Towing In The Wind

Here's my take after watching some blowover videos...

Most that you see are on rigs that are going way faster than they should be, given the windy conditions. The common thing I noticed was that it appears that a gust of wind catches the rig, it sways, the gust dies down for a second, the rig sways back towards center, then another gust hits it again. You literally get a horizontal "porpoising" effect that, eventually, whips hard enough to roll the rig. This can happen to =any= vehicle. Yes, there are some where a huge sustained gust just blows it over, but in many, the whip-saw action can clearly be seen. Driving much slower, if you have to drive, reduces the blowover risk considerably. If I just =had= to drive in windy conditions, I think I'd not only fill my fresh water tank, but my grey and black tanks, as well.

Lyle

Hotpepperkid, good site. Use it also. A one nighter in North Platte has turned into a 2 nighter because of wind. Conditions are looking better for tomorrow with wind decreasing & turning more behind us. Watched many semis, TTs & 5ers headed westward on I80 today despite forcasts of wind gusting up to 40. Must have been quite the ride for some of them.

If I have to tow in the wind I prefer to tow with full tanks and I use this site for wind forcast

laknox wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:
I use an application that will tell the " wind speed"of all the areas I will be traveling. I route my whole RV trip by checking the areas,towns or cities that I will traveling. I recheck my "wind Speed" application every morning before I continue my trip. Just a rule of thump for ME, if the wind is 30mph or less, I will continue driving unless there is a lot of side winds. If I get stuck out in the boonies or areas where there is no where to pull over and wait, I will cautiously drive a close but safe distance behind a 18 wheel truck until I find a place I can pull over and safety park to wait for the winds to die down. It is also called "drafting" behind the 18 wheeler who will buffer most of the wind for you.

What app, pray tell?

Lyle

The name of the App is called "Wind Alert". Just do a search in the Apple Store or what ever app you use to add new Applications to your computer. Wind alert allows you to pick areas, towns etc. along you planned RV trip and will continusly update itself on wind conditions.

gitane59 wrote:

The unique movements of each type of unit will be so un-natural to us as to induce fear and lack of confidence for a period of time.

Well stated!

TWZMYJP wrote:
and it was just an extension of my body while driving and I was able to anticipate pretty much every action/reaction and how those would feel.

That is exactly how I feel about towing with a fifthwheel and truck combo and helps me to understand why I may feel so much apprehension at switching to a class A.:h

The unique movements of each type of unit will be so un-natural to us as to induce fear and lack of confidence for a period of time.

While traveling Interstate 70 in Utah last Summer we encountered very high winds pulling our 31' fifth wheel. When I was checking out of the campground in Grand Junction Colorado the lady told us to beware of the wind. I had no idea what she was talking about. The sky was blue, the wind was not blowing and we had anticipated a good travel day. After driving about 50 miles into Utah the wind all of a sudden picked up. The velocity was really strong and it was coming out of the South hitting our 5th wheel broadside. This 80 mile stretch of interstate is VERY desolate with NO services, stores or anything. It looks like being on the moon. The wind was howling, dust was so thick I could see only a short distance and I had both hands on the wheel with sweaty palms. The entrance steps on the opposite side from where the wind was blowing kept unfolding. I would stop and put them back up only to have them blown out again. I finally stopped the 4th time and tied them in the closed position. I could only drive 35 to 45 mph and was very uncomfortable with the situation!!! It seemed like hours before the wind settled down. I've never seen anything like this.

Our 5th wheel, other than having the steps unfold, never wavered and performed very well. We made it safely without any incident.
I can tell you 5th wheel trailers do well in high winds! However you should slow down. Later that evening while watching the evening news from our camp in Panguitch we heard about two 18 wheelers near Salt Lake City that were blown over in the high winds!!!!!

Speaking from the small/light end of the spectrum, in the last year we've put 10,000 miles on a 25' class C and also a little less than that pulling a 30' FW with a half ton truck. The truck and fifth wheel are much more stable in cross winds than the small class C. I have stopped for snow and ice, and slowed for crosswind.

We recently sold our 40 foot dp class a and went with back to a fiver. We did it simply because a fiver fits our life style much better. I also upgraded from a F-250 srw to a new F-350 dually. I can say that with the few miles I pulled the fiver with the F-250 it was affected by the wind as much as our motor home. However by switching over to the F-350 and being as honest as I can wind does not affect it at all. The stability is almost unbelievable. Just today we went to a cg 3 hours from our home just to spend the weekend and it was a very windy day. So if your tow vehicle is equipped to handle whatever fiver you have you will be fine. Don't be marginal.

Well, in the interests of bragadociousness (my word, feel free to use it!!), we have towed our 13,000lb "pimple on my butt" with a meagre F350 SRW, in winds up to and NOT beyond 90kmh (~60MPH). Side wind gusts were unnerving as I could see the side of the RV behind the TV from time to time. When we turned into the wind the fuel mpgs dropped so hard and fast our banker phoned me to see if we needed a loan!

As always, YMMV, let erring on the side of cautio be your guide!

Cheers!

Mike