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Old 11-12-2011, 06:01 PM   #1
JiminNYS
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What i a good hitch to prevent trailer sway?

Hi,

My wife and I are thinking of getting a 280BH Passport (weight about 4500 lbs). We will be pulling with a 1999 E150 Ford conversion van which came from the dealer with a towing package (oil cooler, transmission cooler). The engine is a 8 cyc 5.4L with a 3.55 rear end. Max tow weight in my manual says 6900 lbs. My questions are the following:

Q1 - Given the 2400 lb gap, is this a safe towing arrangement?

Q2 - We have towed a 22ft 3800 lb trailer in the past using a Reese weight distribution hitch and friction bar. This arrangement has resulted in undesirable sway at times. Any advice as to a better sway control settup if we go with the new Passport 280BH?

Thanks,

JiminNY
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Old 11-12-2011, 06:35 PM   #2
ktmracer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JiminNYS View Post
Hi,

My wife and I are thinking of getting a 280BH Passport (weight about 4500 lbs). We will be pulling with a 1999 E150 Ford conversion van which came from the dealer with a towing package (oil cooler, transmission cooler). The engine is a 8 cyc 5.4L with a 3.55 rear end. Max tow weight in my manual says 6900 lbs. My questions are the following:

Q1 - Given the 2400 lb gap, is this a safe towing arrangement?

Q2 - We have towed a 22ft 3800 lb trailer in the past using a Reese weight distribution hitch and friction bar. This arrangement has resulted in undesirable sway at times. Any advice as to a better sway control settup if we go with the new Passport 280BH?

Thanks,

JiminNY
I like my Reese DC and the equalizer also gets good reviews.

However, IMHO First you need to get the trailer stable w/o sway control. get it set up correctly make sure you have enough tongue weight, TV set up correctly and get it stable to start with. Then add sway control just to make sure. Don't rely on sway control to correct a bad setup or inheritly unstable setup, use sway control to make a stable setup ultrastable under all conditions.
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Old 11-12-2011, 08:07 PM   #3
chuck&gail
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As above, Reese Dual Cam or Equal-i-zer (my favorite). But before buying, is the 4500# the UNLOADED weight, or the GVWR? You need bars for 13 to 15% of the GVWR. Unloaded weight has very little meaning, but if you must use it most of us who travel lite add about 1000# to the UVW.

Next what is tongue weight rating on your van? I suspect 10% of the 6900#, or 690#. If that is correct, and you use the lower 13% number, your max FULLY LOADED TT weight would be about 5300#. Note that number normally assumes a 150# driver, no passengers, and no cargo.

I think you need to find all the nuimbers and look carefully if the 4500# is UVW. I suspect you will be overweight. If the 4500# is GVWR, you should be fine.
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Old 11-13-2011, 11:47 AM   #4
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X3 on the Reese Dual Cam, again the Equalizer gets good reviews too.
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Old 11-13-2011, 02:09 PM   #5
Outbackmel
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Hitch

I towed a 31ft TT previously. Liked Equalizer. Still needed to ensure enough hitch weight. Never felt worried or bothered by fear of dreaded "sway".

All I can say is it worked for me.
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Old 11-13-2011, 02:20 PM   #6
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Hi Jim,
Just looking at the numbers, GVWR of a 2012 Passport looks like it will be around 6500 lbs. If you are correct on the GCWR of you van, 6900, if you pack light and travel with the tanks near empty then weight wise this looks doable.

Since sway was sometime a concern on your last trailer, lets look at the wheelbase issues. From Edmunds.com "all 1999 E150s came with a 138" wheelbase". A general rule of thumb for TV-TT wheelbase matchups is...the first 110" of TV wheelbase cover the first 20 ft of trailer length, then for each additional foot of TT you need an additional 4" of TV. In your case that would work out to about a 27ft trailer. The 2012 Passport is about 31 ft.

Going to a quality hitch like the Reese DC or the Equal-i-zer (brand name)hitch you can often pull a bit more trailer than the TV wheelbase would normally allow. But because you indicated sway was a concern on the much shorter trailer....I would suggest a purchasing a TV with a longer wheelbase or a used Hensley Arrow hitch.
Best wishes,

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Old 11-13-2011, 02:32 PM   #7
JiminNYS
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Everyone,

Thank you all for your useful advice. As far as the max trailer weight we can tow with, here's what I have so far for calculations:

Calculation #1: My max towing limit for my E1500 (6900 lbs) - 1500 lbs (dealer's safety factor) =5400 lbs (the max loaded trailer weight, which for the 4500 lb 280BH, gives me 900 lbs of cargo). This looks good!

Calculation #2: My E150 operator's manual says 12,000 lbs is the max GCWR (combined weight of both the towing vehicle and trailer). Given my van weight, passenger weight, van cargo, & hitch weight, these total 6645 lbs. So 12,000 - 6645 leaves 5535 lbs remaining for a loaded trailer. Given the Passport's 4500 unloaded weight, leaves only 855 lbs for cargo. A bit tight?

So given these calculations, should I believe this 280 BH Passport is a bit too much for my full size E150 conversion van? Any additional opinions on this would be helpful.

Thanks,

JiminNYS
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Old 11-13-2011, 03:07 PM   #8
JiminNYS
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Hi Steve,

Thanks for your informative reply. One question, the Passort 280BH is a 28 ft trailer with a 3 ft a-frame in front. Does the a-fram length count in the total tow length in your calculation?

Thanks again,

Jim
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Old 11-13-2011, 03:08 PM   #9
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You are a wise man, you asked the questions, did the math...before the purchase!! I still have problems with that Yes, Jim, you are looking at the total length of the trailer.
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Old 11-13-2011, 03:24 PM   #10
JiminNYS
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Thanks Steve...You have given me more information within 1 day than I have been able to gather in the past few months from dealers. Thanks again and happ camping!...Jim
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