towing woes

[mjcssjw2]

i had a jeep grand cherokee for years and have towed all over the place with an ifor williams 510 with one horse, without any issues, my mechanic advised it may be time to look for a replacement, so i bought a kia sorento, the older one not the new shape, anyway i went out showing last weekend an on my way there the trailer began to snake.
thankfully not hidously badly but enough to worry me.
We were on a derestricted road and i was approaching 50 mph, anyway i slowed down an didn't go above 45 mph the rest of the way and it was fine.
what could have caused it, nobody was overtaking me. it was a straight road and the conditions were dry. the sorento is much newer and allegedly more capable than the jeep.
i am due to do a couple of shows shortly that are furthur away and would like to know everyting if fine with the car and trailer before i do. any suggestions?

 

[china]

It's possible that your horse just has a fidget which set it off or you were caught in a cross wind. I'm going up the motorway on Sunday to a show and wetting myself! I hate it!

 

[mjcssjw2]

thanks for your reply, it could just be an unlucky fluke.
i don't usually worry about towing!! but it has unnerved me a little, will get my husband to check all tyre pressures this weekend, and to check the trailer is level with the car once hitched up.
my caravanning friends have suggested a staibiliser, but you don't see them on horse trailers i don't know why though.

 

[dixie]

Flat tyre?
I had this once and it turned out the car had a slow puncture, then a week later the trailer had a flat tyre. Definitely caused the snaking and the flat tyre wasn't obvious at the time.

 

[dixie]

Funnily enough after my incidence I look into anti-snaking bars too ! I would get one fitted but they are pretty pricey. Very popular on caravans I believe but I suppose they are lighter.

 

[china]

Caravans have a different axle which is why they look so unstable and sway! I think it's axle, horse trailers have a different something lol

 

[mjcssjw2]

thanks dixie will check but as off today both trailer and car seem ok, however my car did have a nail in the tyre and the it was still up a few weeks ago so will check. don't fancy that happening to me.

 

[china]

You've reminded me! My spare has a nail in it! Need to get that fixed before the weekend! Don't fancy getting a flatty towing and not having a spare!

 

[galaxy]

thanks for your reply, it could just be an unlucky fluke.
i don't usually worry about towing!! but it has unnerved me a little, will get my husband to check all tyre pressures this weekend, and to check the trailer is level with the car once hitched up.
my caravanning friends have suggested a staibiliser, but you don't see them on horse trailers i don't know why though.

I HAVE ONE!!

Why horsey people don't buy them I just don't know. Cost £100 and really easy to fit. The trailer does not move 1 inch once it's on. I wouldn't DREAM of towing on a motorway without one! Several caravans and trailers go over every year on the motorways around us.

 

[galaxy]

Funnily enough after my incidence I look into anti-snaking bars too ! I would get one fitted but they are pretty pricey. Very popular on caravans I believe but I suppose they are lighter.

£100 is pricey? A half decent set of travel boots is £70 ish nowadays and people wouldn't bat an eyelid at that?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New...ccessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item5893bfe20b

but there are plenty of cheap 2nd hand ones on there

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Look for the Alko towing stabiliser.

Brilliant bit of kit, we have one on the race caravan - its a 1400cwt caravan unloaded (lots heavier with all the kit in!) on the back of a 2.2 LWB van & it cruises happily up and down hill on private roads at a steady 70 in all kinds of weather. Not saying you should do that with a horse in a trailer tho, but it shows the stability of it.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Tow bar height and tyre pressure are the most likely culprits. I had a terrible time with a new (livestock) trailer on a Landrover Defender. The towbar wouldn't go any lower but it was still too high. Got a new landrover and made sure it had an adjustable tow bar and now it's easy to make sure things tow well.

New caravans have a different sort of stabiliser these days so should be dead easy to pick up a cheap one second hand if you want one.

 

[china]

Ooh I want one!! How do they fit on?

 

[FfionWinnie]

Ooh I want one!! How do they fit on?

You get a bracket for the tow bar which just bolts on between the tow bar and the um, thing the tow bar normally bolts on to, you need longer bolts obviously and the other bracket would need to be bolted on to the trailer, it would need holes drilled in the trailer towing A frame I would assume. Not a big job really.

To put the stabiliser on you just slot it into the tow bar bracket, then it sort of lifts on to the bracket on the trailer, then there is a tube thing you use to lock it into position.

Clear as mud I expect.

 

[china]

Perhaps il speak to my horse box man and see if he can get one And fit it for me.

 

[galaxy]

on the car.....

You get a bracket for the tow bar which just bolts on between the tow bar and the um, thing the tow bar normally bolts on to, .

lol! that;s exactly how I'd describe it! Goes between car and tow ball.

Just a case of bolts...

on the trailer.....
I have a Bulldog and you dont have to drill any holes in the trailer, just clamps on.

My brother (who is a mechanic...) fitted mine on the side of a road when I collected my new trailer!!!



The bar....
The bar screws onto the plate on the car and just presses into a cup that you have fitted on the trailer. You then have a bar thing that flicks down to tighten it. Really easy to quickly fit, 2 sec job

 

[Luci07]

I can do 50 with one horse with my jeep and never move...I always check jeep tyre pressure before towing and trailer pressures around every 2 months.

 

[china]

Have you got a link to the one you have? I have a freelander diesel and a 505 so assume they are universal?

 

[galaxy]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New...ccessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item5893bfe20b

This is the one I have. The Bulldog 200Q. I saw several 2nd hand ones around the £30 mark on there. Mine is now 6 years old and my brother says it's as good as the day I bought it, so wouldn't hesitate to buy one of those.

 

[china]

I'm assuming it doesn't affect hitching up and reversing?

 

[galaxy]

you put it on after you hitch up (and before you unhitch )

you can't reverse with it (well you could try and go straight back....). The design of it is that it is stopping your trailer being anything but straight behind your car. Well I suppose you could in an emergency, but your control and steering would alter. However it really does literally take 2 seconds to jump out and whip it off. You just lift the bar, undo the screw and you have it off.

 

[mjcssjw2]

ah thanks everyone, i have had a look at stabilisers and seen one thats strong enough for a horse trailer, so will check tyre pressure tomorrow and tow ball height and if no look its a stabiliser for me. fortunatley I already have a plate to adjust the towbar height and the long bolts!!

 

[mjcssjw2]

and ironically I took of an alko tow ball as it didn't fit with the ifor trailer!!

 

[china]

you put it on after you hitch up (and before you unhitch )

you can't reverse with it (well you could try and go straight back....). The design of it is that it is stopping your trailer being anything but straight behind your car. Well I suppose you could in an emergency, but your control and steering would alter. However it really does literally take 2 seconds to jump out and whip it off. You just lift the bar, undo the screw and you have it off.

Does that not cause a problem for country lanes. I have a two particularly sharp turns just to get to the yard.. Would the bar hinder this?

 

[galaxy]

Does that not cause a problem for country lanes. I have a two particularly sharp turns just to get to the yard.. Would the bar hinder this?

Do you have to reverse on them? If you are going forwards it will be no problems at all. Difficult to describe as it WILL bend, but the whole point of it is that it doesn't WANT to. But you can turn very sharply going forwards with it on. You'll just hear groaning! lol!

ETA I can see my previous post made it sound like the bar stops the car and trailer turning/bending... which it doesn't. It just controls it, ie stops it happening quickly = snaking.

Maybe I should stop.... I'm not explaining very well I think. Sorry!

 

[china]

I try to avoid reversing on them at all cost! People are pretty good and tend to back up as its a narrow lane. Otherwise they would be waiting a long time for me to back up for them ;-)

 

[galaxy]

Poor you!

I have reversed the odd tim with it on. But only in a roughly straight line, not where I had to turn tight to park or anything.

 

[Bobbly]

Your trailer will snake if there is negative weight on the hitch and too much at the rear of your trailer, check the height of your tow hitch, there needs to be about 100 -150kgs of weight bearing on it when hitched up. Can you move your horse to stand as forward as possible in the trailer?

 

[mjcssjw2]

thank you bobbly i will investigate tommorrow, he is only 15.2hh but i could put him on the most forward fittings if that makes sense and mover my tack locker to the front, currently use the second horse slot for water, tack locker, toilet, grooming kit etc.

 

[1rocky1]

try and get a stabiliser fitterd , makes so much difference , know somebody that turnerd trailer over with 2 in ! going down slight hill on duel carriageway,luckly both got out ok, [they was not going very fast either ,shogun, rice trailer both fairley new at time] it even happend to me with a twin axle cage trailer with woodshavings in towed behind my range rover [scary] it court me out when i leased expecterd it , no probs after stabilser fitterd , all the best and be safe.