Quote: Originally posted by Jason Neville on 13/9/2010I would of thought that any overturned caravan accident has to be at fault somehow. They dont just flip over do they?
Correct. If a caravan is being towed at a sensible speed & is correctly loaded & maintained it won't 'flip over' unless presented with an accident situation that is beyond the driver's control.
So wouldn't that be incorrect?
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
i feel the incorrect loading of caravans is mainly at fault ..the noseweight is critical i think ..the towcar should have some heavy items in the boot to stabilise the rear axle as the caravan tends to push the car downhill without the brakes coming on ..it is this few micro seconds that can start the "snake" with alarming conclusions .. my thinking is ..go down the hills in the same gear you would have to go up the hills using engine braking to slow your outfit down ..
also caravanners must compensate for loss of noseweight on return journeys (i.e less gas, food ect ) also some inexperience is mainly obvious as some just pile everything into the caravan haphazardly thinking "we got here ok so we can get back ok".......
Mind you, how accurate are those travel reports? The accident that closed the M6 for hours the other day was repeatedly reported to be "involving two lorries and a van"; in the event it involved one lorry and two pedestrians.
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there are a lot of people taking up caravaning this year and unfortunatly some of think it,s just hitch up and go.and then disaster strikes,if only they would take some training first,it is nice when new caravaners come on this site to ask for advice before they take to the road.
------------- its easy enough to be pleasant when the world rolls along like a song.but a man is worth while if he can smile when every thing goes f------ wrong.
------------- I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it. But even some days it doesn't feel like its worth chewing through the leather straps
Quote: Originally posted by rodderstrotter on 14/9/2010
I had a play with this at the NEC a couple of years ago, shows the imporatance of correct loading.
Move the axle back slightly (as would happen if you had a A frame half a metre longer) and you would get a more stable result
Make it a twin axle and you would find it difficult to get a snake to happen
Add twin delta axles and ..... need I go on?
The video and experiment is very simple and has been set up to achieve the result and it achieves it very spectacularly.
It's a shame Bailey don't look at the results and say "if we just move the wheels back, we'd have a far more stable caravan than our UK competitors" or something similar.
Another thought - I wonder what percentage of the vans that flip are narrow ones (under 7'6") opposed to wide vans
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
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Topic: Overturned Caravan!!!!!!!!!!
