Friday was a sad day RIP Avalanche
- Thread starter Bruizza
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
For us guys that don't tow, could you please explain what that means exactly.
Tacky
Member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2012
- Posts
- 38
- Reaction score
- 10
When towing you want about 10-15% of the total trailer weight on the hitch. Too little weight on the hitch, or front of the trailer promotes sway. Also the faster you go, the more prone to sway. I used to have a sailboat that required I put the anchors, sails, and all gear at the front of the boat to prevent sway.
BTW, I have no idea if this is the cause of the OP's problem.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
How would you know how much weight is on the front of the trailer and what, I guess, would be your tongue weight? Thx for bearing with me.
#1taho
5150TAHO
It's a trial and error thing. It comes over time. You need weight in the front to balance out the sway factor. I have been towing a trailer since I go my license. It's hard to explain, but you need to figure out the right balance in weight front to back.
iamdub
Full Access Member
For a camper, the manufacturer should have this info available and should locate the wheels on the frame when they build the camper so that this would induce that 10%-15% front bias. When loading a utility trailer, don't load it so that the front end is trying to pull up on the rear of the truck. This is easy to watch when you're using a single axle trailer. On a tandem axle, it's not gonna teeter-totter so you have to watch it more closely and think it about it more. It's not an exact science, it's just something to be mindful of because it is important. Loading a car on a trailer is easy cuz you can gradually bring it to the front of the trailer and stop when the back of the truck starts to sag a bit.
swathdiver
Full Access Member
It is indeed, we also have easier access to scales than our ancestors did. Most truck stops have scales and you can use them to arrive at the numbers pretty precisely.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
The scales are set up to check weight bias?
You can drive truck on, then truck trailer, or just rear end of truck and trailer then just trailer..... like that Ton...
Doesn't matter what the "posted" speed limit is 75 towing anything is UNSAFE PERIOD. Max speed UHAUL says is 45MPH for their equipment. In Ca. max speed is 55 TOWING anything. Seriously is it worth being anywhere 30 minutes sooner at the risk of killing a loved one. Go ahead everyone CHIME IN say what you want there is no need to go "the posted speed limit" or "what the law allows". Does anyone think that "posted" 75 mph goes for everything that travels down that road - REALLY. How is it possible for any State to calculate, GVW, trailer height, wind conditions, road conditions, pulling equipment, sway bars, max tire speed, etc. ...and one small factor , Unless otherwise stated all trailer tires are rated at a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour. So tell me how a State can allow 75 mph trailer towing when .....Unless otherwise stated all trailer tires are rated at a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour. Bottom line you learned an expansive lesson that could have killed someone, just to get to your location a few minutes early, or follow a law that was not specific to your vehicle, your trailer, the conditions at the time. Make this a teaching moment for all reading this, because often time I see people towing and going WAY WAY WAY over the speed limit and for what?
intheburbs
Full Access Member
"Nowhere near a novice," but you don't know that putting tension on the hitch, either by hitting the gas or manually applying the trailer brakes, will get you out of a bad sway? I guess it can be called an expensive lesson learned.
Regards to sway and calculating tongue weight - there are ways to weigh your trailer tongue using a lever and a bathroom scale. Google it.
I prefer to weigh on an actual truck scale. Costs $10, and gives great peace of mind. You drive on the scale fully loaded with your trailer, then unhitch, and drive onto the scale again with just your tow vehicle. Then do some easy math to calculate your weights:
The row headings, from top to bottom are:
Steer Axle
Drive Axle
Trailer Axle
Gross Weight
To calculate my tongue weight, I take the sum of the drive and steer axle weights (which is my gross vehicle weight), and subtract the unhitched GVW from the hitched GVW. In this case it would be:
(3220+5620)-(3740+3980) = 1120 lbs
The weight of the trailer is the difference between the two gross weights:
16340-7720 = 8620
To check/confim my trailer is properly loaded/balanced, I divide the two:
1120/8620 = 12.99%
Tongue weight should be between 10-15% of total trailer weight, 13% is just about ideal.
Here's the rig that was weighed:
Regards to sway and calculating tongue weight - there are ways to weigh your trailer tongue using a lever and a bathroom scale. Google it.
I prefer to weigh on an actual truck scale. Costs $10, and gives great peace of mind. You drive on the scale fully loaded with your trailer, then unhitch, and drive onto the scale again with just your tow vehicle. Then do some easy math to calculate your weights:
The row headings, from top to bottom are:
Steer Axle
Drive Axle
Trailer Axle
Gross Weight
To calculate my tongue weight, I take the sum of the drive and steer axle weights (which is my gross vehicle weight), and subtract the unhitched GVW from the hitched GVW. In this case it would be:
(3220+5620)-(3740+3980) = 1120 lbs
The weight of the trailer is the difference between the two gross weights:
16340-7720 = 8620
To check/confim my trailer is properly loaded/balanced, I divide the two:
1120/8620 = 12.99%
Tongue weight should be between 10-15% of total trailer weight, 13% is just about ideal.
Here's the rig that was weighed:
That is a dick thing to say.... op never said he didn't know.....things happened fast.... guy just wrecked his truck and trailer....he is ok most important...as i said many people panic....
intheburbs
Full Access Member
I almost got taken out by a driver that couldn't control their trailer. Was on a 4-lane highway, I-75 here in metro Detroit, no wind, and a Ram pickup pulling a TT started to death sway. The Ram took out two vehicles before recovering. One vehicle was pushed off the road and rolled. I pulled over and helped the occupants until Fire/EMTs arrived. There was a little girl, about 5 years old, hanging upside down in her car seat. She was petrified.
I also saw the video of the rig mentioned above in NJ - forget if it was the GSP or the Turnpike.
Fortuntately, the OP didn't take anyone out when he laid his rig down. It could have been a lot worse. I won't apologize for calling it as I see it.
I also saw the video of the rig mentioned above in NJ - forget if it was the GSP or the Turnpike.
Fortuntately, the OP didn't take anyone out when he laid his rig down. It could have been a lot worse. I won't apologize for calling it as I see it.
Gurrzt
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2016
- Posts
- 112
- Reaction score
- 19
Glad you and your family are ok, did the airbags deploy? if so, the insurance company will consider it totaled.
NeverSatisfied
eBay Baller
"Since you're still alive let me take time to explain how you f'd up instead of being glad that you did what you could to not take anyone else out. Oh and also be happy that you and your wife are okay." Seriously some people these days.
In all seriousness tho, glad you and the wife are okay and nobody else was harmed as well. Like you said truck and trailer can be replaced but someone's life can't.
In all seriousness tho, glad you and the wife are okay and nobody else was harmed as well. Like you said truck and trailer can be replaced but someone's life can't.
NachoTahoe
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2017
- Posts
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
its not a dick thing to say. OP didnt do what he was supposed to do in that exact second he should have... (accelerate and hit trailer brakes) thus he doesnt understand how he did put peoples lives at risk. Pulling over to an exit took thousands of feet.... he could have fixed it in hundreds of feet.
"I did not apply the trailer brake manually and do regret that. It all happened in a manner of seconds and traffic was heavy. I just wanted to get over to the exit/shoulder and not take out an innocent family."
Lets put this in perspective.... your vehicle brakes fail and your gonna slam it into the car ahead of you.... do you throw the vehicle into the park position because thats the fastest thing you can think of or do you use the emergency brake that is on the car? Just because you dont normally use the brake.... doesnt mean it doesnt have a purpose. OP will use that trailer brake next time.... Maybe the OP should rename the "manual trailer brake" to "emergency anti-sway"
NachoTahoe
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2017
- Posts
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
Embedded media from this media site is no longer available
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
That's messed up! Hopefully no one got hurt. I can't believe those other cars just drove right by.
63Blackseries
Full Access Member
So I am planning to buy a rv trailer in the near future, I am guessing the only way to prevent this is to watch your speed and balance the weight out? Or is this a trailer design flaw or drivers fault? I have towed enclosed trailers and flat deck trailers with a tractor on it and haven't had any problems with my Avalanche.
W8TVI
Full Access Member
It was the drivers fault.
They didn't load the trailer properly, and they probably didn't have anti-sway bars.
There is a lot of air being pushed off to the side of the front of that semi tractor. That air pushing sideways on the trailer is probably what started the sway.
My family got a 30' TT and pulled it behind a '91 1500 Suburban with the towing package. First trip we took with it, we only had the load levelers (it helps "distribute" weight to the front axle of the truck, or so I'm told). Every time a big rig passed us, you could feel it push on the back of the trailer, then the front of the trailer, then on the Suburban.
The next trip, we had the anti-sway bars, too.
With those, every time we were passed (or passed, for that matter) a big rig, the whole TT + Suburban combo was pushed to the side a a whole unit, instead of it trying to pivot in the middle, depending on where the semi was in its pass.
If I tow a big trailer with my Yukon XL, I will be using load levelers and the anti-sways for sure.
Similar threads
