The Starfires are cheap E36 M3, so I'd plan to ditch them for real tires ASAP no matter what. They're likely pretty mushy and contributing to the issues.
The Starfires are cheap E36 M3, so I'd plan to ditch them for real tires ASAP no matter what. They're likely pretty mushy and contributing to the issues.
I'm not trying to be the guy that argues with the crowd here, but all of my towing is done on P235/75-R15 tires, on factory 15x7.5" wheels (on the truck; the trailer has ST205 radials). That could also be why my setup likes its tongue weight so much. I should *really* get P235/75-R15XL tires, like the tire label says. :)
(Edited for clarity.)
I would not use P-metric (passenger car) tires on a trailer the size of a car hauler. The usual discussion is the relative merits of using LT (truck tires) and ST (trailer tires).
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=219
Hmm...one thing at a time. I'll play around with tongue weight and look into a WDH if I still don't feel great behind the wheel. I really do want to make the trailer mine before I install a WDH, or else it looks like an annoying amount of set up getting the clamps on/off every time. Tires will come last, once the Starfires wear out. 
Only the chain brackets mount to the trailer. The rest is all part of the ball/hitch assembly on the truck.
The chain brackets are one bolt each. If it takes you more than five min to install or remove both of them you're doing it wrong. For what my opinion is worth, a WDH is totally worth the few hundred dollar investment.
TGMF said:Only the chain brackets mount to the trailer. The rest is all part of the ball/hitch assembly on the truck.
The chain brackets are one bolt each. If it takes you more than five min to install or remove both of them you're doing it wrong. For what my opinion is worth, a WDH is totally worth the few hundred dollar investment.
The Blue Ox one mentioned torquing the bolts and using red LocTite. I'm guessing real life install is really only 5-minutes using some other brand ones?
I'm unfamiliar with the blue ox setup. I use something similar to this.
https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Curt/C17062.html
It has the flip up chain hooks. The bracket rests on top of the trailer frame, the load is a downward force. The single mounting bolt mearly keeps it in place. When loaded, the bracket would likely stay in place without the bolt installed at all.
In all cases you'll need to know your approximate tongue weight as there are multiple load bars available rated by tongue weight.
10-15% of total trailer weight is a good guess for TW, though measuring it is more ideal. A RV store would have a scale to measure that.
I run 750lb bars on my 23ft travel trailer that weighs a bit under 5000lbs with a '12 Nissan Xterra. It's a much much shorter wheel base than your rig. This setup I covered 2k miles in one trip tthrough the Appalachian mountains. It was driveable and felt safe enough, but not great. Without the WD it would have been unmanageable, riding on the bump stops.
Effectiveness of the bars is adjustable by using different links in the chain. YouTube "how to setup a weight distribution hitch" and it will make more sense as well as showing ease of use tips.
I thought all SUV's and trucks 1/2ton and above required E load tires.
yupididit said:I thought all SUV's and trucks 1/2ton and above required E load tires.
For frequent towing it's not a bad idea, but usually anything 1/2 ton or smaller comes on P tires (with the requisite 10% load rating de-rate for use on a truck). 3/4 ton and up will typically come with load range E LTs.
That 4L60E scares me more than anything else in the equation.
Buy the biggest cooler they make, don't tow in overdrive, and start saving. I foresee an automotive outlay in the neighborhood of $2000 approaching soon...
So many misconceptions and potential disasters in towing! Yikes. Vehicles, trailers and tires are weight rated for a reason. I think it is called engineering. I sell commercial vehicles for a living so get to play this game fairly often. Yes, your yugo will pull the D9. No it will absolutely not stop it. Yes, your 12" yugo tires will hold air while the d9 is loaded on the trailer. And yes they will blow into shreds when you get to 90 mph going downhill. And yes, the trailer with D9 and blown tire(s) will pass you as you go down the mountain at 90 mph. Does the tongue weight exceed 10%? Do you have trailer brakes, set correctly? Working lights? safety chains? Vehicles strapped down correctly? Checked it EVERY stop? Checked the bolts that hold the platform hitch to the chassis lately? 4500 lb vehicle pulling a 9,000 lb trailer at speed = impending phsyics lesson unless done properly.
In reply to rslifkin :
Oh okay. I dont think I'd be comfortable towing a car + trailer on P tires.
But, thats me.
Well, I've towed with this setup 5 times in the past year (bought the Tahoe in May) and I'm still alive. Most tows have been 2+ hours.
I have a good radiator and trans cooler on it right now. Won't go over 185*F on the trans and 198*F on the coolant side. It's an aftermarket radiator I've been testing out. The 4L60 still has 193k on it, so it may not be long for this world.
I'm still looking at pickups. But since I got the Tahoe for a song, I don't want to switch unless I find the truck for a song.
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