new car adventure - trailer weight distribution

[vairtec at optonline.net]

At 01:58 AM 4/17/05, mhicks130 at cox.net wrote:

>To everyone who said tow with the engine forward - you're right!!!

First, let me add my relief that you, your friend, your Corvair and the 
friend's tow vehicle survived this extreme lesson in trailer balance.

Then let me challenge the above assertion and expand on what others have 
said about weight distribution on a trailer.

Placement of the car -- forward or backward -- isn't the main 
issue.  Weight distribution is.  As has been noted here, something in the 
neighborhood of 10-15% of the total loaded weight should be on the trailer 
tongue.  Trailers are different from one another.  On my open trailer, 
forward-facing placement of a Corvair is the only way to achieve proper 
balance.  On a friend's open trailer, rearward-facing placement is needed.

But even with having found a good balance (and it's a trial-n-error 
process, though usually with not so great an error as you experienced), 
trailer sway can still be an issue.  With lighter tow vehicles (today's 
SUVs, midside pickups and smaller) the effects of any sway will be 
greater.  When towing with a Chevy Astro van, I made the decision to buy a 
relatively inexpensive friction anti-sway device.  This decision was based 
on the white-knuckle factor.  When towing with my 10,000-lb-plus motorhome, 
all sway is controlled by the sheer mass of the motorhome and I can drive 
with one finger -- but I use the anti-sway device anyway.

A further lesson for everyone:

>We loaded the car on the trailer nose first and everything seemed 
>fine.  It would wiggle a little on downhill slopes but my driver (who has 
>towed before) thought it was fine.

No "little wiggle" is ever fine.  If you get such a condition, re-balance 
the load, add an anti-sway device, get a bigger tow vehicle, or park it.

>Moral: TOW YOUR CORVAIR BACKWARDS!!!

No, I'm sorry, but this is the wrong conclusion.  It's BALANCE YOUR TRAILER 
PROPERLY!!!

--Bob

Robert W. Marlow
Vairtec at optonline.net