A common towing myth is low tongue weight causes trailer instability, so you can “balance” weight at the rear of a trailer by adding mass to the front. An oft-cited example is this video showing that moving a mass on a toy car on a treadmill with the front fixed to a stationary object makes […]
Tongue weight balance myth Read More »
Tow vehicle one Tow vehicle one was a 2009 Toyota Sienna. We had bought the Sienna during our boating days. With the back seats out, it makes a good, convenient cargo vehicle. When it came time to research and buy trailers, we went with something less than or equal to the 3,500 Sienna tow rating.
Disclaimer: This is my opinion. Heed at your own risk. Some people on the interwebs like to say you shouldn’t leave a car battery on a concrete floor. This was true — back when batteries had wooden cases—something to do with moisture and swelling. Since batteries haven’t had wooden cases since before I was born,
80% rule: faction or fiction Read More »
The only empirical data I’ve found on trailer stability is Darling, Tilley, and Gao, published in 2009. Highly recommend reading, although you’ll need some UK → US translation. (Estate car → station wagon, nose mass → tongue weight, tyre → tire). You probably already knew that last one. They found the most important factors are