Trailer towing swerve recovery - GIF

**Jon** · Dec 9, 2019, 09:27 PM

Trailer towing swerve recovery.

Previously:

Towing weight distribution display
Towing a truck off its rear axle - GIF
Overloaded trailer fail - GIF
Trailer of cattle almost tips over - GIF

**Frank S** · Dec 10, 2019, 01:45 AM

I had a spindle shear off once while loaded heavy but my trailer never swerved that bad, The guy was lucky and skilled to recover from such a severe swerve

**neilbourjaily** · Dec 10, 2019, 08:34 PM

load your weight forward fellas

**old kodger** · Dec 11, 2019, 01:04 AM

change down and accelerate like hell, is the theory,...but that takes real balls

**old kodger** · Dec 11, 2019, 01:05 AM

'course independent trailer brakes would do the same thing

**Frank S** · Dec 11, 2019, 08:40 AM

Having a blow out on the rear axle will cause a properly loaded trailer to suddenly have the CG of the load shifted to the rear

**old kodger** · Dec 11, 2019, 02:31 PM

That makes the presumption that the axle group is not "rocking" load sharing. Whilst a blowout in a load sharing axle group, will turn the deflated tyre into bunting, until it is totally destroyed, it will still share the load. No radical shift in CG will occur, which gives the driver time to stop (if he's awake).

**Frank S** · Dec 11, 2019, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by old kodger

That makes the presumption that the axle group is not "rocking" load sharing. Whilst a blowout in a load sharing axle group, will turn the deflated tyre into bunting, until it is totally destroyed, it will still share the load. No radical shift in CG will occur, which gives the driver time to stop (if he's awake).

Not always, many tandem axle utility trailers only have a couple inches of travel in their suspension. When a blow out occurs the center equalizer often bottoms out against the frame which can immediately turn the trailer into a 3 legged angry beast. If the trailer is like mine it will have a stiff enough frame there will be very little shift in CG but many trailers flex a lot and the result is a brief but sometimes violent swerve. I've seen guys pulling duel wheeled tandem axle goose neck trailers hauling a load of baled hay have them try to swap lanes when a single tire blew out.
But the trailer in the video appears to have had the skid steer nearer to the rear than to the front judging by the amount of swing out it went through.
The guy probably had several attachments loaded in the front of the trailer This would be normal but if the skid steer is driven on rather than reversed on the trailer the back counter weight could be behind the axles.
And like others have said too much weight too far to the rear.

**Ralphxyz** · Dec 14, 2019, 06:58 PM

That happened to me once, scared the s*it ot of me but I got it under control.

**Frank S** · Dec 14, 2019, 08:07 PM

I'll tell you something that can be just as scary. This happened with an empty Ford pickup and no trailer. We were driving along and hit a small pot hole disguised with dust blown in it from a dust storm we had just gone through, when suddenly the old truck went into the death wobble at around 60 MPH. I had driven that truck for over a year and it had never done that before. I'd had Chevy's do it and other Fords but never that one Once I got it slowed down and the death wobble stopped I made for the next exit that had a fuel stop to check the front end. Nothing seemed to be loose I checked the air pressure and 1 tire was low the 1 that hit the pothole after getting the air pressures up in all the tires we took off again to this day the truck has never had the death wobble again.