Thread: Cool Towing Video

Thanks for that.
I will give the thread another day here then shift it to the Caravan area.
Thanks
Andrew

his intent is to show weight added to the front stops trailer sway,,,
look at the distance from coupling to axle,,
go look at your caravan/car trailer.
is the axle exactly in the middle of the overall length of the trailer?
I doubt it.
it will be in the middle of the load bearing section/structure.

There was a great oportunity here to show how differing lengths and weights affect stability,,
but no.
lets perpetuate the urban myth.

I get your point Pete, I'd guess (without running a tape measure over it) that the axle on my van is about 2/3rd the way back from the coupling, but the video does demonstrate that extra weight to the back of the trailer/van will make it less stable.

By what amount depends on the overhang, weight of the van, where the other loads are, weight of the towing vehicle, etc.

I've followed a van before that had an AC unit, jerry cans and 2 spares hanging off the back of the van - the tail was wagging all over the place - I was waiting for something bad to happen, but thankfully it didn't.

The only weight behind my axle is the bed and the wardrobe (yeah, and the van that's holding them in there. but there's very little weight back there. I've had friends follow me when I'm towing it at 100KPH and they say it's rock solid. While the video isn't perfect, it does demonstrate the principle well IMO. The axle is where it is on the model to emphasize the issue so it is easy to see. They aren't trying to decieve anyone. It wouldn't look as good or have the same impact if it only had a small wiggle in it.

If a few more people take note of this vid and reorganise their loads and it saves just 1 van going over, it will have been worth it IMO.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

his intent is to show weight added to the front stops trailer sway,,,
look at the distance from coupling to axle,,
go look at your caravan/car trailer.
is the axle exactly in the middle of the overall length of the trailer?
I doubt it.
it will be in the middle of the load bearing section/structure.

There was a great oportunity here to show how differing lengths and weights affect stability,,
but no.
lets perpetuate the urban myth.

I think you're being pretty harsh.

I agree that numerous other scenarios could be added to show how different axle positions etc affect stability, but to me it was a very good (short) demonstration of how weight aft of the axle is de-stabilising.

As Homestar said, if it makes a few people think twice about their load (particularly about adding it to the rear) then its been a good thing.

Steve

I only ever saw it as a very good conceptual demonstration of the dramatic effect of where weight is positioned when towing. Often you see boats being towed also that are loaded up like trailers.

Here's a good example of when it goes wrong.

A couple of 250hp Yammies right at the back can't help.

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/G...rl-Bay-photos/

Have a look at the Bailey caravan demonstrations. Weight added to the front over a certain level is not good either. Australian caravans have "heavy ends" ... ie: from the back of the caravan can be big tool boxes, so massive heavy offroad spares ... the front has a big boot, bike racks, gas bottles etc....

In the testing this actually caused the caravan to track much better with excellent straight line stability ........... But when it does move, there is to much momentum there ... and it's all over. Once it starts swaying, it is almost impossible to recover.

Now compare it to the latest Bailey caravans. They do not allow weight to be stored at the ends. The gas bottles are mid mounted over the axles. The spare is mid mounted. They supply no-where to mount stuff to the back and the front boot has no weight capacity at all ( if fitted ). My parents have one. If it does move around, it rights itself straight away. They will move around much more easily ... but almost instantly correct themselves like that video.

It appears only Bailey Caravans have put any effort into making caravans "safe to tow" .... Oh, and Cabcar up at Pheonix caravans in Australia. His caravans look weird as there is the same wind sheer area in front and behind the axles. If I ever want to figure anything out I usually head over to the caravaners forum and search for the user "cabcar" and ignore all the morons that argue with him.

Have a look at just about every "caravan accident" that pops up on the news. There is almost always weight swinging off the back bumper that sholdn't be there. the last one I saw was two huge offroad spares, a boat motor and a toolbox. What are they thinking !

seeya
Shane L.