HCA Division 11 Trailer Crash in Indiana

Here's hoping all is well and working out quickly with insurance and such. Glad to hear there were no injuries.

I had my trailer hydroplane once and it was scary, I can't fathom what went through his mind as the 6 boat trailer got away from him.

That is a sad scene. <img src=

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GARY

Thank God everyone is OK. That must have been extremely scary.

Mike

I adjusted the photo in PhotoShop to bring out some of the details.

The highway is on the right (you can see the spray cloud caused by traffic), woods to the left. The trailer is more or less facing in the right direction; the SUV is pointing the wrong way.

Looks like they tried to stop; the trailer had other ideas and took them on a trip backwards through the mud. Fortunately, it was just mud and not trees and/or concrete. Damage appears to be limited to the back window / side of the car and the one boat with a broken hull. Hard to tell if the trailer tongue was bent.

Extracting that from the soft mud on the side of the road must have been interesting.

I passed by there (with a double-stack) about an hour before it happened and it was pouring rain. Lots of cars spun out into the ditches. Hydroplane city. A 6-mile stretch of I-94 was closed due to flooding.

OMG the accident blew the tramps right off!!!

Div 11 needs to find someone with a real tow vehicle.

I'm not sure if that counts as the official beginning of the

I told you so

part of this thread...but it only took 8 posts this time. I had bet myself it would take 12. <img src=

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Seriously though, that sucks for Ken. That can't be a happy place. <img src=

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I tip-toe'd on how to write that. <img src=

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Just a point of reference. Was the trailer equipped with brakes?

Yes. Fully loaded (which it wasn't in this case), it weighs about 6,000 lbs.

Pat lost his sails out the back and we lost the trailer axle on the way to Clear, and had two flat tires on the way back. Thought that the bad luck couldn't get worse til I read this. Wouldn't wish it on anyone Ken. You are the MAN! Hope all ends up well. We'll never forget the zen-master of 1-3 zephyr winds on the last race of the 2008 H16 NA's. He really showed us how!

Eh. That Expedition is rated for 9,000 lbs. They've only got about 2,040 lbs of boat on the trailer. Figure another 3,000 for the trailer itself and gear.

Is it an Expedition, or an Explorer? Either way that's alot of windage and weight up high for a lightly sprung, short wheelbase wehicle. I'm guessing it didn't jack-knife until it hit the ditch. Had the vehicle gone in at full tilt & sideways it would've ended much worse.

Thats one of those new Expidition XL jobs. Kind of like an Excursion in length and I would be it has the V10 in it. Its a big butt truck and had no problem pulling it around from what I saw both times I have seen it. Even Karl's tractor might have jack knifed in this weather.

So after this happens there are about 8 cars with Hobie trailers that stop on the side of the road since we are all driving home at the same time. Everyone in Kens car gets in a car with Wally and Rich and what do you know they blow out a tire. OK no problem they have a full sized spare and fix the tire. Wally and Rich drop everyone off at Ken's and a little while later Wally's trailer tongue snaps in half. The boat is ok but he has to go back to Ken's and fetch some wood for a splint so he can make it home with the boat. I'm sure those guys are happy to be home.

Hmmm....

I was following Wally north on the way to RI 16 NA and saw his forward mast caddy snap sending his mast into the other lane..

Once again... no damage... no problem... roadside repair and kept on going.

I think Wally needs a new trailer!

Yeah, buy a Dodge

ditto!

the

tow ratings

advertised by the manufactures are BS... hence why i see so many 1/2 ton trucks pulling goose neck and 5th wheel trailers these days. Think I'll stick to my F350 for tow duty.

I'm not going to pretend to be a trailer expert, nor did I stay at a Holiday... never mind.

Anyway, having grown up in a family with travel trailers (campers), I noticed that the larger ones always seem to have contraptions for stabilizing the trailer (anti-sway, levelers, etc.). I think others have mentioned that too. Is that something that can be retrofitted onto this trailer?

My guess is that the tow ratings have more to do with horsepower, torque and braking (presumably all on dry ground). I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but a heavier tow vehicle with a longer wheel base for that huge trailer certainly couldn't hurt.

Again, the most important thing is that everyone is OK. But, it would be terrible if this were to happen again.

Mike

I cringe everytime I see a 1/2 ton pickup pulling a skid loader. All I can think is poor pickup.

The most important things to question yourself about when it comes to towing:

1. Can I stop this thing? Either with adequate trailer brakes or vehicle or both (should be both). Going down a steap grade with out brakes is something I haven't had to experience yet, and I don't want to. One of the reasons I want to add an exhaust brake to my pickup.

2. Can I handle the weight? Can my suspension handle the load, either from a nasty crosswind from throwing the tow vehicle around or from the weight pushing forward in an emergency braking situation.

3. Is my running gear up to the task? Least important will your vehicle survive the tow? Will my tranny get fried, (why I only buy manual transmissions), do I have enough power to pull the hills. Are my tires up to spec to support the additional weight and stress?

I have a 24' enclosed car trailer that is a bumper mount, with torsion bars. They do help alot. They control some of the side to side sway when passing semi's, or a bad crosswind, but they also work well to tranfer more of the trailer weight onto the tow vehicle by leveling things out. Properly set up it makes a world of difference. Still not as nice as a 5th wheel though, but 6000lbs doesn't really justify that in this case. Just my opinion but even a 1/2 ton pickup wouldn't be adequate for that trailer. Fully loaded that's pushing the limits harder than I like to. My next pickup will be a 1 ton, more than likely a dually.

I think you are all missing the point. The driver was just going too fast for the conditions or maybe had his cruise control on. If you have your cruise control on in heavy rain and the rear wheels start slipping the motor keeps applying more power to try and build speed causing the vehicle to start sliding. I don't think his tow vehicle is too small or trailer too big. I was hauling my F18 on it's own trailer with a Ford F250 diesel 4x4 on a wet highway (after a storm came through). The truck started to hydroplane all four wheels and the trailer started to jack knife I let the truck drift a little and lifted a little on the gas and the wheels regained traction and I kept on my way. The tires on my truck were not the best but did just past inspection. I think I had the cruise on and I was in the right lane where the road had depressions from wear holding water and I was going to fast. My truck weighs 7,500lbs and my trailer weighs about 1,200lbs. Only the driver will really know what happened.

To add to Brucat's comment, a trailer dealer I speak with regularly does confirm that those load limits are for properly equipped trailers. This statement means you can't just hook up some huge trailer and drive off, you need the proper load distributing stuff on the trailer and hitch.

Dave, I think you're spot on. I've been hauling trailers since before I was licensed to drive. I've seen it all (and experienced some) but everything can be controlled if you know your situation and your vehicle. Too much information for me to try to pass on, and I'm not as eloquent with my literary skills nor as long winded.

2 things: Preparation, observation. Will carry you through.

Clayton

OR, if it's pouring rain, you could always slow down a bit...that's saved my fish-tailing boat many a time. I have a strict

65 or less

speed limit when I'm dragging the love of my life behind me, 55 or less in heavy rain. And that's with just one boat.

But 6 of them stacked? I think 55 might be the max on a dry road, less in rain. And then there is the cross wind issue too, on a stack like that, was it blowing hard when this happened and from what direction?

I heard one of the drivers (on the way out to IA) say that the mega-trailer's top speed was 60 mph. Started getting squirrelly above that.

The wind was from the rear quarter - SW as I recall. On my rig, I remember going from 11 mpg to about 15 as soon as I

turned the corner

and headed east at Iowa City on I-80.

The attached pic is the scariest thing I've ever pulled. With a 30mph crosswind, and a driven out road I didn't like anything above 65. My boat, (on the back), was going past line to line more times than I'm comfortable with. Short distance I wouldn't care, 4 hours of white knuckling it across Nebraska in high winds is not my idea of fun.

Wouldn't attach, wierd.

linky no worky

The last sentence is the wisest thing you posted. Unless and until the driver weighs in, few of us will ever really know.

I've known Ken for several years since first meeting him at a Spring Fever regatta. He is one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. Beyond that, he is no wild man on or off the water. I personally find it hard to believe that he was knowingly driving too fast for conditions or in a reckless or unsafe manner. For all we know, another driver's unsafe actions may have contributed to, or caused the accident. I think we should all be grateful that property damage and possibly soiled shorts were the only damages incurred.