Rich Guys, Trailers, and Responsibility

So, yesterday, I ran into one of my wife's friends from her Mustang club. He and his wife have two late model Stangs, one Roush and one Shelby, and a really awesome '33 3-window highboy coupe. Anyway he was telling me about how he just bought a new Ford dually and a 22' stacker trailer so they can haul their Stangs all over the country to car shows. It came out pretty quickly that he didn't have a lot of experience with trailering, so I said, "Make sure you get a weight distributing hitch and a sway control for that tall trailer. It's top heavy and you'll be in a lot of wind." He explained to me that the Ford had some sort of an electronic sway control thingy in the electronics, and anyway, his trailer dealer didn't mention needing one of those hitches - he was just going to pull a 12 foot high, 14000 pound trailer with a 2-5/8" ball mount.

After I explained to him what all this stuff did, and how it would make his towing much safer and pleasant, he made notes to get with his trailer dealer. BUT - my thought is, what the fuck are trailer dealers doing not mentioning this stuff? First of all, it's a good upsell, but second of all, it's cheap insurance to avoid flipping that expensive rig in the first good crosswind! To me, that's just plain irresponsible.

I swear, some of these people see these rich guys coming and don't ever bother to tell them about the real world.

 

Having the right equipment for that type of hauling is absolutly necessary, and knowing what your doing behind the wheel in one of those rigs comes to mind too..some guys have no clue , but you cant just put some warm body behind the wheel of a rig like that, if you do theres a good chance they will have a bad day, or create one for someone else

hope he gets good, real good insurance

 

Because you can does not mean you should. Saw a lot of the more money than brains during our racing years.

 

Still goes on today...

 

I agree hes a bad salesman for not going for the sell of the extra goodies but isnt it the guy pulling the trailers responsibility to know what hes doing and to have the proper equipment? You cant blame the Sears Clerk when you get metal in your eye cause he didnt mention you should use some sort of face shield with the grinder. It seems like more and more I hear of people blaming others for their own irresponsibility and dont accept our own mistakes or misfortunes. I guess were just living in the entitlement age.

Sorry if i overstepped my bounds as a new guy here.

 

FORSHAME ON THE DEALER & THE BUYER FOR NOT READING UP ON THE TRAILER PULLING CRAP. Accident waiting to happen. Thanxz for informing your friend.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"

 

The first time he catches a good side breeze or a tractor trailer blows by him about 80 he will wonder what happened. He will have dirty shorts and a lot of questions.

 

I work in the trailer (r.v.) industry and I can tell you its a fight with the sales department when weight comes into the question. The sales department will sell to maximum weight of tow vehicle then it comes to us in the shop and we tell the customer they cant put anything in the trailer of they will be over weight then it becomes our fault. We in our shop do our best to educate the customer.Its the way thing are in the business world not right but we fight the fight three or four times a year.

 

I don't think you overstepped your bounds, I just don't think we're talking about the same thing. The problem is that this guy doesn't know what he doesn't know. The salesman, or dealer, DOES. Figuring out that metal might be among the sparks flying off a grinder, on the other hand, shouldn't take much common sense. The guy I know didn't even know there were such things as weight distributing hitches or friction sway controls until I told him.

There was a thread here a few days ago on the "dragstrip deaths" memorial site. I perused a few from the 90s and came across the death of a Japanese guy who bought a jet powered dragster and crashed it at 175MPH. The owner, in the inquest, said that he only agreed to teach the guy how to start it, not how to drive it. To me, there's responsibility and then there's responsibility.

I mean, if you were selling someone a trailer, wouldn't you ask the question, "Have you done much trailer pulling?"

 

Responsibility always rests with the guy who actully performs. Clerks and bystanders may have a moral obligation to express a concern to an irresponsible performer .... but in the end, it's the obligation of the performer to do no harm to others.

 

A couple less late model Mustangs in the world would be a good thing!

 

In a similar fashion, they sell (and rent), giant motor homes to people that seemingly can't drive the Prius they're towing.

 

To start with a 22' long X 12' high "bumper pull" trailer is a white elephant that the salesman was so excited to unload that he forgot to mention what all a guy might need to pull the damned thing. Even with an equalizer hitch and sway controll, in a stiff crosswind it is time to slow down and just hope that your ass don't tighten up so hard and quick that you rip the seat covers off the truck.

 

Best answer yet.............

 

Kind of a rude statement, isn't it? Are they really causing you a problem?

 

When I buy a car it's not up to the salesman to ensure I can operate it properly. Why should the trailer salesman be any different? If you plan on using something you should take the time to learn how to properly. It's cool that you straightened the guy out but it's really his own fault for not getting the info he needed before buying the trailer. Everybody as an adult is responsible for their own actions plain and simple. My dos pesos

 

I think I heard California made it mandatory for drivers of larger motor homes and trailers to have a class A license? That sounds reasonable. There is a steep learning curve jumping out of the car into one of these setups in cross winds.

 

I'm not generally in favour of Big Brother trying to control every aspect of our everyday lives. That said, for the safety of others using the same roads. maybe the licensing folks in our respective countries need to get involved by requiring a special class of license to tow a trailer in excess of xxx pounds/ kilos. Maybe it should require a course or at least the study of a book, and a test to acquire that license, just like a motorcycle or air brakes.

 

I don't think this has to do as much as how much money you have as how much brain. I pull a very heavy, large travel trailer and before I bought I did all the research myself on everything from the weight of the trailer to how much weight my truck will pull to what saftey equip,ent I would need. I do not belive you should leave this up to the salesman because he makes his money by selling trailers, he does not give a crap if you know how to use it or not, he makes his money when he sells the trailer to you. It is up to the Buyer to do his homework before he buys a trailer that size. I hate when I see someone pulling a trailer or travel trailer and the rear of the truck is squatting down so far that they are looseing hard contact with the road with the front tires, I don't want to be anywhere near someone like that.

 

If you pull a trailer in the state of Florida and total wieght of truck and trailer is 26,500 or above.You are required to have a CDL license , but you can drive a motorhome all day long with regular license. Its in effect because of tourisum dollars the state would be losing if the motorhome drivers were required to actually know how to drive a big rig. As far as the salesmen informing customers of anything that ain't going to happen anytime soon. 99% of trailer salespeople have never even pulled a trailer and would have to back up and pull up 20 times just to hook one up. Commission,more I sell more money in the pocket.

 

Some people seem to think having lots of money makes them smart.

Just ask them, they will tell you.

 

It used to be plenty exciting towing race cars on open trailers behind a big box Winnebago in the 70s on a windy day. The first time a semi sneaks up on you, a beer will magically appear in your hand. takes about 4 or 5 before it quits being a panic situation and you dont let them sneak up any more. How we never ended up in a ditch upside down on those 2 lanes will remain a mystery

 

Why do people feel the need to start at the top of the ladder. A guys gotta work his way up.

 

Rich guys, trailer queens, late model Mustangs.

Nope, I don't give a shit.

I don't see the how it's the salesman's responsibility to make sure the customer has the smarts to properly use the equipment. When you buy a pair of scissors is it the salesgirl's job to tell you not to run with them or you might poke your eye out?

How hard is it these days to do a little research before dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a tow rig?

 

That about sums it up.

 

Like BRAD CHEVY said nothing needed here even good sense. Saw the aftermath of an 85 yr old being sold a 45'MH, came out of Lazy Days with it made the RH swing into Flyn J and kept right on going.....Was a nice fire as I remember.

 

Yes...

The poor consumer needs to be protected from his own ignorance and stupidity.


Mr Nader, is that you?