Biggest problem I've had in the past is coaches on the motorways creating bow waves !.
Once had an CI Pioneer which would start snaking at any speed over 50mph despite how I drove or loaded it - took it back to the dealer and bought something else.
Current van has a front which is a v shape so that the airstream coming off the back of my car is routed along the sides of the van instead of over the top which increases mpg !.
I'm sure some don't even realise they're snaking when they're doing it. They just keep hurtling on. My van appears to have little or no suspension (the shock absorbers are of a heavy rating) and I've had no problems to my knowledge . on the way home from Penrith this afternoon, a caravan had overturned blocking the 2 outside lanes. It was pointing N instead of S. . .the occupants were drinking from a flask on the central reservation. The car was a Jag, they were lucky. I don't know what happened.
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I tow with an old style hitch and no stabiliser. I have never had an issue. I think much of this is due to driving styles, like others have said I too have been overtaken by some snaking high speed caravaners with modern units and heavy cars. Its all about how you drive.
Quote: Originally posted by Ludovine on 19/10/2014
Do you have enough noseweight? you need 90-100kg on a caravan of that weight, but tbf 55mph is good cruising speed with large caravan, just cruise along with the trucks. Some European countries have 90kph/55mph motorway speed limit for caravans.
This was in reply to my enquiries.
I replaced the front box with a Fiamma camper back box and fitted a 13Kg gas bottle and multiple batteries. I moved the motorcycle front wheel clamp forward to the very front of the caravan. Using a Reich Digital Nose Weight Gauge to check weight before and after these changes I could see that I had increased the static nose weight from about 35Kg to about 95. It now tows with great stability even in windy uneven lanes. The fold up jockey wheel is held on its pivot by a circlip and this seems to be the only remaining weak point.
I also wonder if folk actually know their caravans are 'snaking' I have followed a number of outfits that constantly shake from side to side. Had an old boy towing a new van with a CRV come past me, I was doing 60 on cruise control and he was wobbling all the time even after he passed. Maybe my van does the same and I don't notice? Problem I have is with the van bouncing the back of my car if it goes over bumps. I am addressing this problem today by fitting MAD helper springs inside the rear coil springs of my outlander. My previous jeep was better in that respect (had very hard suspension) but had to be loaded up to increase it's kerb weight for the most stable results.
A regular side to side oscillation of the trailer was something I often experienced when towing heavy drawbar trailers and cars on trailers too and this is what I class as snaking.
Left alone it gets no worse but if it does then you have a far more serious issue, probably due to poor loading of the trailer, assuming everything else is good and may find out about it too late to do anything to stop it.
Over reaction can be the worst thing and can lead to total loss of control.
A light touch on the wheel and gentle deceleration is likely to be your best course of action.
Generally it was worse when the tow vehicle had a long couple between the hitch and the rear axle line, was very much worsened if the rear tyres were not good and hard and got serious if there was any play in the coupling (not a ball hitch issue of course).
So with a car/caravan unit if there is regular side to side oscillations all you can do is make sure all tyres are the correct pressure and maybe uprate them to harder sidewalls and ensure trailer loading is optimised for stability.
Never had a snake with this caravan - it's around 75% of unladen car, and both the car and caravan have electrickery stability systems.
Years ago in the eighties I worked for a double glazing company who'd bought a caravan and installed a range of their products in place of the original windows. One side was a diamond leaded hardwood affair while the other side was uPVC and the rear actually had a bay installed. Plus a proper uPVC door.
The thing must have weighed over two tons with weight distribution all over the place. It was a horror to tow with my 1.6 petrol Fiat Panorama,
http://www.carsplusplus.com/specs1982/fiat_131_panorama.php
which was actually the same colour, Verdi Kent as I recall, as in this link.
Several near death experiences and totally bu**ered the car. But I was young.
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