Well we got back to the Geist Retreat on Friday. It was a quick trip back down, 7 days driving from Townsville (not my quickest at 4 days) which kept us from seeing many people. A contrast to the 4 weeks heading north. We have already emptied the van and will continue the clean up over the next week in between other jobs. As normal when we come back to the retreat it rains, with 28mm recorded in the gauge since Monday night. it is just what the farm needs here and much of yesterday was spent moving and drenching cattle, going through sets of wet clothes and being hailed on (light) when riding the four wheeler. This off course felt like golf balls as my father and I were fleeing on our respective bikes.
I received a great email from David yesterday that I would like to share with everyone. It shows just what we are trying to achieve in helping other Geist Owners out that are in our group. He also shares some great new anti sway technology for tow vehicles which should work really well with Geist vans. I have asked David to let me know more after he has utilised this technology.
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Hi Peter,
I have to thank you again for your invaluable advice 2 weeks ago when things were going pear shaped with the trailer sway on the AK595. It really is an unnerving experience when you feel you are not in control of the towing vehicle, it feels very unsafe.
I would like to feed back to you how things have developed since then.
After resanding the paint of the friction pads and sanding all of the paint of the steel ball we continued on and things had greatly improved, but the friction pads would still foul up again after 11/2 – 2 hours travelling (even with the bare steel ball) and the dreaded swaying returns. So regular sanding or reduced speeds were required.
I have received the Alko ball last week and have noticed a big improvement in the sway. We travelled 2 1/2 hours each way with only a couple of occasions of milder swaying noticed when travelling at about 105-110 klm/hr.
Alko sent the wrong plate to suit the Hayman Reece bar so there might be a further improvement once I can fit the plate.
The territory will be replaced in 6 weeks by a jeep grand Cherokee CRD which may reduce the swaying also. I found the territory (2WD) a good towing unit on the flat and small inclines but it labours too hard when hill climbing.
The jeep has a nice feature which is called “trailer sway control’ built in. If swaying is detected it counters by applying brake pressure to one wheel.
Trailer Sway Control (TSC) system helps reduce trailer sway and improves handling in adverse towing conditions caused by crosswinds and traffic.
TSC works with the Electronic Stability Program[1] (ESP) and Antilock Brake System (ABS), alternating brake pressure to automatically correct oscillation in the vehicle trailer system.
TSC does not require any driver input. It automatically activates when needed. The ESP function lamp will flash when TSC is activated.
Thanks again and
best regards
David
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Catch you on the track
GR
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