I was watching the long, long trailer with Ricy and Lucy and could not believe that they could pull that long trailer with just regular vehicle? Has anyone seen recently this type of hookup? I think it to be strenuous enought pulling my TT with my burb, can not imagine the sway you would get from a regular vehicle, how about the fact of th weight on your suspension, did they make tighter cars back then? If you have any pics of odd setups, send them my way so I can compile all the pics.
Thanks,
Ben
"White Knuckles" Ben
TV: 2003 Chevy Suburban 1/2 ton a.k.a. "The Burb" with Tranny Cooling System and Equalizer Hitch
TT: 1995 Sandpiper Cobra a.k.a "Baca Boat"
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Not again!
There is lot of misinformation on this forum about the sway and weight distributing issues.
The problem is common for long overhang pickups and pickup based SUV (like Suburban).
Most of the cars and SUV don't have the issue at all.
Check on Europeans sites, where over 90% of travel trailers are pulled with compact sedans, or wagons.
Pessimist sees dark tunnel, optimist sees a light at the end, realist sees lights of coming train.Engineer sees 3 idiots on the tracks.
Get the Hensley free DVD and you will see cars pulling a TT. As for the Long, long Trailer, the hitch they used in the movie has it's own set of wheels which took the tongue weight.
2008 Rockwood Signature Series 8314SS
2001 Ford Excursion w/V10 6.8L
Reese WD Hitch w/HPDC
If you go back to the 50's, most of the full size cars also had full frames, large torque V8's and things like WD hitch and sway control pretty much did not exist. If you didn't live on a farm/rural area, no one had pickups. Lots of folks towed with big station wagons packed full of gear, kids, and dogs with minimal trouble. Many of the TT's were fairly long and very heavy but most were short (by our standards)and heavy. Caddies, Lincoln's, and Packard's were pretty common but most trips tended to be quite short as freeways didn't exist so 300 miles was a major outing.
Suspensions were augmented with helper springs or just allowed to set on the bump stops. Can't remember what they did for brake controls. We pulled ours with a '53 Packard Patrician....straight 8 with cylinders the size of buckets and 3 mpg.
Dick
2008 Toyota Tundra Crew Max Limited TRD
2009 Cougar 268 RLS ~8400 lbs road wt
Equal-i-zer 12,000 lb hitch, Prodigy BC.
2006 Jeep Liberty Turbo Diesel.....TV in Training
2005 Jeep GC 5.7 HEMI,(retired)
2005 Jayco Jay Feather 25Z, 4" lift (Retired)
In the mid 60's, my folks towed a 20' TT with a 57 Chevy Wagon, 283 CID. Don't remember Dad having any control issues. They even traveled down to Guaymas, Mex from N.Calif with the combo.
People towed at slower speeds back then too.
'07 Chevy 2500HD Silverado "Classic" CC D/A 4x4
'07 Komfort Trailblazer T252FS fifth wheel
Reese Signature 18K Slider and other stuff.....some useful.....some not
My Uncle started the RV thing in our Family back in 1958 , he had a 15' Eljoy and a 1958 Dodge SW, he had a Reese Equalizing hitch back then. My father started in 1963 Towing a 16' TT with a 1962 Pontiac Bonniville he had a Boch brand equalizing Axle hitch, till it snapped off, then he had a welding shop re-fab into a welded on frame hitch. Both my father and uncle had a Tekonsha, hydraulically activated electric brake controller, it actually tapped right into the tow vehicle's hydraulic brake lines.
Good Luck and Happy Trails
2007 Dodge 3500 4X4 MC,SRW,CTD EB
2004 Citation 29NP
Equal-i-Zer
Yamaha EF2800i
Nascar24 A lengend in my own mind, A Scary thought in someone else's!
In the mid 70's we had a 20' Wilderness TT which was decent sized for the time and pulled it with a Ford LTD two door hardtop with a 460 engine. I had a WD hitch. In retrospect it was probably not a good combo but it worked okay. I did manage to burn up the tranny but the old Ford was heavy (4000#+ IIRC) and had lots of power, and the car had a real, heavy duty frame under it. The unibodies of today don't have the structure to handle things.
I get tired of hearing the misinformation that a truck has a longer overhang than a car or minivan. My truck's overhang, expressed as a percentage of the overall wheelbase, is identical to my minivan.
To answer the OP, folks didn't worry as much back then. Now we have seat belts, airbags, anti-lock brakes and speed limits. And when a cop pulls you over for DUI, not only does he dump all yer beer out on the road, he sends you to jail. What's the world comin' to?
Tom
Wife, 2 girls 12 & 9, 2 mini schnauzers
2005 Toyota Tundra Double Cab SR5 4x2
2005 Toyota Sienna XLE 2008 Rockwood 2701SS
F/A-18 Hornet 0-175 mph in 2 seconds
My dad hauled our family of 6 around in a station wagon while pulling a 15 foot TT. This was in the 1960s and my recollection was that we overheated a LOT!
2006 K-Z JAG 25JQ bunkhouse model with rear slide
2001 Ford F150 Supercrew 4x4, 5.4L Triton V8
Prodigy Brake Controller
Eastern Oregon, USA Check out our 2006 JAG here
2003 Honda Nighthawk motorcycle
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