Yikes! Rockey mountain special

[jspence1]

I was shocked to see this combination pull in.

Moderator edit to re-size picture to forum limit of 640px maximum width.

[blt2ski]

Something to also point out, at some point in time, even a 1 ton dually can and will get overpowered by a trailer. Obviously it will be a larger length/weight trailer than the Caravan pictured in OP.......BUT, it can be over powered. Just as I have and I am sure others have seen class 8 tractor/trailer combos over on there side etc!

The day on 410 crossing the columbia r from Portland to Vancouver, ALL the rigs around me shifted half to a full lane with the gust that hit me. Even with a truck that weighed in at 8500-9000 lbs with a trailer that had 6500 lbs on the axels, I was moved by a gust of wind! I've been moved in my 12K empty and loaded to typically 24-25K lbs MDT by strong gusts. Just because one has a big twuck, does not mean you are safe! per say.

Marty

[Cummins12V98]

larry barnhart wrote:
We bought the 2001 chev dually for our new 2001 35 ft alpenlite for safety.

first trip home from Az we experience sun, wind, hail, rain and snow. This was going North on 93 in Nevada. My wife was very nervous so my response was to her, remember the reason for getting the dually truck was for conditions that were not perfect and today is one of those days. End of that story. It still holds true but some don't believe what they don't want to believe.

chevman

Same here Larry. Have been in some veer windy condition along HWY 10 heading to Phoenix from Palm Springs. Even with a very heavy tall RV the ride was rock solid. Well worth it for when the going gets rough!

[larry_barnhart]

We bought the 2001 chev dually for our new 2001 35 ft alpenlite for safety.

first trip home from Az we experience sun, wind, hail, rain and snow. This was going North on 93 in Nevada. My wife was very nervous so my response was to her, remember the reason for getting the dually truck was for conditions that were not perfect and today is one of those days. End of that story. It still holds true but some don't believe what they don't want to believe.

chevman

[Cummins12V98]

blt2ski wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Gust if wind or panic lane change = LIGHTS OUT!

I've been hit by side to side wind gust, that moved the whole truck and trailer over a lane.......lights were still on on that dark sunday night crossing the Columbia river in 20-30 mph steady with upwards of 90mph gusts that night! I did not have a sway system per say hooked to my trailer either. Only a WD system.

If a trailer is setup correctly, a gust of wind should NOT cause an out of control fish tail sway issue. You may/should change lanes as a unit per say, especially the pictured setup in the OP's post with a Hensley.....

I've seen more 5w setup trailers on there sides due to strong side gusts that ball mount trailers that are low CG like the on pictured in OP.

marty

When the RV is too large for the TV it's not a good combo. Get that sway going and it can be all over. I know from personal experience.

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

Regardless of weights, laws, handling and all of that, I'd just be too concerned about frying the transmission to drag more than a 3500 pound pop-up with a minivan....but I'd guess most who do this sort of thing are the type to trade in and get a new one early enough to get by with it....let the next owner buy a new trans prematurely....

[blt2ski]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Gust if wind or panic lane change = LIGHTS OUT!

I've been hit by side to side wind gust, that moved the whole truck and trailer over a lane.......lights were still on on that dark sunday night crossing the Columbia river in 20-30 mph steady with upwards of 90mph gusts that night! I did not have a sway system per say hooked to my trailer either. Only a WD system.

If a trailer is setup correctly, a gust of wind should NOT cause an out of control fish tail sway issue. You may/should change lanes as a unit per say, especially the pictured setup in the OP's post with a Hensley.....

I've seen more 5w setup trailers on there sides due to strong side gusts that ball mount trailers that are low CG like the on pictured in OP.

marty

[Cummins12V98]

Gust if wind or panic lane change = LIGHTS OUT!

[blt2ski]

TXiceman wrote:
What does CanAm do about extending the ratings for components that were not designed to have that much load. The engine, transmission, brakes, and suspension are all designed for passenger car duty, not heavy towing duty.

No matter what the folks at CanAm say, if I am hit by one of his "rigs", I am getting most bad axx lawyer I can find and go aver the rig owners. You can bet CanAm has his company set up so that you cannot touch his assets.

Ken

You may have the same problem another member wrote about once. He managed to kill a person, literally about 150% of over gcwr. Dead persons family sued him. Alive person won suit, dead persons family had to pay attorney fees to person that hit dead family member. Gcwr from manufactures may or may not have any place in civil. It does NOT have a place in legal law. Try it. But you may not win.

Legal over weight laws go back beyond cars and trucks. Hence you have a lot of legal law to overturn.

Marty

[TXiceman]

What does CanAm do about extending the ratings for components that were not designed to have that much load. The engine, transmission, brakes, and suspension are all designed for passenger car duty, not heavy towing duty.

No matter what the folks at CanAm say, if I am hit by one of his "rigs", I am getting most bad axx lawyer I can find and go aver the rig owners. You can bet CanAm has his company set up so that you cannot touch his assets.

Ken

[dodge_guy]

Carluvr wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

Carluvr wrote:
The weakest link is the transmission in these vans. I can't imagine towing anything more than a pop-up with one of these! I've owned two in the past.

:S OMG, really! it`s been 20 years since they had transmission issues!

No it hasn't. I dumped my 03 Town and Country when it was only four years old with 60k on it because the tranny kept acting up intermittently and kept leaving us stranded only to work fine once it was towed home. They made that bodystyle with the same tranny through '07. It was supposed to have been an improvement over the earlier models but it clearly wasn't.

I worked for a Chrysler dealer from 95-2009. after around 95/96 they started getting the tranny sorted out. by 99 it was pretty much problem free! yes they had a few issues, but not many. I have an 07 T&C with no issues and 85k miles on it. I now work at a shop that works on all makes of cars. I can`t even remember the last Chrysler product trans I worked on. I can say I`ve done many Honda and Toyota transmissions than anything else!

[jerem0621]

BenK wrote:
Personally wouldn't...understand the engineering aspects of CanAm in transference
of forces to a larger portion of the monocoque (unibody) and say the weak link
is the automatic tranny of any mini van. Mine is considered the weakest of the
mini vans (Odyssey)...of course factored by sizing (not just weight, but frontal
area of the trailer)

Lower CG is always the better way to go

I'd like to know where else CanAm transfers the forces to on the monocoque pan

I had concerns about this too...

I have heard prospective horror stories from people talking about how the receiver would rip out of the unibody under WD etc.

However, earlier this year my wife was rearended sitting still and the car that hit her was going about 45 MPH.

The 2 inch class II receiver took the brunt of the hit...you would expect the receiver to have ripped off the sheet metal unibody....it did not!

The receiver was bent and mangled but the body endured. The twisting force applied to that receiver, which was then applied to the unibody was exponentially more than any WD hitch could have applied.

(Ya know, 3500 lb car hitting a sitting 5000 lb car in the receiver at 40 MPH, not sure of the math, BenK can you translate that into force mathematically?)

In the end, the force from the hit torqued the receiver to the ground (literally bent it down) and this force torqued the body of the Kia just enough to have to be put on a frame straightening machine.

All in all, the WD forces are transmitted through the entire unibody. Can-Am's receivers do a better job of transmitting the torque forward because their receivers do not bend under WD...

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[Carluvr]

dodge guy wrote:

Carluvr wrote:
The weakest link is the transmission in these vans. I can't imagine towing anything more than a pop-up with one of these! I've owned two in the past.

:S OMG, really! it`s been 20 years since they had transmission issues!

No it hasn't. I dumped my 03 Town and Country when it was only four years old with 60k on it because the tranny kept acting up intermittently and kept leaving us stranded only to work fine once it was towed home. They made that bodystyle with the same tranny through '07. It was supposed to have been an improvement over the earlier models but it clearly wasn't.

[BenK]

Personally wouldn't...understand the engineering aspects of CanAm in transference
of forces to a larger portion of the monocoque (unibody) and say the weak link
is the automatic tranny of any mini van. Mine is considered the weakest of the
mini vans (Odyssey)...of course factored by sizing (not just weight, but frontal
area of the trailer)

Lower CG is always the better way to go

I'd like to know where else CanAm transfers the forces to on the monocoque pan

[jerem0621]

dodge guy wrote:

Carluvr wrote:
The weakest link is the transmission in these vans. I can't imagine towing anything more than a pop-up with one of these! I've owned two in the past.

:S OMG, really! it`s been 20 years since they had transmission issues!

Agree, the Chrysler vans ALL started getting HD transmission coolers in about 2008 when they upgraded the whole line.

The new Chrysler vans are not like the old ones.

Thanks!

Jeremiah