Hey ya'll... I'm back!

OK - here's the jest of my experience with the RAS. For those don’t know, I tow a 9k, 33 foot long TT, with a stock X and no rear anti-sway bar. I contemplated for some time about what to invest in - a HellWig or the RoadMaster Active Suspension. After reviewing everything and hearing from HellWig users that still had issues, I decided to try the RAS first. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only one that has towed with the RAS alone.

I installed the RAS about 2 weeks ago and could tell a definite difference in empty handling - the rear end tracked better with the front... in fact, the front now felt squishy in comparison.

For towing - last Sunday we left out for a 120 mile trip to a campground. My TT was loaded as usual. For this leg of the trip, there was only about 50 miles of interstate and the rest was all local hiways (45-55 mph) - some of it hilly and curvy. The X handled very well, but at this point was not really meeting my expectations. The majority of the previous years sway was retarded to close to nothing - rear bounce (front to back rocking) was nearly non-existent.

We arrived at the cg and had 4 fun days (well, not all of them, but that's an entirely different story).

2nd leg of our trip was, again, across country hiways - handling was the same as previously mention. This leg was only about 55 miles (45-55 mph).

We had a couple hour stop over at South of the Boarder on I95 - the kids had a blast!

3rd leg - when we left we hit some very hi and strong cross winds... for the first time I was white knuckling it! Of course, if you've ever been down this section of I95, you know it's rough to begin with... add in some (estimated 30+ mph) cross winds and it's really no fun! This leg was some 95 miles of nothing but interstate at 65-70 mph.

We arrived safely at our next cg and enjoyed our stay.

4th leg - we left on Sunday and traveled S I95 to W I26 (60-70 mph)... again, we had some very strong cross winds, at one point the interstate visibility was washed out by a dust cloud. Here I was again - white knuckling it! I couldn't figure it out... the a few ideas started popping in - tire pressure!

We stopped for gas and sure enough, I was 65 psi on the X and 55 psi on the trailer. So I aired up to 80 psi on the X and 65 psi on the trailer... back on the interstate, things were 'better', but still not where I thought they should be.

Next thought - the RAS raised the rear of the X just bit and with the added support was probably holding it better than before... maybe I needed to tweak the Equalizer? So we stopped for a pee break and I quickly raised the 'L' brackets to the next hole.

Back on the road, things are a whole lot better now... a big gust of wind still pushes (as expected), but I feel a lot more control and a lot less fighting back and forth. I can also see the rear of the TT swing in and out slightly, but never really feel it in the cab or in the steering. For the most part, I 'one handed' it the remainder of the trip. I think I have my fix!

Before the next trip I will spend the time and 'revisit' my hitch set up. I now believe that I didn't have enough weight on the steering axle and that is what was causing the increased handling issues at higher speeds - add to that, low tire pressure allowing the side wall to flex more.

Opinion - I think the RAS is a great complement to the X's soft rear suspension. It does provide additional support, and dampens sway and bounce. Since I still don't have a HellWig (or other anti-sway) and haven't driven/towed with a rear anti-sway - I really can't provide a comparison. But I believe the RAS is a good investment.

I also believe that proper tire pressure and hitch set up goes a long way. Before our next trip - I will revisit my hitch set up and take the time to 're-tweak it'.

 

Take a pic of the Equalizer setup with the truck connected to the TT.

What are your front and rear measurements on the TV (front and rear) before and after hitching?

I assume you have the 1200lb bars.

 

Mark,

The Equal-i-zer bars RELY on FRICTION and LOAD to provide anti-sway characterestics...

The RAS will keep the rear of the Ex from sagging which in turn will keep the bars from loading up...hence I think you figured out that your bars weren't quite loaded to where you were previously with the rear end sag...

I think if you re-visit your WD setup from the beginning (meaning measure front fender height unloaded and then loaded...) you will find that you aren't shifting now what you were before due to not having as much load in the bars in the previous setting...just a hunch...

As an aside...Using air bags is tricky too...because if you load up your WD system...and THEN load the air bags to level the vehicle...you are UNLOADING your bars by doing this...

For you...I think you simply used your previous settings on the Equal-i-zer and that wasn't sufficient I suspect...

let us know how it turns out...

Sorry you had such a terrible time...but glad your mind lead you to the right areas as you were traveling...goes to show you how VALUABLE this site is for sharing information!!!

joe.

 

Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking Joe - although the height 'appeared' to be the same, it was not. In retrospect, it seems the bars were easier to lift on than in the past, which 'should' have keyed me from the beginning... makes me feel kind of stupid now

Sanchez_315er:
Yeah, I plan on remeasuring everything - basically start from scratch and get it set up correctly.

No - I have the 10k bars.

 

I'm still looking to go from Expy to Excursion. I plan on starting by measuring the distance from the bottom of my receiver to the ground on both vehicles and simply moving the head appropriately... most likely down to compensate for the extra height of the Excursion. That should get me close as a starting point.

Thanks for reminding me... I'm going to go measure the Expy before I trade it!!!
EDIT: 18 inches to the bottom of the inside of the receiver.

 

Thanks Mark, I just installed the hellwig this weekend, very easy, then my wonderful 15 yo son dropped a tree on the ex, spider webed the windshield and dented the roof, but thats another story, I am going camping this weekend, I will see how that goes, But I might end up breaking down and purchasing the ras also. Thanks for the detailed report.

Brian