strong winds- tornados

[bruce_falink]

Scamp trailor- pickup truck What if- you know there are very strong winds coming and you can put yourself in safety. Is it better to unhook camper from truck or to leave camper hooked up to truck. Or does it really make any difference.

[MFL]

Grit dog wrote:

ajriding wrote:
I think you are here just to make fun of RVers issues most of the time.

Haha, just the dumb or insolent folks!

Lol Grit...insolent?? You had to be looking in the mirror when you wrote that.

I am never insolent, maybe a bit condescending, on rare occasion.

Carry on buddy, I enjoy your posts.

Jerry

[Grit_dog]

ajriding wrote:
The chains thing? No idea what that means, or if you are sober.

The post is about a parked rig. The typical trailer tongue hitch only articulates a certain amount. After that the edges hit the receiver hitch and begin to push. Many many videos and photos of rigs flipping in wind or in fish-tail situations where the trailer flips the truck. It is the regular trailer tongue that gets to its limits and cannot twist anymore. Seems the truck gets flipped before the hitch or tongue breaks or bends. This is in part due to the wind already blowing hard to try to flip the rig anyway. The truck will not flip in that wind, but give it a little extra push and it will. The trailer, which flips easy, is that extra push. By the time the tongue bottoms out on the receiver the trailer is already past its tipping point and is going over. The truck will either stop the trailer from flipping, or hold steady enough that the hitch bends or breaks, or it will go over with the trailer. IF you detach the trailer then the trailer cannot do this. You can leave the safety chains attached as the chains will not have any twisting force on the truck or the trailer. Leaving the chains attached is optional, but in a wind situation will keep the flipped trailer from blowing across the parking lot. Remember we are talking about hurricane or tornado force winds, way beyond normal or safe, and about what the best option is to leave a rig/ abandon a rig in this situation is. You can try to point the rig into the wind, but you will need to know the direction first, and a tornado might alter its direction during the event, and a hurricane will alter its direction as the eyewall passes by.
Im not sure how any of this is confusing for you, but maybe there are others as drunk, so hope this clears up what "chains" are on a trailer.

Yup totally sober, just don't understand your way of thinking.
If you're saying it will save the trailer from blowing away, consider that statement for a second...
Pretty warped thought process. If one is in a situation like this, do you want to guarantee that the truck is basically taken away with the trailer? You think the truck will anchor the trailer? If it does, then why risk damage to the truck?
Justify it however you want, but your best bet is get yourself to safety and get the insurance company on the phone, not trying to anchor the truck to the trailer....

[ajriding]

The chains thing? No idea what that means, or if you are sober.

The post is about a parked rig. The typical trailer tongue hitch only articulates a certain amount. After that the edges hit the receiver hitch and begin to push. Many many videos and photos of rigs flipping in wind or in fish-tail situations where the trailer flips the truck. It is the regular trailer tongue that gets to its limits and cannot twist anymore. Seems the truck gets flipped before the hitch or tongue breaks or bends. This is in part due to the wind already blowing hard to try to flip the rig anyway. The truck will not flip in that wind, but give it a little extra push and it will. The trailer, which flips easy, is that extra push. By the time the tongue bottoms out on the receiver the trailer is already past its tipping point and is going over. The truck will either stop the trailer from flipping, or hold steady enough that the hitch bends or breaks, or it will go over with the trailer. IF you detach the trailer then the trailer cannot do this. You can leave the safety chains attached as the chains will not have any twisting force on the truck or the trailer. Leaving the chains attached is optional, but in a wind situation will keep the flipped trailer from blowing across the parking lot. Remember we are talking about hurricane or tornado force winds, way beyond normal or safe, and about what the best option is to leave a rig/ abandon a rig in this situation is. You can try to point the rig into the wind, but you will need to know the direction first, and a tornado might alter its direction during the event, and a hurricane will alter its direction as the eyewall passes by.
Im not sure how any of this is confusing for you, but maybe there are others as drunk, so hope this clears up what "chains" are on a trailer.

[Grit_dog]

ajriding wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

ajriding wrote:
Well, the trailer should flip before the truck flips. The trailer can then flip the truck or give it enough umph that the wind can now flip it.
Being hooked to the truck will not do much to stop the trailer from flipping, but will do damage to the hitch or the truck.
Unhook. Leave chains on.

Never would have thought of that ridiculous response to, frankly, a ridiculous question.
Thanks for the laugh buddy!

haha, If I didnt know you I would swear you are a moron by your post. I think you are here just to make fun of RVers issues most of the time, so I usually just skip past your post unless I need a chuckle.

Well, I don’t know you, but reading your response including the chains thing “should” sound as ridiculous to you as it does to me. Are the chains like a dog leash to keep the trailer from getting swept into the Wizard of Oz?

PS I gave the OP a constructive response as well, as inane as his question may have been….

Thanks for the vote of confidence that you don’t think I’m a moron though….

[Grit_dog]

ajriding wrote:
I think you are here just to make fun of RVers issues most of the time.

Haha, just the dumb or insolent folks!

[ajriding]

Grit dog wrote:

ajriding wrote:
Well, the trailer should flip before the truck flips. The trailer can then flip the truck or give it enough umph that the wind can now flip it.
Being hooked to the truck will not do much to stop the trailer from flipping, but will do damage to the hitch or the truck.
Unhook. Leave chains on.

Never would have thought of that ridiculous response to, frankly, a ridiculous question.
Thanks for the laugh buddy!

haha, If I didnt know you I would swear you are a moron by your post. I think you are here just to make fun of RVers issues most of the time, so I usually just skip past your post unless I need a chuckle.

[Grit_dog]

BarabooBob wrote:
A couple of years ago a camper was in the boondocking area just north of Badlands National Park. We was unhooked and parked not far from a steep drop-off when high winds came up. The winds caused his camper to break his stabilizer jacks and blew the camper over the cliff. It took several hours for emergency responders to get him out of the camper and to the hospital.
This was discussed on this forum and is the reason I leave my camper hitched and pointed toward the expected wind.

lol
You do this like all the time, or just when camped near a cliff, or just when high winds are expected? What if you're in a campsite that is perpendicular to the "wind?"

What if you have to level up or down from your hitch height? How do you leave it hooked up?

[BarabooBob]

A couple of years ago a camper was in the boondocking area just north of Badlands National Park. We was unhooked and parked not far from a steep drop-off when high winds came up. The winds caused his camper to break his stabilizer jacks and blew the camper over the cliff. It took several hours for emergency responders to get him out of the camper and to the hospital.
This was discussed on this forum and is the reason I leave my camper hitched and pointed toward the expected wind.

[Grit_dog]

It may seem strange, but we get the same weather reports out here as back east, lol. What does that have to do with it?

And as the OP apparently hails from MN, as another Midwest boy myself, he and I should both understand what to do in strong weather.
Except it’s very conditional or situational.
But to the OPs question….hooking trailer to truck will help keep it from ending up in Kansas. Situationally of course.

[CavemanCharlie]

Grit dog wrote:

bruce falink wrote:
Scamp trailor- pickup truck What if- you know there are very strong winds coming and you can put yourself in safety. Is it better to unhook camper from truck or to leave camper hooked up to truck. Or does it really make any difference.

You have too much free time if this is a concern in MN in winter….suppose you could be down in the SE where there may be some tornadoes again here soon. But you’re from MN and haven’t ever heard of what to do in a tornado warning or in a storm?

I’ll give you a clue. If you have time to hook up or un-hook your trailer but don’t think you have time to outrun the tornado, your priorities are 180degrees out of sync with normal thinking. Gtfo of your vehicle/camper and seek shelter.

If this is a hypothetical “what if it gets windy?” IDK

I'm from MN too. Yes, if a tornado is coming you should go to the safest place. Most campgrounds that is the shower house. But, we have a lot of time in advance of high winds. Haven't you ever heard of a weather report Grit dog ? Though you are from WA so maybe you don't have as good of ones out there. Thunderstorms and high winds don't sneak up on us. We have advance warnings of those. We have some advance warning for tornadoes too but, they can't predict the exact point where one is going to form or touchdown.

Maybe he is just asking so he is prepared for next summer. Nothing wrong with that.

[carringb]

Yup. Leave it hooked up for sure. I had one night in Eastern Oregon with sustained winds of 60 MPH and gusts up to 90. I don't think the trailer would have stayed stationary if it weren't hooked up. I did not sleep much that night.

[Grit_dog]

bruce falink wrote:
Scamp trailor- pickup truck What if- you know there are very strong winds coming and you can put yourself in safety. Is it better to unhook camper from truck or to leave camper hooked up to truck. Or does it really make any difference.

You have too much free time if this is a concern in MN in winter….suppose you could be down in the SE where there may be some tornadoes again here soon. But you’re from MN and haven’t ever heard of what to do in a tornado warning or in a storm?

I’ll give you a clue. If you have time to hook up or un-hook your trailer but don’t think you have time to outrun the tornado, your priorities are 180degrees out of sync with normal thinking. Gtfo of your vehicle/camper and seek shelter.

If this is a hypothetical “what if it gets windy?” IDK

[Grit_dog]

ajriding wrote:
Well, the trailer should flip before the truck flips. The trailer can then flip the truck or give it enough umph that the wind can now flip it.
Being hooked to the truck will not do much to stop the trailer from flipping, but will do damage to the hitch or the truck.
Unhook. Leave chains on.

Never would have thought of that ridiculous response to, frankly, a ridiculous question.
Thanks for the laugh buddy!

[JIMNLIN]

strong winds....leave it all hooked up and if possible drop the trailers stabilizers.

squall line 70-90 mph straight line winds....best to leave it hooked up and point the truck/trailer into the wind.

Tornados .....get out of both and get in a shelter.

There is no exact generic answer as every winds from storms will be different and may even blow from more than one direction. Too many variables such as are you on the road traveling or set up in a campground....and expected wind speeds.

Growing up in OK and camping in just a simple rain storm to overhead funnels ....90 mph straight line winds has shown me to be aware where your at in regards to storms path.