Towing advice / guidance - 1994 Diesel, stock

[Shayne]

I'd say it reflects on their driving in general , I've felt the speed wobble (sway) many a time but always long before it becomes alarming , if you know your car it should register in mind "it shouldn't be doing this" even if you've temporarily forgotten your towing as the sway tends to happen on long straight uneventful and boring stretches of road .

A factory camp trailer such as the Patriot you mentioned earlier i would fully expect to be set up to be suitable balanced with full tanks and 90% fixed load , but if it was a dealer shifting it from one place to another who knows what else it contained . Like as not it wasn't his driving licence at stake but that of an employee .

I really wanted one of these but alas despite my willingness to chop it up to make 33's fit i could not accept it being wider than my truck and therefore a hindrance in its standard form . Same with most caravans and trailer tents , the vast majority of which can be bought and legally dragged away by anyone with a car .



My own trailer tent on a military rapier trailer makes my short wheel base 90 series heavier and thats about it , . Theres a 90 degree turn just down the road from me that I take almost daily , and because muppets tend to park right up to the stop sign i do sometimes let my rear wheel cut the kerb to make life easier for oncoming traffic . My trailer has never touched that kerb because my driving style is ever so slightly different when its hooked up . Brake sooner , turn a fraction of a second later . its intuitive and automatic .

My trailers entrance is at the back so typically i unhook it and spin it around to face the camp . Its also very handy that i can roll in by hand on the jockey wheel to put the hitch to a wall when its stored , its convenient . And why anyone would want a camp trailer that they couldn't move by hand is beyond my comprehension .

 

[Dave2000]

A good panning from MUD eh ? Should I be worried ? Pffff !
What, for stating what anyone towing should know in UK, in the interests of safety. Whats self righteous in that Dave, and based on what ?
If you are correct in your assumptions, and they are just that, on what MUD would do, then anyone on here or elsewhere who gives facts is guilty of being a self righteous ba.....git inc. you?

I think you took that to heart a little.

An example, there is this big thing about deleting the ABS and LPSV on their 80's on 'MUD'.

I made some points about the usefulness of the ABS and how it could get you out of that 'moment of inattention' when caught unawares, and how the LPSV is useful when moving from an empty vehicle to a fully laden one, I too hold HGV, well did until last year.

I also pointed out about the legality (as you did about loading the trailer and so forth) and in my case mentioned similar comments to the MUD 'crew' about making modifications, and what would be the issue with insurance companies if the vehicle was inspected after a serious accident perhaps leaving someone seriously injured or worse. The answer was simple "don't tell them". Given the general population in the states is keen to get someone into a courtroom and using their mantra 'sue their ass' at the drop of a hat is no detterent? Well, you would have thought the reality that the world was round and not flat argument had ensued!

Apparently, I was completely wrong? And my experience with over 50 years under the bonnet, meant f all. The attitude over the pond seems to be if one person does a modification and calls it good then the lemmings come out of their shells, no amount of factual information seems to sink in?

For my efforts I got quite a number of, "I can prove my brakes are better without ABS" and "The LSPV does nothing anyway" so that would stand up in court comments you now see what I mean, by you mentioning a potential problem not loading a trailer correctly and posting it on 'MUD' was not an attack on you personally, simply pointing out what can and often does happen on that side of the pond.

Whilst I still think that you took my comment in the wrong vein and you were offended, then you have my unreserved apologies.

Regards

Dave

 

[Shayne]

Go on start another row

I hate ABS braking , even in an emergency situation the rattle screams to all my instincts to let off the brakes - it steals control .

 

[Tractionman]

Dave, - as Shayne says, without starting another row -:
I can only go by your written word.
I took on face value what your comments/assumptions were and replied based on those.
Whatever you have going with MUD wasn't/isn't anything to do with this forum/thread, unless they applied to and were mentioned, and your assumptions on what MUD members would do regarding my comments are irrelevant to me or the thread, and I didnt see any reference by you on here to abs or lpsv apart from your last/most recent post.
Anything they do over the 'pond' you talk about, is also irrelevant over here, unless they/we want to run 'bent', with different rules/regs as you know that don't apply, so only gets the OP or anyone else bogged down or confused with any such information/comparisons. Same in Spain or anywhere else.
Erm, now where was I ? Oh yes.....
We have enough of our own ill thought out crap regs to contend with over here, that at times are not made clear by the people making the rules that sometimes plod isn't clear.
With all the mileage I put in all over the country tramping in my 33yrs away for days/sometimes weeks, I think qualifies me to comment on towing in general with various outfits/rigs, work and private, as anyone else with experience.
Incidentally, like yourself, I had to knock it on the head for health reasons, and go back on the tools, although not so serious as yours.
BTW, a lot of your posts are long, factual and in depth, yet no one 'pans' you, suggests you need 'panning' for it, or are, as Shayne suggested to me, pedantic and discouraging in it. Lets leave all that to MUD.
Real facts and experience can be invaluable to those that want it from those who can give, otherwise all of us may just as well wrap it up.

 

[Shayne]

I should point out that i don't disagree with anyone elses comments about towing and i was just playing devils advocate to the "professionals only" presentation .

Same with ABS before it even starts , I don't disagree with any positive that might be presented , i just personally don't like it .

 

[Tractionman]

That's a fair enough statement Shayne, no disagreement there, a personal choice.

Not that you have mentioned it, but I also personally wouldn't disable/tamper with abs/lpsv to perhaps alter characteristics when loaded/towing either.
Illegal and dangerous in my personal opinion, not quite the legal and safe we have mentioned.

 

[Shayne]

ABS is invaluable to those who slam on in panic but while following the most unpredictable driver i ever met at stupid speeds half way through Europe with no navigation of my own and no idea where i was going I was constantly praying it wouldn't kick in as i kind of balanced rapid deceleration on unexpected motorway exits typically downhill and almost u-turns . It got me in the end though making my swb a foot shorter because ABS did kick in when the truck i was following had none or else he couldn't have stopped as he did .

Experience gives us memories to ruefully smile about and teaches us .

I was towing at the time !

 

[Tractionman]

I remember your pics of that, wasn't that the trip to Clive's in Roumania ?

 

[Shayne]

It was and the mrs never quite got over that adventure still .

 

[Shayne]

Again in the spirit of live and learn , that being my first trip abroad in my truck I eventually worked out that Halfords had supplied me with a UK only satnav though i'd asked for full Europe maps .

So you can be absolutely sure that won't happen again ....... but it did , on my last trip to Romania !

For reasons known only to themselves Garmin decided to shut down all maps ordering the user to update while doing 70 or 80mph

I knew where i was going this time so even if i got a bit lost in Austria and arrived at our penultimate stop a couple of hours later than the rest it was no big deal .

At that stop was a laptop allowing me to update the garmin only i couldnt , it kept saying error

Only when i got to Clives and being an early riser having plenty of time to read up on the problem did i work out that the update was bigger than my satnavs memory and so i would need an SD memory card inserted before i could update got it sorted for the route home though .

Now i have a smartphone with google maps , An updated Garmin satnav , and a Chinese double din navigator , so yeah lesson learned

 

[Tractionman]

Bloody technology !!

 

[Dave2000]

Dave, - as Shayne says, without starting another row -:
I can only go by your written word.
I took on face value what your comments/assumptions were and replied based on those.
Whatever you have going with MUD wasn't/isn't anything to do with this forum/thread, unless they applied to and were mentioned, and your assumptions on what MUD members would do regarding my comments are irrelevant to me or the thread, and I didnt see any reference by you on here to abs or lpsv apart from your last/most recent post.
Anything they do over the 'pond' you talk about, is also irrelevant over here, unless they/we want to run 'bent', with different rules/regs as you know that don't apply, so only gets the OP or anyone else bogged down or confused with any such information/comparisons. Same in Spain or anywhere else.
Erm, now where was I ? Oh yes.....
We have enough of our own ill thought out crap regs to contend with over here, that at times are not made clear by the people making the rules that sometimes plod isn't clear.
With all the mileage I put in all over the country tramping in my 33yrs away for days/sometimes weeks, I think qualifies me to comment on towing in general with various outfits/rigs, work and private, as anyone else with experience.
Incidentally, like yourself, I had to knock it on the head for health reasons, and go back on the tools, although not so serious as yours.
BTW, a lot of your posts are long, factual and in depth, yet no one 'pans' you, suggests you need 'panning' for it, or are, as Shayne suggested to me, pedantic and discouraging in it. Lets leave all that to MUD.
Real facts and experience can be invaluable to those that want it from those who can give, otherwise all of us may just as well wrap it up.

Jeez.......sometimes......

Regards

Dave.

 

[Tractionman]

Oh dear !