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Old 11-12-2019, 12:40 PM   #161
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Location: Piermont, New Hampshire
Trailer: 2019 17B; 2011 Tundra 5.7L Dbl cab
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chutoy View Post
Have you picked up your 17B yet? Did you go with or without the WDH?
Reporing in, after 3370 miles of towing with WDH - very pleased with it! Had clear, dry roads throughout, so didn't have to test extremes in that regard. However, just for the joy of the added stability - it was great.

I'm used to pulling tandem axle horse trailer, without WDH. It was very steady and stable, with just straight-up ball.

However - something I hadn't considered - the 17B's single axle behaves as do all single axles - more (shall I say) "responsive" to variations in road pitch/slant etc.

WDH smoothed those things out nicely. Traveled at 60-70 MPH on much of the Interstate-80 drive, never felt insecure about how things were riding.

Not sure about turning radius, especially backing - and still am learning how to park such that the WDH can be applied/removed without a hassle.

Glad of the electric jack, for sure - especially after learning it comes with manual override
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:21 PM   #162
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mimie View Post
I'm used to pulling tandem axle horse trailer, without WDH. It was very steady and stable, with just straight-up ball.

However - something I hadn't considered - the 17B's single axle behaves as do all single axles - more (shall I say) "responsive" to variations in road pitch/slant etc.
Tandem axles improve sway stability, because in any turn (including sway) the two sets of tires fight each other. I've found the opposite in pitch (nose up&down): tandem-axle trailers hit every bump on the road once with the leading axle (jerking the tongue up) then with the trailing axle (jerking the tongue down), so the tandems "buck" over bumps more; single-axle trailers just bump once with little pitch effect.
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Old 11-12-2019, 05:15 PM   #163
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
Tandem axles improve sway stability, because in any turn (including sway) the two sets of tires fight each other. I've found the opposite in pitch (nose up&down): tandem-axle trailers hit every bump on the road once with the leading axle (jerking the tongue up) then with the trailing axle (jerking the tongue down), so the tandems "buck" over bumps more; single-axle trailers just bump once with little pitch effect.
Good points, all around.

I mostly noticed that the 17B feels, oddly, more like my little utility and boat trailers (ie, single axle) than like the horse trailer, despite the weights of the horse trailer and Escape being much more similar

Bottom line, I am very glad I have the WDH - may only use it for longer trips, but it wasn't such a hassle to hook up and unhook, so may just get in the habit of using it all the time. Such a stable pull!
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Old 04-02-2020, 05:54 PM   #164
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Location: Forest City, North Carolina
Trailer: 2018 Escape 19
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We have always used a WDH, first with our Casita 17, and now with our Escape 19. One main reason. Our tow vehicle is an SUV, not a pickup truck. When I put 400# on the hitch, the rear end sags and the front end rises. As substantial as the Tahoe is for an SUV, it is just not made to manage that much weight behind the axle. Our Tahoe does not have any sort of automatic load leveling that was an option on some models and standard on others.

With the WDH, the towing is rock solid and both the tow vehicle and trailer tow level. No sway at all. In fact, the tow vehicle and trailer feel more like a single unit than two separate ones.

The lack of sway is probably as much attributable to the 400+# tongue weight of the Casita or the approximate, estimated nearly 400# tongue weight of the Escape19 (ours has the front cargo box, and it's full of gear) as it is to the WDH. With our current setup, we simply need the WDH to tow level.
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Old 04-02-2020, 06:57 PM   #165
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Am surprised the Tahoe sags; what year is it? Our previous tow was a 2013 Yukon SLT-essentially the same and the rear hardly sagged. We used a WDH only on longer drives or with wind. The Expedition we now have is much more comfortable with independent rear suspension, yet the rear end is softer and we almost always use the WDH now.
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Old 04-02-2020, 09:12 PM   #166
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a Tahoe should be pretty easy to add airbags to, so you can beef up the back when you have a heavy rear axle load.
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Old 04-03-2020, 02:05 PM   #167
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Tahoe is 2002, 2WD. I have looked into supplemental support for the rear axle. Could also be that the rear coil springs are tired. Coming up on 240k miles on odometer. The WDH cares for the sag in the meantime. The truck rides level without a load.
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