(08-26-2026 05:42 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2026 12:10 PM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(08-26-2026 05:00 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-25-2026 11:12 AM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(08-25-2026 08:44 AM)TripleA Wrote:  I'm old. I have no need to go fast. I prefer steady. I also prefer not being blown over sideways, lol.

This morning, after looking at alternatives, I'm torn about what to do. The only real alternative I see would be a hard-sided pop-up camper, but dayum, those things are tiny. This is not something I'm taking on weekend trips. It's where I live now.

Those pop-ups are like living in a cigar box. Not sure that's a long term solution. I would be perfectly happy with what I have, as long as it doesn't blow over and kill me, lol. I think it might take another day or two to figure this out, either way.

I know wind is an issue, especially crossing the plains. Other people seem to do it and survive. I just know I felt like dying was a possibility in that moment, and nothing is worth that reality.

The scary thing is there wasn't really a strong wind at the time. A gust just caught me at the wrong time.

Anyway, I'm continuing to head north today from Omaha NE to Sioux Falls SD. Not a long drive, less than 200 miles. I need to get there to renew my DL, which expires in 4 days, and do all the other things I have to do to establish residency in SD. That choice is simply for economic reasons. I only have to physically be there 1 day every 5 years, lol.

Wish me luck. I really feel like I need it at the moment.

Which WDH do you have, and what anti-sway does it have?

You may want to scale your setup (any truck stop with a cat scale, use their weighmytruck app) and post pics of your rig from the side and your weights to an rv forum (grand design has an owners forum or a generic like rv.net) for WDH tweak advice. If it went back and forth like that the wind may have introduced trailer sway so WDH setup and / or getting more tongue weight by carrying some water (depending on your water tank location) may help stabilize it.

The downside with slide in truck campers is anything big enough you would want to full time in weighs more than a 1500 is going to be able to carry with any weight left for you and your stuff. I did see lance has a new “light weight” hard side Squire 610 designed for short bed trucks. It’s 1500 pounds but once you add options like AC and awning is closer to 1700 pounds so once you add a driver and some stuff you are going to be over the payload on most 1500s.

I looked at the truck campers yesterday and said hell no.

As for the WDH, I have the best money can buy (Blue Ox), plus the heaviest double sway bars. I just have to learn how to deal with stuff. No rig eliminates all issues. And my truck is capable of towing almost twice the load I have.

Btw, I absolutely love the truck. We were good from the jump. I just have to figure out all this trailer stuff.

A trip across the scale could help confirm that you are set up properly, have enough tongue weight, and are transferring enough weight to the steer wheels.

You could weigh the truck, the truck and trailer without the spring bars hooked up, and the truck and trailer with WDH bars. That will give you drive, steer, and trailer axle weights in all three conditions and help you confirm that your setup is good. The first weigh is 15.25 and each re-weigh on the same scale is $5.25 so for $26 bucks you can get all three passes on the scale with the weigh my truck app.

Some trailers tow more stable with some water in the fresh water, or a decent amount of stuff in the pass through to increase the tongue weight and get it up in that 12 to 15 percent of trailer weight range depending on where the center of gravity of the trailer sits now.

Posting the scale weights and pics from the side on a forum like irv.net or the grand design forum would give you a good second opinion on if your setup needs tweaks.

I'm taking my rig to an RV dealer on Monday for a refresher course on how to operate everything. I'll have them check.

I think I'm actually good on that. I have super duper double stabilizer bars in addition to a heavy duty hitch.

I also think I was driving way too fast. About 75, when I should be doing 60. Keep it on cruise now.