[Shop-talk] electric trailer jacks

[Al Fuller]

Regarding the "wandering and fishtailing": my first thought was that too
light tongue weight will cause that, but it sounds like yours is heavy
enough. A weight distributing hitch will help a lot.

Finally, you indicated you're new to trailer towing - raising the
possibility of the driver over correcting. This is what flyers would call
pilot-induced-ocillation. This tends to go away with experience, especially
if you tow regularly.

On Mon, May 17, 2021, 6:38 PM john niolon <jniolon at att.net> wrote:

> did my first real trailer trip this past weekend and was generally pleased
> but found several things I need to address.  I can't seem to find the info
> I'm looking for easily.
>
> first... the rig is
> 2008 Suburban 5.3 L  4 speed auto  with 3.73 axle and 20" tires
> towing package installed stock from factory
> GCWR is rated at 13,000   (from the manual)
> Stated max trailer weight is 7,000 (from manual)
>
> trailer is a 18' Anderson car hauler  weighing 2,400
> Load is a 53 F-100 weighing 3,840  with the engine end ahead
> of the first axle...  (truck front end weight is 2300 per the county
> scales)
> total trailer load 6,240
>
> I did the bathroom scale tongue weight thingy and got
>
> 575 # without my wife's mobility scooter mounted in front off the truck
> 715 #  WITH                 "
> "                    "                          "
>
> I think I'm within acceptable tongue weight range either way.   But defer
> to wiser minds
>
> I have a manual tongue jack that's tired and want to switch to electric
> (for ease and to sake of my shoulders  brand recommendations ??
>
> also  how is the rating of the jacks calculated... is it just the tongue
> weight or do I need to calculate some part of the load ahead of the axle
> too?
>
> I-59, I-24, I-75, I-40  is a collection of bad paving, dips, humps,
> potholes that resemble shallow wells  and made driving a puckering
> experience
> especially for a trailering noob.  Kept my speed under 60 mph and on good
> roads it was fine but as the condition of roads deteriorated I experienced
> a little wander and fishtailing that I could correct but in metro traffic
> it increased pucker factor by 50-70%
>
> Add that to the lookey-lous that want to eyeball my truck as they drift
> over closer than they should... and it seemed like NASCAR rubbin is racing
> time.
>
> Love to hear recommendations on  electric jack ratings , and other wise
> advise to make next trip more safe and enjoyable..  I know you guys have a
> well spring of knowledge you can pour over me.
>
> thanks
> John
>
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