In addition to everything you have said in this vid, which I totally agree with, speed is a significant contributor. In every vid where a crash has occurred due to trailer sway it appears people are travelling too fast. IMO people shouldn't be overtaking when towing, unless it can be done at a relatively safe speed and there is a long stretch of clear road ahead. I believe you shouldn't be travelling more than 90kmh full stop. Thanks for sharing yet another excellent video.
I've noticed they're often overtaking larger trucks when we see those sorts of clips... So in addition to the bow wave disruption starting it off, they also have additional overall speed, which makes everything more unstable before anything bad even begins.
YOU ARE SAVING MANY LIVES!!!! THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED FOR EVERY PERSON WHO BUYS A TRAILER BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES BEFORE THEY CAN REGISTER IT!!! I WOULD GO SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT IT SHOULD BE REQUIRED THAT A MANUAL PUSH BUTTON TRAILER BRAKE BE INSTALLED IN EVERY VEHICLE THAT PULLS A TRAILER.... WHEN I FIRST EXPERIENCED THIS IT WAS SCARY!! THE WAY THAT I GOT OUT OF IT WAS TO TAKE THE FIRST OFF-RAMP.... I FIDDLED AROUND WITH THE PROBLEM AND REALIZED THAT ACCELERATING DID HELP AS THE BIG RIG THAT WAS APPROACHING ME.... I THINK IT WOULD BE AN ADDED BENEFIT TO ACCELERATE THE TOWING VEHICLE AND APPLY THE BRAKES TO THE TRAILER AT THE SAME TIME... I HOPE THAT THE MAN WHO MADE THE VIDEO READS THIS AND WOULD ANSWER THAT QUESTION...
I actually have been in this situation once. I was going down hill on the freeway back of my truck was swaying from the trailer to the point I could hear my tires screeching… luckily I taped the brakes at the right time and than accelerated and was able to disrupt the sway and get it under control with a few more cycles, pulled over safety and kissed the ground…lol. Then shifted more weight towards the front of the trailer and didn’t have any more issues. I’m surprised he doesn’t mention anything about how to stop the sway with a trailer without brakes.
Yeah its ez to do. You just have to look and think fast+react and really let's be honest here, if you're actively driving /watching your trailer you'll never end up like this.
@@fmslick7586 it seems to me that "actively driving / watching" is not how one spells "denial". And that full, unwavering attention despite hours of straight highway, fatigue, getting a call, your vehicle starts making a noise, etc. seems improbable.
You have done a great job and as a triple road train driver and caravan tower for many years you have hit the nail in the head ,use trailer breaks to slow down at all times, thank you
The reason it gets worse over 5 seconds is because the instinctive action is to correct by steering BUT because of reaction time delay this actually amplifies the sway instead of countering it. I got in to a serious sway problem towing a vehicle transporter. I quickly realised (1) that I was making it worse by correcting and (2) braking made it worse. I was lucky to have a clear road) so I steered the car in a wide weaving notion over 2 lanes at a slower rate than the sway cycle. This stopped me from amplifying the trailer's sway and brought it under control within a short time (It seemed like forever!). I think the reason is that I was setting the sway speed, not the trailer, and that brought it under control. It worked for me but I have no desire to repeat the experience to fine tune the technique.
Very good point there. Counter steering attempts (reactive) result in matching and amplifying the oscillation rate/frequency of the trailer sway motion. Your (proactive) 'weaving' was at a lower oscillation rate of the sway motion and therefore not amplifying it. It would be quite interesting to see if the input of different oscillation rates affect (i.e., dampening (if any)) trailer sway motion. The amplitude is limited by the road width, but not the frequency. Just a thought.
I'd want to think out the physics -- and make sure my setup was not prone to sway -- before widely recommending this; for one thing, too many people would feel like it's OK to drive an unstable setup because now they have a way to 'fix' the instability (given ideal conditions including an empty road). Though if you are in such a situation, it seems worth giving a try. Had an overloaded small trailer with the CG too far back (20' beams) once. Hit the brakes and it got worse, including tow vehicle tires skidding. Happily I wasn't going too fast, had a clear road ahead and a mild uphill and was able to recover and slow down. I'm not doing THAT again.
Yeah, this happened to me as well just recently. It was the second time it’s ever happened in my life and I’ve towed trailers quite a lot. I noticed as I was trying to break and the sway pulled me into oncoming traffic lane that by trying to steer back it only amplified, so I stopped trying to steer other than not going down into the ditch off the side of the road. Same thing with breaking. I just found letting the truck slow down itself and gently applying brakes when I can and keeping a very close eye on what the trailer was doing was what saved me from completely flipping the thing
This is a MUST watch video for anyone who pulls a trailer. Excellent descriptions of the physics behind sway and absolutely terrifying video's of what can happen with bad sway. Like, truly terrifying to the point that if i watched this before getting a trailer I'm not sure I ever would have bought one I have gotten into the habit of using the trailer brakes going downhills as it both saves my tow vehicle brakes and it's good practice to get used to grabbing those brakes by hand if ever in an emergency. One question I have is about the likelihood of bad sway with my set up. It looked like most of the vehicles in the videos were not very large tow vehicles and no idea if they had a sway bar. My set it us a 2018 f250 with, supposedly, integrated sway control(I have no idea how/if it works) and I have a sway bar attached. I have very very minor sway when semi's pass but it never gets crazy, within a second or two everything is back to normal. Basically I can feel the rear get tugged and then we're good. I have a 37 foot trailer with a 7000 pound dry weight(probably closer to 7300ish with stuff in it) and a towing capacity of 12,700 on the truck. Tongue weight is about 900 and I do have a weight distribution hitch. Thanks for this video, it was incredibly informative.
Thanks Josh, would appreciate a share. Good idea re downhills and practice. I think your 2018 F250 has electronic trailer sway control (check my video on this so you can see how it works). I think your trailer is on the limit of swaying as semis pass...so you're aware of that and you can fix that with the trailer brake or let the car fix it. What I think may be happening is that the F250's trailer sway control is saving you each time, because once sway starts the nature is it tends to get worse until you're inverted. Have a check of the owner's manual to see if it has TSC.
@@L2SFBC note: USA and north america in general it is just because you can doesn't mean you should at 7500 lbs is 3500 kg at 900 lbs is 408 kg which is 58 kg over and what is typically sold as a weight distribution hitch is typically a device that is designed to limt pitch roll of your off your hitch.. my old viscount was rated at 2000kg and thats at 23 foot.. I don't think what is stated on the vin of his van is stating the correct weight per foot you add 5 kg weight
I've never had this kind of accident before, but damn I wish they'd taught this stuff in my driving school back in Ontario! Thanks so much for this video!
Excellent video. I recommend practicing applying the brakes on the trailer with the brake controller. You can easily do that in your neighborhood (you don't really need to slow down that much -- if you have successfully grabbed the controller and started slowing down, that is a successful try). After some practice, you should be able to start slowing down within a second and half without even looking. It needs to be as natural to you as getting your foot on the brake pedal when a child runs out in front of you.
I practice & use my trailer brake so often that when I am not towing I still reach for it first. I use my trailer brake 1st before my truck brakes for pretty much all stopping situations. I hope if I start a major sway it will be as natural to reach for the trailer brake controller as it is to me to steer into a slide on the ice (I'm not talking with the caravan attached here lol) & brake for the kiddos. 👍✌
Major problem with this. Applying only the trailer brakes causes the vehicle to jackknife. Which ever axle has the greatest braking will take the lead.
@@krakoosh1 I don't think you understand the physics involved. The tow vehicle has momentum. When you apply the brakes on the trailer only, the momentum of the vehicle jerks the combined trailer and tow vehicle into a straight line. Back in May I was on my way home with my trailer and ended up going through a very nasty and very strong cross wind. I ended up hitting the trailer brakes by hand. I can tell you from that experience, it jerks the two into a straight line. If you apply only the vehicle brakes (i.e. for some reason or another you have no trailer brakes) then you can get a condition where the trailer tries to pass the tow vehicle. In layman's terms, that is your jackknife.
I'm amazed at the number of modern caravans that don't have sway bars connected from the A frame to the towball. I had them on my caravan years ago. The best thing I ever had on that caravan. Easy to assemble. I had towed the caravan without them, with not too many problems until I had a heavy side gust of wind going over a bridge, luckily was able to manage to correct the movement of the van. Then I put the sway bars on before the next trip. I noticed the difference already. I also had a wind deflector on the roof of the car.
This could potentially save my life and the lives of many others; thank you. Yesterday I was behind a truck/travel trailer that had just completed a 75 mph pass on a two-lane highway outside Cortez, Colorado and sway began when it steered too rapidly back into its lane to avoid oncoming traffic. It did three very hard right/left cycles and JUST managed to get under control before a fourth vicious cycle kicked it over. The entry steps deployed which is illustrative of the forces involved. I’ve towed my 26-foot travel trailer about five thousand miles without incident but this definitely got my attention and made me realize I wouldn’t instinctively know what to do. Thanks to you I will now train myself to reach for the trailer brake controller at the first sign of sway. Cheers and much appreciated.
Truck drivers use the trailer brakes as matter of course, it's just part of driving an articulated vehicle. The trailer brake usage is part of the license test. Some areas have signs with time to ensure truckers don’t engage the Jake brakes early in the morning or late at night. Truckers who ignore the signs will fine truckers who use them in areas where they are prohibited.
I just found your channel recently, and have focused on your trailer sway and mechanical advantage videos. I am sure you have saved lives. I have a Jeep Wrangler and a 5'X8' v-nose cargo conversion. I don't expect, and have never had this issue with this rig, but am going to entirely redesign my weight distribution layout for travel. I did have a very lucky break once when foolishly pulling one vehicle behind another in an unbalanced set up but immediately just coasted down. Spooked me so I had an experienced relative bring a flat bed trailer for that move. Thank you very much for this clear, detailed, physics and design based discussion.
Thank you for making these highly explanatory videos! 👍 Exactly the same thing happened to me. I was pulling a heavy single axle caravan with a VW Passat (not smart, I know). A wind from a passing lorry threw it off balance and it went surprisingly fast into a severe sway. I didn't brake and tried to steer it out. But as the video correctly says, it's really hard, almost impossible. Ended up jack knifed but without damage. The main cause must have been poor weight distribution in the trailer. It was stable till about 70 - 80 kph (50 mph), then it became increasingly unstable at higher speed even when pulled behind a heavier vehicle. For me the #1 cause of instability is improper weight balance of the trailer (heavy front and heavy back, light middle) and #2 is speed. Other factors are also significant (like gradient, car to trailer weight ratio, jerky steering or sudden breaking in a curve, etc.) but they don't seem to have the same catastrophic impact.
The friction device is like a brake, it has a small ball that it mounts on the hitch with, beside the large ball, and the other end hooks to the trailer tongue, the piece is lined with brake material and one end slides inside the other, they are adjustable by a bilt in nut/screw , mine is made by husky
@@kenhall7517 You are on the right track on this except that a friction bar is the wrong choice since it would behave in accordance with the laws of friction and is limited in use - the better option is a double acting hydraulic damper set up in such a way that it can be adjusted to suit the weight of the trailer. It is included in my "Differential Stability" offer.
Another cause of trailer sway can be an improperly balanced trailer with not enough tongue weight. I had this problem with my Triton 128-2 ATV trailer. I carry a side by side ATV and a regular full size ATV on the back of the trailer. I constantly had a problem when I first got the trailer. Typically it would happen at 60 to 65mph going down a slight gradient in the highway. Because of the size of the two ATV’s I was carrying I was limited in how I could position the two quads on the trailer. In order to get more tongue weight on the hitch I extended the front of the trailer by a few inches. I bolted some pieces of pressure treated 2” x 4” to the front edge of the trailer which allowed me to drive the side x side ATV forward a few more inches. This gave me enough tongue weight to stop the problem of trailer sway. I have not had any issues since no matter the speed or gradient of the road.
Highly dependent on the amount of "GAIN" you have set on your brake controller. Also, aftermarket brake controllers come in two basic types as I understand it. One is delayed - so after you apply enough pressure on your brake peddle to activate your brake lights the signal to the trailer brakes begins about a second or so later. That's a lot of time to lose in a sway event. The second is inertia based - the signal to the trailer brakes is immediate when you apply enough pressure to activate your brake lights. This type senses the rate of deceleration of your tow vehicle and applies the trailer brakes accordingly - the more quickly you slow your tow vehicle the harder it will apply the brakes on your trailer. So, if you slam on the brakes in an emergency situation the trailer brakes will be applied equally strong if set properly. I use this type since it is more immediate and I can set the gain based on the weight of the trailer and driving conditions i.e. slippery roads, or going downhill.
Thats how we ran our setup. works like a charm. and if the sway gets bad then use the big override. Also, if you don't use a dinky vehicle to pull big stuff then sway is pretty rare imo.
Outstanding video. One may also consider adding sway bars, and consider cargo weight distribution and tongue weight. Lots of good videos on TH-cam about weight distribution and tongue weight. Also, test your brake controller regularly.
My grandparents rolled theirs back in the summer of 1986 near Bowling Green Kentucky on the Kentucky Turnpike. It was a 1983 Dodge Conversion extended van and about a 32 foot camper. My grandma was driving at the time (she was known to be a lead foot compared to my grandpa), and she even said by the time she noticed the swaying they were rolling over, it happened quickly. They were OK except for my grandma broke her collar bone and sprained her wrist, they were both wearing their seatbelts. My grandpa bought motorhomes and towed a small car on a dolly after that.
I found your video very helpful and it confirmed what I believed to be the correct way to stop trailer sway. I very much appreciated the science behind trailer sway and what causes it. Knowing that will help me avoid sway in future. Thank you.
When I still had my caravan and it started swaying at a particular speed, I just took my foot from the accellerator. The run-in brake slowed down the caravan imediatly and stabilized the caravan. I must say I observed the caravan constantly and as soon I recognized a slidest sway I reduced my speed or break modestly.
This helped me too at some highly raised bridge over a canal with strong sideways winds. Just let go of the accellerator pedal and let it slow down slowly. Then it stabelizes on it's own. My car weighs about 1400kg, the caravan 900kg and I regulate the weight on the ball to 75kg by moving stuff around inside the caravan until it matches this weight.
@@powerpc6037 Properly loading a trailer helps a ton to prevent and recover from sway. Unfortunately proper weight distribution on the trailer is often overlooked. Even something as simple as moving part of the cargo from the trailer to the tow vehicle (if possible) can help immensely with stability.
@@MicraHakkinen exactly right. Weight distribution isn't just about where the weight is in the trailer, it's also critically important to remember the heavier the tow car, the harder it is for the trailer to move it around, and to distribute the load between the trailer and the towing vehicle with as much weight IN the towing vehicle as possible.
Yes, being alert and keeping an eye on the trailer and your speed is really good to prevent swaying getting out of hand. Has happened to me a couple of times, but because I was aware I just let go of the axcelerator, braked carefully and stopped the swaying. In the end I moved the load (towing a car on the trailer) about 30cm forward and the trailer was totally stable. I even tried to force it to sway by steering back and forth, but it would not start swaying. So weight distributuon is really the best sollution to prevent swaying.
In practice, the brake controller should be set to brake the trailer harder than the vehicle, to slow the trailer and pull the trailer in behind the vehicle. Speeding up is a bad idea because often it was excessive speed and overtaking which caused the sway. Many drivers are unaware the absolute speed limit for a caravan is 100kmh, even on a motorway.
Thanks Rob Great lesson once again. I haven't gone through trailer sway bad enough to get outta hand But i have felt it several times in its infancy to react My action to combat it is by physically pressing the brake controller button to apply the brakes on the trailer, whilst I'm still powering forward in the tow rig. Worked everytime
Hi Robert, I enjoy your videos very much, but have not seen them all. Having said that, I have not seen you mention wheel alignment mentioned in relation to trailer sway. I had trailer sway on a 14 foot off road independent suspension van. I checked all you general advice box's. Tow ball weight, keeping vav packed near centre of pivot over axles, keeping payload low. No matter what it towed well below GPS 95 klm, but as soon as went over it would initiate sway. It was only after I noticed significant inside tread tyre wear on one wheel that I thought the wheel alignment was out on my single axle trailer and wondered how that effected tracking and sway. Long story short the wheel alignment cured the sway issue and I now have a much more pleasant trailing experience. Thanks for your videos.
@@jimmcfadden1438 Sorry! but you don't know what you are talking about; I have towed caravans and hauled long trailers (Semi Trailers) for thousands of miles in Australia and the only way to stop a trailer or caravan from swaying is to apply brakes to the caravan or trailer; there is no other way to stop it. Weight distribution of a trailer changes how easily affected and susceptible it is to elements that will cause the sway in the first instance but get this clear in your head, there are circumstances that will cause a trailer to go into a sway regardless of any other factors involved, Axle placement, weight distribution, trailer length etc. and given the right set of forces, a trailer or caravan WIIL SWAY make no mistake about that. And that is what this guy is talking about, how to stop the sway, in some instances the human brain doesn't act quickly enough to correct the sway, even if you apply the correct procedure; If you know anything about Semi Trailers or Car and caravan towing you will know that the braking set up when you apply your brake on the towing vehicle, the trailer brakes activate slightly before the towing vehicle's brakes come into effect therefore preventing the trailer from pushing or over-riding the towing vehicle which in turn prevents the trailer or caravan from going into a swaying situation. I see so many amateur caravaners towing their caravans who believe that driving their rig fast; sometimes faster than they would drive normally with no caravan attached, somehow proves what a good driver I am; Look at me see how I can tow a caravan really fast; I have no idea what they are trying to prove other than prove what an idiot they are. They think they are experts but in reality, may only tow a trailer or caravan a few times a year but think they know more than a professional driver who tows trailers thousands of miles for a living. This guy does know what he is talking about and if you think otherwise, one day you may be in for a rude awakening.
@@johnrobinson1020 go a head and put too much weight on the tail end of one of those campers and see how much fun you have with that. Improperly loaded trailers cause the trailer sway.
@@johnrobinson1020 dude I have driven heavy vehicles all my life from tray trucks to car carriers( tripples) and maxi quads and the solution is load correctly and drive to conditions, I have never had any sort of trailer start to sway, I have also completed safe driving and defensive courses, and you are right, a lot of caravan's don't have a clue what the he'll is going on behind them. Professional drivers, most times can feel the vehicles reactions and response and tend not to get into these situations, that is the difference between a cowboy and a professional operator, not just a driver .stay safe friend
@@jimmcfadden1438 Of course, you are correct Jimmy but my point being , although these factors you mention make it more likely, given the right set of circumstances, to end up with the trailer in a sway; It is usually the driver not knowing how to handle a load that is not correctly laden, and his lack of expertise of driving long loads with trailers; his own actions will usually bring about the swaying of the trailer; As you probably are aware, a professional driver will drive accordingly to his load. So to sum up, it is my contention that although it is much more likely for a trailer to go into a sway if the load is placed incorrectly, as you mention, That in itself does not cause the actual sway, although one could argue that it could, it is the inexperience of the driver to do something wrong in his driving ability to start the onset of the sway, and I completely agree, the sway of the trailer will be worse with a badly laden trailer, and I think you will agree with me that a professional driver would not overload the tail end of a camper trailer in the first place. Thanks for your input. I appreciate your response to my post and I take your points on board.
I have the review camera, i always pay attention to where my trailer end is aiming. Hauling is exhausting because you have another level of attention and awareness you must maintain on top of everything else you do while driving. I havent seen any sway out of my trailer yet but I know it can happen and am ready for it.
I’ve never heard sway explained as “the toad (towed) is moving faster then the tow vehicle”. That fact alone was a light bulb moment for me! I’ve never towed before & want to do it safely. Great explanation; great videos!
Great info when you have trailer brakes. I wagged once with a heavy 16' trailer and accelerated out of it. Granted the truck was stout, but the trailer was certainly overloaded as well. No trailer brakes....no choice. So it does work. But not with a camper towed by the civic or the soccer mom minivan.
In America we usually have much bigger trailers on the road as well as large trucks equipped with trailer brake controllers. If sway occurs you ALWAYS aggressively apply the trailer brakes and don’t touch the brakes on your tow vehicle. I’m a little surprised that the actual and ONLY solution to sway was covered at the very end of the video. The main reasons for sway is too light a tow vehicle, lack of a sway control hitch and lack of functioning trailer brakes.
this is mostly caused by RV trailers having the axles to close to center so the dealer can LIE to you and tell you that your light duty vehicle can tow it. This reduces the tongue weight, fooling people into a false sense of security. LOAD LEVELING BARS ARE NOT THE ANSWER EITHER. You simply cannot cheat reality. On 90% of trailers that have a sway problem, if you moved the axles a full 12" to the rear of the trailer, it would never sway again. This would also mean you cannot pull a 6-15 thousand pound trailer with your suv, minivan, jeep, or half ton pick up. They are made unsafe intentionally to boost sales and sales alone. Weight balance is the one true cause of trailer sway. The video im linking here shows this with simple toys and a treadmill. That said i have over 500,000 miles in commercial trucking and RV transport. th-cam.com/video/w9Dgxe584Ss/w-d-xo.html
@@IH-nr7dx he pretty much said everything i just did, with the addition of talking about up and down hill. The "to much ball weight" is correct. So if you need to add to the point that it is to much for the tow vehicle, that is telling you that you don't have enough tow vehicle. Same thing i was saying, just another way of saying it. Also in these same test, if he could move the axle on the trailer he would see a greater difference. That and the distance of the ball to the rear axle of the tow vehicle plays a huge part in sway due to the cantilever effect
Hello Scott - it's pretty much the same world over and I stress people should not compare heavies with lighter trailer combinations especially concerning uncontrolled sway.
Great videos you have made....... I would like to see you do a video on typical 5th wheel connections vs typical gooseneck connections, as they both have different properties from one another.... and the sway issues that are much less prevalent, but can still be just as deadly if the rules arent followed... a 5th wheel trailer is more susceptible to sustained or increased swaying than a gooseneck trailer is due to the connection joint to the tow vehicle being so much higher, which when the tow vehicle dips to one side, can lead the trailer more that a gooseneck hitch would.... a gooseneck hitch being connected to the tow vehicle just a few inches above the axle of the tow vehicle almost totally eliminates the possibility of trailer sway, and makes for a more stable ride in ANY conditions, unless one has loaded all the weight on the trailer BEHIND the trailer axles, or extremely HIGH on the trailer.. and then there is also the factor of how far ahead, behind, or centered over the axle centerline the hitch is located.... it ALL makes a difference for safe and comfortable towing....... the treadmill track with a 5th wheel trailer, and a gooseneck trailer would be an excellent learning tool for how to be as safe as one possibly can when towing something other than a bumper pull trailer.....
Great video and explanation, Thank you. Well worth discussing the reaction time as well on how long you've got before everything goes totally pear shaped.
Robert, thanks for your detailed explanation of trailer sway and how to correct it. I experienced some serious sway last trip when a tandem truck overtook me in a valley before an incline. I attempted to speed up to correct the caravan yawl but this takes time as you have outlined and I fully accept this is not an efficient or reliable method of correction. I was doing 95km/h at the time. I have a Redarc brake controller which I will use next occasion when this occurs to slow the caravan to have the rig straighten up. I am also to have air bags added to my rear vehicle's springs to stiffen these up to offer more resistance to yawl occurring. I trust these measures will reduce the possibility of an incident. I found your video informative and a must read for those pulling significant weights behind their tow vehicle (in my instance 2.6 tonne). Thanks so much ...
Thanks Tim, yes speeding up works in theory not in practice. Yes stiffer springs in the rear will hep a little but not massively. 95km/h is a common speed to induce sway, it is very speed dependent.
Ha ha, about your oversteer description, probably true. I've spent half my driving career sliding around sideways in control and never once spun or lost it :-) One of my strategies, particularly in the wet is to provoke the slide before it would naturally occur because then nothing is sudden in terms of weight transitions and I'm 100% expecting it. On the flip side, if you allow the suspension to load up and then the slide begins, there's a lot of stored energy released and it's much harder to recover anyway. Drifters do the same thing to an even more extreme degree forcing the car sideways under brakes biassed or exclusively on the rear and then simply continuing that steady state condition under power to suit the desire to decel or accel as the track dictates. :-)
Your correct and that's why he is wrong about steering out of it. You have to move your vehicle ahead of time. You have to find the rhythm and move just slightly ahead to the shocks don't load of and throw you back the other way
great information! I have seen people claim you can get out of an escalating sway situation by accelerating and perhaps in rare occasions they get lucky! Not something I am going to try myself. when I installed my first trailer break controller the first time I had it tucked out of the way but still reachble by my non dominant hand! A friend wisely pointed out i would likely never find it with my left hand in time and the press it in time with where it was! I prompty re-mounted it in a much more accessible location! have practiced using it a few times and hope to never really need to use it!
Truck and trailer matching is important, but when trying to tow a really long trailer even if the tongue weight and towing capacities are met is still a precarious situation. Over doing the tow vehicle and using a weight distribution hitch may seem like over kill and can be but even those set ups are not immune to a harmonic run away sway situation that sends even the best set ups into a "death sway". Being able to manually control the trailer's brakes and driving out of that "death sway" is the only way to guarantee the complete control over the tow vehicle and trailer set up. Great video and explanation.
Excellent presentation with clear explanations and great visual demonstrations. Trailer sway is a scary concept but having watched this video and knowing that I have the right braking system to manage it I feel a little better prepared. Thanks.
I can’t apply the breaks on the trailer as shown on the video. My single axle caravan has got that inertia brakes that only works when I brake the towing vehicle. So what yo do in that scenario? What about towing stabiliser , does it work?
I'd fit independent electric brakes. But, failing that, best to ensure sway never happens - keep weight central and low, good tyres correctly inflated, relatively heavy towcar. If sway does occur, then very slowly reduce speed and hope!
@ 1:40. The truck is on wrong side of road! ;). A heavy tow vehicle, GN/5th hitch helps a lot. My one ton, diesel started swaying once. Thankfully my astonishment didn’t delay acting. Started @65 so as only 15 miles just kept to 55mph.
I have been towing light loads for years without a problem. Recently getting a toy hauler I started studying everything regarding safety. I know trailer brake controllers were a thing and had them in old trucks but never had to use them because of the weight I was hauling I guess. My new truck, although much better for towing did not come with a brake controller installed. I did install one, but it made me think, if I am moderately experienced in towing and somewhat safety conscious how many of these trailers on the road I see are new, inexperienced or completely unaware that they need weight distribution and trailer brakes.
I’m an auto crosser and road race driver. Early on, I would tow my X1-9 with an 86 Audi A6 precurser, a fairly small car, using an aluminum trailer. It was barely stable, and when I finally installed a tire rack over the front of the hood of the car on the trailer, it became brutally unstable, which was even worse going downhill. Of course, there was a limit to how much I could accelerate out of it. My usual instinct of counter steering or braking accentuated the sway, so I tried steering out of phase with that, which worked. 😮 Eventually I moved the mass to in front of the trailered car, and the problem went away. So it is possible to steer out of sway, but it is so counterintuitive to be nearly impossible for an average driver. I never thought of his reasoning as to the source of the sway, but it’s a brilliant way of looking at it. But I actually always thought of it as a problem of counterintuitive human response to the situation. Which ever is the “real” way of thinking about it, if his solution works, I’m for it!
Great post, thanks! Yes downhill is a contributing factor to sway. Yes it is possible to steer out of sway, but not a technique I recommend. I know from my fast-car work that even amateur racers often cannot correct oversteer, so no chance of correcting out-of-phase sway. Yes, applying the trailer brake WILL fix it!
Great explanation and demonstration. But really, what speed is the truck doing that would cause you to need to overtake it in the first place. I'm a newbie to caravan towing and am practicing using the Redarc control, and I have the Al-Ko sway controller fitted. Safe travels, and just slow the hell down folks!
QUESTION, What will the effect be if you install swaybars on the caravan suspension? That will not completely stop it I think but it should stop it from getting worse due to the weight displacement being limited?
I was excited when I saw your video. Finally someone would take a scientific approach to tell us what to do in the case of trailer sway. In the 50 some odd years of owning a trailer, Boats, Popups, utility, I have NEVER had trailer brakes. I guess I screwed then!
I found this very interesting and agree that most things don't work! However, I have developed a simple technique that does. Before I explain, can I just say that I have been towing caravans and trailers with cars on for some 40 years, some with stabiliser bars or the more modern ceramic(?) discs in the ball hitch. None of these devices have prevented all sway situations. I now believe I can say that a sway situation does not generate blind panic any more. When a sway develops it builds up a rhythm which begins to sway the towing vehicle and the natural instinct is to compensate with correction at the steering wheel, BUT this only makes things worse!! What if you could break this rhythm to "confuse" the sway of the caravan/trailer? You can! There is no need to brake or accelerate. It is all done with the steering. The best way to explain this is to think of your steering wheel as a clock face and your hands are at the 9 and 3 position. Now "shake the head" of your towing vehicle by quickly moving the steering from 9/3 to 10/4 to 8/2 to 10/4 to 8/2 etc. You can do this rapidly without losing control and without changing lanes - most important!! This rhythm totally confuses whatever you are towing and it immediately comes back into line. This has worked for me in just about all road situations such as overtaking on a motorway when you come out from alongside a lorry, buffeting from oncoming traffic or a gust of wind. I am making no guarantees and can only say it works for me. If you want to perhaps add this to your driving skills, why not take your towing vehicle to an open space where you can get up to your towing speed and try this whilst staying "in your lane" and get a feel for how far you can go without loosing control. Rapidity is the key. It is actually easier if you are towing something! Be safe and careful.
Very helpful video. Most of the camping groups I belong to really push the weight distribution hitches and sway bars (which I can't use with my Subaru Ascent) as the ultimate sway solution.
Glad it was helpful! The thing about sway is that there are multiple causes, and therefore multiple fixes. It's all very situation dependent. I'll be releasing a video on all the sway solutions in due course.
The thing is that a weight distribution hitch isn't going to help you very much if the problem is not excessive tow ball weight lifting the front of the vehicle. It's more of a point fix for a specific issue. A truck can still come and blow your trailer around even when you have the whole rig nice and level.
Great video I've read threads where people recommended to floor it if you feel it start to sway but it never felt like the right thing to do when it happened to me, my thinking was if you do that you have to commit and not back out of the acceleration or it'll get worse and even if you do accelerate it still might not work and only make the accident more severe , so when it happened to me driving a van with a 1.9 tonne digger on the trailer I just put my foot on the clutch kept the wheel as straight as possible and tried to ride it out which didn't work as it was just getting worse so I tried lightly tapping the brakes slowly and it seemed to slow it down and I got out of it just before it got really bad. I know how it happened as I had pallets on the trailer which meant I couldn't put the digger entirely over the wheels and left the trailer out of balance but I knew this and planned to drive extra slow to accommodate that but at some point I crept over 80kmph and the wobble started.. I drove 60 the rest of the way ha. I don't have a button to activate the trailers breaks so I'm not sure if they're activated when I brake in the van or not but it's worked for me so far
Wow, that's a great story, and yes indeed poor weight distribution is a major factor in sway. You did well and were I would suggest a little lucky too!
@@L2SFBC yes i was definitely lucky and I'd say it was also important that I stayed calm and didn't panic although I could hear my heartbeat through my neck afterwards ha
Slowing and accelerating both change the the direction of force being applied to the hitch from perpendicular to parallel with the vehicle. It is simmilar to wiggling a rope that is tied to something then pulling or letting go of the rope. Acceleration can work but it increases the chance of the sway occurring again but only faster and more severely. Slowly decelerating is normally the best option as it is easier to decrease speed because of drag and friction than it is to accelerate. I am sure someone much smarter than me could describe the physics behind it in more detail, but that is the basics behind it.
Very well done. Great illustration and description of the problem. So, to maybe help prevent trailer sway from starting....while encountering large trucks, I could use the override lever on my electric brake controller to slow the trailer slightly while at the same time applying a slight amount of acceleration in my tow vehicle. Essentially, preventing sway from starting.
I agree with most of what you're saying with regards to towing some sort of caravan, campers that will have independent electrical braking systems which by law most will need. But for your average work or rubbish trailer which don't need or doesn't have independent electric brakes the only option you have when you're in a sway is to speed up. Also if your trailer or camper has only mechanical braking you have no choice but to speed up to get out of the sway. It's always better to try it than to do nothing and crash in my opinion.
Excellent explanation. Q? Do the type of tyres on a caravan/ camper trailer affect the amount of sway at highway speed? e.g. road tyres over All terrains on a caravan?
I have found when I get a sway starting with an un-braked trailer, if I do a short burst of acceleration (just a touch on the throttle) then very light braking to take the speed of the rig down in steps it has stopped the sway, but only if the sway is caught early. (loaded Navara with 1.5T trailer) better to load correctly and not get the sway at all though.
Had it happen to me today, on a trailer with a bunch of metal on it. It started to rock in the back, luckely i saw it as it was going within a second or two from almost nothing to pretty severe, slammed the brakes directly and it solved the problem.
nice video and well explaIained IF you you have the technical capability to slow just the trailer down but most people don't have that possibility so my question is, how do you manage this problem if you DON'T have the capability to slow only the trailor down ??
You can either speed up or slow down. If you have a light trailer, are at a low speed and have a powerful car, speeding up will equalise the speed. If you don't have that, you won't be able to accelerate fast enough. Then you have to take your chances by slowing down.
The dynamics of sway is "Simple Harmonic Motion" when a force is exerted on the side of the caravan It resembles a pendulum up to a specific angle that can be calculated, however, in a caravan scenario the swing is inhibited by the tyres that try to restrict the swing so something has to give to displace the absorbed energy and that is to accelerate (radial ply tyres are no friend in this case since they have a narrow slip angle and will push harder) and just to elaborate if there was no axle and tyres in place it would just swing back ad forth until it came to rest or until another push was made. So what causes the sway to develop when ii first moves - the speed of the vehicle is relevant here because the wheel is at an angle to the direction of travel so it is pushed back into line and is balanced by the opposite side up to SHM. In an overrun braking system this acceleration outwards actuates the brakes as it continues the swing and this then triggers the acceleration back towards the equilibrium, just like a bow and arrow releasing the potential energy and this then increases the kinetic energy that will continue at pace across to the opposite side unless it is stopped before it reaches the equilibrium. Now this is where my common assumption that braking should never occur and I have stressed this to ALKO who have created the ATC that operates both wheel brakes which is only going to exacerbate the problem albeit slow the combination down if you are fortunate. In "Differential Stability" (C), I have designed the system to apply specific individual brakes that will stop the swing at or before it reaches the centre of equilibrium and then switch to the opposite side brake if in the rare occasion it goes past. In practice the driver will never feel any sway since it is proactive under very severe conditions like passing trucks or strong side winds it is a pure automated concept. I have tried to obtain the same results using electronic algorithms but I have never made it work as good as the pure mechanical concept on overrun brake systems. Many have tried to make differential concepts work but have failed simply because they have not fathomed out how to do it. Differential systems are used in aircraft and tractors but they have a human foot and brain on the brakes. I am considering releasing the concept to the market along with detailed drawings and operating instructions due to my advancing years and the desire to retire. It will be an ideal DIY project that will last for years without any attention other than brake adjustments and usual cleaning and oiling. Mine has been in use for 35,000 miles and 10 years fitted for touring France every year. If anyone is interested contact me on willie079@gmail.com. I have checked with the type approvals ratings and they confirm that this would be treated as an accessory and as long as it does not contravene them there is no need to re apply. So no welding, drilling or changes to the original equipment is ok. Also I intend to allow the interested parties access to make money from the project.
the same phenomenon happens to large tractor trailers. Mostly when empty or light or without proper weight distribution. Amplified in wet,windy or icy conditions. But mostly when the friction point is dry. Greasing the hitch well and often eliminates it. Think about it. Friction is real, be proactive and never have that experience. Change lanes slowly, always keep the combination unit in line.
Robert, in your opinion aside from reducing speed and ensuring that the majority of weight in the caravan is over the tandem wheels, would I be best fitting airbags to the coil springs for a Ford Everest as was proposed to me, or would I be better getting anti-sway bars fitted to the car/van? That is, I note your comment that fitting airbags may assist minimally to reduce the yawl of the rear of the vehicle.
Your Everest already has car trailer stability control. For additional peace of mind get trailer stability control fitted too; refer my video explaining both. Also; yaw not yawl, cats go yawl caravans go yaw :-)
That's not a bad idea, but with trailer brakes you can apply them so quickly it's not necessary. If sway develops when that happens it would be a sign of inherent instability and you'd want to fix that at source.
Great videos! Thanks! I have a question: There are trailers and maby caravans without breaks what should they do? Or those small trailers with a cover they rent out. Let go of the gas and rol it out untill it stops? I did that ones and it worked but there was a puchbreak on the trailer so thats not the same.
Assuming that there are no control brakes on the trailer, would a combination of braking the car slightly and then speeding up (performing this combination in repeated succession) offer a chance to correct the sway? Does it work in theory and/or practice?
What I see in this video is that all of the accidents are very high loads - ie, they're overwelming the suspension of the trailer and causing that to form part of the resonant system. In my two sway cases the CG was relatively high, too. So then, low CG of the trailer is key. If you have something tall, stiff suspension and tyres are key and shocks are a key part of that. Thanks for the metal clarity your vids have given me about my existing plans which were already on the right track for other related reasons. :-)
You are like many - already doing the right thing, but when you see it put like this what you already do makes sense. I do like that my theory is backed up by practical experience such as your own. And nothing I create is pure theory anyway, if it doesn't align with my own experience I won't advise it.
this is mostly caused by RV trailers having the axles to close to center so the dealer can LIE to you and tell you that your light duty vehicle can tow it. This reduces the tongue weight, fooling people into a false sense of security. LOAD LEVELING BARS ARE NOT THE ANSWER EITHER. You simply cannot cheat reality. On 90% of trailers that have a sway problem, if you moved the axles a full 12" to the rear of the trailer, it would never sway again. This would also mean you cannot pull a 6-15 thousand pound trailer with your suv, minivan, jeep, or half ton pick up. They are made unsafe intentionally to boost sales and sales alone. Weight balance is the one true cause of trailer sway. The video im linking here shows this with simple toys and a treadmill. That said i have over 500,000 miles in commercial trucking and RV transport. th-cam.com/video/w9Dgxe584Ss/w-d-xo.html
@@L2SFBC Absolutely, it really is just *better* :-D PS, it's clearly NOT the ONLY cause, a lack of damping in the suspension of most trailers is a major contributor, especially high ones. Nathan, go through this man's vids, they're comprehensive and excellent.
I have a car hauler 24ft L by 8.5 W ft x 7 ft H. It sways every time. I use the trailer brake control system to slow the trailer. I wonder if the tortion axles are worn that makes this problem magnify?
With experience and paying attention you can feel the beginning of a sway and correct. Before pulling a trailer practice slowing down with just the trailer brake controller. Often sway is caused because the weight on the trailer is too far back. Pull over and try rearranging the load. Moving a heavy item such as a tool box from the rear to the front of the trailer might correct it. If you can't correct the balance drive much slower, or park it if its windy out.
Under 45MPH less hydroplaning. Under 45MPH less wind resistance. Maybe Under 45 MPH less swaying? I see the wheels are mounted in the middle of the trailer does that perpetuate the sway by causing the weight to spin around the center? Would it be better to mount the wheels toward the back of the trailer?
Really interesting. Do have one fundamental challenge…. My caravan is a European model (Adria) with mechanical overrun brakes… but also an Alko AKS coupler… so some relief there. Would love to know best recommendation for cancelling sway with the mechanical overrun brakes given I cannot get the Euro version of Aldo’s trailer control (ATC) here in Australia…. We can only get Alko ESC here and that is not an option for Adrias, Bailey Swifts etc. My experience just returning to VIC from Alice, where I had to deal with B-Triples was no sway coming head on. The van handled that OK. When passed by a road train, my only option was to let off the pedal when I saw then in my mirrors and then slowly accelerate when the 3rd trailer passed the Ute. NOT SURE if that was the correct strategy but it seemed to work. Would appreciate advice.
What should you do, when you don't have electronic braks? All my trailers have overrun braks and here in switzerland the max speed with a trailer is 80 km/h. Cheers
I knew that having more weight toward the front of the trailer is important , but watching this, i realized it's alot to do with tongue weight, if the weight is pushing down it's harder for the back end of the car to move around and if it's more lifting up it has more leverage and will throw the back of the car around
I was towing my '67 Falcon with my 3/4 ton van and got into this situation. I managed to recover but through pure dumb luck; no idea how it recovered. I was much younger then and thought I knew it all. I took it nice and slow to the next exit and found a tire shop and asked for help. After swallowing my pride and almost losing my arse, I got a very expensive lesson on sway control bars and better tongue weight. After they installed my new sway bars they moved the car forward to get the right tongue weight and I was off again with no issues. Fast forward several decades and I have people questioning me on why I use sway control bars hauling 5,000 of hay. 'Twas because of a life lesson and I don't tow without them and knowing my tongue weight.
I haven't yet seen anything come up regarding LDH's (Load Distribution Hitches) which are based upon the idea of adding support to the connection through the entire towbar to effectively place the hitch/load point (or Artificially Relocate it) further forward on the Towing Vehicle, which centers the tire footprint of the towing vehicle, making it adjustable for maximum tow vehicle traction authority We also commonly (here in the 'States) use what are called "Sway Controllers" which are actually metal bars that act as shock absorbers to dampen sway
I have a VW Amarok V6 with sway control. New van is on order & I have the option of installing an Alko sway control on the van. Will the 2 sway controls fight each other ?
In addition to everything you have said in this vid, which I totally agree with, speed is a significant contributor. In every vid where a crash has occurred due to trailer sway it appears people are travelling too fast.
IMO people shouldn't be overtaking when towing, unless it can be done at a relatively safe speed and there is a long stretch of clear road ahead.
I believe you shouldn't be travelling more than 90kmh full stop.
Thanks for sharing yet another excellent video.
Well said, thank you for mentioning this fact! Speed kills
I've noticed they're often overtaking larger trucks when we see those sorts of clips... So in addition to the bow wave disruption starting it off, they also have additional overall speed, which makes everything more unstable before anything bad even begins.
And a change of direction!
That’s me! In California 55 max. Outside California 60 max.
YOU ARE SAVING MANY LIVES!!!! THIS VIDEO SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED FOR EVERY PERSON WHO BUYS A TRAILER BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES BEFORE THEY CAN REGISTER IT!!! I WOULD GO SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT IT SHOULD BE REQUIRED THAT A MANUAL PUSH BUTTON TRAILER BRAKE BE INSTALLED IN EVERY VEHICLE THAT PULLS A TRAILER....
WHEN I FIRST EXPERIENCED THIS IT WAS SCARY!! THE WAY THAT I GOT OUT OF IT WAS TO TAKE THE FIRST OFF-RAMP.... I FIDDLED AROUND WITH THE PROBLEM AND REALIZED THAT ACCELERATING DID HELP AS THE BIG RIG THAT WAS APPROACHING ME.... I THINK IT WOULD BE AN ADDED BENEFIT TO ACCELERATE THE TOWING VEHICLE AND APPLY THE BRAKES TO THE TRAILER AT THE SAME TIME... I HOPE THAT THE MAN WHO MADE THE VIDEO READS THIS AND WOULD ANSWER THAT QUESTION...
Next week I'm collecting a boat...and towing it 1500 kms. home. So glad I came across your videos. Thank you for the advice...much appreciated.
Good luck! thanks, and please share :-)
I hope you have - or rent - a sufficiently heavy tow vehicle.
This is the best video I've seen on trailer sway and what to do. Thank you for the effort to produce it !
Wow, thank you! That's the most anyone has ever Super Thanked me!
I actually have been in this situation once. I was going down hill on the freeway back of my truck was swaying from the trailer to the point I could hear my tires screeching… luckily I taped the brakes at the right time and than accelerated and was able to disrupt the sway and get it under control with a few more cycles, pulled over safety and kissed the ground…lol. Then shifted more weight towards the front of the trailer and didn’t have any more issues.
I’m surprised he doesn’t mention anything about how to stop the sway with a trailer without brakes.
Yeah its ez to do. You just have to look and think fast+react and really let's be honest here, if you're actively driving /watching your trailer you'll never end up like this.
@@fmslick7586 it seems to me that "actively driving / watching" is not how one spells "denial". And that full, unwavering attention despite hours of straight highway, fatigue, getting a call, your vehicle starts making a noise, etc. seems improbable.
You have done a great job and as a triple road train driver and caravan tower for many years you have hit the nail in the head ,use trailer breaks to slow down at all times, thank you
Appreciated!
The reason it gets worse over 5 seconds is because the instinctive action is to correct by steering BUT because of reaction time delay this actually amplifies the sway instead of countering it. I got in to a serious sway problem towing a vehicle transporter. I quickly realised (1) that I was making it worse by correcting and (2) braking made it worse. I was lucky to have a clear road) so I steered the car in a wide weaving notion over 2 lanes at a slower rate than the sway cycle. This stopped me from amplifying the trailer's sway and brought it under control within a short time (It seemed like forever!). I think the reason is that I was setting the sway speed, not the trailer, and that brought it under control. It worked for me but I have no desire to repeat the experience to fine tune the technique.
Great post, thanks Paul!
i have done that myself only once. wasnt ideal but it worked.
Very good point there. Counter steering attempts (reactive) result in matching and amplifying the oscillation rate/frequency of the trailer sway motion. Your (proactive) 'weaving' was at a lower oscillation rate of the sway motion and therefore not amplifying it. It would be quite interesting to see if the input of different oscillation rates affect (i.e., dampening (if any)) trailer sway motion. The amplitude is limited by the road width, but not the frequency. Just a thought.
I'd want to think out the physics -- and make sure my setup was not prone to sway -- before widely recommending this; for one thing, too many people would feel like it's OK to drive an unstable setup because now they have a way to 'fix' the instability (given ideal conditions including an empty road). Though if you are in such a situation, it seems worth giving a try.
Had an overloaded small trailer with the CG too far back (20' beams) once. Hit the brakes and it got worse, including tow vehicle tires skidding. Happily I wasn't going too fast, had a clear road ahead and a mild uphill and was able to recover and slow down.
I'm not doing THAT again.
Yeah, this happened to me as well just recently. It was the second time it’s ever happened in my life and I’ve towed trailers quite a lot. I noticed as I was trying to break and the sway pulled me into oncoming traffic lane that by trying to steer back it only amplified, so I stopped trying to steer other than not going down into the ditch off the side of the road. Same thing with breaking. I just found letting the truck slow down itself and gently applying brakes when I can and keeping a very close eye on what the trailer was doing was what saved me from completely flipping the thing
This is a MUST watch video for anyone who pulls a trailer. Excellent descriptions of the physics behind sway and absolutely terrifying video's of what can happen with bad sway. Like, truly terrifying to the point that if i watched this before getting a trailer I'm not sure I ever would have bought one
I have gotten into the habit of using the trailer brakes going downhills as it both saves my tow vehicle brakes and it's good practice to get used to grabbing those brakes by hand if ever in an emergency.
One question I have is about the likelihood of bad sway with my set up. It looked like most of the vehicles in the videos were not very large tow vehicles and no idea if they had a sway bar.
My set it us a 2018 f250 with, supposedly, integrated sway control(I have no idea how/if it works) and I have a sway bar attached. I have very very minor sway when semi's pass but it never gets crazy, within a second or two everything is back to normal. Basically I can feel the rear get tugged and then we're good. I have a 37 foot trailer with a 7000 pound dry weight(probably closer to 7300ish with stuff in it) and a towing capacity of 12,700 on the truck. Tongue weight is about 900 and I do have a weight distribution hitch.
Thanks for this video, it was incredibly informative.
Thanks Josh, would appreciate a share. Good idea re downhills and practice. I think your 2018 F250 has electronic trailer sway control (check my video on this so you can see how it works). I think your trailer is on the limit of swaying as semis pass...so you're aware of that and you can fix that with the trailer brake or let the car fix it. What I think may be happening is that the F250's trailer sway control is saving you each time, because once sway starts the nature is it tends to get worse until you're inverted. Have a check of the owner's manual to see if it has TSC.
@@L2SFBC note: USA and north america in general it is just because you can doesn't mean you should
at 7500 lbs is 3500 kg
at 900 lbs is 408 kg which is 58 kg over
and what is typically sold as a weight distribution hitch is typically a device that is designed to limt pitch roll of your off your hitch..
my old viscount was rated at 2000kg and thats at 23 foot..
I don't think what is stated on the vin of his van is stating the correct weight per foot you add 5 kg weight
I've never had this kind of accident before, but damn I wish they'd taught this stuff in my driving school back in Ontario! Thanks so much for this video!
8:00 “All your gonna do is get yourself to the scene of the accident quicker than you normally would have done”
I literally laughed out loud!
Excellent video. I recommend practicing applying the brakes on the trailer with the brake controller. You can easily do that in your neighborhood (you don't really need to slow down that much -- if you have successfully grabbed the controller and started slowing down, that is a successful try). After some practice, you should be able to start slowing down within a second and half without even looking. It needs to be as natural to you as getting your foot on the brake pedal when a child runs out in front of you.
Agreed!!!
I practice & use my trailer brake so often that when I am not towing I still reach for it first. I use my trailer brake 1st before my truck brakes for pretty much all stopping situations. I hope if I start a major sway it will be as natural to reach for the trailer brake controller as it is to me to steer into a slide on the ice (I'm not talking with the caravan attached here lol) & brake for the kiddos. 👍✌
Major problem with this. Applying only the trailer brakes causes the vehicle to jackknife. Which ever axle has the greatest braking will take the lead.
No it doesn't. Works for me and others.
@@krakoosh1 I don't think you understand the physics involved. The tow vehicle has momentum. When you apply the brakes on the trailer only, the momentum of the vehicle jerks the combined trailer and tow vehicle into a straight line. Back in May I was on my way home with my trailer and ended up going through a very nasty and very strong cross wind. I ended up hitting the trailer brakes by hand. I can tell you from that experience, it jerks the two into a straight line.
If you apply only the vehicle brakes (i.e. for some reason or another you have no trailer brakes) then you can get a condition where the trailer tries to pass the tow vehicle. In layman's terms, that is your jackknife.
I'm amazed at the number of modern caravans that don't have sway bars connected from the A frame to the towball. I had them on my caravan years ago. The best thing I ever had on that caravan. Easy to assemble. I had towed the caravan without them, with not too many problems until I had a heavy side gust of wind going over a bridge, luckily was able to manage to correct the movement of the van. Then I put the sway bars on before the next trip. I noticed the difference already. I also had a wind deflector on the roof of the car.
This is the first proper explanation I've seen of this issue. Thanks.
You're welcome! Please share!
Fantastic lesson that should be a mandatory requirement for ALL those that haven't hauled a trailer before!
Thanks please share 👍
This could potentially save my life and the lives of many others; thank you. Yesterday I was behind a truck/travel trailer that had just completed a 75 mph pass on a two-lane highway outside Cortez, Colorado and sway began when it steered too rapidly back into its lane to avoid oncoming traffic. It did three very hard right/left cycles and JUST managed to get under control before a fourth vicious cycle kicked it over. The entry steps deployed which is illustrative of the forces involved. I’ve towed my 26-foot travel trailer about five thousand miles without incident but this definitely got my attention and made me realize I wouldn’t instinctively know what to do. Thanks to you I will now train myself to reach for the trailer brake controller at the first sign of sway. Cheers and much appreciated.
My pleasure!
Truck drivers use the trailer brakes as matter of course, it's just part of driving an articulated vehicle. The trailer brake usage is part of the license test.
Some areas have signs with time to ensure truckers don’t engage the Jake brakes early in the morning or late at night. Truckers who ignore the signs will fine truckers who use them in areas where they are prohibited.
Science is at the root of this presentation excellent job sir
Many thanks
I just found your channel recently, and have focused on your trailer sway and mechanical advantage videos. I am sure you have saved lives. I have a Jeep Wrangler and a 5'X8' v-nose cargo conversion. I don't expect, and have never had this issue with this rig, but am going to entirely redesign my weight distribution layout for travel. I did have a very lucky break once when foolishly pulling one vehicle behind another in an unbalanced set up but immediately just coasted down. Spooked me so I had an experienced relative bring a flat bed trailer for that move. Thank you very much for this clear, detailed, physics and design based discussion.
Thank you so much! Please share :-)
Thank you for making these highly explanatory videos! 👍
Exactly the same thing happened to me. I was pulling a heavy single axle caravan with a VW Passat (not smart, I know). A wind from a passing lorry threw it off balance and it went surprisingly fast into a severe sway. I didn't brake and tried to steer it out. But as the video correctly says, it's really hard, almost impossible. Ended up jack knifed but without damage.
The main cause must have been poor weight distribution in the trailer. It was stable till about 70 - 80 kph (50 mph), then it became increasingly unstable at higher speed even when pulled behind a heavier vehicle.
For me the #1 cause of instability is improper weight balance of the trailer (heavy front and heavy back, light middle) and #2 is speed. Other factors are also significant (like gradient, car to trailer weight ratio, jerky steering or sudden breaking in a curve, etc.) but they don't seem to have the same catastrophic impact.
I would add, that if you have a fairly heavy trailer, adding a friction-bar setup would be a great help to stop swaying.
Can you please describe what that is briefly?
Oh I see! Using a pair of conventional shocks to do that would work just as well. I'll keep this in mind, thanks for mentioning it.
The friction device is like a brake, it has a small ball that it mounts on the hitch with, beside the large ball, and the other end hooks to the trailer tongue, the piece is lined with brake material and one end slides inside the other, they are adjustable by a bilt in nut/screw , mine is made by husky
@@kenhall7517 You are on the right track on this except that a friction bar is the wrong choice since it would behave in accordance with the laws of friction and is limited in use - the better option is a double acting hydraulic damper set up in such a way that it can be adjusted to suit the weight of the trailer. It is included in my "Differential Stability" offer.
Another cause of trailer sway can be an improperly balanced trailer with not enough tongue weight. I had this problem with my Triton 128-2 ATV trailer. I carry a side by side ATV and a regular full size ATV on the back of the trailer. I constantly had a problem when I first got the trailer. Typically it would happen at 60 to 65mph going down a slight gradient in the highway. Because of the size of the two ATV’s I was carrying I was limited in how I could position the two quads on the trailer. In order to get more tongue weight on the hitch I extended the front of the trailer by a few inches. I bolted some pieces of pressure treated 2” x 4” to the front edge of the trailer which allowed me to drive the side x side ATV forward a few more inches. This gave me enough tongue weight to stop the problem of trailer sway. I have not had any issues since no matter the speed or gradient of the road.
In the US if you have them adjusted proper a lite touch of the brake peddle will apply only trailer brakes.
Highly dependent on the amount of "GAIN" you have set on your brake controller.
Also, aftermarket brake controllers come in two basic types as I understand it.
One is delayed - so after you apply enough pressure on your brake peddle to activate your brake lights the signal to the trailer brakes begins about a second or so later. That's a lot of time to lose in a sway event.
The second is inertia based - the signal to the trailer brakes is immediate when you apply enough pressure to activate your brake lights. This type senses the rate of deceleration of your tow vehicle and applies the trailer brakes accordingly - the more quickly you slow your tow vehicle the harder it will apply the brakes on your trailer. So, if you slam on the brakes in an emergency situation the trailer brakes will be applied equally strong if set properly. I use this type since it is more immediate and I can set the gain based on the weight of the trailer and driving conditions i.e. slippery roads, or going downhill.
Thats how we ran our setup. works like a charm. and if the sway gets bad then use the big override. Also, if you don't use a dinky vehicle to pull big stuff then sway is pretty rare imo.
Sir you have made one of the best educational videos I've seen. Thank you
This is great, I'll show it to anyone I know who will be towing
Outstanding video. One may also consider adding sway bars, and consider cargo weight distribution and tongue weight. Lots of good videos on TH-cam about weight distribution and tongue weight. Also, test your brake controller regularly.
Thanks please share 👍
My grandparents rolled theirs back in the summer of 1986 near Bowling Green Kentucky on the Kentucky Turnpike. It was a 1983 Dodge Conversion extended van and about a 32 foot camper. My grandma was driving at the time (she was known to be a lead foot compared to my grandpa), and she even said by the time she noticed the swaying they were rolling over, it happened quickly. They were OK except for my grandma broke her collar bone and sprained her wrist, they were both wearing their seatbelts. My grandpa bought motorhomes and towed a small car on a dolly after that.
I knew most of thing’s already, although didn’t have an absolute understanding of them, great video!
I found your video very helpful and it confirmed what I believed to be the correct way to stop trailer sway. I very much appreciated the science behind trailer sway and what causes it. Knowing that will help me avoid sway in future. Thank you.
Glad it helped
When I still had my caravan and it started swaying at a particular speed, I just took my foot from the accellerator. The run-in brake slowed down the caravan imediatly and stabilized the caravan. I must say I observed the caravan constantly and as soon I recognized a slidest sway I reduced my speed or break modestly.
This helped me too at some highly raised bridge over a canal with strong sideways winds. Just let go of the accellerator pedal and let it slow down slowly. Then it stabelizes on it's own. My car weighs about 1400kg, the caravan 900kg and I regulate the weight on the ball to 75kg by moving stuff around inside the caravan until it matches this weight.
@@powerpc6037 Properly loading a trailer helps a ton to prevent and recover from sway. Unfortunately proper weight distribution on the trailer is often overlooked. Even something as simple as moving part of the cargo from the trailer to the tow vehicle (if possible) can help immensely with stability.
@@MicraHakkinen exactly right. Weight distribution isn't just about where the weight is in the trailer, it's also critically important to remember the heavier the tow car, the harder it is for the trailer to move it around, and to distribute the load between the trailer and the towing vehicle with as much weight IN the towing vehicle as possible.
Yes, being alert and keeping an eye on the trailer and your speed is really good to prevent swaying getting out of hand. Has happened to me a couple of times, but because I was aware I just let go of the axcelerator, braked carefully and stopped the swaying. In the end I moved the load (towing a car on the trailer) about 30cm forward and the trailer was totally stable. I even tried to force it to sway by steering back and forth, but it would not start swaying. So weight distributuon is really the best sollution to prevent swaying.
In practice, the brake controller should be set to brake the trailer harder than the vehicle, to slow the trailer and pull the trailer in behind the vehicle.
Speeding up is a bad idea because often it was excessive speed and overtaking which caused the sway.
Many drivers are unaware the absolute speed limit for a caravan is 100kmh, even on a motorway.
"The only thing you are going to do is get to the scene of the accident sooner." OMG, I just spit out my coffee. Great video!
I stole that from Martin Brundle :-)
Thanks Rob
Great lesson once again.
I haven't gone through trailer sway bad enough to get outta hand
But i have felt it several times in its infancy to react
My action to combat it is by physically pressing the brake controller button to apply the brakes on the trailer, whilst I'm still powering forward in the tow rig.
Worked everytime
Yes take a look at the trailer sway recovery video for why that works and a demo
@@L2SFBC thanks Rob
I will do that👍🏾
Hi Robert, I enjoy your videos very much, but have not seen them all. Having said that, I have not seen you mention wheel alignment mentioned in relation to trailer sway. I had trailer sway on a 14 foot off road independent suspension van. I checked all you general advice box's. Tow ball weight, keeping vav packed near centre of pivot over axles, keeping payload low. No matter what it towed well below GPS 95 klm, but as soon as went over it would initiate sway. It was only after I noticed significant inside tread tyre wear on one wheel that I thought the wheel alignment was out on my single axle trailer and wondered how that effected tracking and sway. Long story short the wheel alignment cured the sway issue and I now have a much more pleasant trailing experience. Thanks for your videos.
Thanks Ray, great to hear!!!
Outstanding Explanations!
I’ve been in a trailer sway accident as a passenger. It’s NOT fun at all. Thanks for these excellent videos on the topic.
My pleasure!
Mostly depends on each trailer where the axles are on the overall length and how you have the weight loaded.
Correct .this guy doesn't know what he ls talking about. You basically don't want too much weight on the tail end of your trailer.
@@jimmcfadden1438 Sorry! but you don't know what you are talking about; I have towed caravans and hauled long trailers (Semi Trailers) for thousands of miles in Australia and the only way to stop a trailer or caravan from swaying is to apply brakes to the caravan or trailer; there is no other way to stop it. Weight distribution of a trailer changes how easily affected and susceptible it is to elements that will cause the sway in the first instance but get this clear in your head, there are circumstances that will cause a trailer to go into a sway regardless of any other factors involved, Axle placement, weight distribution, trailer length etc. and given the right set of forces, a trailer or caravan WIIL SWAY make no mistake about that. And that is what this guy is talking about, how to stop the sway, in some instances the human brain doesn't act quickly enough to correct the sway, even if you apply the correct procedure; If you know anything about Semi Trailers or Car and caravan towing you will know that the braking set up when you apply your brake on the towing vehicle, the trailer brakes activate slightly before the towing vehicle's brakes come into effect therefore preventing the trailer from pushing or over-riding the towing vehicle which in turn prevents the trailer or caravan from going into a swaying situation. I see so many amateur caravaners towing their caravans who believe that driving their rig fast; sometimes faster than they would drive normally with no caravan attached, somehow proves what a good driver I am; Look at me see how I can tow a caravan really fast; I have no idea what they are trying to prove other than prove what an idiot they are. They think they are experts but in reality, may only tow a trailer or caravan a few times a year but think they know more than a professional driver who tows trailers thousands of miles for a living. This guy does know what he is talking about and if you think otherwise, one day you may be in for a rude awakening.
@@johnrobinson1020 go a head and put too much weight on the tail end of one of those campers and see how much fun you have with that. Improperly loaded trailers cause the trailer sway.
@@johnrobinson1020 dude I have driven heavy vehicles all my life from tray trucks to car carriers( tripples) and maxi quads and the solution is load correctly and drive to conditions, I have never had any sort of trailer start to sway, I have also completed safe driving and defensive courses, and you are right, a lot of caravan's don't have a clue what the he'll is going on behind them. Professional drivers, most times can feel the vehicles reactions and response and tend not to get into these situations, that is the difference between a cowboy and a professional operator, not just a driver .stay safe friend
@@jimmcfadden1438 Of course, you are correct Jimmy but my point being , although these factors you mention make it more likely, given the right set of circumstances, to end up with the trailer in a sway; It is usually the driver not knowing how to handle a load that is not correctly laden, and his lack of expertise of driving long loads with trailers; his own actions will usually bring about the swaying of the trailer; As you probably are aware, a professional driver will drive accordingly to his load. So to sum up, it is my contention that although it is much more likely for a trailer to go into a sway if the load is placed incorrectly, as you mention, That in itself does not cause the actual sway, although one could argue that it could, it is the inexperience of the driver to do something wrong in his driving ability to start the onset of the sway, and I completely agree, the sway of the trailer will be worse with a badly laden trailer, and I think you will agree with me that a professional driver would not overload the tail end of a camper trailer in the first place. Thanks for your input. I appreciate your response to my post and I take your points on board.
Thanks!
Thank you James super appreciate the Super Thanks!
An excellent, clear and comprehensive explanation of trailer sway - thank you.
I have the review camera, i always pay attention to where my trailer end is aiming. Hauling is exhausting because you have another level of attention and awareness you must maintain on top of everything else you do while driving. I havent seen any sway out of my trailer yet but I know it can happen and am ready for it.
I’ve never heard sway explained as “the toad (towed) is moving faster then the tow vehicle”. That fact alone was a light bulb moment for me! I’ve never towed before & want to do it safely. Great explanation; great videos!
Thanks please share 👍
fast toads: scary
Great info when you have trailer brakes.
I wagged once with a heavy 16' trailer and accelerated out of it. Granted the truck was stout, but the trailer was certainly overloaded as well. No trailer brakes....no choice.
So it does work. But not with a camper towed by the civic or the soccer mom minivan.
In America we usually have much bigger trailers on the road as well as large trucks equipped with trailer brake controllers. If sway occurs you ALWAYS aggressively apply the trailer brakes and don’t touch the brakes on your tow vehicle. I’m a little surprised that the actual and ONLY solution to sway was covered at the very end of the video. The main reasons for sway is too light a tow vehicle, lack of a sway control hitch and lack of functioning trailer brakes.
this is mostly caused by RV trailers having the axles to close to center so the dealer can LIE to you and tell you that your light duty vehicle can tow it. This reduces the tongue weight, fooling people into a false sense of security. LOAD LEVELING BARS ARE NOT THE ANSWER EITHER. You simply cannot cheat reality. On 90% of trailers that have a sway problem, if you moved the axles a full 12" to the rear of the trailer, it would never sway again. This would also mean you cannot pull a 6-15 thousand pound trailer with your suv, minivan, jeep, or half ton pick up. They are made unsafe intentionally to boost sales and sales alone. Weight balance is the one true cause of trailer sway. The video im linking here shows this with simple toys and a treadmill. That said i have over 500,000 miles in commercial trucking and RV transport. th-cam.com/video/w9Dgxe584Ss/w-d-xo.html
@@nathan00campbell This link to one of Roberts videos actually explains the concepts. th-cam.com/video/JeEEC5eVNCk/w-d-xo.html
@@IH-nr7dx he pretty much said everything i just did, with the addition of talking about up and down hill. The "to much ball weight" is correct. So if you need to add to the point that it is to much for the tow vehicle, that is telling you that you don't have enough tow vehicle. Same thing i was saying, just another way of saying it. Also in these same test, if he could move the axle on the trailer he would see a greater difference. That and the distance of the ball to the rear axle of the tow vehicle plays a huge part in sway due to the cantilever effect
Hello Scott - it's pretty much the same world over and I stress people should not compare heavies with lighter trailer combinations especially concerning uncontrolled sway.
By adding anti-sway bars to the hitch, does this stop sway?
It can reduce but not eliminate the risk.
Great videos you have made.......
I would like to see you do a video on typical 5th wheel connections vs typical gooseneck connections, as they both have different properties from one another.... and the sway issues that are much less prevalent, but can still be just as deadly if the rules arent followed... a 5th wheel trailer is more susceptible to sustained or increased swaying than a gooseneck trailer is due to the connection joint to the tow vehicle being so much higher, which when the tow vehicle dips to one side, can lead the trailer more that a gooseneck hitch would.... a gooseneck hitch being connected to the tow vehicle just a few inches above the axle of the tow vehicle almost totally eliminates the possibility of trailer sway, and makes for a more stable ride in ANY conditions, unless one has loaded all the weight on the trailer BEHIND the trailer axles, or extremely HIGH on the trailer.. and then there is also the factor of how far ahead, behind, or centered over the axle centerline the hitch is located.... it ALL makes a difference for safe and comfortable towing....... the treadmill track with a 5th wheel trailer, and a gooseneck trailer would be an excellent learning tool for how to be as safe as one possibly can when towing something other than a bumper pull trailer.....
Great video and explanation, Thank you. Well worth discussing the reaction time as well on how long you've got before everything goes totally pear shaped.
Indeed, having watching numerous sway crashes I think it's in the order of 2-4 seconds to identify and react. Of course, earlier the better.
Great explanation of how to control sway. Best once Ive seen
Thanks please share 👍
Robert, thanks for your detailed explanation of trailer sway and how to correct it. I experienced some serious sway last trip when a tandem truck overtook me in a valley before an incline. I attempted to speed up to correct the caravan yawl but this takes time as you have outlined and I fully accept this is not an efficient or reliable method of correction. I was doing 95km/h at the time. I have a Redarc brake controller which I will use next occasion when this occurs to slow the caravan to have the rig straighten up. I am also to have air bags added to my rear vehicle's springs to stiffen these up to offer more resistance to yawl occurring. I trust these measures will reduce the possibility of an incident. I found your video informative and a must read for those pulling significant weights behind their tow vehicle (in my instance 2.6 tonne). Thanks so much ...
Thanks Tim, yes speeding up works in theory not in practice. Yes stiffer springs in the rear will hep a little but not massively. 95km/h is a common speed to induce sway, it is very speed dependent.
Ha ha, about your oversteer description, probably true. I've spent half my driving career sliding around sideways in control and never once spun or lost it :-) One of my strategies, particularly in the wet is to provoke the slide before it would naturally occur because then nothing is sudden in terms of weight transitions and I'm 100% expecting it. On the flip side, if you allow the suspension to load up and then the slide begins, there's a lot of stored energy released and it's much harder to recover anyway. Drifters do the same thing to an even more extreme degree forcing the car sideways under brakes biassed or exclusively on the rear and then simply continuing that steady state condition under power to suit the desire to decel or accel as the track dictates. :-)
Your correct and that's why he is wrong about steering out of it. You have to move your vehicle ahead of time. You have to find the rhythm and move just slightly ahead to the shocks don't load of and throw you back the other way
great information! I have seen people claim you can get out of an escalating sway situation by accelerating and perhaps in rare occasions they get lucky! Not something I am going to try myself. when I installed my first trailer break controller the first time I had it tucked out of the way but still reachble by my non dominant hand! A friend wisely pointed out i would likely never find it with my left hand in time and the press it in time with where it was! I prompty re-mounted it in a much more accessible location! have practiced using it a few times and hope to never really need to use it!
Use the trailer brakes to slow the trailer down if fitted rather than 'power out'.
Loved "getting to the scene of the accident quiker" 9:54
I stole that from Martin Brundle :-)
Brilliant! Looking forward to the video about how the car's trailer sway control senses it and works
th-cam.com/video/ie_szIujKYI/w-d-xo.html
Truck and trailer matching is important, but when trying to tow a really long trailer even if the tongue weight and towing capacities are met is still a precarious situation. Over doing the tow vehicle and using a weight distribution hitch may seem like over kill and can be but even those set ups are not immune to a harmonic run away sway situation that sends even the best set ups into a "death sway". Being able to manually control the trailer's brakes and driving out of that "death sway" is the only way to guarantee the complete control over the tow vehicle and trailer set up. Great video and explanation.
Excellent presentation with clear explanations and great visual demonstrations. Trailer sway is a scary concept but having watched this video and knowing that I have the right braking system to manage it I feel a little better prepared. Thanks.
Thanks Rosalie, check out my how to use the brake controller video too!
I can’t apply the breaks on the trailer as shown on the video. My single axle caravan has got that inertia brakes that only works when I brake the towing vehicle. So what yo do in that scenario? What about towing stabiliser , does it work?
I'd fit independent electric brakes. But, failing that, best to ensure sway never happens - keep weight central and low, good tyres correctly inflated, relatively heavy towcar. If sway does occur, then very slowly reduce speed and hope!
Very good explanation. I have been in trouble with this scenario. Fornutely, the only damage was to the trailer. I was dumb but lucky!
@ 1:40. The truck is on wrong side of road! ;). A heavy tow vehicle, GN/5th hitch helps a lot. My one ton, diesel started swaying once. Thankfully my astonishment didn’t delay acting. Started @65 so as only 15 miles just kept to 55mph.
Low speed helps 👍and look at the video upside down
@@L2SFBC 🤣🤣🤣
Excellent video! Good information and explained very well. What works and what doesn't. 👍
Thanks please share etc!
You have successfully scared the hell out of me, but in the good way!
Same here!
Did I scare you guys into subbing and sharing?
@@L2SFBC yes, sir. 😄
@@L2SFBC lol that's how you gotta do it in this line of work
I have been towing light loads for years without a problem. Recently getting a toy hauler I started studying everything regarding safety. I know trailer brake controllers were a thing and had them in old trucks but never had to use them because of the weight I was hauling I guess. My new truck, although much better for towing did not come with a brake controller installed. I did install one, but it made me think, if I am moderately experienced in towing and somewhat safety conscious how many of these trailers on the road I see are new, inexperienced or completely unaware that they need weight distribution and trailer brakes.
Thanks for giving very clearly information about tow truck.
Am making same one in mY workshop I want to send you some photos of that
I’m an auto crosser and road race driver. Early on, I would tow my X1-9 with an 86 Audi A6 precurser, a fairly small car, using an aluminum trailer. It was barely stable, and when I finally installed a tire rack over the front of the hood of the car on the trailer, it became brutally unstable, which was even worse going downhill. Of course, there was a limit to how much I could accelerate out of it.
My usual instinct of counter steering or braking accentuated the sway, so I tried steering out of phase with that, which worked. 😮 Eventually I moved the mass to in front of the trailered car, and the problem went away.
So it is possible to steer out of sway, but it is so counterintuitive to be nearly impossible for an average driver.
I never thought of his reasoning as to the source of the sway, but it’s a brilliant way of looking at it. But I actually always thought of it as a problem of counterintuitive human response to the situation. Which ever is the “real” way of thinking about it, if his solution works, I’m for it!
Great post, thanks! Yes downhill is a contributing factor to sway. Yes it is possible to steer out of sway, but not a technique I recommend. I know from my fast-car work that even amateur racers often cannot correct oversteer, so no chance of correcting out-of-phase sway. Yes, applying the trailer brake WILL fix it!
Great explanation and demonstration. But really, what speed is the truck doing that would cause you to need to overtake it in the first place. I'm a newbie to caravan towing and am practicing using the Redarc control, and I have the Al-Ko sway controller fitted. Safe travels, and just slow the hell down folks!
QUESTION, What will the effect be if you install swaybars on the caravan suspension? That will not completely stop it I think but it should stop it from getting worse due to the weight displacement being limited?
Hard to say. May make it worse.
I was excited when I saw your video. Finally someone would take a scientific approach to tell us what to do in the case of trailer sway. In the 50 some odd years of owning a trailer, Boats, Popups, utility, I have NEVER had trailer brakes. I guess I screwed then!
I found this very interesting and agree that most things don't work! However, I have developed a simple technique that does. Before I explain, can I just say that I have been towing caravans and trailers with cars on for some 40 years, some with stabiliser bars or the more modern ceramic(?) discs in the ball hitch. None of these devices have prevented all sway situations. I now believe I can say that a sway situation does not generate blind panic any more. When a sway develops it builds up a rhythm which begins to sway the towing vehicle and the natural instinct is to compensate with correction at the steering wheel, BUT this only makes things worse!! What if you could break this rhythm to "confuse" the sway of the caravan/trailer? You can! There is no need to brake or accelerate. It is all done with the steering. The best way to explain this is to think of your steering wheel as a clock face and your hands are at the 9 and 3 position. Now "shake the head" of your towing vehicle by quickly moving the steering from 9/3 to 10/4 to 8/2 to 10/4 to 8/2 etc. You can do this rapidly without losing control and without changing lanes - most important!! This rhythm totally confuses whatever you are towing and it immediately comes back into line. This has worked for me in just about all road situations such as overtaking on a motorway when you come out from alongside a lorry, buffeting from oncoming traffic or a gust of wind. I am making no guarantees and can only say it works for me. If you want to perhaps add this to your driving skills, why not take your towing vehicle to an open space where you can get up to your towing speed and try this whilst staying "in your lane" and get a feel for how far you can go without loosing control. Rapidity is the key. It is actually easier if you are towing something! Be safe and careful.
Very good explanation, my other concern is should you always or never drive in 4 wheel when towing? TY in advance.
Only if you have a vehicle designed for 4wd on road also known as AWD mode or all wheel drive
Thanks you. Excellent and understandable explanation.
Glad it was helpful!
Very helpful video. Most of the camping groups I belong to really push the weight distribution hitches and sway bars (which I can't use with my Subaru Ascent) as the ultimate sway solution.
Glad it was helpful! The thing about sway is that there are multiple causes, and therefore multiple fixes. It's all very situation dependent. I'll be releasing a video on all the sway solutions in due course.
The thing is that a weight distribution hitch isn't going to help you very much if the problem is not excessive tow ball weight lifting the front of the vehicle. It's more of a point fix for a specific issue. A truck can still come and blow your trailer around even when you have the whole rig nice and level.
I have had a friend do the steering recovery, and it is the only option normally available.
I have never seen a trailer brake system here in EU.
Well, you guys should have independent trailer brakes!!!
Great video I've read threads where people recommended to floor it if you feel it start to sway but it never felt like the right thing to do when it happened to me, my thinking was if you do that you have to commit and not back out of the acceleration or it'll get worse and even if you do accelerate it still might not work and only make the accident more severe , so when it happened to me driving a van with a 1.9 tonne digger on the trailer I just put my foot on the clutch kept the wheel as straight as possible and tried to ride it out which didn't work as it was just getting worse so I tried lightly tapping the brakes slowly and it seemed to slow it down and I got out of it just before it got really bad.
I know how it happened as I had pallets on the trailer which meant I couldn't put the digger entirely over the wheels and left the trailer out of balance but I knew this and planned to drive extra slow to accommodate that but at some point I crept over 80kmph and the wobble started.. I drove 60 the rest of the way ha. I don't have a button to activate the trailers breaks so I'm not sure if they're activated when I brake in the van or not but it's worked for me so far
Wow, that's a great story, and yes indeed poor weight distribution is a major factor in sway. You did well and were I would suggest a little lucky too!
@@L2SFBC yes i was definitely lucky and I'd say it was also important that I stayed calm and didn't panic although I could hear my heartbeat through my neck afterwards ha
Slowing and accelerating both change the the direction of force being applied to the hitch from perpendicular to parallel with the vehicle. It is simmilar to wiggling a rope that is tied to something then pulling or letting go of the rope. Acceleration can work but it increases the chance of the sway occurring again but only faster and more severely. Slowly decelerating is normally the best option as it is easier to decrease speed because of drag and friction than it is to accelerate.
I am sure someone much smarter than me could describe the physics behind it in more detail, but that is the basics behind it.
Very well done. Great illustration and description of the problem. So, to maybe help prevent trailer sway from starting....while encountering large trucks, I could use the override lever on my electric brake controller to slow the trailer slightly while at the same time applying a slight amount of acceleration in my tow vehicle. Essentially, preventing sway from starting.
That's a really good technique, love it...will borrow!
I agree with most of what you're saying with regards to towing some sort of caravan, campers that will have independent electrical braking systems which by law most will need. But for your average work or rubbish trailer which don't need or doesn't have independent electric brakes the only option you have when you're in a sway is to speed up. Also if your trailer or camper has only mechanical braking you have no choice but to speed up to get out of the sway. It's always better to try it than to do nothing and crash in my opinion.
Thanks very informative. Im in the US. I believe that there should be a mandatory course you must pass before you are allowed to drive a trailer.
I totally agree!
Excellent explanation. Q? Do the type of tyres on a caravan/ camper trailer affect the amount of sway at highway speed? e.g. road tyres over All terrains on a caravan?
Yes, the more grip the trailer has, the less it'll sway.
Excellent video, thanks for the informative explanation 👍🏻
Glad it was helpful!
I have found when I get a sway starting with an un-braked trailer, if I do a short burst of acceleration (just a touch on the throttle) then very light braking to take the speed of the rig down in steps it has stopped the sway, but only if the sway is caught early. (loaded Navara with 1.5T trailer)
better to load correctly and not get the sway at all though.
Had it happen to me today, on a trailer with a bunch of metal on it. It started to rock in the back, luckely i saw it as it was going within a second or two from almost nothing to pretty severe, slammed the brakes directly and it solved the problem.
nice video and well explaIained IF you you have the technical capability to slow just the trailer down but most people don't have that possibility so my question is, how do you manage this problem if you DON'T have the capability to slow only the trailor down ??
You can either speed up or slow down. If you have a light trailer, are at a low speed and have a powerful car, speeding up will equalise the speed. If you don't have that, you won't be able to accelerate fast enough. Then you have to take your chances by slowing down.
The dynamics of sway is "Simple Harmonic Motion" when a force is exerted on the side of the caravan It resembles a pendulum up to a specific angle that can be calculated, however, in a caravan scenario the swing is inhibited by the tyres that try to restrict the swing so something has to give to displace the absorbed energy and that is to accelerate (radial ply tyres are no friend in this case since they have a narrow slip angle and will push harder) and just to elaborate if there was no axle and tyres in place it would just swing back ad forth until it came to rest or until another push was made. So what causes the sway to develop when ii first moves - the speed of the vehicle is relevant here because the wheel is at an angle to the direction of travel so it is pushed back into line and is balanced by the opposite side up to SHM. In an overrun braking system this acceleration outwards actuates the brakes as it continues the swing and this then triggers the acceleration back towards the equilibrium, just like a bow and arrow releasing the potential energy and this then increases the kinetic energy that will continue at pace across to the opposite side unless it is stopped before it reaches the equilibrium. Now this is where my common assumption that braking should never occur and I have stressed this to ALKO who have created the ATC that operates both wheel brakes which is only going to exacerbate the problem albeit slow the combination down if you are fortunate. In "Differential Stability" (C), I have designed the system to apply specific individual brakes that will stop the swing at or before it reaches the centre of equilibrium and then switch to the opposite side brake if in the rare occasion it goes past. In practice the driver will never feel any sway since it is proactive under very severe conditions like passing trucks or strong side winds it is a pure automated concept. I have tried to obtain the same results using electronic algorithms but I have never made it work as good as the pure mechanical concept on overrun brake systems. Many have tried to make differential concepts work but have failed simply because they have not fathomed out how to do it. Differential systems are used in aircraft and tractors but they have a human foot and brain on the brakes. I am considering releasing the concept to the market along with detailed drawings and operating instructions due to my advancing years and the desire to retire. It will be an ideal DIY project that will last for years without any attention other than brake adjustments and usual cleaning and oiling. Mine has been in use for 35,000 miles and 10 years fitted for touring France every year. If anyone is interested contact me on willie079@gmail.com.
I have checked with the type approvals ratings and they confirm that this would be treated as an accessory and as long as it does not contravene them there is no need to re apply. So no welding, drilling or changes to the original equipment is ok.
Also I intend to allow the interested parties access to make money from the project.
Robert, you have inspired me to release my "Differential Stability" ©to the general caravan fraternity. I will be producing drawings and full support to anyone who takes up my offer. It will be based upon a DIY project that any capable person can undertake. I have researched the Type Approvals Authorities and have been advised that it is treated as an accessory and that means it can be fitted as long as it does not alter the approved status - that is - no welding, drilling or interference with the approvals. I can confirm that my system fulfils this criteria. Oh and the suggestion that there is no force available to do this just shows the lack of knowledge some people have - the equal force is derived from the inertia of the vehicle mass and is created by applying a specific brake that equals the return kinetic energy. Further more it does not slow the vehicle down because when one wheel accelerate the other slows down keeping the speed in balance - simple physics.
the same phenomenon happens to large tractor trailers. Mostly when empty or light or without proper weight distribution. Amplified in wet,windy or icy conditions. But mostly when the friction point is dry. Greasing the hitch well and often eliminates it. Think about it. Friction is real, be proactive and never have that experience. Change lanes slowly, always keep the combination unit in line.
Robert, in your opinion aside from reducing speed and ensuring that the majority of weight in the caravan is over the tandem wheels, would I be best fitting airbags to the coil springs for a Ford Everest as was proposed to me, or would I be better getting anti-sway bars fitted to the car/van? That is, I note your comment that fitting airbags may assist minimally to reduce the yawl of the rear of the vehicle.
Your Everest already has car trailer stability control. For additional peace of mind get trailer stability control fitted too; refer my video explaining both. Also; yaw not yawl, cats go yawl caravans go yaw :-)
Hi Robert. Can you do a video on the difference between single and tandem axle caravans ie what is better.
Singles are lighter and better offroad as less drag, tandems carry more weight and are more stable.
So, would you lightly apply the trailer brakes as you begin to pass a large vehicle to prevent the swaying from even starting?
That's not a bad idea, but with trailer brakes you can apply them so quickly it's not necessary. If sway develops when that happens it would be a sign of inherent instability and you'd want to fix that at source.
Great videos! Thanks!
I have a question:
There are trailers and maby caravans
without breaks what should they do?
Or those small trailers with a cover they rent out.
Let go of the gas and rol it out untill it stops? I did that ones and it worked but there was a puchbreak on the trailer so thats not the same.
Slow down slowly...hope the brakes work!
Wow. What an important video! 👍🏻👍🏻 Thank you.
Assuming that there are no control brakes on the trailer, would a combination of braking the car slightly and then speeding up (performing this combination in repeated succession) offer a chance to correct the sway? Does it work in theory and/or practice?
Not been tried to my knowledge. It could work, but I doubt it. Slowing down best as you can is the preferred option if no independent trailer brakes.
What I see in this video is that all of the accidents are very high loads - ie, they're overwelming the suspension of the trailer and causing that to form part of the resonant system. In my two sway cases the CG was relatively high, too. So then, low CG of the trailer is key. If you have something tall, stiff suspension and tyres are key and shocks are a key part of that. Thanks for the metal clarity your vids have given me about my existing plans which were already on the right track for other related reasons. :-)
You are like many - already doing the right thing, but when you see it put like this what you already do makes sense. I do like that my theory is backed up by practical experience such as your own. And nothing I create is pure theory anyway, if it doesn't align with my own experience I won't advise it.
@@L2SFBC You're welcome / Thank you! :-)
this is mostly caused by RV trailers having the axles to close to center so the dealer can LIE to you and tell you that your light duty vehicle can tow it. This reduces the tongue weight, fooling people into a false sense of security. LOAD LEVELING BARS ARE NOT THE ANSWER EITHER. You simply cannot cheat reality. On 90% of trailers that have a sway problem, if you moved the axles a full 12" to the rear of the trailer, it would never sway again. This would also mean you cannot pull a 6-15 thousand pound trailer with your suv, minivan, jeep, or half ton pick up. They are made unsafe intentionally to boost sales and sales alone. Weight balance is the one true cause of trailer sway. The video im linking here shows this with simple toys and a treadmill. That said i have over 500,000 miles in commercial trucking and RV transport. th-cam.com/video/w9Dgxe584Ss/w-d-xo.html
I have a better version of that video...
@@L2SFBC Absolutely, it really is just *better* :-D PS, it's clearly NOT the ONLY cause, a lack of damping in the suspension of most trailers is a major contributor, especially high ones. Nathan, go through this man's vids, they're comprehensive and excellent.
I have a car hauler 24ft L by 8.5 W ft x 7 ft H. It sways every time. I use the trailer brake control system to slow the trailer. I wonder if the tortion axles are worn that makes this problem magnify?
Well, worn components never help...
With experience and paying attention you can feel the beginning of a sway and correct. Before pulling a trailer practice slowing down with just the trailer brake controller.
Often sway is caused because the weight on the trailer is too far back. Pull over and try rearranging the load. Moving a heavy item such as a tool box from the rear to the front of the trailer might correct it. If you can't correct the balance drive much slower, or park it if its windy out.
Trailer sway bars are PRICELESS!!! Never had this issue because of them, thank goodness. (2015 F-150 Ecoboost/2018 Starcraft 26BHS)
Under 45MPH less hydroplaning.
Under 45MPH less wind resistance.
Maybe
Under 45 MPH less swaying?
I see the wheels are mounted in the middle of the trailer does that perpetuate the sway by causing the weight to spin around the center? Would it be better to mount the wheels toward the back of the trailer?
Yes wheels further back lees swaying.
Really interesting. Do have one fundamental challenge…. My caravan is a European model (Adria) with mechanical overrun brakes… but also an Alko AKS coupler… so some relief there. Would love to know best recommendation for cancelling sway with the mechanical overrun brakes given I cannot get the Euro version of Aldo’s trailer control (ATC) here in Australia…. We can only get Alko ESC here and that is not an option for Adrias, Bailey Swifts etc. My experience just returning to VIC from Alice, where I had to deal with B-Triples was no sway coming head on. The van handled that OK. When passed by a road train, my only option was to let off the pedal when I saw then in my mirrors and then slowly accelerate when the 3rd trailer passed the Ute. NOT SURE if that was the correct strategy but it seemed to work. Would appreciate advice.
If that strategy worked for you, it worked for you! I'd fit the Dexter/Bosch system - see my trailer TSC video for details.
Good advice thanks .. can definitely use it 👌🏻
Glad it was helpful! Please share :-)
Very informative. Cheers Robs 👍
What about when hauling trailer seats when empty? Do I need a new trailer or just drive slow
Trailer seats?
It was a typo. I was asking what about when an empty trailer sways when empty
Oh ok. Well if the trailer sways when empty...you need a better trailer and/or bigger towcar!
@@L2SFBC ok thank you
What should you do, when you don't have electronic braks? All my trailers have overrun braks and here in switzerland the max speed with a trailer is 80 km/h. Cheers
Slow down and keep straight.
I knew that having more weight toward the front of the trailer is important , but watching this, i realized it's alot to do with tongue weight, if the weight is pushing down it's harder for the back end of the car to move around and if it's more lifting up it has more leverage and will throw the back of the car around
Great explanation , well done
I was towing my '67 Falcon with my 3/4 ton van and got into this situation. I managed to recover but through pure dumb luck; no idea how it recovered. I was much younger then and thought I knew it all.
I took it nice and slow to the next exit and found a tire shop and asked for help. After swallowing my pride and almost losing my arse, I got a very expensive lesson on sway control bars and better tongue weight. After they installed my new sway bars they moved the car forward to get the right tongue weight and I was off again with no issues.
Fast forward several decades and I have people questioning me on why I use sway control bars hauling 5,000 of hay.
'Twas because of a life lesson and I don't tow without them and knowing my tongue weight.
Fantastic, thank you!
I haven't yet seen anything come up regarding LDH's (Load Distribution Hitches) which are based upon the idea of adding support to the connection through the entire towbar to effectively place the hitch/load point (or Artificially Relocate it) further forward on the Towing Vehicle, which centers the tire footprint of the towing vehicle, making it adjustable for maximum tow vehicle traction authority
We also commonly (here in the 'States) use what are called "Sway Controllers" which are actually metal bars that act as shock absorbers to dampen sway
I have a VW Amarok V6 with sway control. New van is on order & I have the option of installing an Alko sway control on the van. Will the 2 sway controls fight each other ?
No