SPECIAL ADVISORY WARNED THAT SERIOUS ACCIDENTS CAN OCCUR DUE TO FAILURE OF TRAVEL-TRAILER SUSPENSION SYSTEMS

Owners of recreational travel-trailers are urged to make special inspections of trailer weights and trailer load distribution. Serious accidents can occur due to failure of travel-trailer suspension systems. Failures can be caused by overloading, poor road performance of both trailing and touring vehicles when overloaded, or by poorly distributed load. The need is indicated for a special advisory because some manufacturers have failed to alert owners to the overloading danger. Many owners incorrectly load their travel-trailers and place too much or too little tongue-load on the rear axle of the towing vehicle. NHTSA surveys indicate that 59 percent of trailers carried tire pressures below the recommended value and 34 percent were loaded beyond the capacity of the suspension system. Large single axle trailers are especially susceptible to overload. Owners who have experienced problems are urged to write to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 1976-4-22

Media Info

• Pagination: 2 p.
• Serial:
  • Department of Transportation news
  • Publisher: Department of Transportation

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Load transfer; Manufacturing; Oversize loads; Pressure; Recreational vehicles; Stability (Mechanics); Suspension systems; Tires; Towing devices; Traffic crashes; Trailers; Vehicle performance; Vehicles; Weight
• Uncontrolled Terms: Overloads
• Old TRIS Terms: Suspension (Stability)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00135040
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 11 1976 12:00AM