[VAC] Trailer Balance and Sway

["Harvey Barlow" <harveybarlow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim,

No argument from me regarding improper loading of a utility trailer causing
instability.  When the rear of the trailer is loaded heavier than the rear
it will clearly cause a light tongue and instability.

I can readily accept that adding tongue weight to a poorly designed
stick-built trailer with inadequate tongue weight would improve stability.
But we're talking about a quality trailer, an Avion.

A well-designed travel trailer's weight distribution is mostly fixed by
design.  Equipment installation, propane tanks, fluid tanks, closets,
storage compartments, and axle position were all calculated by the engineers
who designed the trailer.  I guess it would be possible to pack a lot of
heavy items in the stern to cause a heavy rear end.  Loading auto parts in
the rear bedroom for example would possibly imbalance a trailer, but for
normal loading of the things most people would pack in a travel trailer, I
think the approximate weight distribution would tend to remain similar, and
within specs, just increase overall.  That is the way a good trailer like an
Avion or Airstream is designed and built.

>From what I have heard, pre-'90 aluminum Avions were designed very similar
to A/Ss but where A/Ss have a more flexible frame, Avions have a heavier and
more rigid frame and are heavier overall than A/Ss.  Is that true?

I have not owned an Avion or weighed one but from what I have been told, a
32' aluminum skinned Avion is probably comparable in weight to my 34' A/S,
which weighs around 9k pounds when loaded for travel.  I would be interested
to hear from Cheyanne again and learn if she weighed their Avion and what
it's travelling weight actually is.

An Avion 32' is a very heavy trailer to pull behind a 1/2 ton Suburban with
passenger car tires with their inherently more flexible sidewalls, lighter
suspension, smaller brakes, etc.

Harvey