RE: [A/S] Swinging' from the ball recap

["David & Bret" <dtbw_1999@xxxxxxxxx>]

Speed itself is never the root cause of induced sway.  It IS a major
contributing factor to insufficient response time as well as imparting
energy from which the sway can feed once initiated.  Most likely, I would
suspect that rig started to sway and the driver stepped on the tow vehicle
brakes or started slowing down, which are actually the worst things that you
can do. The idea is to accelerate the tow vehicle while slowing the trailer
(ie hit the trailer brake controller manually and accelerating the tow
vehicle).  This helps pulls the trailer back into a straight line with the
tow vehicle.  If a trailer is already in resonance sway hitting the tow
vehicle brakes most typically will result in the trailer flipping or wagging
the dog (trailer overpowering the tow vehicle). If the trailer brake
controller is CORRECTLY set to ALWAYS lead the tow vehicle brakes, then
lightly tapping the tow vehicle brakes is OKAY as long as you still
accelerate away, but I suspect that many people out there towing have NO
idea whether their brake controller is correctly adjusted or even how to
adjust it.  I would concur that the most obvious contributing factor was the
short wheel base SUV (113.8"), riding high on P-metric car tires (std
equipment on virtually every SUV for a smoother quieter ride), that most
likely were inflated to the normal level recommended by Ford (ie way
underinflated for towing) for enhanced ride quality. P-metric tires are for
CARS (the P stands for passenger as in passenger car) and their soft
sidewalls allow excess body roll in high center of gravity vehicles such as
SUVs. If SUV manufacturers would switch to LT-metric tires, and recommend
higher inflation pressures, the entire genre would be safer, although a bit
harsher riding.  

david