Trailer towing wag/sway - weight distribution - demo videos - WOW

[move on]

I agree with that. I would just add that when a manufacturer says his truck can tow 30,000 lbs he's talking about a type 1 RV'er. But more than likely he's talking about a farmer moving his tractor to the other side of the field or a contractor taking his backhoe across town.

If you want to travel at higher speeds you need a more robust vehicle. Just look at how a semi is built. They can safely tow at 80MPH.

[bneukam]

We travel extensively out west, and put a lot of miles on our vehicles. Honestly with some of the set ups we’ve seen it’s surprising that this is not more prevalent than what it is.

Manufacturers are making trucks lighter to increase payload, but this is not beneficial to towing, especially at high speeds. When it comes down to TT’s the overall length, and proper set up of the WDH, and loading should be the focus.

You can be within all numbers assigned to that tow vehicle, and still not be in an ideal situation.

[swduns]

I wonder if there is any insurance claim issues if an accident is caused by trailer improper weight distribution or if the tow vehicle isn't appropriate for the trailer?

[Bobby F]

Originally Posted by swduns

I wonder if there is any insurance claim issues if an accident is caused by trailer improper weight distribution or if the tow vehicle isn't appropriate for the trailer?

These are both instances of negligence. Pretty much every accident involves negligence in some form. You might see some insurer pushback if there is huge, gross, unreasonable negligence, but even then, they're insuring you against liability that you bring on yourself through negligence (and they're promising other drivers and property owners that you are covered as a condition to you getting vehicle tabs, usually), so they'll definitely pay off liability claims against you, and usually your own comprehensive (property damage) claims also.


But they might cancel you after that.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by Bobby F

These are both instances of negligence. Pretty much every accident involves negligence in some form. You might see some insurer pushback if there is huge, gross, unreasonable negligence, but even then, they're insuring you against liability that you bring on yourself through negligence (and they're promising other drivers and property owners that you are covered as a condition to you getting vehicle tabs, usually), so they'll definitely pay off liability claims against you, and usually your own comprehensive (property damage) claims also.


But they might cancel you after that.

Good post and explanation IMO. ....and they may or may not cancel you but if they don't they will certainly raise your premiums!

Dave

[JayBauman]

While there are many factors that can induce catastrophic trailer sway, three of the biggest ones are speed, trailer loading, and distance between TV drive axle and trailer ball.

Each of these is controllable:
Drive slower. Excessive speed is present in 100% of sway incidents.
Load trailer to be front-heavy (10-15% of trailer weight on the tongue).
Use shortest hitch drawbar possible.

Many sway-control hitches rely on friction to resist trailer sway, but the laws of physics dictate their ability to stop sway at highway speeds is only marginal at best.

A pivot point projection hitch (e.g. ProPride or Hensley) is the only sway prevention device out there. Even though the effective length of the drawbar is quite large, the trapezoid hitch design virtually pushes the pivot point to somewhere near the TV drive axle. This effectively locks the trailer in-line with the tow vehicle.

I tow with a ProPride. When I get passed by an 18-wheeler, my trailer remains true to my truck. In fact, if a truck "surprises" me when passing, I can feel the wind push with my truck--the trailer/truck combo moves as one.

[swduns]

During a trailer sway episode - what do you do - speed up or slow down?

[twinboat]

Take your foot off the gas and let it slow. Once it feels controllable use the brakes to slow until the sway is gone.

If you think speeding up is going to drive you out of it, you'll probably just crash faster and harder.

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Take your foot off the gas and let it slow. Once it feels controllable use the brakes to slow until the sway is gone.

If you think speeding up is going to drive you out of it, you'll probably just crash faster and harder.

Not quite.

Do not allow the trailer to push the tv. Speeding up will pull the trailer in behind you and lessen the amplitude of the sway. Follow immediately by rapid and firm application of the trailer brakes alone, using your controller, even while still on the accelerator. This will further reduce the amplitude of the sway, likely to zero. Once the trailer is behind the tv and the sway is reduced, release the accelerator and use the tv brakes gingerly, still holding the trailer brake controller. Once under control and your butt cheeks have let go of the seat cushion, release brakes and figure out why this happened and how to fix it, likely move weight forward. If you do not have a controller, you are putting yourself, and those with you inside and around your vehicle, at tremendous risk.

Sway, in and of itself is not bad. It is natural in any towing situation. Sway that naturally and rapidly reduces in amplitude happens all the time, even in well loaded trailers, and nobody cares. But sway that naturally increases in amplitude is very bad. And if you allow the trailer to push against the tv, by slowing the tv without slowing the trailer at a similar or faster pace, the amplitude of the sway will likely increase, with disastrous results. Like a front tire blowout, physics suggests you lead with power to get the rig straightened out.

Put your controller somewhere where you can reach it in an emergency. Practice reaching for your controller. Get some muscle memory for this seldom used action. Might come in handy, hopefully you never need it.

[MtCamper]

Back in my younger days when I was bulletproof and knew everything, I towed a 15' camper with a CJ7. Just camped locally, less 30 miles from home. The camper had its water tank under the rear gaucho. Heading out with a full tank, It swayed terribly above 45mph. Coming home it towed just fine. I thought it was me. Last time I towed it, it became uncontrollable. I knew we were going to crash. Applying the trailer brakes is a good idea, but believe me, you don't have enough hands. Fortunately I was approaching a steep hill and applying throttle allowed me to get far enough up the hill to straighten things out and I could slow down. We camped for the weekend, came home and sold the trailer. It was years before I towed another bumper pull. Now I know what was wrong but the education was almost very costly. Sway controllers work great for wind gusts or passing semi trucks but they are NOT a solution for a tongue light load. Just like an airplane, you MUST do a weight and balance.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

Not quite.

Do not allow the trailer to push the tv. Speeding up will pull the trailer in behind you and lessen the amplitude of the sway. Follow immediately by rapid and firm application of the trailer brakes alone, using your controller, even while still on the accelerator. This will further reduce the amplitude of the sway, likely to zero. Once the trailer is behind the tv and the sway is reduced, release the accelerator and use the tv brakes gingerly, still holding the trailer brake controller. Once under control and your butt cheeks have let go of the seat cushion, release brakes and figure out why this happened and how to fix it, likely move weight forward. If you do not have a controller, you are putting yourself, and those with you inside and around your vehicle, at tremendous risk.

Sway, in and of itself is not bad. It is natural in any towing situation. Sway that naturally and rapidly reduces in amplitude happens all the time, even in well loaded trailers, and nobody cares. But sway that naturally increases in amplitude is very bad. And if you allow the trailer to push against the tv, by slowing the tv without slowing the trailer at a similar or faster pace, the amplitude of the sway will likely increase, with disastrous results. Like a front tire blowout, physics suggests you lead with power to get the rig straightened out.

Put your controller somewhere where you can reach it in an emergency. Practice reaching for your controller. Get some muscle memory for this seldom used action. Might come in handy, hopefully you never need it.

excellent post IMO.

Dave

[move on]

You should not speed up if the trailer starts swaying. The reason it's swaying out of control is because it has reached the critical speed, above which the swaying is no longer damped. You have to get it below the critical speed.

Most modern cars and pickups after 2013 have some form of electronic sway control. These generally cut the throttle to reduce the speed and apply the left and right brakes selectively when sway is detected. One of my tow vehicle's operators manuals tells you to hit the brakes if the trailer begins to sway.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by move on

You should not speed up if the trailer starts swaying. The reason it's swaying out of control is because it has reached the critical speed, above which the swaying is no longer damped. You have to get it below the critical speed.

Most modern cars and pickups after 2013 have some form of electronic sway control. These generally cut the throttle to reduce the speed and apply the left and right brakes selectively when sway is detected. One of my tow vehicle's operators manuals tells you to hit the brakes if the trailer begins to sway.

Yes you need to slow down but momentary actuation of throttle (only because the reaction time is less) followed by immediate application of the trailer brakes is the way to do it IMO. Whatever you do, do NOT hit the TV brakes. If you have electronic sway control, it's already actuated the brakes, for the rest of us, you need to do it by hand.

Braking the tow vehicle can increase the forces of the trailer acting on the tow vehicle which is why the electronic sway systems work on the trailer brakes.

2 cents,
Dave

[Dave Pelletier]

https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Dist...s/HA81775.html

If your trailer starts to sway on the road, the NHTSA recommends activating the manual brake control override by hand. Applying the tow vehicle brakes will generally make the sway worse. Lift your foot from the accelerator but don't step on the brake pedal unless you're in danger of hitting something.May 4, 2020