The Grandmaster 2013 Trailer

[Sandra Grady]

Sincethe 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.

Legendary Hong Kong director Kar Wai Wong takes us inside the legendary Ip Man's life in this trailer for The Grandmaster. Tony Leung Chiu Wai stars as the Chinese martial arts guru, who went on to become Bruce Lee's teacher. Set during China's Republican era, this drama shows us the early life of this iconic figure, who has previously been portrayed by Donnie Yen in Ip Man and Ip Man 2. Check out the rain-soaked action in this first look at the upcoming action-drama, in theaters August 23.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kar Wai Wong, The Grandmaster is an epic action feature inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man. The story spans the tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China's last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war that was also the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Filmed in a range of stunning locations that include the snow-swept landscapes of Northeast China and the subtropical South, The Grandmaster features virtuoso performances by some of the greatest stars of contemporary Asian cinema, including Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Ziyi Zhang.

If the trailer for The Grandmaster feels at all familiar, then you've probably seen Ip Man, Wilson Yip's 2008 kung fu dramatization about the life of the martial artist who trained Bruce Lee; at first blush, The Grandmaster appears to follow the same blueprint as Ip Man. The major difference, though, is that Wong Kar-wai is steering the ship, and as good as Ip Man is, Wilson Yip is no Wong Kar-wai as far as color palettes, composition, and cinematography are concerned.

One of China's most celebrated filmmakers, Wong hasn't made a feature since 2007's My Blueberry Nights made a quiet debut on the world stage before being more or less forgotten. (A shame, since it's actually quite good.) That makes the imminent arrival of The Grandmaster all the more exciting, even if seeing Wong work on a martial arts picture may strike some as a bit odd.

While Wong is best known for making human dramas about isolation and missed connection (not to mention smoldering romance), his 2000 masterpiece In the Mood For Love and its 2004 sequel, 2046, both hint at the director's love of good martial arts yarns. Perhaps The Grandmaster is just an instance of Wong indulging that love at long last; if so, he's picked a great fight choreographer in Yuen Woo-ping (of The Matrix, Kill Bill, and Drunken Master fame) to help him realize his vision, and it's wonderful to see the Chinese auteur reunite with his go-to lead, Tony Leung, as well.

The Grandmaster likely will take as many liberties with Ip Man's life story as Yip's film did five years ago, but the film looks absolutely gorgeous - and besides that, Wong is an incredible storyteller. Here's hoping it's as good as early reviews indicate, but we'll find out later this summer.

A new full-length U.S. trailer for writer-director Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster is now available. Based on the real life of Ip Man - the Wing Chun master who trained Bruce Lee - The Grandmaster aims to tell the true story of the martial arts expert. The trailer shows off Wong's particular cinematic style with a rain-soaked melee battle as its centerpiece. Though rooted in reality, The Grandmaster is clearly a stylized dramatic interpretation, despite what the overbearing voice-over in this trailer tells you.

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