CAR-TRAILER HANDLING PROBLEMS AT SPEED AND PRACTICAL MEASURES TO OVERCOME THEM

With more and more cars towing caravans, horse boxes, boats and trailers carrying sports cars or disabled vehicles, we have come to realise that some of these combinations are prone to instability in straight line motoring, as speed is increased and during overtaking or lane change manoeuvres. It is not uncommon to see some motorists fighting a losing battle in their attempts to bring a "wayward" trailer unit back into line. For the purpose of this paper we have concentrated our attention on the Range Rover--long low-load-trailer combination--primarily to demonstrate that changes in the suspension of a towing vehicle and loading procedures on the trailer can transform a skittish combination with an unacceptably high incidence of jack-knife and overturning accidents into a highly successful and basically safe mode of transport. Most of the modifications to suspension, tyres and steering, which we found necessary to achieve that, have since become standard features of Range Rovers. The Range Rover and long low-load-trailer represent extremes in suspension movement and many of our recommendations can be applied to other car-towed vehicle combinations as well.

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: p. 211-220

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00387045
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  • Report/Paper Numbers: C131/83, HS-036 357
  • Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
  • Created Date: Jul 30 1984 12:00AM