Rich256

"Nehmo" <nehmo54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137895163.229965.28440@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> "Pull-behind" trailers are trailers that connect to the tow vehicle by
> a ball (or other attaching arrangement) on the back of tow vehicle and
> a trailer hitch on the tongue attached to the front of the frame of the
> trailer. If the trailer is improperly-loaded into a tail-heavy
> condition (in other words, the center of gravity is to the rear of the
> center of the axles) arrangement, it will sway from side to side. But
> why? Why would tail-heavy conditions cause such behavior? The weight on
> the tongue would be negative, but I still can't understand the swaying
> mechanism.
> --
> (||) Nehmo (||)

Just having the weight behind the wheels in itself doesn't produce the sway.
It allows amplification.

Many things can get the sway started (wind, bumps in the road, passing
vehicles) and once going the weight unbalance makes it more difficult to
control.

The trailer is like a pendelum hanging out behind the tow vehicle. The
closer the weight is to the vehicle the easier it is to control. Try
holding a board with a weight on it out in the wind. It's a lot easier to
control if the weight is close in.

The weight and length of the tow vehicle also comes into play. When a tail
heavy pendelum starts to swing it will start controlling the tow vehicle.

The flex of the tires adds more amplificaton.


No matter what you do there is always possibility of sway. The amount of
weight you put on the hitch is a compromise.
Only total solution is to put all the weight on the tow vehicle and elimiate
the trailer.