IFOR WILLIAMS NEW 511 SNAKING

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amarat

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Has anyone had snaking issues with the new HB511?
Brand new trailer,less than a week old, 2nd time out with horse and the 1st time on a dual carrigeway, perfect conditions, straight road, probably traveling at 50 - 55 mph and the trailer started to snake for no apparent reason. I was unable to stop the snaking, it got very violent very quickly and I lost control of the car. Trailer went over on its side, car facing wrong way up dual carrigeway. Fire brigade, animal rescue team were brilliant - had to cut roof off trailer to get horse out - amazingly my precious horse came away with just a few cuts and thank god no one else got caught up in the accident. I have been driving horse trailers for 23 years - had one or two instances of snaking if big lorries have passed me on motorways but always managed to gently accelerate out. Had towed an equitrek for 3 years and before that an ifor 505 with the same car, a Kia Sorrento with no issues. I will never drive a trailer again now!
 
Are you sure it wasn't some other issue - wind, flat tyre, horse misbehaving, road surface esp if has lorry tracks, too fast, too fast downhill etc? We've several IW trailers of differing types of the years including horsebox trailers and although not a new 511 we've always found they tow beautifully.

Am sure ROG will be on to ascertain you're not overloaded and have the correct laden weight etc for your car, but I'd assume the HB511 is heavier than the 505?
 
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If you believe it was the trailer and from your account it does seem so then Ifor Williams are likely to be interested so why not call them and get their response?
01490 412527 - ask for customer care
 
How scary! I hope you are ok?

I would also contact IW but get an INDEPENDENT mechanical inspection of it.

Unless on minor B roads I always use an anti-snake bar. For £100 the reassurance and stability is well worth it. They are common-place with caravans, really don't know why they are not with horse trailers.
 
I hope that you and your horse are ok. I'm sure you're both very traumatised. I had a trailer do that on a motorway years ago (not a horse trailer thank god) and it scared me to death. I was driving it too fast though.

Agree that the best way forward is via Ifor, and hope you can sort something out. I'm sure the police will be able to work out speeds etc. Best not to discuss it too much on here probably if likely to go down legal routes. Just wanted to say I know how you're feeling, and hope you're ok.
 
Contrary to the advice above I would suggest you speak to your insurers first. You will most likely be entitled to free legal representation via your car insurance and that should be your first port of call. If there is a fault with the trailer then you (and your insurers)may have a claim against the manufacturer or dealer and speaking to them yourself without advise could cause problems with this potential claim and could even invalidate your insurance. Tell your insurers that you believe that the trailer was at fault and ask them if you can speak to their claims people.
 
Tow bar height was it correct for trailer, tyre pressures were they correct. Wheel nuts were they tight, did you check before you set off.

What vehicle were you towing with, who was in it etc.

Horrible experience for you, hope you and the horse were ok.
 
galaxy said:
How scary! I hope you are ok?

I would also contact IW but get an INDEPENDENT mechanical inspection of it.

Unless on minor B roads I always use an anti-snake bar. For £100 the reassurance and stability is well worth it. They are common-place with caravans, really don't know why they are not with horse trailers.
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To hi-jack the post - Galaxy where did you get your anti snake bar for £100 - the ones I've seen are way higher than that.
 
Horrible experience
As above--tyre pressures etc but add nose weight--did you have anything extra in front part of trailer

I have never had an accident with a trailer but some uncomfortable moments
1 Being ''sucked'' by long heavy lorry overtaking very close
2 Having too much nose weight--carrying 2 barrels of water to drink and wash down after event in the nose
3 Very ''solid'' highland pony rubbing on back bar set up a 'rocking motion'
 
I notice you say that you were "probably" travelling at 50-55mph. From this, it has to be assumed you were unsure of your speed. Perhaps you were going a bit faster than you thought (we've all done it!) Personally, I try and make 50mph my absolute max when towing animals and use the cruise control, but sometimes it still creeps up.

Nevertheless, be very careful how you word any claim. Insurance companies will do everything in their power to avoid paying out. Don't inadvertently give them an option.
 
How terrifying for you - my sister was involved in much the same accident a few years back when they were towing two horses. Thankfully somehow everyone, including horses escaped unscathed.

I won't tow a trailer or put my horse in one quite frankly, I stick to wagons!

I am guessing if you're been towing trailers for that long then the vehicle you're towing with is suitable? Is the 511 particularly light - could this have made it worse? I have no ideas really to help. I think i was the lorry ruts in the road (M1) that caused the problem where my sister's accident was concerned. In my mind I have heard of too many of these accidents first hand from people I know, it totally puts me off trailers
 
Flashpaddler said:
I notice you say that you were "probably" travelling at 50-55mph. From this, it has to be assumed you were unsure of your speed. Perhaps you were going a bit faster than you thought (we've all done it!) Personally, I try and make 50mph my absolute max when towing animals and use the cruise control, but sometimes it still creeps up.

Nevertheless, be very careful how you word any claim. Insurance companies will do everything in their power to avoid paying out. Don't inadvertently give them an option.
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Personally I don't think this is a huge issue - presumably the police were at the scene and will have investigated anyway. I don't see why the insurance would not pay out. It' an accident after all.
 
Dixie- they may be slightly more now as I've had mine 6/7 years. It's a bulldog one. A client of mine got theirs off eBay this summer. They didn't say paid that much more....
 
It depends on whose insurance you plan to claim on, if it's yours then there would probably be no problem. If you plan to put in a claim to IW then I'd expect them to fight it if evidence doesn't point to the trailer
 
I've had a brand new 511 on hire all summer & I only passed my trailer test in June so fairly new to the game, I've found it absolutely fantastic towing all sorts of combinations from 2 heavy cobs, 2 light youngsters, 1 heavy hunter alone etc etc & not once has it faltered or so much as swayed despite whats overtaken me, what type of road I'm on or speed. Its filled me with confidence that its 100% safe so I can only assume if it is the trailer its a fault somewhere or maybe the tyres? What an awful experience for you!
 
It's the height of your towbar.

If your towbar is too low (I bet its on the lower of the two settings) it is basically pushing the trailer down and decreasing the stability. Stabalisers will not help. Go out and check it and I'll bet you'll find I'm right.

Only reason I'm so sure is that happened to me with a 510 who I took into dealers and they ended up repositioning bar to upper fixing and was then fine. Good luck!
 
OP - was it the Crowborough rescue unit that came out to you? If yes then I saw your accident.
I have 2 year old Ifor HB511 and we had snaking issues with it when we first used it. The tow bar height was incorrect for the trailer. We had it adjusted and have had no problems since.
But - depending on the weight of the horse you can still get snaking. I never go over 40mph when towing with my big lad. With my daughters 14.3 pony we had a limit of 50mph.
When you experienced the snaking, did you brake the car or just take your foot off the accelerator?

I am so sorry for your truly horrendous experience. If it was you on the main A road in Kent then please do get in touch. I am also delighted that your horse came away with just bruises.
 
which Sorrento were you towing with? Some only have a towing capacity of 1600, so the weight of the 511 is 1000 so only 600 to have as horse weight which is only the weight of a middleweight hunter or 2 ponies. And that is at its maximum capacity. if you were above maximum capacity then there may be a problem with the insurance. Also then you are at risk of course if the horse moves around. Were you braking, or suddenly coming into a piece of road that was open on both sides so you got the wind blowing across destabilising the trailer. how did you react when it started to snake? did you drive forwards, or brake?
 
amarat said:
No it was on the top setting!
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That doesn't mean it was the right height for the trailer. Did you park the trailer and car on level ground and assess whether it was correctly aligned?

I have an adjustable tow bar because a standard one did not adjust enough for the Landrover. It is amazing how much adjustment can be needed to get it correct.

I disagree that 50-55 mph made it happen alone incidentally. If everything is set up correctly and the road conditions/limits allow then a trailer should be perfectly safe travelling at 55mph.
 
I thought the max legal speed for a trailer was 50mph? Could be wrong, but I wouldn't go more than that.
Siorry to hear about your acident and I'm glad your horse and you are OK.
 
So sorry to hear about your accident, this must have been a horribly terrifying ordeal. My husband is an engineer and has spent his entire life towing various things with various vehicles. He has always told me that snaking is a result of incorrect tyre pressures, an uneven brake wear, the incorrect height of the towball or simply that the trailer is too heavy for the car. I'd get all these checked first of all before you try to make your insurance claim if I was you, just so you don't waste your time doing all the paperwork. Unfortunately, it does sound unlikely that IW would sell a faulty brand new trailer, so I'd do all the homework you can before you call them so that you can answer their questions accurately. They could record the telephone conversation and pull you up on inaccuracies at a later date if it meant they could dodge your insurance claim! I'd be hopeful that your insurance company wouldn't refuse the claim though? Let us know how it progresses, best of luck it must be a very stressful time.
 
I can quite understand your reluctance to use a trailer again OP. I had this happen to me with an empty bullock trailer traveling at less than 30 mph. My boss was following me in another vehicle and he thought what started the snake was the offside trailer wheels hitting a large pothole, we could not see any other reason for it. Accelerating out of it ( if that can actually be done, or is it folklore?) was not an option and I jack-knifed. It was terrifying and I just missed a telegraph pole and a pedestrian. Car was badly damaged, trailer okay.
Hope you recover from your shock soon OP.
 
Clodagh said:
I thought the max legal speed for a trailer was 50mph? Could be wrong, but I wouldn't go more than that.
Siorry to hear about your acident and I'm glad your horse and you are OK.
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No on a motorway or dual carriageway (70 mph) the trailer speed limit is 60mph.

My point was the trailer should not over turn at 55 mph for no reason. (it could over turn at just about any speed if the speed was wrong for the conditions).
 
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