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Subject Topic: Dangers of Towing
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PersonBob61
18/6/2014 at 9:28pm
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Quote: Originally posted by ferretlady on 18/6/2014
Oh gosh, what a thread!
I too am new to towing, I only have a tiny caravan, which does not have an alko fitted.
I have a couple of genuine questions to ask
1. Why have a stabilizer fitted, if it doesn't do anything, or does it?
2. I was led to believe that speeding can cause snaking, does it?

I am totally confused now!


I used to have a small caravan and before I bought it I did a lot of research on everything to do with caravans. By what I could establish stabilisers help but do not prevent snaking if the caravan is set up badly or travelling at excessive speed. They are like ABS brakes on cars...they help to prevent the wheels locking up but won't necessarily stop the car skidding. Stabilisers also help to reduce the up and down motion (yawing?) of a caravan while under tow.

When I eventually bought my caravan I had never towed before and had to pick it up some miles from my home. My shirt was wringing wet with sweat when I got home but the little caravan behaved beautifully and it didn't have a stabiliser. It always towed well but then I didn't carry anything of any great weight inside it.

With regards to your second question there is no doubt in my mind that excessive speed is the trigger for most caravan accidents. I hesitate to say it is the sole cause but keep within the speed limits and you should be fine.



PersonArpajon
18/6/2014 at 9:38pm
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The weights on that test rig as a percentage of the weight of the entire test rig are out of all proportion to a real life situation. I'm sure even the daftest caravanner would understand that it would be unsafe to place the weight of several bags of cement at each end of caravan which is what that test rig does if re enacted for real.

It does however show very well that an uncontrollable snake cannot be induced on a correctly loaded caravan even at speed.

A caravan loaded badly enough to go into an unrecoverable snake will do so at speeds within the speed limit & the video shows that a correctly loaded caravan will not be induced to snake at any speed.


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PersonBob61
19/6/2014 at 12:50am
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Quote: Originally posted by freeatlast on 18/6/2014

I don't think you can assume that the national speed limit is a safe speed for all caravans. It depend on road conditions, and each individual outfit. For example, underinflated tyres will make an outfit less stable.


True, and it is worth remembering that a speed limit is the maximum speed allowed and not a target to be reached. There is no minimum speed limit.


PersonKelper
19/6/2014 at 10:46am
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Yawing is 'side to side', pitching is 'up and down'.


Person4teejay
19/6/2014 at 3:48pm
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Here is my bit and after I have written it i am never going to look at this thread again,too many idiots lol For Bob61

Look upon a stabaliser as a way of smoothing out the effefts of towing giving you a more relaxing ride,as previously stated,will not correct a bad set up.

Everything is on this site ,make sure you understand about tyres and pressures,safe loading,towing limits of your car,nose weights and towbar limits,keep everything as light as you can.Until you understand all this you really should not be towing.
One last thing the cause of a snake as opposed to a little wobble from a van etc.is somtimes if the van is badly loaded i.e. light on the hitch and you are going quite fast the wind gets under the caravan taking some of the weight off the rear wheels then when you brake or take evasive action the back end of the car goes left or right and that is the start of your snake.Which is why you should never attempt to accellerate out of a snake.Anyone who tells you different is an idiot .Bye Bye All


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Personglittering-prize
20/6/2014 at 6:59pm
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Whoever sees a lorry doing 56 mph.More like 76 mph,many years ago lorry drivers were respectful and very good drivers.Now they just seem like bullies and often very bad drivers.We went to bournemouth a couple of weeks ago and i stuck to 60 all the way.My outfit is very stable but i think twin axel helps.I saw loads of caravans come whaling past me wobbling about.You can cover some ground at 60 mph,Better late than never.Let all the idiots go past,then they cant harm you


PersonBob61
20/6/2014 at 7:20pm
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I can't remember the exact figures now but in the UK speeding only knocks a few minutes off a short journey and less than half an hour on a long journey (or something along those lines). Basically speeding isn't going to get you there very much quicker than sticking to the speed limits so why risk an accident or a ticket.

Hereis the calculation (American but still applies here)

Post last edited on 20/06/2014 19:38:02



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