Jackknife with Hensley

dodge guy wrote:
If I were to take a guess, I would say something failed on the Hensley. when something brakes (strut rod for example) the HA will allow the trailer to go all over the place!

This might be the best swag so far. Also shows why many of us like to have a safe and sane towing set up BEFORE we had the sway bars etc. Not a swaying trailer, adding bars to fix the fishtail sway. When the bandaid breaks, the trailer will fishtail, and you have a setup in the ditch. I drove 150 miles one time with a literally "lost" bar that had fallen off, the other was still there but disconnected. Trailer pulled straight the whole time. Finished the trip with 20-30 mph side to side gusts going the Columbia River Valley. Trailer was rock solid behind me.

Marty

I just need to say it...

That poor Airstream.


And now back to your regularly scheduling bickering. :-)

If I were to take a guess, I would say something failed on the Hensley. when something brakes (strut rod for example) the HA will allow the trailer to go all over the place!

If the tow vehicle "turns" first (abruptly or not) a Hensley allows the rig to bend in the middle right?

Maybe the trailer brake controller was the type that goes and has a committee meeting before applying the brakes allowed the Airstream to continue downrange until a jackknife occurred?

LOL

The theory's people come up with to justify things, good luck to all of you.

Trailer brakes will eventually stop a trailer and yes breakaway device what not are there to I act brackets. They will keep something at standstill/ideal from moving forward but they are not going to stop a trailer moving 60mph in the required distance to pass safety tests. If they were that safe on their own you could travel in them lol.

It makes no sense to even try and explain proper TT to TV legal requirements as someone, somewhere " towed 6000 miles" with the same setup and no problems at all. 15 people can tell ya not a good idea but it does not matter. Personally I do not care but if I ever get smashed into by one of these people towing well looking at the sky they better hope they are right and I am wrong from a legal standpoint

TXiceman wrote:
Tom/Barb, The photo looks like a typical jack-knife situation. How do brakes even figure into this? You can get to a jack-knifed situation and not have any brake issue on the truck or trailer. Road conditions like slick pavement can contribute.

Ken

You can, that's true, but does it look like slippery conditions in the picture?

Ken,

Maybe I am using the improper term per say, ie trailer brakes need to stop both truck and trailer. As noted, if field tested, the brakes had better hold or stay locked up. A single axle trailer say rated at 3500 as I had, may not hold a Class 8 tractor, but the brakes had better stay locked up in the field test as I described, or the trailer will be illegal on the hwy due to a fail braking system.

Marty

Ken,
Tell that to the SP that pulls you over and has you disconnect the trailer brake lanyard, take off in first gear, and HAVE the trailer hold you in place! That is the test the LEO will do to you to verify your brakes are working. OR< they could have you go to say 5 mph, hit the brake lever in the cab, and the trailer had better stop both of you!

That is how I have been checked a few times with my equipment trailer.

Some pretty impressive speculation. You only need to look at the picture to ascertain the vehicle went in the ditch and the trailer at some point was in a jackknife position. So the only scenario a trailer jackknifes is due to brakes?

The vehicle could have just as easily hit the ditch and the damage occurred trying to pull back onto the roadway with no braking. I have seen many double duallies in the ditch jackknifed so I don't see the validity of that statement.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

TXiceman wrote:

Where can you see that the trailer brakes failed? Ken

You only need to look at the picture to see that that trailer pushed that Ford SUV around like a toy. maybe the trailer brakes did not fail, maybe they were simply set wrong, either way, that trailer pushed that TV around into a jack knife and it will not do that if the brakes are working as they should.

Had he a dually we would not have this thread. that's my humble opinion.

You are so right!

Hmm, when I had my Dually I didn't detect any magic anti jack knife towing dust...Not sure how having a Dually would have kept this particular event from happening either. Especially since we have 1 picture after the accident with no details.

I assure you a Dually can still jackknife....a crew cab Dually turns slower, handles worse, and possibly would have handle this event much worse than the expedition with its 4 wheel independent suspension. Ever seen a HD truck do evasive maneuvers with a trailer in tow compared to a(n actual) good handling vehicle? The Dually may have been on its top in this instance. At least the ex kept the rig on its wheels.

Just musing...since we are all speculating at this point.

Thanks!

Jeremiah