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slowmover · 06-23-2012, 12:37 PM

WDH -- weight distributing hitch[es] -- are available at several tiers of anti-sway control capability. PULLRITE, PROPRIDE then HENSLEY are the top tier, REESE Strait-Line / Dual Cam, then Equal-I-Zer are the second (with the new ANDERSEN), then the old (and unacceptable) "friction bar" antisway add-ons to cheap generic hitches.

Please don't think "experience" matters much. I'll put mine against anyones (type, variety, terrain, trailer type, miles travelled, etc). It's good for knowing what to do when a tire blows . . on a steep downgrade being passed by semi-trucks (always a bit hairy) . . in any number of ways that matter, experience is a good thing. But it is trumped by these latest hitches (about 15 years now) for the "elimination" (a manner of speaking) of trailer sway, incipient or dangerous.

I might wish my children learn to drive in a slow old pickup with manual steering, brakes and transmission. Tall, tippy tires. With me aboard guiding them in how to deal with the vehicle. But I'd want them running the highways in a well-sorted Camry (or the equivalent) with best tires and book maintenance, etc. Same for a tow rig. The dynamics need to be experienced to find out how little one can actually do (in accident avoidance) to drive home the need for certain principles to apply first.

One can make the same arguments about bias ply tires or drum brakes versus radials and disc brakes . . at the end of the day "experience" is a code word for "testosterone" if it is put as a substitute for best equipment (best engineering) and excused as a matter of "too much money" for the better equipment (ridiculous versus the value of the combined rig).

Towing accidents are often lumped under "driver induced loss of control" which means the two vehicles are trying to head in separate directions (jack-knife, for instance) and some hitches are much better at heading that off in the first place (would be the point). In the same way would we want our family in a modern vehicle with state-of-the-art design and devices . . and the skill to not have to use them.

A margin for error that favors the moments inattention.

.

06-23-2012, 12:37 PM	#30 (permalink)
slowmover Banned Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 2,442 2004 CTD - '04 DODGE RAM 2500 SLT Team Cummins 90 day: 19.36 mpg (US) Thanks: 1,422 Thanked 737 Times in 557 Posts	WDH -- weight distributing hitch[es] -- are available at several tiers of anti-sway control capability. PULLRITE, PROPRIDE then HENSLEY are the top tier, REESE Strait-Line / Dual Cam, then Equal-I-Zer are the second (with the new ANDERSEN), then the old (and unacceptable) "friction bar" antisway add-ons to cheap generic hitches. Please don't think "experience" matters much. I'll put mine against anyones (type, variety, terrain, trailer type, miles travelled, etc). It's good for knowing what to do when a tire blows . . on a steep downgrade being passed by semi-trucks (always a bit hairy) . . in any number of ways that matter, experience is a good thing. But it is trumped by these latest hitches (about 15 years now) for the "elimination" (a manner of speaking) of trailer sway, incipient or dangerous. I might wish my children learn to drive in a slow old pickup with manual steering, brakes and transmission. Tall, tippy tires. With me aboard guiding them in how to deal with the vehicle. But I'd want them running the highways in a well-sorted Camry (or the equivalent) with best tires and book maintenance, etc. Same for a tow rig. The dynamics need to be experienced to find out how little one can actually do (in accident avoidance) to drive home the need for certain principles to apply *first.* One can make the same arguments about bias ply tires or drum brakes versus radials and disc brakes . . at the end of the day "experience" is a code word for "testosterone" if it is put as a substitute for best equipment (best engineering) and excused as a matter of "too much money" for the better equipment (ridiculous versus the value of the combined rig). Towing accidents are often lumped under "driver induced loss of control" which means the two vehicles are trying to head in separate directions (jack-knife, for instance) and some hitches are much better at heading that off in the first place (would be the point). In the same way would we want our family in a modern vehicle with state-of-the-art design and devices . . and the skill to not have to use them. A margin for error that favors the moments inattention. . Last edited by slowmover; 06-23-2012 at 12:44 PM..