Correcting Trailer Swing

[svo supporter]

Strange thing tonight. Previously, I had towed a car 200 K from my place to a mates place. When I towed it down there, I had the car on backwards and was able to sit comfortably on 110 K an hour. Tonight, I picked up the car and put it on frontwards. If I went above 80 K an hour, the bloody thing was swaying all over the road.

So why would this be? Everyone is saying put the car on frontwards to tow, yet having this car on backwards, the trailer towed a lot better?

[OLDFORDNUT]

did it have engine in ?
if more weight is at front of trailer than back it should tow well all things being equal,ie.good tyres,straight axles ,tyres pumped up to 35 to 40 lbs.
if motor is not in car or worse in boot then front of car would be lighter than back (in this scenerio only) car would be better on backwards

[LUXO_8]

was it a VW beetle lol
seriously, you've left out some important info.
was the tow car and more importantly the trailer same one both times?
and what kind of car was it, and did it have an engine or not?

[cheap]

As with most things in life, it is best to not let the tail wag the dog.

I have a large/heavy boat and tow it up and down the NSW/QLD coast. My first tow vehicle was a ED Falcon sedan. It had a Hayman Reece hitch and was rated at 2500kg or 3000kg. Whilst possible and legal to tow the large boat at the speed limit it was never pleasant. You always knew there was a substantial weight behind you which given an opportunity would swap ends without hesitation. 90-100km/hr corning on the old Pacific Highway was interesting and speed isn't the only input into the equation as I once experienced the infamous wobbles avoiding an accident whilst traveling at little over 40km/hr.

For the past +14 years I have used Landcurisers for towing.

Whilst trailer weight distribution, tow ball weight, new age electronic brake systems, tyre pressures, single or tandem trailer, they all play a part, in my opinion having a significantly heavier tow vehicle than the towed object is the best way to staying forward facing. A heavier/bigger tow vehicle will compensate for a multitude of sins.

[ebxr8240]

Yes 4WD vehicles tend to have there axles close to tow bar also which helps..
If you get into trouble ?? I find is better not to try and correct or zig zag.. You'll quick find you'll exaggerate the situ... Even if you zag zig.. I just ease off throttle and LIGHTLY apply brakes.. As said try moving weight forward is you can...
My car trailer has it's axles about 1.9 meters apart.. Though at times pita to back or turn without car attached... It's very stable to tow...

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by OLDFORDNUT

did it have engine in ?
if more weight is at front of trailer than back it should tow well all things being equal,ie.good tyres,straight axles ,tyres pumped up to 35 to 40 lbs.
if motor is not in car or worse in boot then front of car would be lighter than back (in this scenerio only) car would be better on backwards

Yep. It was a complete car. The trailer tyres are pumped to 40 PSI. I used the same Valiant to tow the same car/trailer combo both times. The car on the trailer was a Valiant as well. The only change made betwen the 2 tows, was how the car was loaded on the trailer.

Just for interest sakes. The tow car was a Sedan and the car on the trailer was a wagon.

So the plot thickens

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Yep. It was a complete car. The trailer tyres are pumped to 40 PSI. I used the same Valiant to tow the same car/trailer combo both times. The car on the trailer was a Valiant as well. The only change made betwen the 2 tows, was how the car was loaded on the trailer.

Just for interest sakes. The tow car was a Sedan and the car on the trailer was a wagon.

So the plot thickens

That explains it. Valiant's often used to have unexplainable handling

[Landau Stable]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Yep. It was a complete car. The trailer tyres are pumped to 40 PSI. I used the same Valiant to tow the same car/trailer combo both times. The car on the trailer was a Valiant as well. The only change made betwen the 2 tows, was how the car was loaded on the trailer.

Just for interest sakes. The tow car was a Sedan and the car on the trailer was a wagon.

So the plot thickens

A wagon is heavier at the back than a sedan. If your trailer is long enough, and you backed the wagon right to the edge, you may have found yourself with that ideal balance. Alternatively, next time you tow with it facing forward, don't load it right to the front of the trailer, and then see how you go.

[LUXO_8]

ah yeah definantly....a real steel wagon would be quite heavy over the back...

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Landau Stable

Alternatively, next time you tow with it facing forward, don't load it right to the front of the trailer, and then see how you go.

A picture is worth...etc..etc...
As you said, not all the way to the front of the trailer. Car sits reasonably level, and towed at easily at 110-120.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

That explains it. Valiant's often used to have unexplainable handling

Don't even go down that path. For the sake of harmony, drop your line of thought, as I don't find it amusing at all. In fact, it borders on pathetic.

I actually found, by loading the car on trailer forwards, the car sat level. However, loading it on backwards, the rear of the tow car sat down, which made it handle alot better on the open road.

The trailer itself is long enough to fit the wagon on fully. My trailer also has a slight decline at the back, which is beautiful for loading cars up.

So the plot thickens

[Crazy Dazz]

A couple more points:
Personally I would never tow a heavier load long-distance especially on country roads. In this case it was a relatively short distance, I was very careful, but the problem mentioned actually happened on the freeway when I let the speed creep up. Lesson learnt.
I had to borrow my daughter’s AU to do the tow. The one we end up keeping for ourselves will get air-shocks to compensate for the soft rear-end.
Yes, it a POS trailer from a servo. Mechanical over-rider brakes which I am confident did not work at all. I think electrical trailer brakes would make life a lot easier.
With the first car, loaded backwards, the load was much more even, and the tow car’s rear only dropped marginally. But clearly there was too much weight in the tail. With the 2nd load, the rear of the tow car dropped so far that the chain dragged on the ground. But I think this was a function of the soft suspension.
If I was going to tow more often, I would not only fit a tranny cooler, but definitely upgrade the cooling. Would probably go for a V8 too.

[janddbone]

As the thread is specifically about correcting the sway, your safest bet is to have electric trailer brakes....

[mrbaxr6t]

as others have said you should load the trailer with the heaviest weight toward the front, if your trailer still swings and you got no breaks on the trailer DO NOT BRAKE this will increase the force on the tow vehicle and likely rip your car off the road, the answer is ACCELERATE it sounds horribly stupid but it will (the tow vehicle) exert more forward pulling force on the hitch straightening out your trailer. you will find that at certain speeds loads will swing, go a little slower or faster and it will stop. if the swing is really bad you should slow down (coast) dont brake after you have accelerated to pull straight and shift your load forward of the axles, or the heavier items as far forward of the axles as you can - this will help. SAFETY TIP : it is safest to tow with a vehicle that is heavier than your load and trailer combined, doing this in all but the most extreme cases will prevent sway as the load and trailer isnt heavy enough to pull the rear of the car around. Another method is to remove some items from the rear of the trailer (heavy ones) and place them in the rear of your vehicle, backseat boot back of wagon whatever, this will decrease the weight on the rear of the trailer and INCREASE the weight of the tow vehicle reducing the severity of the sway effect the trailer can exert on the vehicle as you have decreased weight on rear of trailer (making the front of it heavier) AND you have increased the weight of the tow vehicle. if you are experiencing sway do not slam on the breaks this is the absolute worst thing you can do

[G6LTD09]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

When I was doing the hydraulic brakes book at TAFE it mentioned that just activating the trailer brakes will stop it from swaying.

Yup, agree totally.. IF you have electric trailer brakes all you need to be able to do is reach down to the brake controller and apply the electric brake manual lever. Straightens them up pretty fast, bit awkward if its been mounted in a bad position. Used this method on my many travels with our van across aust..

[388cube_edxr8]

Originally Posted by mik

the trailer neatly parked itself in the gutter on the other side of the road,

My old XR8 used to do that, its a self parking feature. I let my mate drive it a few times in the wet and it reportedly happened more than once.

I didn't let him drive my car again after that.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by G6LTD09

Yup, agree totally.. IF you have electric trailer brakes all you need to be able to do is reach down to the brake controller and apply the electric brake manual lever. Straightens them up pretty fast, bit awkward if its been mounted in a bad position. Used this method on my many travels with our van across aust..

yup, brilliant to be able to knock the lever and pull the van straight if it decides it wants to have a dance in strong wind etc..

[rodderz]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Don't even go down that path. For the sake of harmony, drop your line of thought, as I don't find it amusing at all. In fact, it borders on pathetic.

Don't think he was serious mate...

jest

 - noun
1. a joke or witty remark; witticism.

2. a bantering remark; a piece of good-natured ridicule; taunt.

3. sport or fun: to speak half in jest, half in earnest.

[OLDFORDNUT]

Originally Posted by rodderz

Don't think he was serious mate...

jest

 - noun
1. a joke or witty remark; witticism.

2. a bantering remark; a piece of good-natured ridicule; taunt.

3. sport or fun: to speak half in jest, half in earnest.////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////
Good on you Rodderz this is what hundreds of forum members seem to forget or are just too stupid to know. lots of arguments start up on forum due to people being too THICK to sence the humour in some remarks,
Sad really to see just how many forum members have no idea of the Aussie way of taking the micky for a laugh