Saw a trailer wreck yesterday

[AZjeff]

Was traveling on the 4 lane divided bypass highway near home and saw brake lights coming on out ahead. It first looked like 2 trucks had come together and stopped in the median, turned out to be a fairly late model Ford Super Duty truck pulling a solid looking flatbed trailer with a 50s truck on board. The Ford was facing the way it came with the trailer up against the bed, all off the road in the median ditch. The S-shaped skid marks in my lanes told the story. It started swaying, made 3 or 4 wider ever wider sways heading toward the right shoulder then it went past no return and jack knifed to the driver side and skidded across both westbound lanes into the median. Slightly downhill gentle curve to the left, speed limit 65. Must have just happened out of sight, the driver was out and a car had stopped and that driver was just running across. The median here is 30-40 feet wide with no barrier and a V profile for drainage. Couldn't see any damage but hard to imagine there wasn't any to the tow vehicle being pushed into the ditch with the bedside at least against the trailer frame. Good news was the old truck staying on the trailer. Came back past 2.5 hours later and it was gone without tearing the area up. Bet the driver needed to change his undies.

Got me thinking about the recommended procedure if a trailer starts swaying. Off the gas and apply some trailer brake (and hope it straightens out) as you slow down.

 

[97prizm]

Was traveling on the 4 lane divided bypass highway near home and saw brake lights coming on out ahead. It first looked like 2 trucks had come together and stopped in the median, turned out to be a fairly late model Ford Super Duty truck pulling a solid looking flatbed trailer with a 50s truck on board. The Ford was facing the way it came with the trailer up against the bed, all off the road in the median ditch. The S-shaped skid marks in my lanes told the story. It started swaying, made 3 or 4 wider ever wider sways heading toward the right shoulder then it went past no return and jack knifed to the driver side and skidded across both westbound lanes into the median. Slightly downhill gentle curve to the left, speed limit 65. Must have just happened out of sight, the driver was out and a car had stopped and that driver was just running across. The median here is 30-40 feet wide with no barrier and a V profile for drainage. Couldn't see any damage but hard to imagine there wasn't any to the tow vehicle being pushed into the ditch with the bedside at least against the trailer frame. Good news was the old truck staying on the trailer. Came back past 2.5 hours later and it was gone without tearing the area up. Bet the driver needed to change his undies.

Got me thinking about the recommended procedure if a trailer starts swaying. Off the gas and apply some trailer brake (and hope it straightens out) as you slow down.

If you balance the load on the trailer correctly It should self correct. Mythbusters and others have videos about this.

 

[ls1mike]

If you balance the load on the trailer correctly It should self correct. Mythbusters and others have videos about this.

Yeah but having a 30 footer and 32 footer, I can tell you that is not always the case. Nice in a controlled environment but there are a ton of other factors, speed, road conditions, tires, brakes, weight/length of tow vehicle vs weight/length of trailer. I LOVE Mythbusters, but that is one of the very few episodes that had me disagreeing with them.

I remember about 3 years ago seeing a 1st gen Tundra (the smaller one) towing a 26 footer over Snoqualmie pass. The sway got the best of them put the truck and trailer on their sides. Was terrible to watch as I had my 32 footer hooked up to my old 17. Luckily no one was hurt.

 

[GON]

Assuming this was a tow behind trailer and not a gooseneck?

As a man in my very early 20's I was towing a homemade box trailer loaded with most of the weight in the upper back of the enclosed trailer. El Camino was the tow vehicle. I was on a two-lane highway going downhill and homemade trailer started to sway back and forth. Lost control of the homemade trailer and then the A frame trailer coupler twisted and snapped off. Glad nobody was injured or worse. I can't recall if I had the trailer towed or just abandoned it. Probably 1985/1986.

This was a great lesson learned at a young age about the importance of weight distribution on a trailer. That event has now brought me to the desire to not use tow behind but prefer to use a gooseneck/ fifth wheel options when feasible.

And on a funny note- I still own that El Camino. It has been sitting in my late Great Grandfather's barn untouched since the late 1980s. I assume mice have eating the wires, and there are inches of dust hiding the paint. Haven't seen the El Camino in decades, but there it sits.

 

[fantastic]

I'll assume this was probably a tow behind & not a GN. Not the correct distribution & probably slamming on the brakes once the vehicle started swaying is double trouble. Glad to hear all was Ok.

 

[c502cid]

Was traveling on the 4 lane divided bypass highway near home and saw brake lights coming on out ahead. It first looked like 2 trucks had come together and stopped in the median, turned out to be a fairly late model Ford Super Duty truck pulling a solid looking flatbed trailer with a 50s truck on board. The Ford was facing the way it came with the trailer up against the bed, all off the road in the median ditch. The S-shaped skid marks in my lanes told the story. It started swaying, made 3 or 4 wider ever wider sways heading toward the right shoulder then it went past no return and jack knifed to the driver side and skidded across both westbound lanes into the median. Slightly downhill gentle curve to the left, speed limit 65. Must have just happened out of sight, the driver was out and a car had stopped and that driver was just running across. The median here is 30-40 feet wide with no barrier and a V profile for drainage. Couldn't see any damage but hard to imagine there wasn't any to the tow vehicle being pushed into the ditch with the bedside at least against the trailer frame. Good news was the old truck staying on the trailer. Came back past 2.5 hours later and it was gone without tearing the area up. Bet the driver needed to change his undies.

Got me thinking about the recommended procedure if a trailer starts swaying. Off the gas and apply some trailer brake (and hope it straightens out) as you slow down.

While it is not second nature at all, but I've always used on the gas and apply trailer brake. I do a lot of towing in the snow and it always works, especially if the trailer wants to pass you!

 

[hemioiler]

While it is not second nature at all, but I've always used on the gas and apply trailer brake. I do a lot of towing in the snow and it always works, especially if the trailer wants to pass you!

Gassing out sometimes works too yes, depends on your initial speed though.

I remember as a kid on a farm frequently towing 4 trailers behind a tractor down a snowy/slick hill. No trailer brakes of course (these were small farm trailers), and the only way to prevent having those trailers reach the bottom backwards before I did was to stop at the top, then nudge it slowly down and allow it to slowly pick up speed and keep everything straight. If you started too fast at the top, you'd run out of engine RPMs (diesel tractors don't have much to play with) and then it was game over.

 

[paulo57509]

A few years ago, traveling westbound on I-205 ascending Altamont Pass, traffic came to a stop - when does this NOT happen? After 30 minutes or so I idled past a Ford super duty crew cab still attached to a large travel trailer, trailer on it's side, the Ford was now a super tweak.

Around 1992? I was on my way to work in San Carlos, northbound US-101 near Marsh Rd. just before the RR underpass. A guy was towing a compressor behind a PU with a utility body. The compressor started to fishtail; I doubt the driver knew it was happening because he never reacted. It jack-knifed and everything spun off into the right shoulder and into the gum trees.

 

[VolvoZ]

All I can say is: Yikes!

I’ve seen trailers getting squirrelly quite a few times, and once or twice really close to me on the hwy. And it amazes me how a trailer can go for miles glass smooth, then just start squirming for no apparent reason.

 

[AZjeff]

It was a pull-behind trailer and the grade right there is a bit more that I always think, was by there again today. I'd guess the truck was coasting and maybe even gaining a little speed and the guy touched the brakes. From what I was reading downhill is the worst place to have the trailer start swaying.

 

[Kira]

And on a funny note- I still own that El Camino. It has been sitting in my late Great Grandfather's barn untouched since the late 1980s. I assume mice have eating the wires, and there are inches of dust hiding the paint. Haven't seen the El Camino in decades, but there it sits.

Time to post this on an El Camino freaks' board? Maka some muhlah.

Recent story: As many of you know, I just purchased a JD lawn tractor from my brother-in-law. While the entire trip totaled 1,126 miles I only towed 760 miles.
Still, after reading of towing mishaps here and there all my life AND having a dad who'd only ridicule bad tie downs and bad trailering (never cussed traffic etc.), you gotta know I was wound up puppy last week.
Nothing wrong with paying strict attention while towing.

Seriously, when you see bad driving so regularly on the roads, you have to conclude these folk would be horrid at pulling a trailer.

 

[Nick1994]

It was a pull-behind trailer and the grade right there is a bit more that I always think, was by there again today. I'd guess the truck was coasting and maybe even gaining a little speed and the guy touched the brakes. From what I was reading downhill is the worst place to have the trailer start swaying.

Was this on the 69 between Mayer and Dewey? Only place I can think of with a hill.

 

[andyd]

There is a spot on Rt3 going N into Boston where traffic will accordion down to a rolling stop. It is a variable place and time but it happens all the time. Usually the result is a 3 car banger. One morning it was a small trailer pulling a Suburban across all 3 lanes.into the right hand grass. This happened maybe 4 cars up in traffic slowing to a crawl. I watched it unfold from the leftlane