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Thread: Imagine 2400BH
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02-05-2023, 08:27 PM #1
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Imagine 2400BH
Hello GD owners,
I purchased a 2022 Imagine 2400BH in July 2022 after our 2007 Flagstaff high wall pop-up camper blew 3 tires on our way home from a trip to Washington DC in mid June 2022. We live in Michigan. The damage from the outside and inside was practically invisible to the casual observer but the underbelly, interior cabinet and fridge repair cost was estimated to be an eye popping $8500+ which totaled it from the insurance perspective. I settled with the insurance company and was able to keep the pop-up because I knew I could repair it myself for a fraction of the price quoted. Meantime we had a family camping trip already planned and now without a functioning camper we decided to buy the 2400BH TT. I also bought the Hensley PP because I had experienced sway before with a different tow vehicle and was planning on some long trips and didn’t want to risk my family’s safety. I’m towing the TT with a 2021 RAM 1500 that has the 3.92 rear axle gear ratio. I already have some mods planned and look forward to scouring through everyone’s post looking for nuggets of advice.
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02-06-2023, 04:10 AM #2
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Sway is eliminated by proper loading
The 2400bh is a trailer that can be loaded easily to eliminate all chance of sway
I can drive with one finger on the wheel with my 2400
Good luck and welcome2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 Crew 1840lb payload
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02-06-2023, 06:27 AM #3
My tongue weight is at 740#, so it can be a little on the light side. Some water in the freshwater tank will help with that.
Have fun and enjoy the rig. We love our GD.2021 Grand Design Imagine 2400
2019 F150 XLT 4x4, 3.5 EcoBoost
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02-06-2023, 06:57 AM #4
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02-06-2023, 09:06 AM #5
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Hello @NB Canada and thank you for the welcome. I look forward to reading and learning from others.
I agree proper loading is a key factor in reducing sway and eliminating it in most situation. But to say sway is impossible or eliminated with a "properly loaded" trailer with a tongue weight of 10-15% of trailer weight is to discount the multi-faceted nature and physics that produce the drawbacks of having a pivot point behind the rear axle. Hence the reason fifth wheels pull so nicely. Why does just about every weight distribution hitch have features designed into them beyond just weight distribution to discourage sway if the solution is simply to properly load the trailer? I suppose some would answer that manufacturers do it because of demand and the frequent difficulty of persons properly loading their trailers. That maybe true in many cases but perhaps it's also because there are just inherit drawbacks to the tow behind method. Moving the pivot point to between the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle is the only way to truly remove sway from the tow vehicle. You might get pushed or pulled from side to side when experience a significant side pressure or vacuum but the tow vehicle will remain straight when the pivot point is in front of the rear axle. I myself was not inclined to go the fifth wheel route for reasons like height and the use of the bed of the truck would now be pretty much dedicated to the fifth wheel.
The other solution I often see others say is that they proclaim the tow vehicle is undersized and you need to go to a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. Well, hereto I concede there are many circumstances where that is true but I'm also sure we can agree that recommendation maybe overkill for a problem that can be rectified by other means and still operate within the tow and payload limits of the tow vehicle. The principle of adding tongue weight doesn't eliminate the resonate forces from acting on the trailer trying to get two vehicles to oscillate or sway. It's simply adding more weight to the rear axle of the tow vehicle (a little more to the front axle if using weight distribution) creating more friction between the tow vehicle tires and road which in turn makes it more difficult for those resonate forces to have the disastrous effect we are trying to avoid. But I hope we can all agree there is a limit on the tow vehicle as to how much tongue weight it can reasonably handle before we start running into other issues like GAWR or just unnecessary burden on tow vehicle suspension. In addition, the faster you are traveling, the ability of that tongue weight to provide frictional resistance of sided to side motion (sway) decreases and the chances that you'll encounter a oscillating force where it easily overcomes that friction even with a "properly loaded" trailer increases. And now you have two pivot points ... the front axel and the ball hitch. So the take away best practices are 1) you need to have a reasonable tongue weight 2) you need to have weight distribution for anything over X lbs [I've heard some say that is 5,000lbs] and 3) you need to keep your speed safe even if you have the engine to go faster (when towing I try to stay around 65mph on the highway and definitely no faster than 70mph, even downhill). Even when adhering to those 3 rules sway is not impossible just less likely. So I have hard time accepting the claim of sway is "eliminated", no it's just been statistically remediated in the circumstances you have encountered thus far. Maybe that's just splitting hairs or overly wordy but I feel choice of words is important in this case.
I didn't spend the time to elaborate in this reply so as to contest your real life experience as it sounds you are very comfortable with your setup and choices and perhaps even very knowledgeable. But more so for others who might read and understand that those best practices will get you 85% of the way there in terms of safety but that last 15% can be very subjective with lots of variables that each driver has to take in account and for which they themselves are ultimately accountable for.
I also hope I didn't convey that I bought the ProPride 3P hitch to erroneously mask the necessity of following those 3 best practices to pull a trailer. I bought it because I feel it was the best choice I could make in terms of safety for me and my family without upgrading to a larger truck with a stiffer ride. Perhaps the 2400BH pulls great behind your vehicle and would pull fine behind mine with one of the many other weight distribution setups on the market. It simply just not a risk I wanted to take and I agree it was a pill to swallow in terms of the price but I didn't want to have any regrets over the hitch I chose if an accident where ever to occur due to sway. It's a personal decision we each have to make and when it comes to money, my pockets have limits like most but this is one I felt I should error on the side of caution and be more safe. I also don't discount others personal experiences especially if they feel comfortable with a less costly setup and have had no issues.
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02-06-2023, 09:16 AM #6
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I will always defend my statement that a properly loaded trailer cannot sway and won’t. Physics will not allow it
The Propride imo can “mask” an unsafe towing setup which imo is worse
My system imo is safer because I eliminated the risk of sway
Look at all the advertising that Hensley used in the beginning and it was always about undersized tow vehicles towing heavy loads
That is what it was geared towards2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 Crew 1840lb payload
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02-06-2023, 09:48 AM #7
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What WD hitch do you currently use?
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02-06-2023, 10:30 AM #8
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02-06-2023, 12:32 PM #9
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Hey @dmurdockrv, it looks like you're new here, welcome to the forum. Plenty of 'nuggets of advice' here as you've already seen. Let us know how we can help going forward. May you and your family have many happy times in the new coach.
Stephen and Judy
2022 Reflection 150 Series 260RD (Stella)
2017 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD (Blue)
Traded - 2018 Forest River Rockwood Minilite 2104S
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02-06-2023, 03:17 PM #10
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Husky's Center Line TS has sway control built in
Why have a WD hitch at all if you have the right tongue weight? Because we both know that tongue weight is not the only factor. If you have the Husky Center Line TS then in addition to the WD it also has sway resistance built in as advertised by Husky themselves which is supporting my point that sway is not simply eliminated by adding tongue weight. It most definitively is the most obvious first step one should check to alleviate it. But a WD hitch with some sort of anti-sway feature that creates resistance to side to side motion is key as you've demonstrated by using such a hitch yourself. And I have just chosen a different product that tackles that from a different point of physics which I feel meets my safety goals and makes sense to me. I'm glad that Husky's product has worked for you and I might very well have had no issues with it either but who really knows. Thank you for your input.
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