Fishtailing.

@Ratkity, I'd have to agree. I tow with 2 different vehicles, and don't have any trouble towing with either one. That being said, I'm pretty conscious about the way I distribute the weight in both the T@B & the TV. After thinking about this for a bit, I'm wondering if shorter wheel base vehicles are more prone to the "sway" factor than a longer wheel base vehicle.?? That, and vehicles that are REALLY close to their towing capacities as well.!

@ericnliz, I would tend to agree based on my limited engineering edumacation from my engineer Dad (who still can't back up a trailer to save his life - he watches me and thinks it's some dark magic). 

My sis' BF says there's a big difference in wheel base length and how something tows.

I want to say I haven't towed something over 50% the weight of my TV or near its towing capacity, but then I remembered the popup and my tiny Mitsubishi 5 speed manual trans truck. I think the popup stopped the truck more than the other way around. No fishtailing, 2 people in cab and 5 big dogs in the truck bed (under a bed cap). Boy, talk about a naïve camper and tow person!! Dem angels were working full-time. My friend and I went all over TX with me towing that popup - no winterizing, no bearing maintenance, wheels were rotted when I bought it and they had to be replaced (as well as the spare), anode in the 6 gal hot water heater... what was that? Geeesh. Fresh water tank flushing? No other tanks, thank goodness. Battery maintenance.. again.. whut's that? I did have a marine potty, but usually used facilities at the state parks we camped at.

There was also no internet, cell phones came in big bags and we didn't have TV or radio inside if it rained. We played cards. We were outside most of the time too. Been a tiny trailer person since I can remember. Why stay inside when there's so much to see outside!

I agree @ericnliz too on wheelbase.... The only difference between the 2015 & 2016 Sorento v6 awd is about 3" of wheelbase. I didn't finish my thought here...So, I'm editing it now. The differences are, the 2015 Sorento AWD V6 has Tow capacity of 3500 lbs and a tongue weight of 350 lbs, while the 2016 Sorento AWD with ever so slightly longer wheel base has 5000 lbs tow capacity and 500 lbs tongue weight. No one on the Kia forum has any plausible explanation and it's frustrating to many of the Kia owners who would like to tow more.

We removed our tire from the rack and it all but stopped the swaying. 

I have to agree. Love the look but it's not practical unless your 6'4" you can't get the tire down or back up without a ladder.

Ok, I have just gone trough the entire tread.

from experience.  Tow vehicule wheel base does not have much to do with how a trailer will tow or behave.  It will only affect the stability of the TV.  No matter how big the TV and how long, trailer can still sway like crazy.  Btw, I have tow trailers for more than 30 year with short and long wheel base vehicule.  Think a Renauld five, short and light weight, ford E-150 (same trailer about the lenght of the renaud five) and never had fish tailling but when load was to much to the back of the trailer.  Last 20 year were towed with a 2 door jeep wrangler.  Same thing, when for any reason I would not be able to center the load toward the front of the trailer, sway would happen with a gust of wind, or just from speed.

By practicality, a TV wants the hitch weight to be as light as possible.  But, the trailer needs to have enought weight to bring the CG toward the front (numbers say 10-15%) i always guesstimate that but should weigh it from time to time.  And anything you move from front to back, let say a spare tire, you would not simply remove 40 lbs from the front, you would then add 40 lbs to the back.  It is a difference of 80 lbs in the venter of gravity.

An other thing that will affect the CG while driving that will increase with the speed or the shape of the tow vehicule is....wind drag.  The T@B are short and high.  Take a sheet of ply wood, hold it in the wind in front of your waist, you will be push, but should remain stable.  Bring that board above your head in the same light wind, you will fight like crazy to stay in the same spot and not fall on your butt.  So had anything the can drag in the wind and pish the cg back ward, all the weight that you have added to the front could be neutralizez by the wind drag that even just the outback rack with tire could create.

i have never used a sway bar on any trailer I have towed to controle sway and fishtailing, I have never used load bearing bars (forgot the name sorry) but I could in certain situation, but I like the flexibility and I prefer to slow down, but I do not drag super heavy stuff or extar long heavy trailers.

So again, it is not a matter of TV or trailer, but simply a way of how load is center in trailer.
btw, I do beleive that trailer brake will reduce the effect in case of fishtailing if apllied by them self while releasing the trottle on the TV.  The braking action will move the CG toward the front of the trailer, bringing stability back in the systems.  Then, stop as soon as you can and redistribute wieght in trailer.  If no trailer brakes, just eas up on trottle.



hope this help. And with a trailer, speed should be lowerd.

Tabfortwo said:

I've  also been towing trailers and driving big rigs for the past 30+ years. And I'm sorry but the trailer should be engineered to tow at freeway speeds. That being said I drive about 10mph under the speed limit and with the trailer new from the dealer with nothing added tire on back and completly level this thing is all over the place. I removed the tire and the little plastic thing on the bottom of the rack sway almost completely stops.  I'm sorry but this seems to be an engineering nightmare. And I can't get nu camp to return a call so far no impressed.

I'm not saying that they are not built for highway speed and it is because of that you should slow down, I'm saying that you should slow down because you tow a trailer.  Reaction to fast manouver with load is not the same. You are a truck driver, then you more than anybody esle should know about that. And you aslo know that the way you load is organized will after drivability and possibility of quick manouvrebility. You must have pulled an empty box trailer over a bridge with a strong side wind.  Were you keeping highway speed or slowing down so you would not flip on your side.  And why do so many state and province ask vehicules with trailers to go slower than simple cars and trucks?  On an other forum, guys were all cranky about the fact that the bigger the TV, the better for stability.  Example given, a guy ad lost every thing in an accident while pulling is toy holler cause he had caught a draught from a semi.  The trailer was like 40 foot triple axle with a truck or heavy buggy in the rear garage.  They finaly said that he was probably doing 80 mph when it happen. Not sure that his load was well center.

my trailer and even now my T@G are stable enough to be towed at 100 miles per hours.  I have tried it with my trailer before and the t@g is just as stable and even as brakes.  But I was dumb doing it.

as far as you t@b outback, it is a short and high trailer with a high center of gravity.  So it will affect the stability if load is not well balance.  It is not made to be driven empty but loaded for traveling and camping. Yep, they should probably not install the wheel back there for the initial drive home, but it is the cool factor that the dealer wants to show you.

the dealer were I took my t@g was not even aware that you had to start the fan behind the AC to evacuate the heat.  I have learn that here.  they do not even know what is the axle capacity on the trailer.  So dealer are not always the smartest either.

for the rest, I have seing many semi in the ditch, I work as a paramedic, and in some area of my territory, only semi gets in the ditch, so don't tell me that they can go at the same speed as regular car and truck in every situation.  They have to slow down where others do not have to.

Use the 10-15% rule, and drive at a sensible speed for towing, and you'll be fine. 

I totally agree with Mike. I have now towed my Outback somewhere around 6000 miles, and although I do not recommend it to others, much of it has been at 70 mph+. No sway and no problems and my spare is still on the rear rack. If there was a design flaw, I would have been in the ditch long ago. The whole problem starts with improper weight distribution. Once you get that sorted out, assuming you are using an adequate TV, if you are still having stability problems, you may have a faulty or damaged component ( bent axle or rim etc.). Do I feel a "push" when I pass a tractor trailer or get sandwiched between 2 tractor trailers on a 3 lane interstate? Yes I do, but actually less than other trailers I have owned or towed. I have never considered the Outback dangerous in any way. 

Tabfortwo said:

Do me a favor and get a measurement from the ground to the bottom of the rack and to the tire also. Mine is almost 11" lower than the one at the dealer 

Are you referring to rack itself being 11ins. lower? Stand by going out to measure for you.

From the ground to the middle of the bottom cross bar is 58 inches. The bottom of the tire sits at 65 inches. I am not hooked up to my TV so these are approximate but should be pretty close. Also no perfectly level but close. My rack is at the bottom of the side channels, as low as it can go. Hope this helps.

If I thought the Outback Rack was dangerous, I would not have a repair order in to add the Outback Rack at üCamp17. My spare is already under the rear end, so there should be no difference moving the spare to the rack...except I won't be scraping the spare on the "Dry washes" that aren't dry with all this rain we've had. The Outback models are so popular that nüCamp now offers a T@G Outback, although the spare tire is not on a roof rack.

If nüCamp thought there was a problem with this popular model, they certainly wouldn't be creating yet another model of it. 

Bill_Cochrane, I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but maybe tow the outback with the nose slightly down?