Newbie safety questions.

BrettM

We will be a proud owners of a T@B S in the not too distant future. As a younger man I lost control of a trailer with a blowout and rolled it. My wife and I recently made the decision to tow a trailer again as tent camping doesn't quite do it for us anymore. Given the the wonderful advice and expertise on this forum I seek some help. I will be towing my T@B with a V6 Chev Colorado and am absolutely not sure if we should include both WD and anti-sway. Having spent a lot of time reading the forum none of the pictures have given me any clue as to what others are doing. In my minds eye I would include anti-sway no question, but given the weight of the T@B S (not Outback), and my TV, is WD something we should think about?

For what it's worth this is a fantastic forum!!

Sharon_is_SAM

There are very few Tab owners who elect to use anti-sway or weight distribution hitches.  Not unusual to have dealers offer these as options as they stand to profit.  People who report sway typically admit that excess speed has been a factor.  Neither are required for these trailers if you are using the appropriate tow vehicle and hitch system.

Ratkity

A chevy V6 Colorado? You have 7000 lbs of towing capability if you have the tow package and the 3.6L V6 and a 700 lb tongue weight allowance. You could tow two T@Bs (not really suggesting you do that). 

I have the cousin of your Colorado, the GMC Canyon. I could hardly tell the T@B was there. My toy hauler is another story! With a 5400 lb loaded toy hauler I *need* a weight distribution and sway combo. With the T@B or T@G, you don't need a wd hitch at all, especially with the tow vehicle you mentioned. To be honest, I'm not sure a weight distribution setup would fit on the tongue bars of the T@B. If a friction sway bar would make you feel better, by all means, get one - the dealer would be happy to charge you $300-400 to add a tiny ball to your hitch and the friction bar. Just don't back up with the friction bar on... it'll pretzel if you jack knife while backing up! I have another for a nominal fee if you do that.

I lost a trailer once by the stupid hitch pin sneaking out of the receiver and the chains failed. It was at 20 mph and no one was injured (except I felt like I had a small heart attack), and the trailer was fine except for the wiring - it rolled to a stop up a curb between a mailbox and a tree. I can understand the fear of all of this happening again.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but ya gotta get back on it! (mixing metaphors is my especiality!). What I mean is not to let that fear control you. You can do this! 

jason330i

Here is my setup. As you can see, I've got a lot of stuff going on at the front of my Tab. For your tow vehicle, I doubt you would need any weight distribution. How about one of those friction sway bars? Although you would have to disable it when backing up.

BrettM

Thank you both very much. As you can imagine I don't ever want to experience what happened to us those years ago again. I expected to hear your comments but needed to be sure. It goes without saying that there are a list of things I need to check prior to any trip, and I am well aware of those.....much appreciated!!!!

2Cougs

We copied Jason's set up (thanks @jason330i) and have had no problem.  True test will be the next few weeks on a 2,000 mile adventure down the Oregon coast...  We'll report back after that.

BrettM

Exactly what I would like to do for our T@B Jason, might add a larger tub in time. Please add a link for the bike rack if you can.....thanks again.

jason330i

BrettM said:

Exactly what I would like to do for our T@B Jason, might add a larger tub in time. Please add a link for the bike rack if you can.....thanks again.

http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/69906#Comment_69906

BrettM

Thank you very much.