Drilling holes in aluminum frame for sway bar?

[holdnon72]

Looking into buying quicksilver vrv 6x15
Rv dealer says sway bar a must?
But what about the holes getting bigger diameter over time in the soft aluminum?

The dealer says dont worry,we use stainless steel sleeves then the bolt.

Does this sound ok before I let them do it?

Thanks for any info

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Unless you're towing with a 3/4 or 1 ton PU you will also want a WDH. Consider a combo WDH/Sway control such as Fastway E2 or Equalizer. They just clamp on, no drilled holes. SS inserts are interesting, but they still weaken the frame members. [/font][font size="3"]You should avoid drilling the aluminum frame.[/font]

[tinkeringtechie]

Use one of the clamp on mounts instead. It's just as strong, but can be installed/adjusted/removed without modifying the frame.

[pinstriper]

1. They should be able to use u-bolts instead of drilling. In any case I would be more worried about galvanic reaction due to dissimilar metals than the holes per se.

2. Your box dimensions and OAL are within 3" of my 14DBS. Your dry weight is about 400# more, however. Sooo....meh.

3. I don't need or use a sway bar.

4. It really depends more on the tow vehicle, than the trailer in this case. Are you pulling with a mid-sized SUV ? A 1/2 truck ?

[fasteddieb]

I got away with no drilling on our 21BHS by using an EZLift WD hitch with "saddles" and a clamp-on Husky sway control:







About 9,000 miles towing with our Ford Flex EcoBoost and so far so good!

[holdnon72]

I will be towing the 6x15 quicksilver with my 2005 toyota tacoma pre-runner 2wd with factory tow pkg. oil and trans cooler My tacoma can tow 6,500 gross

Another dealer today said you will not need anything with this set up. he said hook up and go...I just don't want to buy something that is tuff to tow

Thanks for any more info

[pinstriper]

I don't think you need WD or sway. But try it without, and if the tow isn't comfortable, you can always add either or both.

[peislander]

[quote source="/post/19714/thread" timestamp="1458453931" author="@pinstriper"]I don't think you need WD or sway. But try it without, and if the tow isn't comfortable, you can always add either or both.
[/quote]I agree with the pinstriper.

Below is a pic of my >> [a href="http://www.equalizerhitch.com/index.php"]Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution / Anti-Sway hitch.[/a] << It did not require any holes in the Camplite frame. I had bought the Equal-i-zer prior to taking delivery of the trailer. I installed it in the parking lot of the Camplite factory and have always used it when I tow. With hindsight I probably should have done what the pinstriper says and just waited to see if it was necessary. It's now a few years later and I still don't know if it's necessary. Some might say it can't hurt; but, if it isn't necessary it is an awful lot of unnecessary weight. In my case it might well be necessary because I tow in what are often very gusty winds (we live on an island in the Atlantic). I've never had any problem with sway with my trailer. (I do remember as a child going camping with my friends family & their popup camper. The sway on that setup was so bad the father almost lost control several times. I remember looking out the back window (no seatbelts in those days) and watching the trailer swinging around like a happy dog's wagging tail. We could have died that day.)

Please note if you do decide to get a weight distribution / anti-sway solution it is likely you can install it yourself. I'd suggest there is no need to pay a dealer to install. That said, know that to do it properly you will need a suitable torque wrench as you'll need the nuts to be properly tightened. Here's another tip regarding tightening: For a hitch ball to be tightened properly (to manufacturers requirements) you can't really do it right with normal hand tools. I'd suggest taking it to a heavy equipment repair shop and ask them to torque it on. I took my ball and drawbar to our local CAT equipment dealer. They happily did it for free as it took them about a minute. Doing this right is a matter of safety. Unfortunately the vast majority of trailer balls on the road are likely not installed to manufacturer's requirements. In the United States it is reported that over 15,000 lives have been lost to towing-related accidents since 1975 with many-many more injured. Of course there are lots of reasons for those accidents but no doubt some were related to improperly installed hitch balls. Let there be safe towing for us all. 



[img style="" style="max-width:100%;" src="http://s12.postimg.org/xgti77jul/coupler.jpg"]

[drdave]

[quote timestamp="1458453931" source="/post/19714/thread" author="@pinstriper"]I don't think you need WD or sway. But try it without, and if the tow isn't comfortable, you can always add either or both.
[/quote]X2      Try it first before spending the money.    With the short length and 2 axles you are likely OK     It will likely be a ride/comfort decision rather than a full on safety decision.   Depending on your vehicle consider swapping to timbren bumpstops.   On my old nissan frontier/CL16DB combo it made day/night difference and I wound up forgetting about getting weight distribution.

www.timbren.com  

[charliem]

[font size="3"]I reexamined the specs on your 6x15. It's similar in weight/size to the CL14DBS. With that in mind and my personal experience with two campers and two tow vehicles, including the present 2013 Tacoma, I agree with Pinstriper, PEIslander, and tlbones       ! From a safety prospective you will be OK without WDH and sway control. However, my experience says you will eventually want to add these functions for comfort and fatigue reduction. Minimal weight distribution (WDH) greatly reduces the porpoising or bounce experienced on dips and bumps. It also corrects headlight aiming. Adding sway control will reduce the impact of passing 18 wheelers. So try without, but consider it for the future.
[/font]

[holdnon72]

thanks so much everyone! I will try it without first...I have the order sheet now...

Looks like im going with power awning with led lights,low profile penguin a/c 1350btu and power and power tongue jack

I want to get the extra overhead aluminum cabinets for $350 but im thinking they will be in the way while loading the harley sportster

it states they can be front mounted or side mounted. would front mounted mean over the stove and sink?

thanks for any info...

[pinstriper]

Ooooh, power awning ! Yessss!

Power jack, meh. There will be a day when your battery is really low and you need to hook up. Turning the crank ain't so bad, and the power jack won't be any (or much at least) faster.

[admin]

true...but at least with a power jack you can get right into camp mode by unhooking one handed (with a can in the other)

[daplumbr]

A couple quick thoughts.....


Power jacks have a 19mm hex head bolt under little rubber cap on top that can be turned with the same lug wrench you carry for the trailer wheels. (You do have a lug wrench for the wheels, right?) That can be used to raise/lower the tongue if you lose 12VDC power, just like on a manual jack.

Manual awnings are very easy to operate and have fewer things to fail. Do they have a fail-safe system for retracting if you lose power?

Does the addition of the Harley in the toy hauler change the hitch weight. If it significantly lightens the hitch, that may make and argument for sway control. The Andersen WDH does not require drilling of the frame.

Although it may be possible to safely drill the frame in that area of greatest stress, I'm not a fan of doing that and I'm especially not a fan of having a dealer do that unless you know they are competent. A stainless sleeve would just require a larger hole to begin with, so I'm not sure that's a very good solution. 

[pinstriper]

A couple quick thoughts.....


Power jacks have a 19mm hex head bolt under little rubber cap on top that can be turned with the same lug wrench you carry for the trailer wheels. (You do have a lug wrench for the wheels, right?) That can be used to raise/lower the tongue if you lose 12VDC power, just like on a manual jack.

Manual awnings are very easy to operate and have fewer things to fail. Do they have a fail-safe system for retracting if you lose power?

Does the addition of the Harley in the toy hauler change the hitch weight. If it significantly lightens the hitch, that may make and argument for sway control. The Andersen WDH does not require drilling of the frame.

Although it may be possible to safely drill the frame in that area of greatest stress, I'm not a fan of doing that and I'm especially not a fan of having a dealer do that unless you know they are competent. A stainless sleeve would just require a larger hole to begin with, so I'm not sure that's a very good solution. 

Point taken about the power jack manual override. I mean, it had to have something.

For the awning, I'm also sure you can somehow retract it, but in any case, power awnings I've seen don't require the lower strut to constantly face plant your...face...on. So worth the risk IMO.

I'm quite sure that hauling something in the toy hauler can have dramatic impact on the tongue weight as well as the total trailer weight. So very possibly with a load you'll want something.

Still, no drilling required.