Problem with snaking
We have just come back from a bank holiday break. On the way back we had 2 instances of the caravan snaking. We have a 2015 Challenger 584 GTS which we purchased from new and had no problems in previous seasons. We tow with a 2014 Honda CRV 2.2 TDI, the cars anti snaking system kicked in and brought the caravan back, but it was quite a frightening experience.
At the time of the second snaking we were being passed by a white van which was not going at an excessive speed and it was not a particularly windy day. The caravan has been serviced in the last 4 weeks, it was loaded correctly and the nose weight was within the guidelines for the car and caravan.
Any ideas would be much appreciated
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Nose weight of caravan was 94 MTPL 1475
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Sounds fine. I have, in the past, had a bit of sway on a particular section of motorway due to caravan following in and out of tramlines on the nearside lane where the carriageway as sagged. Sounds a tad more than this.
I presume that you have towed with the same car previously with this caravan.
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As the noseweight is where it should be, as high as possible we need to look at other instability "drivers".
Were the tyre pressures both the car's rear and van right? Basically at the upper limits to achieve as much sideways stiffness as possible.
You say "loaded correctly" but was the van loaded with heavy items as close to the axle and low down as possible? The van I believe is an end bathroom, hopefully, that, its wardrobe and loo cassette were lightly loaded. Were any bikes hung on the rear?
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Pretty much others have said. I would only add take a look at the rear suspension of your car it is possible you have a problem there. The only time I had a problem was when too much weight was loaded on one side of the caravan. The reason for this was stupidity, once it was corrected it was fine. I guess the other question was did it happen on a piece of road you have used before. As EasyT says there can be particular sections of the roads that aren't great.
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We have towed with the same car and caravan previously with no problems. The stowed items were over the axles as usual and no heavy items put under the bed ( island bed) or in the bathroom which is at the rear. We were travelling on the M50 the first time it happened and being passed by a large lorry, so we thought it was the lorry pulling us across causing it. The second time we were on a dual carriageway and only doing around 50mph and a white van was passing.
We have driven on the same route several times and never had any problems. The CRV normally pulls the van with ease and is always a very stable uniit
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Have you changed the tyres recently? Or, it Could be the tread is now worn to the point the tyres are loosing their grip/stiffness (car and/or caravan). The legal limit may be 1.6mm but with some brands their efficacy is past its best at 4mm....... Might also be an issue with the Alko friction pads ( need cleaning or changing)?
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When it was serviced is it possible that it was towed by another vehicle (perhaps just into the workshop and out again). We found, once, that when someone else towed our caravan they hadn't cleaned their towball before hitching up, and the grease on the towball then transferred to our Alko hitch, making the pads useless. Try cleaning up the pads using the Alko guidelines
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When something goes wrong the first action is to look at what has changed.
Prior to this when did you last tow a distance on holiday? Was the car similarly packed? How many miles has the car done and was much of that towing?
Our tow car has done 72k miles and half of that is towing. I am considering new rear springs and shocks next year. Front were replaced this year when a coil spring snapped. Standard replacements but front of car is definitely higher than before.
As can be seen by the fact that the car is nearly 12 years old we do not do a high mileage and nearly all is when away with the caravan. At home we tend to use our old Yaris. I have however changed rear tyres not because of wear but due to their age when around 7 years old. As tyres age they loose the sidewall stiffness.
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"As tyres age they loose the sidewall stiffness."
Academic but as they age I would expect tyres to be losing their compliance, ie the walls getting stiffer.
In towing stability terms that is not actually bad news.The stiffer the tyres of both the tow car [particularly the rears] and the caravan are laterally, I would expect the critical snaking frequency to move higher, hopefully out of the way if earlier it was tolerable.
Have the cars or van's tyres been replaced, they could be a bit too compliant if new or of a different brand/design?
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We were away at Easter with the same set up and load, without any problems. Even driving to the spring bank holiday we had no problems but on the way home we had the 2 instances of what we consider quite violent snaking. It is really strange there seems to be no reason that makes any sense.
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Have reported the above post as it an advert, I believe.
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I had a terrifying incidence of snaking, quite a few years ago. I passed a smallish lorry on a downhill section on the M5, doing around ‘60. I’m always wary of downhill sections now, although I’ve not since had a problem. Could this have been an issue in this instance?
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It’s in 3 or 4 threads, Nellie. Others have reported as well.
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That’s a notorious spot for rollovers, Freddy, as are the downhill sections of the A30. People tow too fast downhill instead of controlling the descent and away it goes. If there’s a bend at the bottom of the hill, that compounds the issue.
It’ll have had little to do with any mechanical device only lack of driver control in keeping the car pulling the van rather than the van pushing the car. I’m glad you got away with it and hopefully others may learn from your experience.
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This was on a downhill section of the Somerset levels. When it started, we used up all three lanes. Quite lucky it wasn’t busy! It didn’t stop until I was down to 40 ish. I was mindful to not hit the brakes, although it was sorely tempting. I have since seen advice that the best way to stop it is to accelerate?
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I have since seen advice that the best way to stop it is to accelerate?
Advice best ignored in my view. Alko trailer control works in a similar way by applying caravan brakes and pulling outfit straight. If you have enough power and acceleration you might achieve the same; however it might just mean loosing control at a 10mph faster speed.
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Going downhill at 60 and you’d contemplate accelerating!
It's better to gently ease off the throttle and the effect of the car slowing will put the caravan brakes on and stop the sway. This is the same principle that ATC works on.
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Accelerating isn’t something I’d advocate, just something I’d read. It does though make a bit of sense, to put the tow vehicle back in control (pulling). Incidentally, when I had my snake, I got no sense that the van brakes were being applied as I slowed.
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