New Member with 16TBS

[popup2012]

I just bought a new 16 TBS from a dealer in NC.  It has  twin axles not the new single axle. It also has the old type of cabinets with the pull lock.  I was going to order a new one in March till I found out about the changes. I will have to pull it home in the next week or so to its new home in Austin,TX (got to check the weather first).

[ammobob]

Congrats on the new camper and welcome. Glad you found one of the few remaining models with 2 axles. We owner a 2013 16 DB and loved it but out grew it quickly. Would still own it if they had offered a slide back then. Anyway happy camping!

[daplumbr]

Welcome! Good decision. I look forward to the trip home story (which I hope is really boring). 

[christianm]

Welcome to the family! I'm here on behalf of the Livin Lite factory, so if you need anything, just let me know! 

[popup2012]

Well it was anything but boring.  The trailer had a 2 and 5/16 class 4 hitch.  This caused me to lose a day and a half locating and getting new hitch with sway control.  The different hitch that I got did not work very well and the trip home was a white nuckler.

[daplumbr]

Well, that's a bummer. But very interesting they are putting such a heavy duty hitch on the 16. White-knuckling from NC to TX must have been pretty low on your list of fun things to do. When you recover, post the details of hitch and sway control in the towing section of the forum so others can learn and keep their knuckles normal color. 

[pinstriper]

[quote source="/post/17628/thread" timestamp="1452466462" author="@popup2012"]Well it was anything but boring.  The trailer had a 2 and 5/16 class 4 hitch.  This caused me to lose a day and a half locating and getting new hitch with sway control.  The different hitch that I got did not work very well and the trip home was a white nuckler.
[/quote]I'd love to hear more about what didn't work well, what made your knuckles white.

I don't even know that you should need sway control for a comfortable tow. So some more details would be very interesting.

[david]

[p]I too am surprised that towing a twin axle 16TBS with a Tacoma with a WDH was a white knuckle experience. The only thing I can think of is that the tongue weight was very light. Mine was 240 lbs as delivered, but towable with a 2013 Pathfinder and no sway control. Even better now that tongue weight is about 300 lbs.[/p][p]
[/p][p]If this is your problem then increase tongue weight by:

Move stuff to the pass through compartment.
Add another battery.
Add a second LPG tank

David[/p]

[charliem]

[font size="3"]There is another explanation, depending on who and how the WDH was installed. An improperly installed and/or adjusted WDH can be a very disturbing and dangerous ride. I know from experience. My first RV dealer installed a WDH for my first camper back when I knew even less than I know now. Upside down, loose, and improperly set! Could have been disaster. Read and understand the book and check it yourself!
[/font]

[popup2012]

Here is a short story:
Pick up the Trailer and it went all over the road( no WDH).
Went back to dealer and parked it. Called Andersen and they said get a 3350.
Found one 2 hours away. Picked it up and went back to dealer to have it installed.
Dealer had never seen one but installed it ($$).  The trailer was level according to his Iphone. Did not check truck.
Took off and it was still swaying but not jumping. Drove 3 hours to a Andersen dealer who reset the hitch (in the rain and did not charge me for 30 minutes work). Yea for Sonnys RV in NC.  He could not get the truck and trailer level but did the best he could. He said the hitch needed to be lower but setting it at the bottom and middle holes would be too much. It was OK but still had sway and the headlights lit up the road signs a half a mile away. I added 150 lbs of gravel in the front compartment in hopes it would level out the Trailer but no luck. Made it home but was very stressful.
This is not the first time I have driven trucks with trailers. In the military I have driven 5 ton trucks with trailers (20 KW gen) quite a lot. Also old jeeps with trailers which have a nasty habit of flipping with no notice.

[david]

Something is/was very wrong with your rig. I would first check the tongue weight with nothing in it. Put a couple of boards over a bathroom scale- they will usually go up to 300 lbs, and jack the tongue up on it. Mine was 240 lbs as delivered.

But if your lights were pointed skyward, then it sounds like too much not too little tongue weight. With lots of tongue weight, say 400 lbs to point your headlights up, the trailer should not sway while towing with a Tacoma.

So I am flummoxed at your towing sway problem. But check the actual tongue weight and let's go from there.

David

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/17672/thread" author="@david" timestamp="1452552073"]Something is/was very wrong with your rig. I would first check the tongue weight with nothing in it. Put a couple of boards over a bathroom scale- they will usually go up to 300 lbs, and jack the tongue up on it. Mine was 240 lbs as delivered.

But if your lights were pointed skyward, then it sounds like too much not too little tongue weight. With lots of tongue weight, say 400 lbs to point your headlights up, the trailer should not sway while towing with a Tacoma.

So I am flummoxed at your towing sway problem. But check the actual tongue weight and let's go from there.

David[/quote][font size="3"]I must agree with David: something is very wrong. Let me add a few points. The Tacoma is a capable TV, but it will benefit from some weight redistribution. The Anderson is probably not the best choice for WDHs. According to other owners it is good in controlling sway, but does little for weight distribution. That's just the geometry and physics of it. As such it's more suited for full sized pickups.

The trailer is leveled by adjusting the height of the ball, not by the WDH mechanism. The WDH benefits the TV, not the TT. The rear of the TV will and should sag somewhat. The WDH is adjusted to get the TV front wheels back on the ground. It will correct some, but not all, rear sag. BTW, that's why unloaded pickups appear to sit nose down. Some sag is anticipated. If the front wheels are too light due to excessive uncorrected tongue weight steering will be iffy at best and dangerous at worst.
[/font]

[pinstriper]

Yeah this doesn't smell right. A CL16XXX doesn't weigh enough that you should need WDH. In fact it doesn't weigh enough for a WDH to actually start working.

Maaaaaaybe a sway bar...nah. A newish Taco should handle this without breaking a sweat.

What did you have in the truck bed ? Any aftermarket suspension mods ? Lifted, lowered, etc. ?

Something else is going on, here.

[popup2012]

The tongue weight in the 16 TBS was 270, not the advertised 380.  In the next few days I think I will drop the ball on the hitch to the bottom and middle holes.  It is now on the 2 and 4 holes.

[daplumbr]

How many miles on the Taco? Any chance the shocks are iffy? For sure try the other holes on the hitch. If things aren't very close to level, there is not much chance of controlling sway and steering/handling will be awful. I assume the WDH is installed correctly since an Andersen dealer looked at it. However, take a look at the installation instructions and make a few measurements to confirm for yourself that the brackets are located correctly, installed the right direction, and that the chain length is adequate. If you have the double propane tanks on your 16, the Andersen WDH will need some chain links added to be installed correctly behind the tanks (mine did). That first dealer may not have taken the time to do that and installed the brackets too close to the hitch. You'll see what I mean if you take a look at the installation instructions. Need photos?