[TR] TR3 trailer towing/design

[Randall]

> Having them reduces the
> challenges to practically nil, as Mike said.

There again, I disagree.  My very first experience with trailer sway was
with a camping trailer my Dad was towing, which did have brakes.  We had
pulled that thing all over the place (approx 8000 pound trailer behind maybe
a 4000 pound car) and never had a problem.  Until one day on the way home
from camping, a truck passed us and his wake started it swaying.  The brakes
were helpful in getting it stopped; but it should never have swung more than
a few inches, let alone 10-20 feet !  And the ONLY thing different than
before was that the weight distribution had changed.  Fresh water tank in
the front was empty; black water at the back was full.  Learned to not tow
it that way, and the problem never happened again.

We also had a 18' boat that we towed around a lot ... when it suddenly
started handling funny, we discovered that the stand with the winch had
slipped rearward, meaning the boat was loaded maybe 4" farther back than
before.  Moved it back and it handled just fine.  Pretty good considering
the boat on the trailer was easily 12' tall and 8' wide; and we towed it
behind a full size sedan (my second car, an Olds Delta 88).

> I hate being made wrong even if I am.

Ok, I'll stop arguing.  I don't know WHY tongue weight is so important; I
only know that all my experiences in some 35 years of towing various things
with various vehicles say that tongue weight is more important than anything
else.  You can take the sweetest tempered rig in the world, and turn it into
a death trap, by just moving the CG of the trailer too far back.  Then move
the load 6" forward and turn it back into something you hardly know is there
(until you try to start or stop anyway <G>).

Randall