Trailer Sway; Part 2

In last week’s article I talked about what trailer sway is, and I ended the article by listing some of the most important items associated with trailer sways. This week we want to discuss some of the ways to help control trailer sway based on these causes for trailer sway. Read more  Read More →

Trailer Sway; What It Is & How To Control It

A  few weeks ago I was contacted by Jose Adauto de Souza, who lives and works in Brazil. Adauto is a Petroleum Geologist/Geophysicist close to being retired. Since 1978 he has been a camping enthusiast, starting with tents, then a pop-up, travel trailers and now has a Class A motorhome.  (I have been through the same RV progression, and around the same time frame as Adauto). Read more  Read More →

RV Weekly Round-Up (July 11-17, 2009)

Check out these highlights of RV-related news, events and video from this past week. 1. RV Tales from the Road on the PGA Tour: The Petrovic family is one of a handful of PGA tour pros who travel the circuit in an RV. Tim Petrovic (ranked 3rd this week heading into the 36-hole John Deere Classic), his wife and two daughters have been traveling in an RV from tournament to tournament since 10-year-old Bayleigh was just a baby. Wife Julie and the girls come along so they can all spend more quality time as a family. Read more  Read More →

Safe Holiday Travel Tips

Forty thousand people in the United States die each year on the road! With the peak RV travel season here I thought this would be a good time to discuss getting to your RV travel destination safely. Getting there can be half the fun, as the saying goes, if you take a few precautions to make your trip safe. Read more  Read More →

Fifth Wheel Trailer Checklist. RV-1 Author Lester Evans offers:

Storage site Departure & Hitching Trailer to Truck: 1.            Position truck a few feet in front of trailer. 2.            Move truck mirrors to the OUT position for trailer towing. 3.            Lower truck tailgate. 4.            Remove & stow trailer wheel covers. 5.            Verify all trailer interior lights are OFF. Read more  Read More →

Hensley TrailerSaver 5th Wheel Hitch Line-up

When TrailerSaver introduced the TS3 nine years ago, a new standard for 5th Wheel hitches was set. When Hensley Mfg. bought TrailerSaver three years ago, they raised the bar even higher, and the improvements just keep coming. Today, Hensley Mfg. offers a 5th Wheel hitch for any sized truck/trailer combination, with or without air-ride. For the medium duty trucks, Hensley offers the 2H Air-Ride hitch, a 32k adjustable hitch, and a 32k low profile hitch. All are bolt down models. For the light duty pick-ups with standard rails, Hensley offers the TS3 Air-Ride hitch, a 26k adjustable hitch, and a 19k adjustable hitch. Read more  Read More →

Trailer Braking, Trailer Sway & Windy Conditions

I received an email from a reader the other day who was involved in a bad accident while towing a trailer 5 years ago. The accident was a result of a sudden wind shear, causing the trailer to start swaying out of control. The truck and trailer rolled over. Fortunately everybody was okay! After detailing the accident, Mary who was driving at the time, asked me if I had any hints or tips to offer on trailer brakes, controlling sway, and what to do when you experience something like wind shear, cross winds, or towing in windy conditions. After reading Mary’s email I thought it would be an appropriate topic for an article. Let me begin by saying that the safest measure for traveling by RV in windy conditions is not to travel at all. RV’s have a great deal of mass (length, width & height) and when that mass is confronted with strong wind gusts, crosswinds and/or wind shear the results can be devastating. Read more  Read More →

Are Towing Laws Outdated?

I have always been an advocate for towing safety, whether it’s towing a trailer or towing a vehicle behind a motorhome. One of the most controversial topics I have run into is whether vehicles being towed behind motorhomes need to have a supplemental braking system. My argument is if the state that you reside in has laws requiring a trailer over a certain weight to have brakes; this would also apply to a vehicle being towed behind a motorhome. Another argument is that many state towing laws are antiquated and need to be updated. When some of these laws were written people weren’t towing vehicles behind motorhomes. Read more  Read More →

RV Doctor – Roof Materials Safe for Towing

Dear RV Doc, I am going to go look at a used 24-foot travel trailer that had the roof replaced back in 1998. It has sat in an RV park its entire life. My concern is about roofing standards. Hopefully, it wasn’t re-roofed with tar and gravel, which might be fine if parked permanently, but wouldn’t be appreciated by those behind you if you’re towing it. Is there a roofing standard for travel trailers? What should I look for/ask to ensure that the roof is okay for towing it? Thanks, –Larry Niemoeller (somewhere in the US) Read more  Read More →

Hensley Manufacturing Lightens Up

Hensley Mfg. announces its first new travel trailer hitch since introducing the Hensley Arrow, the industry’s first anti-sway hitch, 15 years ago. The Hensley Cub is a scaled-down version of the Hensley Arrow, the only hitch that truly eliminates trailer sway. The Cub works on the same principle as the Arrow, using the geometry of its linkage system to prevent trailer sway while allowing the tow vehicle full control over the trailer. No friction is involved, unlike a traditional sway control hitch. The Cub is designed for light trailers. While the Arrow is a “one size fits all” design, the folks at Hensley took some weight out of the new design to fit the trend toward smaller, lighter trailers. Why hasn’t Hensley made any changes prior to this one? “We decided before we sold our first hitch,” says Colin Connell, President of Hensley Mfg., “that safety would always be our primary consideration. We’ve tried different designs…everything from adjustable hitch bars to a yoke system (a Y or T shaped bracket to hold the hitch head in place). They all seemed like good ideas and we probably could have made a few extra dollars with a ‘New & Improved’ design, but they all had inherent flaws that decreased their reliability and safety.” Of course, safety is still the primary concern of Hensley Mfg. The Cub may be a new product, but the engineering concepts are identical to the Arrow. After 15 years and thousands of Arrows on the road, Hensley has a proven... Read more

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