Towing in the wind.

[rbpru]

We just finished a 250 mile trip to down state Illinois. We had 20 to 25 + mph crosswinds all the way; so, we held the speed to 55 mph.

I was pleasantly surprised that the wind buffets were not that bad, but the gas mileage was a bit less than 8 mpg. :E usually it is closer to 10 mpg.:C Also at 55 mph everything passes you. We kept off the Interstate most of the way.

My TT is only 25 ft. and weighs about 6000 lbs. so it is not a huge wind sail. Still my driving sweet spot is normally about 60 to 62 mph. but it just was not working in the wind so slow and steady was the pace.

The question is, what speed works for you in a moderate cross wind, particularly the bigger TTs.

I am told the 5vers have less wind problems.

[LVJJJ]

hawkeye-08 wrote:
We had a wind incident when we had our previous TV/TT. We were towing into 50mph headwind (mostly, angled some at times). We were going about 35mph when we went under an overpass (4 lane divided highway, we were in right hand lane, very light traffic) and without moving the steering wheel, the whole setup moved to the left lane, it happened fast and all together, no sway, just one moment in right, next moment in left lane. We found out later that some of the roads not far from there were closed. We should have not traveled that night, but wanted to get home.

I would find a place to pull off if the winds were too high or stay put if forecast called for high winds.

We were towing on a straight long blue highway in Nevada on a completely calm day. A single rogue wind came out of nowhere and moved us over into the oncoming lane, luckily no one there. So, even "no wind" days can be dangerous.

[Technologiq]

[4X4Dodger]

azdryheat wrote:
Winds don't affect our toy hauler much at all. 35-40mph cross-winds and we're stable. 5th wheel towing is the only way to go.

I wouldnt get too complacent if I were you. I was once following a tractor trailer thru Wyoming on I80 which was blown over, AT SPEED, by a wind gust.

Of course he corrected for the wind the wrong direction...

And of course his fifth wheel was much bigger than yours.

What counts is the area that is facing the wind and the amount of resistance that is offered by forward motion and the tires on the ground as well as the weight of the trailer. If these forces are out of balance YOU WILL go over.

[rbpru]

Maybe if you live out where the wind blows you get used to such things.

Here when we have high winds (45+ mph) they post truck and trailer advisories on the toll road, warning against travel.

[LenSatic]

This is from my blog entry describing the day we picked up the Casita:

They (the Casita factory) suggested a propane station in Ennis to fill our tanks and recommended the BBQ restaurant next to it for lunch. By the time we found the station, it was closed for lunch, and the cold front had caught up with us. It was 12:15 and the sign said that the shop would open at 1:00. We went next door to Bubba’s BBQ and got take-out and had lunch in the Casita.

We watched the clouds get lower and darker and the rain get heavier. At 12:45 an LPG delivery truck pulled into the station and a little old guy got out and limped over to us, knocked, and asked if we needed propane. He said that someone had called him and told him we were waiting. He wanted to get us fueled before the electrical fireworks started. In the half our or so that we had been there, the temperature dropped 30 degrees.

I called my sister and had her pull up a live Doppler radar website and give me a briefing on where the heaviest thunderstorm cells were. We drove through Ennis and headed back to her house on 287. The rain at times was so heavy it was hard to see and the winds were reported as 30 mph gusting to 45 in the Waxahachie area.

The little Casita behaved beautifully and I caught myself driving 60+ several times even though I was trying to drive conservatively. We did hydroplane several times and the wind blew the Pathfinder and Casita sideways across the highway as one unit.

By the time we got to Midlothian, the rain and wind was so heavy and the creeks were flooding over the highway so I decided it was time to hunker down for a while.

I called my sister and she told me that we were in the worst of it at the moment and that we had a shot at beating the next heavy cell if we left as soon as possible.

The rain let up a little and we hit the road again. We heard on the radio that DFW airport had been shut down due to tornadoes spotted nearby. I told my California-native wife to keep her eyes out for cyclonic action and pressed on. I’d spent most of my early life in Texas and Oklahoma and had yet to see a tornado but always wanted to…now was not the time for that. We’d paid for a whole egg, not an omelet.

As we hit the outskirts of Ft. Worth, the worst was behind us and the death toll was five or six. It rose into the teens the next day.

Full story here: http://casitalog.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-casita-travel-trailer.html

Piece of cake since then! 😉

LS

[Jframpey]

colliehauler wrote:

SprinklerMan wrote:

dvitale300 wrote:
So here's a question - Let's say you're on the highway and the cross winds get too strong - perhaps a storm is blowing in. You find a rest area / safe place to pull over and wait it out. You try to point the trailer into the wind (although that isn't always possible). Do you put down the stabilizers as well - or just stay on the wheels?

I would unhook from the trailer . If it goes , so what thats what insurance is for .

Totally unnecessary if it's just wind. If it's a bad storm park in the rest area and go in the shelter building.

If you can park with the TV and TT at an angle to each other that will add stability... Turn so the point formed by the vehicles points into the wind. That's an old trick from my firefighting days - we drove an articulated ladder - always turned the cab 30 degrees to improve the stability of the rig when raising the ladder.

[hawkeye-08]

We had a wind incident when we had our previous TV/TT. We were towing into 50mph headwind (mostly, angled some at times). We were going about 35mph when we went under an overpass (4 lane divided highway, we were in right hand lane, very light traffic) and without moving the steering wheel, the whole setup moved to the left lane, it happened fast and all together, no sway, just one moment in right, next moment in left lane. We found out later that some of the roads not far from there were closed. We should have not traveled that night, but wanted to get home.

I would find a place to pull off if the winds were too high or stay put if forecast called for high winds.

[natedog_37]

^ ROFL

[Stovepipe]

Doug33 wrote:
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my RV.

[Doug33]

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my RV.

[colliehauler]

SprinklerMan wrote:

dvitale300 wrote:
So here's a question - Let's say you're on the highway and the cross winds get too strong - perhaps a storm is blowing in. You find a rest area / safe place to pull over and wait it out. You try to point the trailer into the wind (although that isn't always possible). Do you put down the stabilizers as well - or just stay on the wheels?

I would unhook from the trailer . If it goes , so what thats what insurance is for .

Totally unnecessary if it's just wind. If it's a bad storm park in the rest area and go in the shelter building.

[jaycocreek]

dvitale300 wrote:
So here's a question - Let's say you're on the highway and the cross winds get too strong - perhaps a storm is blowing in. You find a rest area / safe place to pull over and wait it out. You try to point the trailer into the wind (although that isn't always possible). Do you put down the stabilizers as well - or just stay on the wheels?

I wood put them down. A friend on the prarie has had his trailer on just two wheels it blew so hard and the awning ripped off when it was in, but not locked. If I lived out there I would even run a Truckers strap over it and staked into the ground.

Our old double wide got hit with a micro burst ripping our porch off. The wind gets nasty around here sometimes.

[SprinklerMan]

dvitale300 wrote:
So here's a question - Let's say you're on the highway and the cross winds get too strong - perhaps a storm is blowing in. You find a rest area / safe place to pull over and wait it out. You try to point the trailer into the wind (although that isn't always possible). Do you put down the stabilizers as well - or just stay on the wheels?

I would unhook from the trailer . If it goes , so what thats what insurance is for .

[dvitale300]

So here's a question - Let's say you're on the highway and the cross winds get too strong - perhaps a storm is blowing in. You find a rest area / safe place to pull over and wait it out. You try to point the trailer into the wind (although that isn't always possible). Do you put down the stabilizers as well - or just stay on the wheels?