Gonna replace my Cherokee with a Tundra

[RockyMtnRay]

Mike Laupp wrote:

I don't understand the short wheelbase stability problem. I always thought that the tow vehicle wheelbase should be short in comparison to the trailer. I have never liked to back a short trailer with a long wheelbase TV. I would think that you would want a short wheelbase for twisty roads.

It's basically a leverage arm issue when it comes to stability, particularly in two situations: sway and steep descents on hairpin turns (where the trailer tends to cause the TV to oversteer and could go all the way to a jackknife). In either situation you're trying to prevent the trailer from pivoting the TV around it's rear axle.

The rear overhang (distance between the TV's rear axle and hitch ball) is the leverage arm the trailer can act on to push the TV around. The wheelbase is the length of the leverage arm you can control to counteract the trailer's leverage arm. The larger your leverage arm is relative to the trailer's leverage arm, the more control and stability you will have. A 5th Wheel trailer, because it connects to the TV right over the rear axle has a zero length leverage arm and therefore is almost totally sway proof. Most tow vehicles have fairly similar rear overhangs (3 to 5 feet) but wheel base varies tremendously.

As for backing, you're right. The longer the TV wheelbase is, the harder it is to jockey the TV around to push the trailer where you want it. And I am indeed going to have to deal with this since my street is fairly narrow in front of my driveway and the turn is a sharp right angle into a 18 foot wide driveway. With the Jeep, this wasn't a particularly difficult backing maneuver; with the substantially longer Tundra, it's going to be a bit of a challenge.

As for twisty roads (not involving descents), it's a mixed bag. Yes, a shorter TV wheel base means a more maneuverable TV. However, the trailer still wants to go straight and thus it will tend to cause the TV to understeer on level or ascending turns. So again, if your (the driver's) leverage arm is longer relative to the trailer's leverage arm, the TV will have less tendency to understeer. In my experience, the understeer issue is more important than how maneuverable the TV is.

Did I clarify things?