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Old 01-22-2003, 06:08 PM   #1
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Unhappy Sad story-both vehicles rolled

My buddy yesterday while drive S.on US19 through Altoona,FL came upon a 1990's Red Dodge pickup and a 1990's A/S both on their side, laying in the woods along the road.

Driving conditions: section of road was straight, daytime, clear & dry. Rick said that it looked like someone fell asleep and drifted off the road, then both the truck and the trailer rolled on to their side and slid into the woods.

They 1st rolled over the truck and pulled it on to a flat bed.

The A/S frame and body separated from each other and the floor/wheels was rolled back over 1st and then the shell. Then it was pulled onto another flat bed.

He didn't know if any was injured, but he didn't think so, as it looks like it slid smoothly to a stop.

Oooopps-John
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Old 01-22-2003, 06:52 PM   #2
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Hope no one is hurt!! Up here on the Al/Can highway, on some long straight tangent runs, the construction company put thunder bumps on both sides of the road. Thunder bumps are just Cat tracks on the outter edges of the road. As the truck or car starts to head towards the yellow outer line, the wheel runs over the cat tracks and it alerts the unobserving driver that the vehicle is starting to head off the road.
Im glad they started to put these on the roads now. Ive noticed a few white crosses on the Al/Can highway here and there.
Drive safe out there.
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Old 01-22-2003, 06:53 PM   #3
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oppps thats Ak/Can or ALCAN highway.
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Old 01-22-2003, 07:01 PM   #4
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Elemendorf

X,

While stationed in Achorage, I had a vw bug and I drove it to Fairbanks & Delta Junctiion(feb77), Palmer and Portage Glacier.

We use to drive north out of Achorage to view the Northlights!

John
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Old 01-22-2003, 07:12 PM   #5
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Hi there John:

Cool, where ya at nowadays?? Im down in SouthEast Alaska. Was born in Fairbanks and grew up there till 18. Glad to be out of the freezer and down here in the fridge lol.
We do miss most of the snow sports up there. Here in SouthEast Ak, mostly rain country. It will snow, then rain, and everything turns to slush.
Got to work on the AlCan highway surveying back about 3 years ago. Some nice country side.
Remember the ice fog??? LOL we drove down to Seattle one year and it was INTENSE fog!! I was thinking "why in the hell are they driving so fast in this fog!!??" LOL at least 70mph. My instinct told me to drive 30 or 40, but the hoards of mass transit pushed me to 60 or 65. It was nuts.
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Old 01-23-2003, 09:45 AM   #6
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Hi John..


I just got finished reading a story in a 2001 RV magazine. An SUV (1998 V8) owner just bought a new 22' square trailer. The dealer set up the combination with a proper equalizing hitch and "spring bars". The owner was driving it home at about 50 MPH on a clear, dry, wind free road with little traffic. He was on a slight downgrade and had not braked or lane changed. The whole rig swayed and rolled over. The driver was not injured.

An investigation showed no faults but it was suspected that a classic case of to little weight on the hitch and the lack of a sway control device probably contributed to the upset.

This type of occurrence does remind us of the importance of properly connecting, and carefully analyzing all aspects of any combination we may own or consider.
It may also suggest the value of using an RV dealer who is classed as a towing expert.

The article summed up by saying that a proper hitch weight will produce a stable and secure towing experiance.
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Old 01-23-2003, 09:59 AM   #7
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Broken brake wire

Several years ago, I had an older square trailer flip in front of me at the bottom of a little dip here in the Hill Country. The road was straight and 4-lanes wide. Fortunately, traffic was light.

I saw his brake lights come on, the trailer swerved violently several times and over it went. The tow vehicle, a pickup with a shell, stayed pretty much upright, leaning about 35 degrees. Neither of the elderly couple were hurt.

We took a look while waiting for the tow truck. His brake wiring was a mess and the right-hand brakes had become disconnected. To make matters worse, he had a rack welded on the back with a big pile of goods under a tarp. I suspect his hitch weight was pretty low.
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Old 01-23-2003, 10:30 AM   #8
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Wayne,

That was the main reason I bought the Hensley Arrow. Being a complete novice a yr ago and also being disabled, I didn't want to roll-over due to sway and kill either myself or some poor soul who just happened to be in my path.

This is another reason why I enjoy information like this on the forum, because it reminds us of the importances of good sway control and proper hitch weight.

John,

That's why I started the thread this morning about my trailer brakes not locking up. I want to insure that I have the best possible brakes that I can. I'm hoping to get some good insights from the forum members on this.

John
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Old 01-23-2003, 11:12 AM   #9
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Hensley

John... The Hensley does work well. I have their video and understand the technology. You are one of the lucky guys that own one. It is on our wish list.
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Old 01-23-2003, 12:15 PM   #10
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Wayne,

It's worth every penny!

When semi's blow by me, the trailer stays still, but my truck feels the suck in and push out !

The trailer tracks really nice around corners and it also makes backing into a camp site a breeze.

It took be about 5 hook-ups before I had it down, now it too is a breeze.

John
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Old 01-23-2003, 03:14 PM   #11
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When I was around 11, we were heading home and had just past Springerville, AZ. Heading up over a knoll in the road, our trailer (25' A/S) hit some black ice the same time the wind hit it. It fishtailed right, then left, then right. My father said, "Here we go, kids". The trailer went down a 12' embankment, the hitch broke with the station wagon on the top edge of the embankment. The A/S landed on the ground on top of about 1in of newly fallen snow.

It shook all of us pretty well. There was no damage to the car. The trailer looked like matchsticks inside. The curbside was much flatter that before but no broken windows. All the other windows were smashed. The only non-salvagable item was a Coleman lantern.

My father returned to Springerville the next weekend and towed it home. It was still road worthy.

Amazing trailers.
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