My toad tires do not center after a turn

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bbhughey

bbhughey

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Joined
May 3, 2017
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Hi all, 
I have a Chevy Equinox as a toad.  When I make a turn and accelerate out of it, the Chevy tires do not center.  It sets up a really violent oscillation and I have to pull over or make big turns again to get the tires to track again.  I can actually see the tires going left to right in my rear camera. 
It does well and no Death Wobble at speed.

I don't like being the unsafe A-hole on the road, so anybody have any ideas?

I do wonder if its the angle of my tow bar.  The Roadmaster hitch on the car is lower than the tow hitch on the RV.  Will getting a drop hitch receiver fix this? 
 
Agree with Molaker. The Equinox doesn't usually have that sort of problem if the alignment is good. However, the factory alignment spec has fairly wide tolerances and its possible that the combination of variances from "dead center" is enough to allow this behavior. I'd get it trued up (closer to med point on the spec) except for the wheel caster, which I would ask to be set closer to max.

The  tow bar should be level or slightly low at the car end. Most Roadmaster tow bars are intended to be no more than 4" different in height from toad to hitch.
 
Have the Chevy re-aligned. Make sure the shop knows it is a Towed.

One of the alignment settings (I ***THINK*** Castor but am not sure) affects the car's desire to go "Straight down the road". 

The Alignment shop should be sure which one it is.
 
Sorry , but I don't think it has anything to do with the towed vehicles alignment at all . To me  , its the angle / placement of the towbar itself .
If your TV had no issues centering prior to be towed  , then that right there should tell its own story .
 
thanks for the input.  Ill start with the drop bar and see how that does.  Maybe the manufacturers know what they are talking about when they say close to level. 
Y'all have a good day.
 
BB,

I have recently started towing an inherited 2011 Equinox.  Before starting to tow, I did some research and read in an Equinox forum that the 6 cylinder model has conventional hydraulic assisted power steering, but the 4 cylinder model has electric assisted power steering.

As the discussion continued, several posters agreed that the "Return-to-Center" was reliant, in the 6 cylinder model, on the caster setting of the front end alignment, but that in the 4 cylinder model, the caster was set near neutral (zero) and the "Return-to-Center" was built into the electronics of the power steering.

Please don't take this as gospel, but it is what I read.

I agree with Molaker and Gary RVer above and have the caster set as close to max as practical.

I have only towed our Nox 3 times (~500 miles) and have watched closely for any weird stuff to happen.  It has not.

As an aside, I have observed that the front wheels appear to not turn sharply enough (and slightly slide sideways) for a tight turn, but I haven't yet proved that is the case.

Tim





 
Several things to do to fix the Death Wobble.
1.  Make sure that actual towed height is as close to level as possible. You may need a drop hitch added.
2.  Make sure you are not lifting the front of the car. Easy check, measure point on front of TOAD to ground prior to hookup. then re-measure same point on Toad after hookup to MH. If DP then make sure MH is at normal ride height ie Air Bags inflated.
3.  Prior to hookup to Toad, grab the Tow bar and attempt to wiggle it back and forth and up and down.  If you get any movement then you need to install a Roadmaster Quiet Hitch.  This will stop the extra movement, oscillations, in the tow bar.
What causes the Death Wobble is due to having an EPS and unloading the front end of the Toad.  Once the wheels start to oscillate they transfer that to the tow bar and will continue to do so until you come to a stop.
If you do these things it usually takes care of the Death Wobble. Unless you have a Jeep Cherokee, they have an override to power the EPS while being towed.
 
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