I've been watching this thread with interest as when I'm not fiddling about
with Triumphs, writing
or talking about them - my wife and I like to spend as much time as we can in
our trailer home
somewhere in the UK. Mostly we do this at weekends. To input further comment on
this thread, its a
widely accepted practise in the UK and Europe that for safe towing - whether a
caravan (trailer
home) or a simple trailer, the following facts are observed:
1. A four wheeled trailer is better than a two wheeled trailer. The two extra
wheels give valuable
extra stability, especially in cross winds.
2. The all-up weight of whatever is on the towbar should not be more than 80%
of the towing vehicle
weight. A 90% weight is about the maximum. The police tend to take a strong
interest in any heavy
load that looks heavier than the tow vehicle.
3. If the towed load exceeds 350lbs total weight (including trailer weight) the
trailer must have
its own braking system. Usually this is a mechanical set-up activated by the
telescoping action of
the towhitch on the vehicle towball.
4. Trailer noseweight (the downward thrust on the car towball) should be
between 70-100 kgs
(140-200lbs approx). You can easily calculate this by placing a set of bathroom
scales under the
trailer tow hitch and supporting it with a piece of 3"x3" timber.
5. The load in the caravan or on the trailer should be placed ideally over the
trailer axles and
slightly nose heavy and calculated as in 4 above.
6. Speed is restricted to a maximum of 60mph.
7. Trailer tyres should never be the same as car tyres. You need considerable
extra strength in the
side walls. Mine are 8 ply steel and I change them every five years.
I have two trailer homes and a small household trailer, all of which are used
regularly. While I
always carefully check total trailer weight, load position and towball
downthrust, all my trailers
are fitted with an additional anti-snaking device that I can transfer from one
unit to another. Even
with a properly loaded trailer or caravan, snaking is often encountered by the
suction effect of
passing trucks and buses and my Bulldog set-up stops it even starting. Happily,
all larger trailers
and all caravans are now fitted as standard with an anti-snake lock when
delivered from the factory.
FWIW....
Jonmac
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