Trailering without WD hitch

[Jankees]

I am beavering away, trying to find a suitable tow vehicle and travel trailer and importing them to Europe for use over there. Regulations here demand surge brakes. That means that I will have to change the axles on the TT and the hitch on both the TV and the TT. So far no problem. I can deal with that.

That will mean though, that I won't be able to use a WD hitch. I am looking at a Suburban 1500 and a Forest River Suveryor 291 (dry hitch weight 440 lbs) Without a WD hitch, how is the trailer going to affect the ride height of the rear axle? Is the vehicle going to sag a lot? Would you recommend installing air bags or any other device on the TV?

How will loading up the RV effect the hitch weight of the trailer? If I load it evenly in the front and back, will I be able to keep the hitch weight at 440 lbs, or will it always increase with loading? How about the water tanks? Can they be used to manage the hitch weight.

Thanks for your help in advance. You are my beacon of light in a sea of darkness (and red tape.)

JK

 

[PHS79]

I just bought a TT that has roughly the same dry weight as yours, and I am not going to be using a WD hitch either.  By the time that you get your trailer loaded you will probably have 600-700 lbs of tongue weight, between this and what you place in the back of the Suburban you could very well have a load of 1500lbs on the rear. Which will make a 1500 (1/2 ton) sag pretty bad.  One thing that you can do to combat this sag is to install airbags in the rear.  I have a set of Firestone Ride-Rites under my truck and love them.  With 60 psi in the bags and 2500lbs on the rear axle (1000lbs of patio blocks in the bed and roughly 1500lbs of tongue weight)  the truck sits perfectly level.  Here is a picture with and with out air in the bags:

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You may be able to load the trailer to keep the tongue weight low, but that will likely lead to handling problems, e.g. excessive trailer sway. The tongue weight needs to be 10-15% of the total trailer weight for reasonable handling and I would strongly recommend the 15% end rather than 10%.

 

[Jankees]

Thanks for your reply and the great pics. That does speak a thousand words. I looked into Firestone ride-rite airbags and loved what I saw. I then discovered that the post 2000 Suburban/Yukon 1500 has coil springs. Firestone has the coil-ride bags for those, but they have a leveling capacity of (only) 500-1000 lbs per pair. That would mean I can compensate for the tongue weight of the trailer. Will that be fine for me or is there an air bag product to replace the coil?

In the instruction video, the air valve to fill the bags ends on the body of the car. Are you supposed to fill the bags there, using the compressor at the service station? Or are you supposed to build a compressor into your vehicle and connect it to the valve?

Thanks for your help.

Jan-Kees

 

[PHS79]

I honestly can't tell you if there is a company that has a air spring that will replace the factory coil, I am guess that there must be someone that makes a setup like this but I just don't know who it would be.

You can either fill the bags with the schrader valve (the air fitting like on car and truck tires) and a standard compressor either at your home or gas station, or there are a few different on board compressor set-ups out there depending on the amount of usage, gauge readouts, ect.  Personally I currently just have the Schrader valves mounted under the box on the drivers side, and I use a cordless air compressor that I have to fill the bags. ut this spring I am going to be putting in an on-board compressor system, so then there is no more kneeling down, filling the bags, checking pressure, add/subtracting air, ect.  Now I just have to find a kit that will do what I want it to do, or I will just order the parts and build my own.  That way I can see what pressure the bags are at from the drivers seat and adjust it from there also.

 

[Jankees]

I did find a kit to go from coil to air bag but (of course) it requires more money and effort to buy and install it. Therefore the Firestone coil-ride seems just about right for me. Affordable and very easy to install. The question remains; is the levering capacity of the coil-ride (500-1000 lbs) going to keep my ride level. With a tongue weight of around 600 lbs, I would think it would.

JK

 

[PHS79]

You should be fine with them, you will have the capacity of the bags plus you will have the stock suspension yet. 

 

[Lou Schneider]

Why do you have to give up an equalizing hitch to use a surge brake?  Several brands of equalizing hitches use adjustable chains to support the equalizing bars.  Set up the hitch so the bars are supported by a chain several links long (means tilting the head so the bars sit lower) and the trailer should be free to move back and forth enough to activate the surge brake.

 

[Jammer]

Running a heavy trailer without a WD hitch is unsafe because too much weight is taken off the steering axle, even if air bags or air shocks or overload springs are used.  Such setups are overrepresented in crashes.

Usually, the cause is uncontrollable sway, started by abrupt steering to avoid an obstacle, or wind, or the effects of a passing truck.

I'd suggest you figure something else out.

 

[Jankees]

To get both the hitch and the trailer road legal, I will have to fit a certified trailer hitch on the car and a certified coupler for the trailer. Euro trailer hitches do not have the fittings to connect a WD hitch, so I assumed that I would not be able to fit a WD hitch. Maybe I was wrong. Do you have a brand name for a hitch that accommodates surge brakes?

Yet another problem is that recommended tongue weight over here is 110 lbs. That means that both hitches and couplers can handle a maximum of 350 lbs. I will have to find some sort of solution for that. I think I can get away with an American trailer hitch. It's never gonna break and, even if it does, the break away chains are going to prevent the trailer getting away. I would assume it is possible to get a E.U. size ball for an American hitch.

With the trailer it's harder. If it does not have a E.U. certified coupler, I will not be licensed. I could consider sticking a E.U. coupler on there and artificially reduce the tongue weight to 350 lbs, in order to obtain a license for it. Once it has a license, I can replace the coupler with an American surge coupler, to make it safe. That of course would make it illegal again but I would rather have it safe then legal.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I don't see how there can be one  "recommended tongue weight" for all trailers. That is contrary to the physics of towing.  A tongue weight of 110 lbs is barely adequate for a 1000 lb trailer!  It would seem there must be provisions for heavier trailers - how do the larger commercial rigs do it?

 

[Jammer]

I asked around and did some reading.

Width
Be aware that most U.S. trailers, manufactured to a 102" maximum width, are too wide to be in compliance with local laws in the UK and many parts of Europe.  In many cases, a 2.2 meter (86") limit applies.

Weight and balance
The European way of doing things is, as you note, to minimize tongue weight.  In general, trailers must be built differently, with the axles further forward, to achieve this.

Trailers in Europe are generally lighter and smaller,

Brakes

I think you're working with some misinformation.  You can in fact have electric brakes, although the typical U.S. installation where the brake controller is in the TV isn't permitted.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/factsheetamericantrailers.pdf

Also, you will need a parking brake.

 

[Jankees]

Thanks for your information. You are right, electric brakes are permitted here, but there is no E.U. release for 99% of the systems. Therefore the DMV will fight you to the death to keep from licensing your vehicle.

I have come to my senses. It's not going to happen. I would go so much over budget, it would not even be funny. Even at that I may not be able to get it licensed. Finally I may end up in the parking of the campground because I won't be able to make the turn onto the grounds.

I think, as a last resort, I'll look into A class motor homes of around 30". Thanks so much for your help and patience.

Kind regards, Jan-Kees