R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > R-pod Discussion Forums > Camping Adventures
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: Crashed on the interstate while towing the R-Pod
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedCrashed on the interstate while towing the R-Pod
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 5678>
Author
Message Reverse Sort Order
  Share Topic Share Topic  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
bhamster View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 19 May 2011
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 165 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Crashed on the interstate while towing the R-Pod
    Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 8:37pm
Originally posted by thadd

We had both our fresh tank full and grey almost full

That's an extra 500lbs Ouch Just out of curiosity where are these tanks on your model? Are they in front or behind the axle? 
Back to Top
thadd View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 06 Oct 2012
Location: Sacramento, CA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 53 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 8:23pm
First a few more answers to questions:

Speed: We were probably going between 55-60 when the sway started. In retrospect it was probably too fast, but had felt fine at those speeds through a day and a half of mountain driving up until then.

Weight: We had both our fresh tank full and grey almost full, black nearly empty. This meant we were tongue-light which probably contributed to the sway. As for equipment, etc. we were pretty evenly loaded. 

As of now, the trailer has been deemed road worthy. Our insurance will cover the rest of the cosmetic repairs and a detailed inspection once we get to our interim destination in Houston and have a few weeks of down time. I'm a little concerned that things are a bit out of alignment since the driver's side fender seems off-center from where it's supposed to be, but it should be okay for a few more days on the road.

We're actually tossing around the idea of trading in the Highlander to get a bigger TV, especially since my wife is really gun shy about it now and we've got our 9-month old in the car with us. We'll see how we feel leaving camp tomorrow morning and keep you all posted.
Back to Top
tsunami123 View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Location: MINNESOTA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 21 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 6:00pm
I wonder if the length of the wheel base of your tow vehicle had something to do with the jack-knife?
A friend of mine used to tow a sailboat behind his pickup truck and never had a sway problem even in a strong side wind.  He traded the PU for a Jeep Grand Cherokee which had almost the same engine horsepower and tow capacity as the old PU.  But a much shorter wheelbase.
Coming home one day they encountered a sidewind coming down a fairly steep hill...they found that the boat-trailer began to jack-knife.  They couldn't counteract it.  Luckily before the boat and trailer could pull them off the road...the trailer hitch twisted and snapped along with the safety chain.  The boat & trailer proceeded to roll down the embankment, leaving the Jeep on the side of the road.
My friend had a lot of experience on hauling long heavy trailers and said that he never had a trailer act like that before.
Back to Top
this_is_nascar View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 24 Jan 2010
Location: NJ
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 466 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 4:34pm

First things first.  I'm glad that everyone is OK.  Life it too short to begin with to have it altered by an accident such as this.  That being said, something doesn't sound right to me.  With all things being equal (not speeding, no mechanical failures, etc), I just don't understand how this could happen, especially since you had a WDH installed.
"Ray & Connie"

- 2017 R-Pod RP-180
- 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road
Back to Top
wildflowerz View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 02 Oct 2012
Location: PA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 49 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 4:10pm
Being a very green newbie I appreciate Seanl's explanation of what happened. It had to be very scary and I'm sure you all will be shaken for a bit. 

Thanks for being willing to share what happened so we can learn from it also. I am finding that there is a lot that my husband and I don't know.

Hope you can relax tonight before you hit the road tomorrow.
Back to Top
danthoman View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 04 Aug 2012
Location: GA lake country
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 183 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 4:10pm
The hand on the trailer brake control button is a great idea.  I've always thought I could accelerate faster than I could reach the button but from now on I will keep a hand on the button going downhill. 

CharlieM - I would not recommend taping the TV brakes. Things can get out of control much to quickly.
Linda and Dan
Calley the golden retriever
R-pod 177 and a Tundra 8 cyl
Back to Top
CharlieM View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 23 Nov 2012
Location: N. Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1797 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 4:00pm
All,

This is a terrible experience for Thadd and a rotten happening on his early outing, but perhaps we can all learn from it. The guy who set up my trailer told me to just touch the brakes when a sway starts, but not hard enough to engage the TV brakes. This should engage the trailer brakes like putting a chain on the back end of the rig. I have my brake controller set so that I can fell the trailer brakes begin to act as soon as the brake pedal switch actuates. It's a comforting feeling during a stop. Feels like the trailer is actually stopping the rig.

Any thoughts?
Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD
Back to Top
bhamster View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 19 May 2011
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 165 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 3:55pm
Originally posted by Seanl

Sometimes when I am going downhill I will have my hand on the break controller. Hitting the breaks on the trailer will take the push off of the TV allowing it to recover control. Breaking the TV wont work because if your TV breaks grab first it will increase the problem.  Don't know if that help but I thought I would share. 

This is a habit I've developed: I always put my left hand on the brake controller manual lever going downhill. I haven't had any problems with sway, but something about having the trailer push me downhill is disturbing. This only seems to happen at medium to slow speeds since the wind at high speeds seems to cancel out any downhill forces.

Some related questions for thadd: How fast were you going at the time the sway began? How heavily loaded was the trailer and where was the majority of the mass? What were your tank levels?

Glad to hear nobody was hurt.
Back to Top
Seanl View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Location: Fredericton NB
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 633 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 2:18pm
I am glad that no one was hurt. I hope the cat recovers it's wits. I think you experienced a perfect storm of trailer sway. you were going down and hill and turning add to that the fact that you have a light weight TV and and trailer with a single axle and you have a recipe for a jackknife. First the Trailer was pushing the TV because you were going down hill. Next the trailer and TV were not inline because you were going around a corner. The trailer was pushing the TV sideways which started the sway. Sometimes when I am going downhill I will have my hand on the break controller. Hitting the breaks on the trailer will take the push off of the TV allowing it to recover control. Breaking the TV wont work because if your TV breaks grab first it will increase the problem.  Don't know if that help but I thought I would share. 
Sean, 2011 Rpod RP-173,2009 Jeep Liberty Rocky Mountain Edition
Back to Top
thadd View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 06 Oct 2012
Location: Sacramento, CA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 53 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2012 at 2:07pm
I'm happy to answer any and all questions, anything I can do to help prevent this from happening to other rpodders.

My wife was driving at the time and she definitely didn't hit the brakes. When I felt the sway start I advised her not to over correct and she did well just trying to keep it steady. When the sway got worse I told her to stomp on the gas and she did. By that time I think we were already skidding a bit and heading down around the curve, the acceleration wasn't effective.

All-in-all, we might have been able to prevent it earlier by gassing right when it started but going down around the curve that might have been more dangerous. Of course I'm sure we'll be analyzing what happened for weeks.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 5678>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz