Trailer snaking accident

[Stihllymok]

love caravans...especially when spread like cardboard all over the M6...

 

or those sodding great hymer boats being navigated..(well you cant call it steered) by fred and marge on their retirement cruise round the lakes at 15mph... rant over.. its that time of year again up here..

[SteveA]

Sounds like we have a caravaner in the house.

 

:laugh1:

 

Haha! Very occasionally I may be known to cause queback misery to hundreds of people in a hurry to do more than 10mph uphill. :thumbup:

cheers, steve

[inthewoods]

Haha! Very occasionally I may be known to cause queback misery to hundreds of people in a hurry to do more than 10mph uphill. :thumbup:

cheers, steve

 

& that's with a chipper! :eek:

[difflock]

Sounds like we have a caravaner in the house.

 

:laugh1:

 

And! we have a winner!

PS

Caravanner, i tink.

[monkeybusiness]

I know everyone is saying towbar to high, but I would be inclined to think the towbar was to low and the trailer weighted poorly. Which made it pick the back of the truck up. Made worse on a pickup because the towbar is so far from the rear axle. No way should you be getting snaking with such a light load on at 40mph unless something was off.

 

As far as correcting it. I either leave the whole lot alone and let it come back naturally or time it so I stab the brakes as its comes past straight, if you time it right you can lose 10mph and the trailer brakes coming in hard pulls everything back in line again.

 

We did a quick 'Advanced Towing' seminar at a client's safety briefing and the instructor advised braking hard as the trailer pendulums back into line and then getting straight back off the brakes as it swings through - exactly as you describe this helps pull things straight at the same time as shedding speed.

 

I recently had the opportunity to try this method on the A55 heading down Rhualt hill at 50-60mph (long and steep dual carriageway with a massive bend at the bottom that you definitely don't want to hit at 90mph with a trailer on the back!) and it didn't quite go to plan. It turned out one of the tyres on the rear axle of the heavily loaded Ifor 12x6 tipper had a slow puncture and this set things off when on the overrun as I crested the hill - there was a good half mile of brown-trousered-tank-slapper action as the truck/trailer combo wanted to pick up speed due to gravity and I tried to ride it out to see if it would calm itself down. In the end I was across both lanes and the hard shoulder so went s**t or bust for the timed brake stab and it all ended in tears with logs everywhere and a rather bent pickup and trailer (but no injuries and no third parties tied up in my mess, so pretty good outcome really).

 

I would still try the brake stab as a last ditch attempt if in the same position again as the logic behind it makes sense and I'm sure it would work in some circumstances (and probably would have done if attempted earlier in my little escapade). I wouldn't ever rush to accelerate out of a snake (unless going uphill, but I've never known a trailer snake uphill as they are being dragged and are not doing the pushing) - I think you would need a lot of power to pull anything violently snaking back into line and then you still have the issue of too much speed with something unstable that you still have to slow down on the back.

 

To the op - I'm glad there were no serious injuries - the Toyota looks to have stood up well (I'd hate to think what a defender roof/a-pillar would look like after that sort of treatment!). Enjoy Glastonbury, everything will feel better as the weekend progresses no doubt!!!

[Jonny69]

We did a quick 'Advanced Towing' seminar at a client's safety briefing and the instructor advised braking hard as the trailer pendulums back into line and then getting straight back off the brakes as it swings through - exactly as you describe this helps pull things straight at the same time as shedding speed.

 

I recently had the opportunity to try this method on the A55 heading down Rhualt hill at 50-60mph (long and steep dual carriageway with a massive bend at the bottom that you definitely don't want to hit at 90mph with a trailer on the back!) and it didn't quite go to plan. It turned out one of the tyres on the rear axle of the heavily loaded Ifor 12x6 tipper had a slow puncture and this set things off when on the overrun as I crested the hill - there was a good half mile of brown-trousered-tank-slapper action as the truck/trailer combo wanted to pick up speed due to gravity and I tried to ride it out to see if it would calm itself down. In the end I was across both lanes and the hard shoulder so went s**t or bust for the timed brake stab and it all ended in tears with logs everywhere and a rather bent pickup and trailer (but no injuries and no third parties tied up in my mess, so pretty good outcome really).

 

I would still try the brake stab as a last ditch attempt if in the same position again as the logic behind it makes sense and I'm sure it would work in some circumstances (and probably would have done if attempted earlier in my little escapade). I wouldn't ever rush to accelerate out of a snake (unless going uphill, but I've never known a trailer snake uphill as they are being dragged and are not doing the pushing) - I think you would need a lot of power to pull anything violently snaking back into line and then you still have the issue of too much speed with something unstable that you still have to slow down on the back.

 

To the op - I'm glad there were no serious injuries - the Toyota looks to have stood up well (I'd hate to think what a defender roof/a-pillar would look like after that sort of treatment!). Enjoy Glastonbury, everything will feel better as the weekend progresses no doubt!!!

 

Glad you are okay. I came to that conclusion by trial and error, of course I am no expert but I do have a lot of miles towing heavy trailers on a large variety of 3.5ton trucks and 4x4's so that must count for something.

 

If you have an outstanding issue like a tyre half flat or brakes that don't all work at the same time, or work at all then of course you're fighting a losing battle.

 

One major issue I see on the road is people buying a pickup and believing themselves to be "invincible" because of marketing literature and ignoring the potential for issues when towing heavy.

[kkk2]

Buy a Volvo seems they have sorted the issue electronically

 

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[streets]

this link is to the British Army Land Rover Defender Wolf Sankey Trailer On Road and off Road Driving Training video

at about 8 minute in is the part about towing and how it can go wrong

[jomoco]

This post's reminiscent of my teenage years in the 70's, hauling 14 ft long tandem axle rental trailers, full of palm logs, with my 68 Chevy El Camino big block 396.

 

It's true that you can accelerate out of a down hill fish tailing catastrophe, provided the down hill section levels out, or quickly turns into an uphill situation, IME.

 

But if it's an extended down hill scenario? Your best bet's easing off slowly, and concentrating on steering the straightest course possible, and braking in incremental well timed intervals.

 

Loading the back of My El Camino with palm logs as well solved my problem. Tow vehicles with light rear ends are problematic any time they attempt towing a heavy load.

 

Glad you learned your lesson relatively unscathed mate!

 

Jomoco

Edited June 24, 2016 by jomoco

[jarborist]

JRose. Thanks for posting this.

 

I had a trailer for many years that was, in hindsight, potentially lethal and most probably illegal (due to age of it, at the time it seemed to be a 'gray area'). Never seen one like it before or since . Very strong, very heavy, but weirdly short and wide and no working brakes. The point is it used to snake often, and my answer to how to get out of it fits with all the answers you have had, particularly jomoco - i.e. sometimes accelerating, sometimes braking, sometimes doing very little, drifting, gearing down - always clenching buttocks though - scary as. . .. . so not very useful in giving a clear answer.

 

I got rid of the trailer and got a 10 x5ft Ifor and a 110 some years ago and thought the problem was solved until I read all these posts. Seems like it could still happen with my set up , and most worryingly you haven't found an answer for why it happened despite lots of us having had it happen.

 

Will now be watching the road layout, my tires, hitch height, load distribution, springs , vehicle load and speed - + as we all have to get on with work too and we all take our eye off things amidst day to day getting on, I will also be crossing fingers and hopefully not having to clench buttocks.

 

Glad you and girlfriend are ok.