So, what is everybody towing?

[ShadowsPapa]

Ya got a bit of squat there. Maybe the air ride bags? They seem to have made a huge difference for me with towing.

took maybe 30mins to install and are easy as heck to refill with a bike pump i leave in the truck.

It's most likely the uneven ground making it look less than level. There's nothing flat and level within miles of me.
This truck has max tow springs.
When driving I didn't notice the rear being down/front up, it didn't feel like it did when I had 1700 pounds of landscaping block in the back.
If this is sagging with max tow springs, what are the max tow people doing that tow 6,000 and 7,000 pounds? Hmmmmm.
I do think the tongue weight may be a bit much. It was really hard to get a good reading in my driveway because there's no flat place to use the scale. My bet is that it's well over 625.

Sorry, no to air bags - don't like the idea of dealing with another thing to keep up when I only tow 2 or 3 times a year. Just don't want to deal with airing up, airing down, something else to go wrong.

2nd and 5th pics down are a couple of the most accurate. I had only about 3 hours to prep the trailer, hook up, pull it out of its parking spot, load the car and redo the straps for this trailer and then go for a drive, and get back and put everything away.

I am also wondering about the hitch sitting a bit high - the ball - holding the front of the trailer up so more weight is sitting on the truck and not the front axle of the trailer.
IMO, the front of the trailer sits a bit high.

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[Gren71]

Makes aense

It's most likely the uneven ground making it look less than level. There's nothing flat and level within miles of me.
This truck has max tow springs.
When driving I didn't notice the rear being down/front up, it didn't feel like it did when I had 1700 pounds of landscaping block in the back.
If this is sagging with max tow springs, what are the max tow people doing that tow 6,000 and 7,000 pounds? Hmmmmm.
I do think the tongue weight may be a bit much. It was really hard to get a good reading in my driveway because there's no flat place to use the scale. My bet is that it's well over 625.

Sorry, no to air bags - don't like the idea of dealing with another thing to keep up when I only tow 2 or 3 times a year. Just don't want to deal with airing up, airing down, something else to go wrong.

2nd and 5th pics down are a couple of the most accurate. I had only about 3 hours to prep the trailer, hook up, pull it out of its parking spot, load the car and redo the straps for this trailer and then go for a drive, and get back and put everything away.

I am also wondering about the hitch sitting a bit high - the ball - holding the front of the trailer up so more weight is sitting on the truck and not the front axle of the trailer.
IMO, the front of the trailer sits a bit high.

Makes sense with the weird pic angles. I remembered you getting the springs and was thinking the same thing about that much squat being odd.

the bags aren’t much at all bit i get what you are saying. You could also look at the sumo soring rear bump stops. They’re longer than stock so help a lot with bumps and trailer bounce. Especially with the heavier tongue weight.

the trailer does look a little high. Id say chuck a level on it but since it seems you live in the twilight zone and have no flat surfaces that wont help much

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Makes aense


Makes sense with the weird pic angles. I remembered you getting the springs and was thinking the same thing about that much squat being odd.

the bags aren’t much at all bit i get what you are saying. You could also look at the sumo soring rear bump stops. They’re longer than stock so help a lot with bumps and trailer bounce. Especially with the heavier tongue weight.

the trailer does look a little high. Id say chuck a level on it but since it seems you live in the twilight zone and have no flat surfaces that wont help much

I may have to contact Aluma and ask them what height the ball should be at to make this trailer sit perfectly level. They'll have the specs.

Then I have to find a place to put the truck and measure up and oh, boy, may have to plan a trip to Nebraska!

 

[gpwrang33]

I may have to contact Aluma and ask them what height the ball should be at to make this trailer sit perfectly level. They'll have the specs.

Then I have to find a place to put the truck and measure up and oh, boy, may have to plan a trip to Nebraska!

Do you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near by? Usually their loading pads are concrete and level. Key word is usually.

 

[JackalopeSean]

I put air bags in mine and with just 20 to 25lbs of air it did great

 

[LilM38]

Towing my 51 Willys M38. No sweat.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Do you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near by? Usually their loading pads are concrete and level. Key word is usually.

There's a grain elevator nearby that's hardly ever used.
Talked with another Jeep guy and he is thinking the same thing I am - drop the hitch on the trailer, make the trailer level (otherwise the truck and rear trailer axle carry the load) and move the car back on the trailer. Another guy who hauls AMC cars said that his best luck is where he drives the car on slowly until the bed just tilts down and lock the car in place there. He says it comes out almost perfect every time the way these trailers are built.
We're figuring I have about 125 pounds too much on the tongue. Aluma says go 10-12% with their trailers. I checked one of their videos.

 

[BlackDog]

It's most likely the uneven ground making it look less than level. There's nothing flat and level within miles of me.
This truck has max tow springs.
When driving I didn't notice the rear being down/front up, it didn't feel like it did when I had 1700 pounds of landscaping block in the back.
If this is sagging with max tow springs, what are the max tow people doing that tow 6,000 and 7,000 pounds? Hmmmmm.
I do think the tongue weight may be a bit much. It was really hard to get a good reading in my driveway because there's no flat place to use the scale. My bet is that it's well over 625.

Sorry, no to air bags - don't like the idea of dealing with another thing to keep up when I only tow 2 or 3 times a year. Just don't want to deal with airing up, airing down, something else to go wrong.

2nd and 5th pics down are a couple of the most accurate. I had only about 3 hours to prep the trailer, hook up, pull it out of its parking spot, load the car and redo the straps for this trailer and then go for a drive, and get back and put everything away.

I am also wondering about the hitch sitting a bit high - the ball - holding the front of the trailer up so more weight is sitting on the truck and not the front axle of the trailer.
IMO, the front of the trailer sits a bit high.

Leveling it would be good. Another thought would be to get a weight distribution hitch to help move some of that weight to the front axle. I use Anderson but there are many options.

You don't need level ground to check for squat... Measure each wheel from hub to fender, then hook up your trailer and measure again. Simple subtraction between the two numbers on each wheel will give you your answer.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Leveling it would be good. Another thought would be to get a weight distribution hitch to help move some of that weight to the front axle. I use Anderson but there are many options.

You don't need level ground to check for squat... Measure each wheel from hub to fender, then hook up your trailer and measure again. Simple subtraction between the two numbers on each wheel will give you your answer.

As I've mentioned before and elsewhere - never use a WDH on an ALL aluminum trailer.
Aluma says "NO" and the makers of the trailers I've pulled say "not necessary - load and balance the trailer correctly". Aluma has a video out on the topic of loading their trailers.
I called Aluma and spoke with one of their engineers. He got pretty deep into engineering stuff, but I got the gist of it - the WDH puts stresses on frames that people don't understand and while steel frames can deal with it - aluminum can't. He really cringed when I suggested WDH on these.
Besides, I can't say I've ever seen a car hauler with one.
My PJ was a steel trailer, wood bed - the company and seller both said load 'em right and they aren't needed. And I've never needed one on my car haulers.

Already confirmed I needed to drop the ball mount down. So I flipped that already and ended up within an inch of where I believe it should be - trailer sitting almost level, accounting for some "squat" of the truck, it should work out about right. If the trailer bed isn't level on the axles when towing, then you have not enough weight on the front trailer axle and too much on the rear axle (and truck)

Yes, need level ground to see that the trailer sits level on the truck when all is loaded and hooked up.

Definitely need more level ground than I have here. I know about the math - I've shared measurements of my truck with other Overland owners......
I have done all of the measuring and have half a page of notes.
In my driveway sitting loaded, there's more than an inch difference between left rear and right rear center to fender measurements. One side goes down further than the other, but if I turn things around or on a different part of the driveway, I get different measurements. Then one side goes down more than the other side did before I moved things. Likely because of the uneven slope of the driveway and the fact the trailer also isn't able to sit level because one axle will be up higher than the other due to the driveway shape for drainage and uneven ground here.
I had done the math and figured ok, it's sitting level - then I get into a church parking lot that's sort of even, far more level than my property, and find the rear is down too much. The math said it was about right, reality said otherwise. Uneven ground.

 

[Kewlrobd]

This week we upgraded from a 2014 Flagstaff pop up camper to this 2021 Flagstaff Shamrock 21SS. We had plenty of time to get used to towing since our trip to pick up was around 4 1/2 hours on way, majority being on the interstate. Driving in town and smaller highways were a breeze. Felt like there was plenty of power, most of the time barely noticed it back there. By the time we got back onto the interstate though it started to get pretty windy, which I feel definitely hindered the performance. We started struggling to keep a steady speed when on the interstate (70 mph) especially with the long continuous hills in western Pennsylvania. I will also note, this is my first time towing a camper of this size/weight, so I'm sure there's a learning curve on my end too that needs to be adjusted to overtime.

I will say she sure was thirsty pulling this thing compared to our small pop up.

WDH - Blue OX Sway Pro
Brake Controller - Tekonsha Primus IQ

I am looking to get into this exact same model. Do you have max tow?

 

[Jt-wrx]

the timbren 3000 lb helper springs is another option, i went this route, very happy, i wouldn't go this route if i wanted to maintain full articulation as offroaders may want, but for those who use this thing as a truck more than anything the timbren option requires zero air, just throw em in and they go unnoticed until you get enough weight on the rear to compress the springs about an inch then the extra support starts and allows you to pile on the extra weight from there, i love the control, level cornering and anti-squat of this set up when i'm trailering, it was a huge difference

 

[DesertGladiator]

24 foot Bennington Tritoon. Definitely pushing the limits but I don't have to drive on any freeways. I have a WDH w/ sway control on order. Even in 115 degree heat going uphill the engine/tranny temps don't move much.

 

[Jillr1]

Rockwood A122SESP

What is that camper called?

 

[KVJ]

2019 A122SESP Specifications

Sleeps	3
Length	19 ft
Ext Height	5 ft 11 in
Interior Color	New Color
Hitch Weight	290 lbs
Dry Weight	2272 lbs
Cargo Weight	1518 lbs
Fresh Water Capacity	26 gals
Tire Size	15"
Available Beds	Flip-Up
Cooktop Burners	3
Axle Weight	1944 lbs
LP Tank Capacity	20
Water Heater Type	Electric
Axle Count	1
Number of LP Tanks	1
Electrical Service	30 amp

That's a perfect size and low profile for towing any distances.

@BMcD You picked a nice camper!

I don't understand the axel weight number of 1944# ? Unless that is per wheel?

 

[jeepers29]

60 pages in this thread and not one person pulling a casita. I did see the scamps, though

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