John/Skip -- I think I share Skip's skepticism. The physics of the
situation suggests to me that the weight on the 5th wheel should be a
significant amount to give the rear wheels of the tow vehicle extra sidewise
traction to resist the sideways component of trailer deceleration forces
whenever slowing down. With no 5th wheel experience I personally have no
good idea of how much down force at the 5th wheel is enough. But it strikes
me that in the case of an 18 wheeler truck that 5th wheel down force could
be close to half the weight of the trailer. And still the truckers have
jackknife accidents. So it seems that the loading of a 5th wheel trailer
ought to be as much as the tow vehicle can safely handle considering all
aspects of the tow vehicle's operational characteristics.
Ed Weldon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Skip Higginbotham" <saltrat@pahrump.com>
To: "John Burk" <joyseydevil@comcast.net>; "LandSpeed List"
<Land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Land-speed] Towing a Race car
> UhhHUH, really?..................
>
> Skip
> At 11:33 AM 6/2/2009, John Burk wrote:
> >5th wheel trailers work fine with zero tongue weight .
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