VIDEO: Is this tow vehicle SAFE?!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog AdminRecently, we saw a fellow towing a 31-foot Airstream Classic with a minivan. The Classic is the heaviest Airstream model. The 31-footer weighs about 10,000 pounds. Does this seem like a wise combination to you? On a similar note, a friend recently send me a photo of someone towing a 25-foot Airstream with a Saturn sedan. Wow, towing a 25-footer with a Saturn? I am impressed — and concerned. Without running a numerical analysis, I’m immediately concerned about the stability of that rig. I don’t know the exact wheelbase and weight of the Saturn, but one must wonder how the rig handles on a windy day. What about the braking distance? A secondary issue is the impact & wear upon the transmission of that tow vehicle. Would you want to buy that Saturn? I suspect the transmission is toast. This is why you should have an inspection performed when buying a used vehicle. But back to the more pressing issue of SAFETY… Towing recommendations factor in a margin of safety for adverse conditions. If you are MAXING OUT the capacity of your tow vehicle,... Read more

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 →

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