I see what you're saying Wild Bill 888. Though I don't think I hijacked the thread. But I did give too much information which allowed it to drift in a way I didn't expect. The thread is supposed to be about getting to the brake controller fast enough to stop a sway event. And not about what I should have done in the trailer losing traction event from the story.
The too much information is where I even related the story about the trailer sliding sideways on the corner. The event happened so fast that by the time I even thought about the brake controller the event was over. Whether the controller would be the correct action in this event is not really relevant.
The relevant part is that I didn't even think about the controller until the event was over. I've seen enough youtube videos and read enough posts on here about trailer sway that I know that sometimes it happens slow and builds, and sometimes it happens in an instant from the bow wave of a tractor trailer blowing by at 80 mph.
I found some of the replies to this post interesting. People talking about always being on the alert, or always scanning for danger, their trailer is set up correctly etc. When in fact stuff happens. We are all human and we all make mistakes. We take our eyes off the road to look at the speedometer, to look at the clock, to look in the rear view mirror at the face the kid in the back seat and scold him for bothering his sister. Maybe there was a death in the family and we're deep in thought driving 10 hours to circle the wagons. NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY looks at the road and scans their mirrors 100 percent of the time that they are behind the wheel.
So this is where this post comes in. Picture yourself deep in thought cruising down the road about 55 mph on a clear wind free day. You've been on the road for 3 hours and on the same straight stretch of road for about 45 minutes. You are lulled into a false sense of security as you're watching the road ahead for debris. Nothing is happening up ahead so you briefly turn your head to your wife to ask where she wants to stop for lunch. At that moment a tractor trailer that you hadn't noticed blows past you doing about 85 mph and the bow wave puts your trailer in a violent sway event. Or it's a windy day and you come out from a tunnel or from under an overpass and a huge gust of wind hits your setup from the side and starts a say event.
Is now the time that you want to think about where exactly is that brake controller lever? I guarantee you will not even want to take one hand off the wheel, let alone take your eyes off the road to look for that brake controller. Yes I'm talking about that brake controller that you haven't even put a finger on in the last 5 years because it is already setup the way you like it. My point is that when the event happens you may not have time to think, you may only have a second or two to react before the situation is unrecoverable. And that is why you should practice, or drill, or pretend, or whatever you want to call it, to get to that lever.
The idea of having someone yell sway was to startle you out of your sense of security and shock you into action like that burst of wind had just occurred. The idea of only doing this when stopped is so you don't accidentally flinch or slam on the brakes or something and wind up in an accident. If you don't want them to yell sway that's fine. Ask you wife to gently put her hand on your arm and say "Honey, the trailer is swaying"
It doesn't matter what the trigger is. What matters is how fast can you make a controlled grab at the brake controller lever. If you do not practice at least a few times; You're probably going to lose precious seconds in trying to pry your hands off the wheel and get to the lever.
