Nasty wreck on video with a trailer being towed!

Hannibal wrote:
This one appears to have begun with a little help from a passing SUV. He wasn't speeding, doesn't appear to be windy, road looks normal, no evasive maneuver, just oscillation that continued to get worse. I'd bet lunch the owner lightened tongue weight to accommodate the Expedition. Doesn't make him evil, stupid or careless. He may have been ignorant of how little it takes off the tongue to induce sway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miE3MOcqn7E

My Layton is pretty light on the tongue. How much? Don't know, never weighed it. If the ol lady puts two suit cases of cloths on the bed (rear bed) my trailer will sway even with my sway bar adjusted as tight as I can get it. If I move those to suit cases up front to the dining room; no sway. Just like magic!

I bet the suit cases weight about 50 to 75lbs apiece and it's not on the rear bumper. In fact it's about 4 to 5 foot inboard.

Just goes to show how little it takes with a trailer with a light tongue weight.

This one appears to have begun with a little help from a passing SUV. He wasn't speeding, doesn't appear to be windy, road looks normal, no evasive maneuver, just oscillation that continued to get worse. I'd bet lunch the owner lightened tongue weight to accommodate the Expedition. Doesn't make him evil, stupid or careless. He may have been ignorant of how little it takes off the tongue to induce sway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miE3MOcqn7E

Let's go to the holy grail of hitches and gander at their thoughts on causes of sway, compare them to the video and the account from the owner of the rig. Then eliminate the ones that don't count. I don't believe the driver was an idiot or a maniac. Causes of other than trailer induced sway will correct themselves when the cause ceases. This kept getting worse instead of better as the accident unfolded.

https://www.propridehitch.com/what-is-trailer-sway/

This one was obviously caused by an irregularity in the road as he drifted out of his lane onto the margin, his swerve to get back in his lane and, not being trailer induced. The sway was pretty bad. It corrected on it's own with the driver keeping the TV in line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABg20TEfY-8

dodge guy wrote:
And the owner of the setup in he video states he had plenty of hitch weight, but it's apparrant in the video that is not the case. How can you argue your point when the video proves otherwise?!!

BS. You simply think tongue weight is the only possible cause of uncontrolled sway. It isn't. The video proves nothing of the sort.

Ok guys. Yes I rounded up. So what, I'm sure that load was more than 128lbs (that's pretty specific actually!) it doesn't matter what it was, any unloading of the hitch by that amount will cause sway issues. Between the carrier, freezer, grille and chairs it was more than 128lbs.

I routinely put 4 bikes on the back of my trailer and have moved stuff around inside the trailer to keep the tongue weight at 12%. All done while at a scale! So believe me I know what can be removed from the tongue by loading heavy in the rear. The first time I used my bike rack I moved a few things, but not enough as the trailer swayed quite a bit. The next trip I went to the scales and moved more stuff to make it right.
And yes, my bike rack is mounted solid and will not fail as others have so let's not go there.

And the owner of the setup in he video states he had plenty of hitch weight, but it's apparrant in the video that is not the case. How can you argue your point when the video proves otherwise?!!

I'm done here, as there is nothing more to argue. Everyone is alive and safe which is all that matters.

There's a lot of room aft of the axles inside that trailer. I wonder what was loaded in there. My halo is all rusted up, dented and doesn't work anyhow but we have a rule. We can load anything we can carry into the trailer as long as it's in front of the axles. Tongue weight is barely adequate by design with our travel trailers so yes, it takes very little to offset that balance and induce sway. Between low tongue weight, heavy aft weight and some of these wishful thinking hitches, this was an accident waiting to happen. You won't convince me otherwise. We saw it on video as it unfolded.

mike-s wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
Hey, first time I've seen it and between all the stuff he added to the back and not putting the trailer brakes on, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

This was no accident. This one was 100% avoidable. There are 2-3 smoking guns, unlike most crash videos and images we see posted.

I saw all the **** at the back of the camper immediately as well, and notice how much the bumper and/or the rack holding is all is bent downward! WHOA!!!

Add to that to the heavy load at the back of the trailer notice as well how much the SUV is sagging. Either a poorly adjusted WDH or no WDH at all.

And of course speed. The truck was doing 65mph and the SUV was passing at a good clip. Had to be over 70. Not to say I've never done the same, but add this high speed to all the above and this IMO was clearly an avoidable incident.

All that **** at the back of the camper only weighed a whopping 128 lbs. I don't think that unloaded much hitch weight taking into account the balance point of that trailer. Why is it on RV forums that people swear that any weight behind or on the rear bumper causes Armageddon?

Anyhow here is the real story as told by the guy who experienced it.Story

Try loading 200lbs at the bumper of your trailer and see how it handles? I think you would be amazed at how much it unloads the tongue of the trailer.

And yes, I seen the guys post on what happened. I believe most of it. But I think he missed a few important details that he probably doesn't remember for this too happen like it did.

LOL. Seriously? You're rounding 128 lbs up to 200 to make an argument. And have to ask for an answer to a question which you assume supports your argument? You can't figure out how much it would unload the hitch on your own? Hint: the axle is more than 1/2 way back. 128 lbs on the rear would unload less than 128 lbs from the hitch - that's middle school physics of levers.

But, it really doesn't matter - the owner already stated that he had enough hitch weight. All you armchair pundits, with your "he's an idiot who obviously did x, y, and z wrong" are yourselves the ones who've been shown to be ignorant and incorrect.

I routinely carry two RTIC 65 coolers loaded with beer and ice on a steel cargo platform behind the current Rockwood and done the same on two prior trailers. I can tell no difference with them there or not, and I do not use a WDH either with 2500 trucks, why would I. I also tow around 26' box trailers loaded with concrete construction equipment sometimes with a 2500, some are in the neighborhood of 12K lbs at a minimum, and no WDH used there. Its a pintle hitch.

dodge guy wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
Hey, first time I've seen it and between all the stuff he added to the back and not putting the trailer brakes on, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

This was no accident. This one was 100% avoidable. There are 2-3 smoking guns, unlike most crash videos and images we see posted.

I saw all the **** at the back of the camper immediately as well, and notice how much the bumper and/or the rack holding is all is bent downward! WHOA!!!

Add to that to the heavy load at the back of the trailer notice as well how much the SUV is sagging. Either a poorly adjusted WDH or no WDH at all.

And of course speed. The truck was doing 65mph and the SUV was passing at a good clip. Had to be over 70. Not to say I've never done the same, but add this high speed to all the above and this IMO was clearly an avoidable incident.

All that **** at the back of the camper only weighed a whopping 128 lbs. I don't think that unloaded much hitch weight taking into account the balance point of that trailer. Why is it on RV forums that people swear that any weight behind or on the rear bumper causes Armageddon?

Anyhow here is the real story as told by the guy who experienced it.Story

Try loading 200lbs at the bumper of your trailer and see how it handles? I think you would be amazed at how much it unloads the tongue of the trailer.

And yes, I seen the guys post on what happened. I believe most of it. But I think he missed a few important details that he probably doesn't remember for this too happen like it did.

LOL. Seriously? You're rounding 128 lbs up to 200 to make an argument. And have to ask for an answer to a question which you assume supports your argument? You can't figure out how much it would unload the hitch on your own? Hint: the axle is more than 1/2 way back. 128 lbs on the rear would unload less than 128 lbs from the hitch - that's middle school physics of levers.

But, it really doesn't matter - the owner already stated that he had enough hitch weight. All you armchair pundits, with your "he's an idiot who obviously did x, y, and z wrong" are yourselves the ones who've been shown to be ignorant and incorrect.

Ralph Cramden wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
Hey, first time I've seen it and between all the stuff he added to the back and not putting the trailer brakes on, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

This was no accident. This one was 100% avoidable. There are 2-3 smoking guns, unlike most crash videos and images we see posted.

I saw all the **** at the back of the camper immediately as well, and notice how much the bumper and/or the rack holding is all is bent downward! WHOA!!!

Add to that to the heavy load at the back of the trailer notice as well how much the SUV is sagging. Either a poorly adjusted WDH or no WDH at all.

And of course speed. The truck was doing 65mph and the SUV was passing at a good clip. Had to be over 70. Not to say I've never done the same, but add this high speed to all the above and this IMO was clearly an avoidable incident.

All that **** at the back of the camper only weighed a whopping 128 lbs. I don't think that unloaded much hitch weight taking into account the balance point of that trailer. Why is it on RV forums that people swear that any weight behind or on the rear bumper causes Armageddon?

Anyhow here is the real story as told by the guy who experienced it.Story

Try loading 200lbs at the bumper of your trailer and see how it handles? I think you would be amazed at how much it unloads the tongue of the trailer.

And yes, I seen the guys post on what happened. I believe most of it. But I think he missed a few important details that he probably doesn't remember for this too happen like it did.

RinconVTR wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
Hey, first time I've seen it and between all the stuff he added to the back and not putting the trailer brakes on, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

This was no accident. This one was 100% avoidable. There are 2-3 smoking guns, unlike most crash videos and images we see posted.

I saw all the **** at the back of the camper immediately as well, and notice how much the bumper and/or the rack holding is all is bent downward! WHOA!!!

Add to that to the heavy load at the back of the trailer notice as well how much the SUV is sagging. Either a poorly adjusted WDH or no WDH at all.

And of course speed. The truck was doing 65mph and the SUV was passing at a good clip. Had to be over 70. Not to say I've never done the same, but add this high speed to all the above and this IMO was clearly an avoidable incident.

All that **** at the back of the camper only weighed a whopping 128 lbs. I don't think that unloaded much hitch weight taking into account the balance point of that trailer. Why is it on RV forums that people swear that any weight behind or on the rear bumper causes Armageddon?

Anyhow here is the real story as told by the guy who experienced it.Story