Wolf Creek 850 roll over story
Well, Since I opened this can of worms here is the entire story. First let me say I have been a long time truck camper owner and I am no rookie. I have gone trough several truck campers. I recent...
Forum Discussion
Redsky wrote:
I did a rough calculation of the wind force side load on my 845 camper and with a 50 MPH gust the force is about 844 lbs., which is not all that much and countered largely by the weight of the camper. But with a 70 MPH gust the side load nearly doubles to 1660 lbs. of force. It's the gusts that will get you.
The problem is that all that force needs to be resisted by the two windward hold downs on the camper. The turnbuckles are designed to provide 300 lbs. of holding force or 600 lbs. per side so even a 45 MPH gust could overwhelm them.
Just so no one is confused, 1,660 lbs side force does NOT translate into 1,660 lbs of force on the tie downs. The force on the tie downs would be MUCH less. I assume your calcs are based on the wind being exactly perpendicular to the camper side? What are the odds of that?
Also, if there had been 70 mph wind gusts, you would have seen a LOT more dust blowing around in those photos.
Brad
