|
Post by c64 on Jul 20, 2015 19:15:18 GMT
our electric brake trailers are supposed to carry an onboard battery - if the trailer decouples the safety lanyard pulls a pin, which allows the battery to short to the brakes. on a surge brake trailer the safety lanyard pulls a shoe out, which holds tension on a heavy spring which slams the piston of the surge brake closed. the basic principle of the system is witn ah electric brake trailer, if it comes off the hitch ball, the double safety chains will still keep it under control and between the tension on the chains and the brakes, you can still bring it to a controlled stop. the emergency brake only comes into play if both safety chains also break. of course, with a surge brake trailer, if it comes off the hitch, you are out of luck, for brakes, unless it trips the E-brake, in which case you are out of luck for moving it again without big tools. Illegal in the EU. Batteries can fail, every car owner who lives where there are true winters knows this. How could the driver make sure the battery works? Pneumatic systems hiss or won't move when defective. Batteries can turn passive and while you can measure the correct voltage, they break down the first time a good current is drawn. Batteries exposed to vibrations are much more vulnerable. Even the emergency batteries for buildings (lights, lift alarms, fire suppression systems) which are stationary and well protected must be exchanged every 2 years. So either the brakes are all mechanical, pneumatic or have a fully mechanical backup.
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jul 20, 2015 19:32:49 GMT
Well, I've been TOLD it's easy to do. I've never had to do it. Hopefully, I never will. if you do, it means you've done two things wrong. Or one. Like not unhooking the safety cable after disconnecting the hitch and chains and then driving off. I can definitely see how that could happen.
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Jul 21, 2015 7:12:13 GMT
if you do, it means you've done two things wrong. Or one. Like not unhooking the safety cable after disconnecting the hitch and chains and then driving off. I can definitely see how that could happen. Seen it happen... sort of. Unhitching a boat trailer, a work-friend "Forgot" the lanyard, and started pushing the trailer backwards. Impressive nose-job on the boat when the trailer stopped suddenly but he went on.... As it was a slow speed accident, he just had to reset the brakes... after he had to back up the vehicle to get the line detached. He never did that again.,... I wonder why?. Re-Setting the brakes on that system, which were just a ratchet system, was sort of not that hard, cant be certain, but I think it was the handbrake ratchet that gets pulled, so you just heave the handbrake and press the release?... That lad needed a lot of common sense injection. He was the one who released a trailer without dropping the dolly wheel "It cant be that heavy".... The boat was 27ft long had internal fuel tanks and twin 500hp outboards strapped to the back, with trailer, I suspect a couple of tons, pulled by a LARGE SUV (Toyota Land-cruiser). No small car would have pulled it. It only JUST made it under some bridges. It was the craft that set the original around-the-coast speed record of England-Scotland-Wales. It had some tasty equipment onboard, Sat-Nag, Sonar, Radar.... and padded seats. Also an automated SREMEC, self righting mechanism... Dropping it?.. it had just been dropping off 30ft waves around the tip of Scotland, three foot wasnt going to scratch a thing. Yep, he dropped it, just missed his foot. The balance of the trailer was front heavy, he "learnt", we made him jack it up by hand. We then made him transfer the thing from trailer to workshop dolly by himself... he swore a lot that day.
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jul 21, 2015 14:11:24 GMT
a land cruiser is NOT a large SUV.
I have a dolly wheel on my sailboat and it is light enough to dead lift with 4 healthy people. (not the trailer tongue, the whole darned boat)
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jul 21, 2015 14:11:37 GMT
if you do, it means you've done two things wrong. Or one. Like not unhooking the safety cable after disconnecting the hitch and chains and then driving off. I can definitely see how that could happen. true.
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jul 21, 2015 14:18:56 GMT
our electric brake trailers are supposed to carry an onboard battery - if the trailer decouples the safety lanyard pulls a pin, which allows the battery to short to the brakes. on a surge brake trailer the safety lanyard pulls a shoe out, which holds tension on a heavy spring which slams the piston of the surge brake closed. the basic principle of the system is witn ah electric brake trailer, if it comes off the hitch ball, the double safety chains will still keep it under control and between the tension on the chains and the brakes, you can still bring it to a controlled stop. the emergency brake only comes into play if both safety chains also break. of course, with a surge brake trailer, if it comes off the hitch, you are out of luck, for brakes, unless it trips the E-brake, in which case you are out of luck for moving it again without big tools. Illegal in the EU. Batteries can fail, every car owner who lives where there are true winters knows this. How could the driver make sure the battery works? Pneumatic systems hiss or won't move when defective. Batteries can turn passive and while you can measure the correct voltage, they break down the first time a good current is drawn. Batteries exposed to vibrations are much more vulnerable. Even the emergency batteries for buildings (lights, lift alarms, fire suppression systems) which are stationary and well protected must be exchanged every 2 years. So either the brakes are all mechanical, pneumatic or have a fully mechanical backup. if the battery box has been knocked off the trailer, that is usually a good indication.
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Jul 22, 2015 6:28:52 GMT
a land cruiser is NOT a large SUV. I have a dolly wheel on my sailboat and it is light enough to dead lift with 4 healthy people. (not the trailer tongue, the whole darned boat) The Toyota then, and now, is one of the largest engined tow vehicles of its type on UK roads. Its Large. But not as silly as the "Animal" nissan things that are bigger than your average parking space.
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jul 22, 2015 11:53:22 GMT
a land cruiser is NOT a large SUV. I have a dolly wheel on my sailboat and it is light enough to dead lift with 4 healthy people. (not the trailer tongue, the whole darned boat) The Toyota then, and now, is one of the largest engined tow vehicles of its type on UK roads. Its Large. But not as silly as the "Animal" nissan things that are bigger than your average parking space. it's amazing how what is large to some is considered sub compact to others.
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jul 22, 2015 13:48:46 GMT
The Toyota then, and now, is one of the largest engined tow vehicles of its type on UK roads. Its Large. But not as silly as the "Animal" nissan things that are bigger than your average parking space. it's amazing how what is large to some is considered sub compact to others. 6.25L engine - considered small. Attachment DeletedAttachment Deletedwelcome to America let's see if I have the picture to put it into perspective: Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Jul 23, 2015 11:00:24 GMT
You meant Engine size?... Ok. Right. Yeah, you Yanks are all about the displacement... 2ltr is "enough" for any family car, bigger is not always better, we like economy, and we look for over 30 to the gallon, if it gets 120mph thats twice the speed limit, do we need more?.. Average family car, not toy-racer..... We can go more, we just dont need it. The land cruiser is a large size in physical dimensions compared to other vehicles. When you think of the Landrover Discovery, as a sort of bench mark here, as its a good 4wd go anywhere, Land cruiser is bigger. And often better... Its sort of more reliable, which isnt hard compared to Rover .. getting back is considered a bonus bigger than getting it somewhere in the first place?.
But onwards, the engine of a Land cruiser is about 4ltr, basic engine range, several derivatives of size from that, petrol or turbo diesel, still gets about 30 to the gallon.
It can tow, its an on or off road vehicle, its just a Toyota equivalent of the Landrover, just slightly "better", and sells rather better than anything else in Australia of similar design, according to Wikapedia... I suggest them Aussies know what they are talking about.?..
In UK, its as big as you would need, anything else is just showing off, and not always considered good. When you see a car occupying three parking spaces, the normal expression isnt "Oh he must be important isnt his vehicle just wonderful", its much shorter than that, its one word, and it rhymes with Banker....
Its not always the amount of power, its what you can do with it.
Why are European style hyper-cars so popular in U$A?... We can add more power, we just dont need it.
In the case of a Toyota Land Cruiser, it can get its self out of the mud, fully loaded, it can also tow another similar vehicle with it, who needs more?... If you do, you shouldnt have gone there in the first place.?..
For our case, it towed a large 27ft RIB on trailer at 10ft tall where the gantry was at comfortable motorway towing speed (around 50-55mph) quite capably. It was also capable of a beach launch, even on slightly rocky beaches. And had a decent wading depth.
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jul 23, 2015 13:13:01 GMT
You meant Engine size?... Ok. Right. Yeah, you Yanks are all about the displacement... 2ltr is "enough" for any family car, bigger is not always better, we like economy, and we look for over 30 to the gallon, if it gets 120mph thats twice the speed limit, do we need more?.. Average family car, not toy-racer..... We can go more, we just dont need it. The land cruiser is a large size in physical dimensions compared to other vehicles. When you think of the Landrover Discovery, as a sort of bench mark here, as its a good 4wd go anywhere, Land cruiser is bigger. And often better... Its sort of more reliable, which isnt hard compared to Rover .. getting back is considered a bonus bigger than getting it somewhere in the first place?. But onwards, the engine of a Land cruiser is about 4ltr, basic engine range, several derivatives of size from that, petrol or turbo diesel, still gets about 30 to the gallon. It can tow, its an on or off road vehicle, its just a Toyota equivalent of the Landrover, just slightly "better", and sells rather better than anything else in Australia of similar design, according to Wikapedia... I suggest them Aussies know what they are talking about.?.. In UK, its as big as you would need, anything else is just showing off, and not always considered good. When you see a car occupying three parking spaces, the normal expression isnt "Oh he must be important isnt his vehicle just wonderful", its much shorter than that, its one word, and it rhymes with Banker.... Its not always the amount of power, its what you can do with it. Why are European style hyper-cars so popular in U$A?... We can add more power, we just dont need it. In the case of a Toyota Land Cruiser, it can get its self out of the mud, fully loaded, it can also tow another similar vehicle with it, who needs more?... If you do, you shouldnt have gone there in the first place.?.. For our case, it towed a large 27ft RIB on trailer at 10ft tall where the gantry was at comfortable motorway towing speed (around 50-55mph) quite capably. It was also capable of a beach launch, even on slightly rocky beaches. And had a decent wading depth. My Jeep can tow my boat. It has a 4L-six engine and has no problem getting up to 55MPH. As long as I keep going in a straight line everything is fine. My wife's Excursion has a 6.8L V-10 engine. It can also tow the boat. The difference is that in the Excursion, I would never even know the boat was there if it wasn't for the rear view mirrors. You're right. It's not about engine size. It's about the weight of the towing vehicle. But if you're going to pull a 10,000LB camper across the country, you still want something that doesn't need to stay in 3rd gear and run at 4,000 RPM.
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jul 23, 2015 13:46:08 GMT
You meant Engine size?... Ok. Right. Yeah, you Yanks are all about the displacement... 2ltr is "enough" for any family car, bigger is not always better, we like economy, and we look for over 30 to the gallon, if it gets 120mph thats twice the speed limit, do we need more?.. Average family car, not toy-racer..... We can go more, we just dont need it. The land cruiser is a large size in physical dimensions compared to other vehicles. When you think of the Landrover Discovery, as a sort of bench mark here, as its a good 4wd go anywhere, Land cruiser is bigger. And often better... Its sort of more reliable, which isnt hard compared to Rover .. getting back is considered a bonus bigger than getting it somewhere in the first place?. But onwards, the engine of a Land cruiser is about 4ltr, basic engine range, several derivatives of size from that, petrol or turbo diesel, still gets about 30 to the gallon. It can tow, its an on or off road vehicle, its just a Toyota equivalent of the Landrover, just slightly "better", and sells rather better than anything else in Australia of similar design, according to Wikapedia... I suggest them Aussies know what they are talking about.?.. In UK, its as big as you would need, anything else is just showing off, and not always considered good. When you see a car occupying three parking spaces, the normal expression isnt "Oh he must be important isnt his vehicle just wonderful", its much shorter than that, its one word, and it rhymes with Banker.... Its not always the amount of power, its what you can do with it. Why are European style hyper-cars so popular in U$A?... We can add more power, we just dont need it. In the case of a Toyota Land Cruiser, it can get its self out of the mud, fully loaded, it can also tow another similar vehicle with it, who needs more?... If you do, you shouldnt have gone there in the first place.?.. For our case, it towed a large 27ft RIB on trailer at 10ft tall where the gantry was at comfortable motorway towing speed (around 50-55mph) quite capably. It was also capable of a beach launch, even on slightly rocky beaches. And had a decent wading depth. My Jeep can tow my boat. It has a 4L-six engine and has no problem getting up to 55MPH. As long as I keep going in a straight line everything is fine. My wife's Excursion has a 6.8L V-10 engine. It can also tow the boat. The difference is that in the Excursion, I would never even know the boat was there if it wasn't for the rear view mirrors. You're right. It's not about engine size. It's about the weight of the towing vehicle. But if you're going to pull a 10.000LB camper across the country, you still want something that doesn't need to stay in 3rd gear and run at 4,000 RPM. especially when you consider it is around a 40 hour drive... I actually was originally considering an original Landy or a Land Cruiser when I bought my Jeep. Thing is, I've heard what those sound like going down the freeway, and it isn't pleasant. as for beach launching - it's a lot easier on a rocky beach than a sandy beach. sandy beaches are how you get pictures like this. Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Jul 24, 2015 5:49:27 GMT
You meant Engine size?... Ok. Right. Yeah, you Yanks are all about the displacement... [edit][snip...] For our case, it towed a large 27ft RIB on trailer at 10ft tall where the gantry was at comfortable motorway towing speed (around 50-55mph) quite capably. It was also capable of a beach launch, even on slightly rocky beaches. And had a decent wading depth. My Jeep can tow my boat. It has a 4L-six engine and has no problem getting up to 55MPH. As long as I keep going in a straight line everything is fine. My wife's Excursion has a 6.8L V-10 engine. It can also tow the boat. The difference is that in the Excursion, I would never even know the boat was there if it wasn't for the rear view mirrors. You're right. It's not about engine size. It's about the weight of the towing vehicle. But if you're going to pull a 10,000LB camper across the country, you still want something that doesn't need to stay in 3rd gear and run at 4,000 RPM. And there is a problem... I have driven vehicles with trailers "You dont know are there", and that is a major problem, you "forget"?.... I had a wagon-and-drag out a while back, and I had to remember the trailer every time I did a tight corner, because the view from the rigid's mirrors suddenly got filled with trailer when I turned, and that was disconcerting ... It was a light load, so the pull from the engine didnt feel like I had any weight behind me. Having too much power can encourage you to have the tail wag the dog, the bit when the trailer starts to oscillate and affect the handling adversely, because you are driving too damned fast. I have followed trailer like that, and wondered why?.. it wears out things on the trailers eventually. And its dangerous... it can create a sudden loss of control, just when you may need it. There is a golden patch where you get the weight and trailer just right for the power. This isnt to say that larger vehicles should not tow light trailers... Of course not. Just have the mirror extensions on, and put a piece of tape around the steering wheel to "Remind" you "something is different today"?.... I have heard this works for many people. Me?.. I have the annoying habit of what a driving instructor for car licence would call over reliance on mirrors... I check them too often?.. its part of HGV driving I cant loose when in a car, so I am constantly looking at the trailer. If I cant see the trailer from the mirrors, I will alter the mirrors until I can.
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Jul 24, 2015 7:51:00 GMT
Me?.. I have the annoying habit of what a driving instructor for car licence would call over reliance on mirrors... I check them too often?.. its part of HGV driving I cant loose when in a car. I had a driving instructor friend point that out to me once as well and I haven't driven heavy vehicles nearly as much as you have. "If you used your mirrors that much during a driving test, you'd fail, because it would be seen as you not paying enough attention to what's in front of you. If that doesn't get you, keeping too great a distance to the vehicle in front and keeping too far left on the road will do it." The following exchange then took place: Me: "See that blue car three cars ahead?" Him: "Yeah...?" Me: "He's been swerving and touching his brakes a little every now and then for the past 2-3 minutes. He's not local, he doesn't have a GPS and he's trying to find his next turn. Every time he touches his brakes and swerves a little, the guy behind him gets a little nervous and brakes as well, forcing the car right in front of us to brake. Notice how I've barely changed speed in those same 2-3 minutes? Yeah, that's my distance working to my advantage." Him: "Okay... Makes sense. Since you seem to have an answer for everything, why are you keeping so far left and checking your mirrors all the time?" Me: "Look back. How long has the car behind us been there?" Him: "I don't know... The last 5 miles?" Me: "Nope. He's actually only been there about a minute. 10 minutes ago he was 6 cars back. He's been leap frogging all the other cars behind us, so he's obviously in a hurry. Now, see that Lidl about 500 yards ahead?" Him: "Yeah...?" Me: "For as long as I've been able to see it, people have been coming out of there every 30-60 seconds, practically running, and crossing the road right in front of the shop, even though there's a pedestrian crossing a hundred yards further up the road. It's caused two braking ripples in traffic in the past 3 minutes. Even though there's only about 4-500 yards up to the intersection, the guy behind us will overtake us if he gets the chance. How do I know that? Because that's what he's done with the other 5 cars behind us. That's what I've been keeping track of in my mirrors. By keeping left, hugging the middle of the road, I'm limiting his view of oncoming traffic and not giving him an opening, because he's so preoccupied with finding that opening that he hasn't seen the people crossing the road up ahead and cars braking to avoid them. If he speeds past us, there's a good chance he'll either have to brake hard to avoid one of them as well, won't be able to and hit one of them, or, if I let him past right now, he'll smack right into the back of one of the other braking cars in front of us. But that's also part of why I'm keeping distance. If he decides to overtake now, both he and I will have some braking distance to work with." Him: "You win..." As you've said so many times before, SD, knowing what to look for. That's the name of the game. And that's both in front of you, beside you and behind you, because stupid is all around.
|
|
|
Post by c64 on Jul 24, 2015 9:37:32 GMT
Sounds like a cold war east German made Wartburg 311, a design fully obsolete 10 years before those cars were made. A Wartburg can do that, too. If the boat and trailer is less than 500kg... It has a 4L-six engine and has no problem getting up to 55MPH. It has a 0.9L 2-stroke straight-three engine and the car has a recommended maximum speed of 100kpH (60mph) and an absolute top speed of 120kph. Officially, the recommended top speed is caused by the back then national speed limit of 100kph, but even nowadays with access to real unlimited speed Autobahn sections, you don't dare to go that fast since you fear to loose your fillings and your ears might start to bleed or fall off. As long as I keep going in a straight line everything is fine. Same with the Wartburg, although you also need to have a minimum speed since the drive shafts try to move the wheel hubs in a circular pattern and the suspension only admits up and down so at walking speeds, it is hopping like a lowrider. My wife's Excursion has a 6.8L V-10 engine. It can also tow the boat. For the Wartburg 311, you could also buy the stronger 1.0 liter engine! The difference is that in the Excursion, I would never even know the boat was there if it wasn't for the rear view mirrors. Now that's the advantage of the Wartburg. You can even know if your kids ate their breakfast! You're right. It's not about engine size. It's about the weight of the towing vehicle. But if you're going to pull a 10,000LB camper across the country, you still want something that doesn't need to stay in 3rd gear and run at 4,000 RPM. Then you need a NSU Ro 80 (built until 1978). It comes with a very light Wankel engine and 3-speed "half-automatic" transmission. The car is a lot less than a ton and in 1th gear, it can haul a heavy camper up a steep hill with over 80kph (the maximum legal speed for trailers). The car will sound like a StuKa about to drop its bomb but you are getting somewhere fast. Of course the car has a very bad reputation to eat up the engines fast. Some say, this is what you need to reach the mileage of a classic VW bug: But the later engines have not much wear any more since the NSU engineers finally found materials that won't grind up fast.
|
|
|
Post by c64 on Jul 24, 2015 10:33:17 GMT
You meant Engine size?... Ok. Right. Yeah, you Yanks are all about the displacement... 2ltr is "enough" for any family car, bigger is not always better, we like economy, and we look for over 30 to the gallon, if it gets 120mph thats twice the speed limit, do we need more?.. Average family car, not toy-racer..... We can go more, we just dont need it. Someone once had said: "The problem of the USA is that everything more complicated than a fridge has to be imported". And a crude tractor engine is not more complicated than a good fridge so they put them into everything. The land cruiser is a large size in physical dimensions compared to other vehicles. When you think of the Landrover Discovery, as a sort of bench mark here, as its a good 4wd go anywhere, Land cruiser is bigger. And often better... Its sort of more reliable, which isnt hard compared to Rover .. getting back is considered a bonus bigger than getting it somewhere in the first place?. But onwards, the engine of a Land cruiser is about 4ltr, basic engine range, several derivatives of size from that, petrol or turbo diesel, still gets about 30 to the gallon. It can tow, its an on or off road vehicle, its just a Toyota equivalent of the Landrover, just slightly "better", and sells rather better than anything else in Australia of similar design, according to Wikapedia... I suggest them Aussies know what they are talking about.?.. In UK, its as big as you would need, anything else is just showing off, and not always considered good. When you see a car occupying three parking spaces, the normal expression isnt "Oh he must be important isnt his vehicle just wonderful", its much shorter than that, its one word, and it rhymes with Banker.... Its not always the amount of power, its what you can do with it. Why are European style hyper-cars so popular in U$A?... We can add more power, we just dont need it. In the case of a Toyota Land Cruiser, it can get its self out of the mud, fully loaded, it can also tow another similar vehicle with it, who needs more?... If you do, you shouldnt have gone there in the first place.?.. For our case, it towed a large 27ft RIB on trailer at 10ft tall where the gantry was at comfortable motorway towing speed (around 50-55mph) quite capably. It was also capable of a beach launch, even on slightly rocky beaches. And had a decent wading depth. Even the Landrover is bigger than a multi purpose vehicle should be. If you are looking into serious offroading and towing, then you just buy a second vehicle for those tasks lkike this: Those are always following the Paris-Dakar rally removing everything littering the desert which can't be towed out by any other vehicle. It's the Chuck Norris of offroad vehicles. Terrain it can't pass is terraformed while passing!
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jul 24, 2015 12:31:20 GMT
Sounds like a cold war east German made Wartburg 311, a design fully obsolete 10 years before those cars were made. A Wartburg can do that, too. If the boat and trailer is less than 500kg... It has a 4L-six engine and has no problem getting up to 55MPH. It has a 0.9L 2-stroke straight-three engine and the car has a recommended maximum speed of 100kpH (60mph) and an absolute top speed of 120kph. Officially, the recommended top speed is caused by the back then national speed limit of 100kph, but even nowadays with access to real unlimited speed Autobahn sections, you don't dare to go that fast since you fear to loose your fillings and your ears might start to bleed or fall off. As long as I keep going in a straight line everything is fine. Same with the Wartburg, although you also need to have a minimum speed since the drive shafts try to move the wheel hubs in a circular pattern and the suspension only admits up and down so at walking speeds, it is hopping like a lowrider. My wife's Excursion has a 6.8L V-10 engine. It can also tow the boat. For the Wartburg 311, you could also buy the stronger 1.0 liter engine! The difference is that in the Excursion, I would never even know the boat was there if it wasn't for the rear view mirrors. Now that's the advantage of the Wartburg. You can even know if your kids ate their breakfast! Sounds like I need to sell my Jeep and get one of those Wartburg things.
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jul 24, 2015 13:21:07 GMT
You meant Engine size?... Ok. Right. Yeah, you Yanks are all about the displacement... 2ltr is "enough" for any family car, bigger is not always better, we like economy, and we look for over 30 to the gallon, if it gets 120mph thats twice the speed limit, do we need more?.. Average family car, not toy-racer..... We can go more, we just dont need it. Someone once had said: "The problem of the USA is that everything more complicated than a fridge has to be imported". And a crude tractor engine is not more complicated than a good fridge so they put them into everything. ]Even the Landrover is bigger than a multi purpose vehicle should be. If you are looking into serious offroading and towing, then you just buy a second vehicle for those tasks lkike this: Those are always following the Paris-Dakar rally removing everything littering the desert which can't be towed out by any other vehicle. It's the Chuck Norris of offroad vehicles. Terrain it can't pass is terraformed while passing! On a similar note, a friend of mine just bought this at a military surplus vehicle auction. I have no idea what he intends to do with it. Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jul 24, 2015 13:56:29 GMT
My Jeep can tow my boat. It has a 4L-six engine and has no problem getting up to 55MPH. As long as I keep going in a straight line everything is fine. My wife's Excursion has a 6.8L V-10 engine. It can also tow the boat. The difference is that in the Excursion, I would never even know the boat was there if it wasn't for the rear view mirrors. You're right. It's not about engine size. It's about the weight of the towing vehicle. But if you're going to pull a 10,000LB camper across the country, you still want something that doesn't need to stay in 3rd gear and run at 4,000 RPM. And there is a problem... I have driven vehicles with trailers "You dont know are there", and that is a major problem, you "forget"?.... I had a wagon-and-drag out a while back, and I had to remember the trailer every time I did a tight corner, because the view from the rigid's mirrors suddenly got filled with trailer when I turned, and that was disconcerting ... It was a light load, so the pull from the engine didnt feel like I had any weight behind me. Having too much power can encourage you to have the tail wag the dog, the bit when the trailer starts to oscillate and affect the handling adversely, because you are driving too damned fast. I have followed trailer like that, and wondered why?.. it wears out things on the trailers eventually. And its dangerous... it can create a sudden loss of control, just when you may need it. There is a golden patch where you get the weight and trailer just right for the power. This isnt to say that larger vehicles should not tow light trailers... Of course not. Just have the mirror extensions on, and put a piece of tape around the steering wheel to "Remind" you "something is different today"?.... I have heard this works for many people. Me?.. I have the annoying habit of what a driving instructor for car licence would call over reliance on mirrors... I check them too often?.. its part of HGV driving I cant loose when in a car, so I am constantly looking at the trailer. If I cant see the trailer from the mirrors, I will alter the mirrors until I can. i'm always nervous transporting the department barbecue. there is no adjusting the muirrors until you can see the trailer, and you can't feel it behind you, unless you hit a pretty severe bump. Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jul 24, 2015 13:59:47 GMT
i'm always nervous transporting the department barbecue. there is no adjusting the muirrors until you can see the trailer, and you can't feel it behind you, unless you hit a pretty severe bump. View AttachmentAnd you sure wouldn't want to lose such a valuable piece of fire apparatus.
|
|