A 3500 pound load will not easily pass a 4000+ lb VX...but towing ANYTHING can put you in peril. You do not want more than 300lbs tongue weight or you risk loosing control of the lead vehicle. Trailers can always pass the tow vehicle!
VXer in the Sky
A 3500 pound load will not easily pass a 4000+ lb VX...but towing ANYTHING can put you in peril. You do not want more than 300lbs tongue weight or you risk loosing control of the lead vehicle. Trailers can always pass the tow vehicle!
Super VXer
Well he said the tank is 3500 lbs and I imagine the enclosed trailer weighs at least 1000 lbs so that's 4500 lbs right there. But mass is not the only part of the equation anyway. That's why a 255 lb soapbox derby car will smoke the 4000 lb VX down any hill in the world. And any hill on the moon too, I'll wager...
Lots of friction in that VX driveline... not much in a pair of wheelbearings... the trailer would win the race. But why are we talking roller bearing friction when there's so much momentum involved...? It's not a race. "Passing" is not the issue.
Run enough tongue weight to keep the rear end of the tow vehicle down under hard braking. We've got a short wheelbase and long travel suspension. In other words lots of pitch under hard braking. Tongue weight is an indication of c. of g. of the trailer/load combo. It needs to be forward of the axle otherwise a heavy load will lift the rear end of the tow vehicle under hard braking. All it has to do is take enough weight off the tow vehicle's rear tires to reduce traction and then your'e headed for Jackknife City. Whatever you do, don't run the ball so high it causes lift just because of the geometry. Better to have it a little low than a little high...
Unsafe towing doesn't just put you in peril. It endangers other drivers too...
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Well Put SlowPro48... most people won't think very much about tongue weight and whatnot. The physics work as you said but many people don't want to put too much weight on the tongue and load down their trucks rearend... but that puts you in a bad position... especially given the short wheel base and other things you mentioned.
Now back to that tank... have any pictures of it yet? I wanna see what your gonna be playing with. Also, that Rip-Saw video... I found their main site and must say... that thing is down right wicked! I wonder what it would cost to build something like that... or have built... just crazy!
Later!
Coach
Super VXer
Get back in your garage and don't you even THINK about another project until you're finished with your current homework assignement!!!Originally Posted by coachreed
HaHa! Just kidding around there, Coach. That Rip-Saw thing was pretty wild and had me wondering the same thing. I have no doubt that, given your tenacity, you could build one. It would look good with a VX body sitting on top of it too.
Say... you'll already have the V8.... wonder if the TOD transfer case could be set up so that it proportions torque side to side rather than front to back... you'd need some sprockets and idlers... and some tracks from a Bobcat... hmm....
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