[TR] TR3 trailer towing/design

[Randall]

> but the cause would have to be something else if you've been going
> dead straight and steady.  Side winds, road crown, road surface,

I agree, Skip, but the fact is that there are always small upsets to "dead
straight and steady".  Roads are never perfectly flat, nor perfectly
straight.  And sometimes it's even necessary to change lanes.

The key is that any small perturbations in the trailer's relationship to the
tow vehicle must settle out, rather than get larger.

> My moral(s) still apply; if you have a light tow car, the towed
> weight must be concomitantly lighter,

I'll also disagree with that.  Having a heavy tow vehicle helps, certainly,
but is no guarantee of safety.  I've run a lot of miles with trailers both
heavier and lighter than the tow vehicle; and there is simply no substitute
for enough tongue weight to guarantee stability.

Many years ago, I towed a TR3 on a boat trailer some 2300 miles, behind a
car barely heavier than the TR3 (not counting the trailer).  Absolutely no
trouble whatsoever, even at 70-75 mph (other than only getting about 10 mpg
from a car that normally got 30 <g>)  

Did the same thing a few years later, only this time with a home-made box
trailer nearly 8 feet tall and containing a piano as well as other household
items.  Again no problem with sway, even when the trailer lost a tire and I
had to pull into the gravel median to change it.  Same small car, but
wouldn't run over 70 mph on the flat and had to use 2nd gear to get up even
a 5% grade.

But then just a few years ago I tried to pull a Sports 6 behind a much
larger car (Buick Roadmaster Estate, over 4000 pounds curbside, rated to tow
10000) and had a terrible time.  Even got pulled over by the police because
it was wagging just a little bit (still in my lane) going down a slight
grade at 50 mph.  That trailer was made so I couldn't get the car far enough
forward, to get the tongue weight up where it belonged.

Put the same load on a properly-made trailer behind the same tow vehicle, no
trouble whatsoever (except for a warning for speeding <g>).

Randall