TT Accident - SWAY

No matter how fast he was going, slowing down or using the TV brakes is exactly the WRONG action and will only worsen the situation.

In fact it appears to me from the video that he did let up on the accelerator and that is when the sway went from recoverable to non recoverable.

The RIGHT way to control this is to Accelerate the TV slightly and steadily and/or use a slight pressure on the TT brakes ( but if the sway is too bad then when you apply the trailer brakes too late it will not help. the shifting of weight from one side to the other will make the Braking force uneven and may induce more sway.)

That was heartbreaking to see but totally unnecessary and avoidable.

It looks he just came out of a dead zone beside the semi then caught the wind. That plus speed and inexperience got him in trouble. I would have been backing out of it and reaching for the trailer controller before things got out of hand. Bet his wife won't let him buy a new trailer.:B

Looks like he started to sway once he/she hit the bow wave off the front of the tractor cab.... Likely a combination of excess speed, poor setup, and local winds.

A simple gentle squeeze of the brake controller should have straightened things right out or slowing down but the person just seemed to keep on going. The way the trailer popped off the hitch suggests likely no weight distribution and no probable sway control device.....

Just backs up my practice of moderated speed and keeping alert of everything all the time!!!

Just because you have a big truck does not mean you are safe!!!

jfkmk wrote:
I wonder how fast he was going. He passed that trucker pretty quickly.

A guy over in the TT forum (RCMAN46) who lives in the area worked out how far the markers are spaced apart. He then used this to calculate the speed of each vehicle. He calculated that the Semi was going 69.9 and the F250 was going 78.

Look at his load on the back bumper of his TT also.

I saw several cases of sway, not this bad, on I-10 on the way home this summer. One of them was double sway, they were towing a small trailer with a golf cart on the back of the trailer. Both trailers were whipping back and forth.

I wonder how fast he was going. He passed that trucker pretty quickly.

IdaD wrote:

Iraqvet05 wrote:
The video posting says it was on I-86 in Idaho

Probably wind. The locals in that area always joke that if the wind ever stopped blowing all the buildings would fall over.

Speed too, I'd suggest.

Iraqvet05 wrote:
The video posting says it was on I-86 in Idaho

Probably wind. The locals in that area always joke that if the wind ever stopped blowing all the buildings would fall over.

The video posting says it was on I-86 in Idaho