m1028 - "trailering" gone bad..

[ragedracer]

I was browsing for photos today and came across this album online. There are over 100 pictures in there.. Talk about a BAD day... One of us??

http://www.planetarydomination.com/M1028/cucv.htm

 

[powerhouseduece]

o man.. Ran when parked?

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Ran but was farther away than the guy wanted to drive at 55mph.

I mentioned the incident here:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?t=30333

 

[Elwenil]

Judging by the "creative" tie-downs, I'd say this guy wasn't very experienced at trailering anything. That or he just was not terribly intelligent.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Yep, it was one of us! Been a while since I saw these.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The funny part is...I talked with the guy about it on this site and another site. He's not dumb and fairly automotively inclined...I think this was just a bad choice and towing inexperience. All he said beforehand was he was going up to get it and had borrowed a truck and trailer. Sounded like a good idea...

...then he shows up on the forums talking about the accident and shows the pictures and we're all like and he didn't seem to understand why.

 

[Kwai]

So what happened to cause it to flip. Poor tie downs, blown tire, traffic???

 

[Michael]

Did we ever get his side of what happened? Looks like he lost a tire. I can't fault his tie downs. He flipped it and had it pulled back upright and the truck trailer are still tied together. Not enough trailer for the load though.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Not enough truck, trailer, etc.

If I'm remembering it right he seemed surprised it did what it did and that we weren't and that we were all surprised by the small truck and small trailer. I personally think he was of the, "well, it fits on the trailer and the truck can move it" train of thought.

 

[jkade72]

Reckon he wants to buy my cab off my parts 1008 truck It's not funny but dang.. I wouldn't tow a 1008 with a 1/2 ton truck very far.

 

[1stDeuce]

Looking at the pics, I'd guess he didn't want to "overload" the borrowed truck, so he put the truck on the very back of the trailer. Judging by where the truck sits in rlation to the deck of the trailer and the axles, there was very little tongue weight... He is certainly to be commended for the tie-down job though!!!

What happens with a light tongue is you high a certain speed, the trailer stability becomes "critical" and the tail starts to wag, so to speak. If you stay on the gas, you can get keep it stable, but you can't do that forever... If you drive smoothly, you might not even notice much going on... but if you have to go for the brake, or do an abrupt steering correction, the trailer will start to sway back and forth, and it quickly gets worse and worse until you go for a ride... Looks to me like the trailer sway swung it around, and the tire/wheel broke off right where it lays as the trailer was sliding sideways, which tripped it and voila, one truck/trailer sandwich.

Usually, it all happens so fast, the guy towing is like "Aaaaagh, what the heck just happened?!" This is the reason all the big three are starting to offer some sort of trailer sway detection that uses the vehicle stability system to get control back... Unfortunately, none of them are telling the uninformed driver that his poorly loaded trailer just tried to kill him... Glad nobody got hurt this time!!

Don't be afraid to squat your truck with a little tongue weight, it's MUCH safer than having none at all... 15% is a good number, so in this case, 6000lb of truck + 2000 trailer should have been about 1200 lb on the tongue... Probably would have squatted the crap out of that 1/2 ton, but at least it wouldn't be lost... And if you see a trailer swaying gently back and forth behind a truck on the highway, get away from it, as it is trying to escape!!

C

 

[jpcj-7]

The truck stayed on the trailer! But since it is too much weight for that trailer, I'll bet that the trailer started 'whipping' around and the driver didn't catch it until it was to late.

 

[Elwenil]

The truck may have stayed on the trailer but that is a classic case of how not to tie down a vehicle on a trailer. Nothing crossed, straps tied in knots and I don't even want to know what the hell the deal with the 4x4 is. If someone asked me to pull a mess like that I would tell them no. Makes me glad I don't drive a road tractor anymore with so many people thinking that sort of mess is acceptable.

 

[stampy]

I agree with first deuce having towed many vehicles on a 16ft 2 axle car trailer. I towed my m1009 back from Ft Meade with my Grand Cherokee(tow package). Yes I figure many of you are having heart failure now but it really wasn't scary at all. Proper load out is critical. The CUCV was loaded(barely) between the wheel wells with about a foot from the front of the trailer axles chained front and rear and 4 5000lb straps (cross stapped) to compress the springs/shocks. I had no trouble in the city. As I accelerated to merge on the highway heading for home I was looking for the uneasy sway you get from a too rear loaded trailer. Sure enough it was there so I pulled over moved the vehicle re-stapped and chained and on my way. The trip was uneventful (6 hrs), At every stop for fuel and food I ALWAYS recheck tiedowns and chains! So make sure the tounge of the trilaer is loaded enough. I learned this lesson when I almost lost my jeep CJ5(very light) on the same trailer the first time I ever towed it. When the oscillations begin slow down pull over reset the vehicle on the trailer.

 

[Kwai]

Looking at the pics, my thought was poor tie-downs allowed the truck to slip rearward, with too little tongue weight the trailer started to whip and voila, CUCV turnover.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

1028...slightly heavier.


He actually found a civilian half ton with a dead drivetrain but a perfect body for cheap and was going to swap everything over last I knew.

 

[mangus580]

If I recall right... He was towing this with an F150?? A tractor trailer went by, and started the trailer swaying, and he couldn't recover from it.

I am pretty sure the story is posted somewhere on this site... I just dont recall what its labeled.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Yeah, standard cab, log bed 90's F150 4x4. It's visible in some of the shots in the list.

 

[11Echo]

Looking at the pics, I'd guess he didn't want to "overload" the borrowed truck, so he put the truck on the very back of the trailer. Judging by where the truck sits in rlation to the deck of the trailer and the axles, there was very little tongue weight... He is certainly to be commended for the tie-down job though!!!

What happens with a light tongue is you high a certain speed, the trailer stability becomes "critical" and the tail starts to wag, so to speak. If you stay on the gas, you can get keep it stable, but you can't do that forever... If you drive smoothly, you might not even notice much going on... but if you have to go for the brake, or do an abrupt steering correction, the trailer will start to sway back and forth, and it quickly gets worse and worse until you go for a ride... Looks to me like the trailer sway swung it around, and the tire/wheel broke off right where it lays as the trailer was sliding sideways, which tripped it and voila, one truck/trailer sandwich.

Usually, it all happens so fast, the guy towing is like "Aaaaagh, what the heck just happened?!" This is the reason all the big three are starting to offer some sort of trailer sway detection that uses the vehicle stability system to get control back... Unfortunately, none of them are telling the uninformed driver that his poorly loaded trailer just tried to kill him... Glad nobody got hurt this time!!

Don't be afraid to squat your truck with a little tongue weight, it's MUCH safer than having none at all... 15% is a good number, so in this case, 6000lb of truck + 2000 trailer should have been about 1200 lb on the tongue... Probably would have squatted the crap out of that 1/2 ton, but at least it wouldn't be lost... And if you see a trailer swaying gently back and forth behind a truck on the highway, get away from it, as it is trying to escape!!

C

I agree. The #1 culprit in this accident was it was too light on the hitch weight. There was a lot of weight loaded rearward of the axles. Tail wagging the dog is never good.

 

[jpcj-7]

Looking at the pics, my thought was poor tie-downs allowed the truck to slip rearward, with too little tongue weight the trailer started to whip and voila, CUCV turnover.

I think you have it figured out! No body would think it was a good idea to put the truck that far back on the trailer to start with.