Towing in wind stability

[Dam Worker]

Mtlakejim, unfortunately where the wind was at its worst is extremely remote areas with very few exits from the freeway. Once you have left the Dalles heading East there is pretty much nothing to do but continue, there is a couple of exits but one of them does not even allow you access back to the a East bound freeway. As stated earlier if retired the best thing is to not even get on the road, the next best thing is to pull over into a hopefully protected area and wait it out. I decided to continue because I have a fairly good setup and we had commitments, especially my wife. If I thought we would be in extreme danger we would have stopped. Probably the most dangerous part was in trusting other RV owners to keep in their lane and to not drive faster than their setup and driving ability/experience ability’s. Retirement has some huge perks.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Dam Worker

Mtlakejim, unfortunately where the wind was at its worst is extremely remote areas with very few exits from the freeway. Once you have left the Dalles heading East there is pretty much nothing to do but continue, there is a couple of exits but one of them does not even allow you access back to the a East bound freeway. As stated earlier if retired the best thing is to not even get on the road, the next best thing is to pull over into a hopefully protected area and wait it out. I decided to continue because I have a fairly good setup and we had commitments, especially my wife. If I thought we would be in extreme danger we would have stopped. Probably the most dangerous part was in trusting other RV owners to keep in their lane and to not drive faster than their setup and driving ability/experience ability’s. Retirement has some huge perks.

I totally understand your situation. In your case you did the best you could to be safe which is all any of us can do. Running into the UNEXPECTED is a very good case in point why erring on the side of safety and having a little more truck than you need is a very good idea. One that we should share with folks new to towing for sure. Last thing we want to do is steer someone into an unsafe situation!!

My suggestion for adding water to the tanks or waiting the storm out was geared towards folks that know in advance that they will experience high winds or at least have the option to add the weight and park if they get caught by a storm. I get it that there are times when you run into something without warning and very few options but to slow down and do the best you can.

[beeje]

The reason a SWR trucks feels less stable in winds is because they are.

You can do a simple test while hooked up and standing still.

While hooked up, try to push the very front of the fiver side to side and watch the SRW tires squirm quite a bit. Now try that with a DRW truck.

This is the reason I went DWR. I could feel this squirming action while going down twisty mountain roads . Not a good feeling. All gone with the dually.

Went trough the Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel last year. The tunnel's are one lane either direction with big rigs coming at you one after another. My rig did not even flinch. Would not want to do that with a SRW tow truck.

[Ebjy3]

I bet Susie and I had more wiggle in our pop-up at 3:00am than you had on way home ...

[beeje]

Originally Posted by Ebjy3

I bet Susie and I had more wiggle in our pop-up at 3:00am than you had on way home ...

Well yeah but a very different kind of Wiggle. Lol

[Charlie 3931fb]

Originally Posted by Dam Worker

After enjoying a nice LaborDay vacation at Lincoln City Oregon we had to pack up the Montana and head back to Tri-Cities Washington (Eastern Washington). Not a terrible trip but I did miss my I-84 turnoff from the 205 so I did get to go into Portland even though I was trying to avoid that. Over all pretty decent driving except my exit issue until about Hood River. That is when the driving became a lot more intense. The wind blows hard out of the west through the Columbia River Gorge pretty much 95/98 percent of the time. Unfortunately today was the exception due to a red flag warning put out by the weather association. Due to all the Forrest Fires we had a lot of smoke causing visibility issues and a very strong crosswind blowing from the north east. I was very happy that I had a fifth wheel and a dually with the extremely high winds we were encountering. Most all travel trailers and SRW towed fifth wheels were wobbling badly even with reduced speeds. Most DRW trucks towing both fivers and bumper pull units seemed to be able to handle the wind much better than the SRW tow vehicles and the motorhomes towing trailers or vehicles were basically wrecks waiting to happen. The big trucks were also having some wind issues. I was very happy to pull into the homestead this afternoon and get out of the truck. Some areas closer to home had dust from the farmers field reducing speeds to 20/30 mph on I-182. Major wrecks on I-90 and highway 395 just west and southwest of Spokane. One daughter and her boyfriend still stranded in Ritzville due to closed roads due to multiple vehicle wrecks from poor visibility and high winds.

Sorry for the long post but just a reminder to drive safe and be wary of nasty road conditions due to Mother Nature.

Happy and Safe roads to you.
Tom

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I will not drive if I feel the wind pushing on the trailer. Its right at about 25 knott winds

[CaptnJohn]

Left Gulfport MS today. To help the dually I had 3/4 fw and 1/4 in 2 black and 2 gray tanks. With 50 mph wind forecast I was going instead of staying for 15-20” of rain and 70+ mph wind. I beat the weather this time thankfully even with a couple rain bands where seeing the front of the hood wasn’t possible. Left with 100 gallon of diesel too