ok gang it's trailer 101 time!
trailers are not that complicated but their weight or the distance between
the axle and the hitch make them a very interesting thing combined with
tire size and track width. the shorter the distance between the axle and
hitch the less stable the trailer is and will become more and more unstable
the faster it goes. a narrow track combined with a short tongue of a
trailer is ungodly unstable! and that is magnified by light weight. a
lot of these tiny utility trailers are fine for hauling scrap to a dump or
similar uses but if you try to take one out on the highway you'll find they
sway uncontrollably at times. that is a serious problem when the track
width of the trailer is wider or narrower than the vehicle towing the
trailer when you encounter rutted roads from heavy use. the trailer tries
to settle into one set of ruts and the tow vehicle trys to settle into
another set causing a piching back and forth sideways that is very un
nerving at times. traliers with tiny wheels seem to be a bit twitchy too
as they have a very limited contact patch on the roadway. you often see
the small uhaul trailers out on the highway swaying like crazy and in most
cases overloaded well above the center of gravity as evryone tries to
optimise available crago space in the cheapest / smallest trailer they can
rent. i try to give all that stuff a wide birth when passing knowing that
most drivers when towing rented trailers have very little towing experience
and are at wits end trying to controll what they are pulling.
now with reguard to towing forward or backwards? it does not matter unless
the car has knock off wheels! the car does not care! remember the days of
rear pumps in automatic transmissions? evrything got towed backwards if it
was going over 25-30mph or the driveshaft had to be removed if towing with
rear wheels on ground to eliminate the transmission trying to engauge at or
above the prior noted road speed. all that was done to tow backwards was
tie the steering wheel to the vent window post to center the front wheels.
you needed to put "car in tow" on the windshield or a set of magnetic lights
wired to the tow vehicles lights were stuck on the vehicle being towed or if
the car was new enough turn on the 4 way flashers. the fine art of tow
bar towing, tow strap or chain towing has gone by the side of the road and
in some area's is illegal. but the tow dolly routine is not too bad if you
have one available!
chuck.
-----Original Message-----
From cbking at alum.rpi.edu <cbking@alum.rpi.edu>
To: dbl@chicagolandmgclub.com <dbl@chicagolandmgclub.com>
Cc: spridgets@autox.team.net <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Date: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 8:02 AM
Subject: Re: Re: Hypothetical Question
>I have. :) Or rather, BTDT! A few years ago my father rented a small
>U-haul trailer to tow behind his Ranger to bring home a load of pressure
>treated lumber for a deck he was building. He must have overloaded the
>trailer, since at about 45mph the tail started to wag the dog! After
>slowing, regaining control, and stopping beside the highway to catch our
>breath and clean our shorts, we headed home slowly. His job was to keep
>the truck on the road. Mine was to stare at the speedo and yell if he
>went over 35.
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