Quote:
Originally Posted by Rookie
I swear that at 65 to 70 mph on I-75 and a transfer truck passes you, it is just as if his/her slipstream is sucking the trailer toward their vehicle!
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Those big trucks are pushing a lot of air out of the way so they can occupy that same space going down the road. The displaced air does weird things as it goes down the side of the truck....and other vehicles close to it. It also ends up as unstable air behind the truck....something you can feel if you get too close to the rear of the truck.
When a truck passed my Trailmanor fast and close, I too could feel the pull towards the truck, but not a lot. I can also fell the pull on my vehicle without the Trailmanor, but not as much of course. We recently purchased a 28' conventional travel trailer, and I was dreading the thought of this pull and also cross winds that I have read so much about on different RV sites. The 1st 30 miles or so of the maiden voyage of pouring rain, wind, and city interstate back from the dealer in Richmond, VA. left grip marks on the steering wheel and a crease in the driver's seat
....well maybe not quite that bad
. But after that initial part of the trip, I settled down and got more comfortable with driving the combo. I could definately fell the "magnet" thing when a big truck passed, but kinda got used to it and allowed for that pull. I found out when I got home that the dealership had not even set up the WDH and sway control to where it was very functional. Out of a 640 tongue weight, they had only lightened the tongue by 40 lbs, resulting a 240 lose of weight on my front axle, and additional 840 lbs of weight to the rear axle.
I have been adjusting the setup since then to get the weight better distributed.
To make a short story long
, I think a little of that "pulling" effect of big trucks is probably normal. A big "pull" where it feels dangerous is not normal. The WDH should really help that, and if it doesn't then maybe a sway control is in order. And not knowing if your dealership will take the time to set up your WDH correctly, a trip to the local quarry or CAT scales wouldn't hurt to make sure you get your combo set up correctly.
Chap
Oops, Bill posted while I was composing my response, but it looks like we are on the same page.