Grandmaster 2012 Trailer
Danny Hosford
In general, the Grand Master SR combines the stall divider system of the Portax into the horse stall. Easy access to the horses by swinging a panel away allows you to tack a horse or to add/remove shipping boots. An air of elegance with its covered side braces and polyester fenders which can be in coordinating or contrasting colours to the roof and body- the Grand Master also has a Black Inset for the double windows. Apply an exclusive decor by Jan Knster to tailor your trailer to you. The entire trailer sits atop the elite WCF suspension, which keeps the road chatter where it belongs- at the level of the road, not bothering your horses legs. Added features for your horses include an additional rubber mat for wear protection against pawing or shoes with road studs and portable feed buckets that can be used in transit or at shows. A bright white, wide airy horse stall with adjustable stall bar settings and two tinted pop-out windows complete the inner stall look.
Saddle storage is accessible from both inside and outside of the trailer.
Standard is the English Version: 2 Telescopic adjustable saddle racks for English Saddles, 4 shelves, many hooks, broom with telescopic handle, shovel, mirrors and net on each door, 2 sets of crop/whip holders and 2 sizes of stools. A third English rack is possible to add for Eventers as an Accessory.
ChassisThe Grand Master has a rounded galvanized steel chassis frame. The steel chassis secures the aluminum floor panels. Under the floor, there are longitudinal bars as well as cross-member pieces to provide the greatest strength.
Since the ready to camp weight of our Ollie is under 5000 pounds with less than 500 pound tongue weight, with black, grey, and fresh water tanks empty, I'm not using a WDH for now. The Tundra Manual requires WDH when towing trailers over 5000 pounds. Weighed the Ollie and Tundra at the local county landfill scales.
Some folks may be considering installing the Hayes Sway Master on their Ollie. Please contact Hayes to be sure the Sway master will work with your brake controller and tow vehicle. Also contact Hayes to be sure you are orienting the Sway Master as recommended and with technical questions, too.
I'm not a mechanical engineer and cannot say this is the best way to install the Sway Master since I'm not a professional trailer technician, either. This is how I decided to mount this sway control. Used 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" aluminum angle 3/16" thick to mount the Sway Control without drilling additional holes in the Ollie hitch.
Did not shorten the original Ollie 7 pin cable or Sway Master 7 pin cables for this installation. Plug in the Ollie 7 pin cable into the Sway Master to start operation, also need to unplug the Ollie 7 pin cable after each use.
Since the unit uses a GPS receiver to determine trailer speed, do you have any concerns about it working correctly when the sky is obscured, say by heavy tree cover or terrain (cliffs or steep mountains). It seems as if the unit would be great on Interstates and wide open highways, but maybe no so great in the mountains or forests. All my GPS devices work great in Eastern WA but they can get confused when I go to the west side of the state, where there are lots of pesky trees and very heavy cloud cover.
I'll use the Hayes Sway Master and you can use speed sensors/magnets. With the great towing manners and stability of the Ollie, this system probably will not be needed, but will be there just in case.
The GPS system makes it easier to install because you don't have to do anything other than plug it in, but GPS is not always available. I don't know why they chose 45 MPH as the turn on point. It did need some indication of speed to not be on all the time and drain the battery, I guess, but it really only needs to sense sway in order to operate. Sway is a simple repetitive motion that can be sensed easily. It also seems to simply apply both brakes when it senses sway and that is something the driver can easily do with any brake controller.
So as I understand it, this controller applies the trailer brakes when it detects sway; i.e., it does the same thing as manually applying the trailer brakes via the brake controller, but does so automatically.
I'm curious if modern brake controllers don't do the same thing - it's not clear to me on the F150, for example, whether the truck's brake controller and sway control software are linked. Reading about it, it seems like the brake controller controls the trailer's brakes while the sway control acts only on the truck's brakes & steering. I could be wrong, though, and it could be that the sway control will instruct the brake controller to apply the trailer's brakes if it detects sway. I mean, you'd think it would do that, right? I guess like Bill said, you'd better check with Hayes to make sure this thing is compatible with your truck, so that you don't end up with two systems trying to accomplish the same thing.
Just generally, are there any situations where this might be a disadvantage? Would it get confused if being bumped around on a gravel road? What happens if you're braking on a curve and the trailer started to step out - would this unit interpret that as sway and lock up the trailer's brakes?
I'm curious about the GPS thing, too. For the most part, I think that in the situations where you found yourself without a GPS signal that you'd probably not be going fast enough to need this unit, but I can also imagine some situations, like mountain passes, where you might be at highway speed and a signal is spotty. My guess is that in those situations, it would simply shut off and so wouldn't cause any harm.
That was written by Mike Levine, who is Ford Truck's media guy - though this was written in 2010, so he might not have been at Ford at that time. It's strange because nothing on Ford's website or informational videos on sway control mention anything about activating the trailer's brakes.
1. Some TOW vehicles are later models and may have more or less technological advances than others. Some manufacturers may have additional requirements in the owners manual that may be based upon technological advances, litigation or future adaptions that the aftermarket will provide at a cost.
2. Many times I find that the accessories, safety features and additions we put on our TOW or Oliver is based upon personal preference. It is somewhat dangerous to make absolute statements because there may be a different and sometimes more innovative approach to a problem.
As examples, I have a 2003 Toyota Tundra that is a perfect TOW in many ways for my Oliver. However, it did not come with a brake controller or Sway control. There is a clause in my owners manual that requires / reccomends both. My son in law occasionally borrows my trailer and his 2014 GMC TOW has almost the same verbiage in his manual. I personally choose to add a sway control whether needed or not. I drove my Oliver across the U.S. without a sway controller and despite strong winds across Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, big tractor trailers, buses and Pusher RVs , I had no problem with my Oliver or TOW. However, because of the litigious society we live in, I choose to add this to offer some level of protection in the event of a lawsuit. If the manufacturer of my TOW has it in writing and I am in a accident with my Ollie (shutter !) I believe I would have some element of legal protection in the event an attorney for the plaintiff chose to use the sway controller as an issue. We all choose to approach problems differently. The good thing about this forum is that from a personal standpoint I have learned so much and appreciate the well intended advice of others via this forum. Thanks for consideration of everyone's opinion, needs and preferences when sharing in the forum.
I agree. If I had a tow vehicle that didn't have sway control at all, I would certainly put a unit like this one on my list of essentials. Especially if the vehicle's owners manual recommends it. If nothing else, it's inexpensive peace of mind and looks very easy to install.
If your vehicle does have sway control, I think you'd want to do a bit of research to see if this controller wouldn't be duplicating something that your vehicle already does. The F150 is top of my list, so I'm probably good, though I'd like some better verification that the sway control will indeed brake the trailer.
By the way, as far as attaching this to the trailer goes, I wonder if this wouldn't be a good use for VHB tape. That way you could attach it directly to the frame without drilling while eliminating that extra 1 " in width.
Saddle storage is accessible from both inside and outside of the trailer.
In the English version: 2 Telescopic adjustable saddle racks for English Saddles, 2 shelves, many hooks, broom with telescopic handle, shovel, mirror and net on door, removable feed buckets.
2004 Master Craft TrailerThe 2" ball fits well in the hitch (nothing larger would fit) but it has about 1/4" vertical play that bangs around when going over any kind of bump. I don't see any vertical adjustment to eliminate vertical play.
@ScottScott Its the ball. With the ball in my hand and with the hitch secured, the ball moves up and down 1/4". By looking up from underneath I could also see that the 2" ball is an exact fit for the width of the hitch and that the "latch" mechanism has 1/4" clearance under the ball when it's latched.
All other trailer hitches I have had could be adjusted so the hitch doesn't crash up and down when driving over bumps. The trailer is 18 years but was only used for driving to/from annual local storage.
Looks odd in terms of how pushed in the front of hitch is based on the pic - that probably why you got the question on there being no brake fluid in it. Brake lines do rust out on old trailers that are dunked frequently.
The trailer brakes work correctly . . . I think I just found the bigger reason for the vertical clashing over bumps. The trailer hitch ball mount has play in it where is slides into hitch assembly on the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The same ball mount fit tight on the prior jeep. I put a temporary spacer into that connection the problem mostly went away.
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