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Old 08-22-2014, 03:56 PM   #1
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tail wag

First time toad towing using 22E Chateau, have a lot of tail wagging. Will a blue ox tiger track and heavy duty steering stabilizer minimize this effect?

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Old 08-22-2014, 07:16 PM   #2
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dgantz,
I have flat towed a jeep wrangler a bit over the last couple years with a 20 ft class c with no wag at all. I would check for proper tow bar set up or toad alighnment or proper set up of the little 2 wheel thing a ma jig if you are ramped up on one of those. The stabilizer bar will certainly help if everything else checks out ok.
DW
(picking up new 23U tomorrow)
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Old 08-22-2014, 11:29 PM   #3
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No 2 wheeled thing a ma jig. Flat towing a 2012 GMC Terain. Unit has factory stablizer bars fwd and rear (for what good they are) may need better ones along with true track from blue ox.
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Old 08-23-2014, 08:10 AM   #4
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You may want to check the Terrain's front end alignment, and make sure the distance from the front wheels to the rear ones are the same (if it has been in an accident).

Also, you have unlocked the steering wheel to ensure the front wheels can turn?

Of course, even things such as different tire pressures in the Terrain's tires could contribute to sway. So check all of that stuff.

Finally, and I am not saying you are guilty of this; excessive speed can result in sway in any trailer.
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Old 08-23-2014, 12:29 PM   #5
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Thx, will ck all this. Speed was 55-65.
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Old 08-23-2014, 07:59 PM   #6
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Oh, also, check the specification sheet on your towbar. Some Blue Ox towbars only allow a +/- 3" raise or drop from horizontal, while others allow as much as +/- 7".

If you are using a motorhome mounted towbar, it may be that you need a drop receiver to get to the +/- 3" range.

If your towbar is not horizontal enough, it might also contribute to swaying.
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:09 PM   #7
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S0 far found tire pressure on rv left rear was 75 psi, right was 70 psi and front was 65 both, RV dealer recommended 65 front and 70 rear which it is now. Test drive was a big difference for the better.
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Old 08-27-2014, 03:05 PM   #8
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Alignment showed nothing.....so I guess its back to the tiger trak consideration
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Old 08-27-2014, 05:03 PM   #9
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Would there be more benefit to installing heavy duty sway bars first?

Everyone I talked to having an E350/E450 chassis says they do benefit from beefed up sway bars. And since you put them on the front and rear, then they should help on both ends.

I am gonna install them on my rig, as soon as I can get done with the dinghy installation. In fact I talked to the shop that will do my levelers (assuming I am going to buy them). While they don't normally install sway bars as they are usually too busy this time of year, they did say that if they install my levelers in the January time frame - which is a slow time for them - they might agree to install the sway bars for 1hr or so labor charge.

The sway bars seem to be easy enough to install yourself, but I don't have the room to do the job.

These two videos are from a guy that installed them on his Class C.



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Old 09-22-2014, 12:34 PM   #10
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What would be best brand sway bar for an E350?
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Old 09-22-2014, 12:44 PM   #11
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I have not installed them on mine yet, but I have been hearing a lot about Hellwig. I talked to the Hellwig rep at the Hershey, PA show, and when I looked at one, they are massive.

I also talked to a Ford Engineer at a Samboree last weekend that recommended them. This has convinced me to go with Hellwig.

Around $250 - give or take - for each (front and back).
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Old 09-22-2014, 12:59 PM   #12
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That’s who I talked with. i went to order what he recommended but found out he gave me the wrong pn for my rv. So I need to start over with p/n 7182. SDTruck springs will honor Amazon low price of around 197.00 and free shipping.
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Old 10-07-2014, 12:49 AM   #13
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Installed my new Hellwig sway bar today. Not a difficult job but I don't,t understand why they give you all these heavy duty brackets then tell you to use the factory ones if there installed. Have a lot of parts left over.
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Old 10-07-2014, 02:32 AM   #14
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Bubba, I just bought 23u 2012 1600 miles any advice. we took it for weekend and so far worked great. Going to tow a Chevy Equinox any ideas.
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Old 10-07-2014, 11:59 AM   #15
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The first time we towed our 2012 GMC Terrain it scared me to death on I75 with the sway. It has gotten better with all that we've done to improve things. each step is less & less sway. Why did it sway, I have no idea, I have found nothing wrong. Dealer is no help, they say never heard of tail wag while towing. We have adj tire pressure, alignment, added 4" drop rcv to make it level, HD steering stabilizer, Tiger Trak bar and now finally 1 1/2" sway bar. This was all done to a new 2014 Thor 22E Chateau. That's it, I will do no more to this coach.
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Old 10-07-2014, 12:38 PM   #16
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Just speculation, but I wonder if it has to do with the short wheelbase of your towed vehicle, coupled with the high center-of-gravity, and the short wheelbase of your RV. Maybe this combination makes it more sensitive to things - even like the crown in the road.

I know you don't want to hear this, but I just got my toad on the road... it's a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am that I am pulling with my 28Z (actually it's just a couple of inches shy of 30ft), and there is no tail wag whatsoever. I was a bit concerned after reading your problems, but I didn't do anything more than you have done.

I paid particular attention to the towbar height, and bought a drop receiver that provides just a slight incline.

As well, I did find one thing goofy... the baseplate sticks out on one side about 1/2" more than the other side.

I installed the baseplate myself, and found that even the frame of the vehicle was a bout 1/4" longer on one side than the other. So when I aligned the baseplate, I aligned it with the pivot points of the front wheels rather than the frame or fascia.

So in reality, the front fascia is not exactly symmetrical, and while no one would ever notice it in normal use, a baseplate sticking out the front shows that it is off a bit - in reference to the fascia. But it is aligned to the suspension.

Probably a matter of manufacturing tolerance.

So, one other thing you might do is to measure from the connect points of the baseplate back to a suspension component on the frame (tire pivot point, frame bolt, etc).

You did not specify who installed your baseplate, but if a dealer did it - my experience is most of them are no better than the RV manufacturers... it might be the baseplate was aligned to the fascia rather than the suspension.

The baseplate install guide did not mention this at all, but it was something I discovered... one reason it took 3 days to install the darned thing. I did call a rep at BlueOx and they said it probably can be off a small bit without bothering anything, but that only tells me there is no consensus on the topic.

But if the baseplate is not aligned to the suspension, methinks it might induce tail-wag... but maybe not. You might be chasing a ghost due to my bad advice, however, it never hurts to check-see if it is aligned or not.

One other thing I did though was to use hitch immobilizers to both the motorhome receiver and the drop receiver. There is a lot of play in that area, and it may or may not fix tail wag, but at least is is not rattling like it used to.

http://www.amazon.com/StowAway-Carri...ch+immobilizer
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