Trailer Action Shots

R_Lefebvre said:

So... how exactly did that happen? Was speed involved, or am I missing something in the photo?

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Pretty flat dirt road (White Rim Trail to be exact). ONE mud puddle in the middle of the road. Too dry and no doors or windows to want mud flinging into the cab. I decided to go around. There was a slight embankment on the side of the road, no taller than a curb I would say, with a rock that could trip you exposed in the angled edge of the road. The Jeep went around no problem but then the outer wheel of the trailer hit it straight on and just kind of bounced it over onto its top. Very smooth and only knew it flipped by the tug, Then the CB, "He rolled the trailer...he ROLLED IT!"



Before flaming begins, it's a synthetic line pulling it back over. Speed played a facter obviously but one wouldn't have thought it was too fast - look how far the trailer went from the rock to on it's side.

The Trailer was on loan while mine was being built. Clint, the owner, was awesome over the whole thing. Damage seemed minor; bent fender, and bent risers for the tent rack. I think there was a few "punctures" in the tent cover but no cuts. I never got a bill and I am pretty sure he worked with AT for whatever needed to be replaced.

Sergeant_V said:

Mike, what did Mario say about the failure of the lock and roll coupler? Is there any information to suggest the new Max Coupler will be sturdier in the same environment?

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If you look at the video where Mike came down the hill in reverse at speed and then jack knifed the trailer you'll get an idea of what forces where involved here.

The twisting forces become limited in their movement due to the jack knife and all the force moves upward. Hence the rivet knuckle failure.

The Max Coupler has less binding so it should rotate more freely, but if you jack knife your trailer and then continue to reverse then something has to go. So it's either the trailer chassis, the rear bumper, or the coupler that has to give. The coupler is the easiest and cheapest to replace.

Man that's ugly.. no one was hurt I hope..

Martyn said:

If you look at the video where Mike came down the hill in reverse at speed and then jack knifed the trailer you'll get an idea of what forces where involved here.

The twisting forces become limited in their movement due to the jack knife and all the force moves upward. Hence the rivet knuckle failure.

The Max Coupler has less binding so it should rotate more freely, but if you jack knife your trailer and then continue to reverse then something has to go. So it's either the trailer chassis, the rear bumper, or the coupler that has to give. The coupler is the easiest and cheapest to replace.

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Thanks Martyn. I wasn't sure where on the trail the damage to the coupler occured or if it was due to cumulative stress. :costumed-smiley-007

The poor rock get's blamed for the Driver did????

RgrBox said:

The poor rock get's blamed for the Driver did????

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In Mike's defense, the quickness of the air suspension to absorb terrain changes can also result in as quick a reaction in the other direction. His suspension quickly absorbed the rock and then just as quickly moved back in the other direction, probably as he accelerated away.

The trailer he drove had a TASS I system with separate shock and airbag so the movement was considerable.

We offer retro kits that add bump stops and limiting straps to prevent this type of thing happening to the trailers with the TASS I system. The TASS II system has a shock that runs through the airbag, it's a shorter airbag and it's movement is limited by bump stops and limiting straps and roll overs are greatly reduced.

I dug up a few more older versions,..

RgrBox said:

The poor rock get's blamed for [what] the Driver did????

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Dude, I just explained what happened, as requested. Do you live in Boulder CO? Only in such places do rocks get spoken of so affectionately.

A definition of learning: "To change ones behavior based on one's experiences" (or something like that as I recall from my flight instructor training days). Well, I learned that even a small rock, under the right circumstances can be disastrous.

I said, “obviously speed played a factor” in the explanation post.

I have no problem passing on my experiences for others to gain something from. I love this sport and things are going to happen.

For those that have ears, let him hear J

Err.... I think RGR's post was meant to be sarcasm/funny.

I can totally see that happening.. hitting a rock like that is not hard to do. At speed it then throws the trailer into a bounce (at least ours with the torsion suspension) and then you need to get the trailer to settle back down. It can all happen so fast that in the above situation i can see it happening in a heart beat. I remember when Mike first posted it a while back and i was pleasantly surprised at how well the trailer handled it all.

appreciation

I love this forum b/c people like Mike do post experiences both good and bad. Who has not made many a mistake out there? I've had several near misses all of which were because of errors on my part. I can remember once when breaking camp I just pulled the wheel chocks out, was on a slight hill, and hadn't yet connected trailer back to the vehicle. Ooops! Darn lucky it was a small hill and no one else was in the path. So, thank you because I truly had no idea my trailer is susceptible to such a "trick". I pretty much pull my Horizon without any thought that I could roll it other than being off-camber. I now know why AT sells the limiting straps etc. and may seriously consider doing that mod.

Maybe we should have a thread of our failures/mistakes with trailers. I know I'd learn something.:victory:

Whoknows said:

....Maybe we should have a thread of our failures/mistakes with trailers. I know I'd learn something.:victory:

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Not a bad idea at all. Maybe I should start ?????

BTW, I've done the limiting strap and bump stop mod from AT on MY red chaser. Easy and very affective! Now if I could just afford the GenIII suspension. Hummmmmmm

Yep, I tried that one once myself. I set the parking brake on my KK trailer when setting up camp but didn't chock the tires. Then I disconnected the safety tow chains (maybe better to be the last step) and then popped the pin on my Tregg hitch.

The parking brake was not on enough and the trailer started to roll down the hill toward some rather large pine trees. :Wow1:

I about wet my pants and was able to chase it down and push on the parking brake lever enough to stop it. It really only traveled about 8 feet but it was enough to get my attention. I had visions of my KK crushed against a tree at the bottom of the hill.

Let's just say I always chock the tires now before unhitching the trailer.
:elkgrin:

Here you go..... one good flop deserves another

This was before we owned the trailer. At this time it was still Marios.

Note to self: Buy wheel chocks. :Wow1: