[SEL] Tandem Trailer

[Bob Jacobs]

Hi Ron,

That's firsthand expierience that taught me that.  I had an s10 pickup and
bought a second identical box for the trailer.  At the time I figured it'd
look nice equally spaced.  WHAT A NIGHTMARE.

Equal spacing caused the trailer to over-respond to the slightest twitch of
the steering wheel, same result in backing up,  the truck simply couldn't
keep up with the turning of the trailer.  I lengthened the tongue later by
12 inches and it made all the difference in the world.

I questioned a couple of people I knew at the time who had a small shop
producing auto trailers and they confirmed what I'd discovered.  

Bob 
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: The SEL email discussion list
Date: 09/29/04 22:46:37
To: sel at lists.stationary-engine.com
Subject: Re: [SEL] Tandem Trailer
 
Hi Bob,
Is this critical distance you describe something you have learned by hearing
about it?  Or, have you personally experienced it?  What is it about the
distances being equal that would cause problems with towing at speed, and,
especially, how would that affect backing up?
 
Thanks.
Ron Carroll
Clearmont, MO
 
In a message dated 9/29/2004 8:00:49 PM Central Standard Time,
Carrowor at comcast.net writes:
<SNIP>
 
> Another quirk I ran into was to be sure no two distances between the axles
> are the same.   The length from your steering axle to your drive axle
should
> be different than the length from your drive axle to the trailer's axle(s)

> If you have the same distance the trailer becomes almost impossible to tow
> at speed, or to back up.
>
>
>
>
>
> Bob
 
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