Air bag helper springs on truck

[javajoe79]

 Not sure how much Cali enforces that 55mph law for trailers. I have seen the signs all over the state towing my car and 4 wheelers when I lived there but I never got pulled over and I usually run with traffic.... 85mph on I-5

[Glen]

In Southern Calif you are lucky to get to 55 with the traffic. I usually tow the posted speed and it's a lot safer out there. On the open road I run 65 mph and thats enough, not in a hurry anyway.
 

[thundersalt]

I've recieved a few of those tickets. Last one was coming down a steep grade east of Placerville on hiwy 50 doing 63. CHP was a dick. I tried to fight it do to a grade being involved but the judge said even though he agreed with me I was still breaking the law.

[jl222]

  We were on the way to Bville on 99 towing the race trailer in the diamond lane [ 2 people our more ] doesn't
say no trailers] but found out later not cool

           JL222

[McRat]

What sucks is nearly all states are different.  I've towed from California to Florida to Washington to Missouri, and everywhere in between. 

California is one of the worse states, as in the most dangerous to drive in.  With 1/2 the vehicles going 70 in the left and the other 1/2 going 55mph in the right lane, getting on and off the freeway is always riskier than necessary.  They stopped maintaining the roads long ago, so the right lane is usually Pothole City.  You can tell when you cross into Calif with your eyes closed by your teeth chatter.

[Glen]

Pat, you are so right on the crappy roads in Calif.

[manifest]

I ended up buying a PRO series 14K weight dist. hitch setup this weekend.  Rated for 1,200# tongue weight.  Anyone have any objections to welding the mounts onto the trailer insead of drilling through the box tubing and relying on that alone?  Also, at what point is it a good idea to take them off, tight turns and such?

Zach

[thundersalt]

If your talking about the sadles, I would not weld them. If your talking about the sway control ball on the trailer, we weld them all the time.
I have used WD systems for years on several types of trailers and have only popped one bar off once but I was in an almost 90 degree jack knife position backing up. As long as the bars are not pulled up to tight you should have plenty of chain movement to accommodate turning under normal driving conditions.

[McRat]

I just bolt them on.  The load is downward so a saddle bracket of sufficient thk is fine.  The bolt is just to keep it from moving fore and aft.

Go full lock circle in a parking lot with a spotter.  If you can't do that without contact, then you need a different setup.  I like to have to have 90° clearance available to backup, but anything over 75° is probably useless.  The trailer will not go backwards at 90, or perhaps even 80.  But 90 allows you to put the trailer square in a slot easier.  Just get the tires in the slot, and jacknife it.

[38Chevy454]

I agree the weight distributing hitch is really the best solution along with proper loaded trailer and tongue weights.  I have a 92 Chevy ex cab C3500 that is lowered.  The typical 5 inches front dropped spindles and shorter springs and 7 inches at rear with rearend flipped on top of the leafs.  It also has frame c-notch for extra axle suspension clearance.  When I tow a trailer, it sinks the rear enough that big bumps it bottomed out.  I put the supplemental load airbags and it brings the rear up to normal height and prevents the bottoming out.  I am happy with my bag set up, makes towing a much better experience.  Weight distributing hitch is not an option for me, would hang too low.