Overloaded tow bar??

[GOSSAMER]

Saw this on Facebook, they were saying the van exceeded the towing weight. Not sure if it was true or not. Its hard to tell if the Paj crashed and broke the tow bar or if the tow bar broke causing the Paj to crash.





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[rotare]

Without having any other details, my guess by looking at the pics and damage is that the driver lost control with van attached, jack knifed and hit the barrier resulting in tow hitch to part company with the van.

Can't see how such an accident would happen if it was the case the towbar just broke whilst underway.

[GOSSAMER]

That's what i was thinking, tank slapper coming down the hill and hit the barrier, Must have had some force to break the towbar like that. Note the breakaway cable still attached to the broken bit of the tow bar.
Edit: just noticed the dent in the back door where the van got it.

[Dicko1]

I,m not even going to hazard a guess what caused the accident. Would be interesting to know the weight of the van though. I,ve towed tandem wheeled vans before but never again. The smaller the better. Good result by the looks in the fact that it appears no one seriously hurt and accident contained to one side of road on a dual lane .

[Hill]

After reading Jack's weight distribution thread this morning this was an accident waiting to happen.

Even with a WDH the van was poorly loaded.

Check the amount of weight that is hung off the rear of the van.

Hill

[GOSSAMER]

Its here if you want read all the expert comments

https://www.facebook.com/Claytonstowing/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

[Dicko1]

Its here if you want read all the expert comments
https://www.facebook.com/Claytonstow...PAGES_TIMELINE

One sensible one......
rika Ruig Firstly I hope these guys are ok. Secondly, how do we know the cause of the accident? For all we know they could've been trying to take evasive action trying to avoid another motorist. Kindness and understanding seem to be few and far between these days.

[GOSSAMER]

"I drove past this today, there was a truck involved in the accident"

"Looks like to much pressure on sway bars"

"Another WDH Weight Distribution Hitch ripping the Towbar off. When will people learn the WDH turn your vehicle into a bridge concentrating the load onto the towbar. WDH should be band. Glad all are ok. Vehicles and alike can be replaced people can not"

"maybe they should have bought a car with a decent tow rating... Hate seeing people tow 3t caravans with the Commodores or the Falcons... It's like they hate there life or something..."

"Everyone saying its overweight but have a look at 3rd photo grooves in road and front left tyre has snapped out looks to me could be mechanical fault just throwing my 2 bob in as it could be anything"

[Paj People 2009]

Without having any other details, my guess by looking at the pics and damage is that the driver lost control with van attached, jack knifed and hit the barrier resulting in tow hitch to part company with the van.

Can't see how such an accident would happen if it was the case the towbar just broke whilst underway.

Yep, that is it exactly. Some folk on the Caravanners Forum were there and saw the accident. The Pj wheel came off after hitting the barrier.

Without knowing the exact story, my guess is - overloaded rear bar (two spared, one on top of the other!). No ESC or Dual Cam Sway or Friction Sway unit on a long, heavy van is also unwise.

Could also have been speed or swerving or the side wind - it happened going down a hill - the most dangerous time.

Hope the occupants were OK.

Cheers,
Sally

[green troll]

I tow a dual axle van. With no WDH as tow ball weight is 120kg.
Often when u go over a bump I wonder what downward forces are applied to the tow bar/welds and mounting points. I then ponder if a WDH would stop the heavy jolting forces up/down. Example would be going over a bridge. You know the bump when you get onto and off it.

In regards to the accident, it's good to see it all remained upright. And doesn't look like any serious injuries which is a blessing.

These threads on the caravan forum are not worth reading. Just people blaming the poor people involved. Some people have no compassion. Sad.

[pajeromack]

Without having any other details, my guess by looking at the pics and damage is that the driver lost control with van attached, jack knifed and hit the barrier resulting in tow hitch to part company with the van.

Can't see how such an accident would happen if it was the case the towbar just broke whilst underway.

I don't presume to have much experience towing but I would agree with the above. The items suspended from the rear end of the caravan will make the combination more unsteady. Perhaps this was done to reduce rear end sag.

Situations like these are where the insurers (and police) have a very close look at the vehicle and caravan and make sure everything (including weight) was compliant with vehicle specifications and ADRs. I hope the vehicle was not overloaded, otherwise the insurer might be able to argue that this caused the accident (which insurance does not cover).

[Paj People 2009]

Hi Green Troill.

I wouldn't say "blaming", but forums are there for theories - it's only by putting forward a thought or theory as to what caused it or what happennd we can learn from it, what NOT to do in the future.

That's how I see it, anyway.

Cheers,
Sally

[RoyHarvey]

WDH loading

Over the last 5 or 10 years I have collected quite a few photo's of failed tow hitches.

The failure modes from memory include broken tow bars, tow bars separated from the tow vehicle, broken/ bent A frames, and couplings / hitches separating from the A frame.

The one obvious common factor in all cases was the use of high load (250kg+) WDH bars.

WDH systems can be very beneficial but we should have a limitation the loading, eg a maximum 60 to 70% of the allowable ball weight, or some other limitation preferably imposed by the vehicle builder or tow bar manufacturer.

[Dicko1]

Over the last 5 or 10 years I have collected quite a few photo's of failed tow hitches.

The failure modes from memory include broken tow bars, tow bars separated from the tow vehicle, broken/ bent A frames, and couplings / hitches separating from the A frame.

The one obvious common factor in all cases was the use of high load (250kg+) WDH bars.

WDH systems can be very beneficial but we should have a limitation the loading, eg a maximum 60 to 70% of the allowable ball weight, or some other limitation preferably imposed by the vehicle builder or tow bar manufacturer.

I would bet that half of the accidents caused involving caravans could be halved if people bought a van that was a maximum 2/3 of what the glossy advert said their vehicle was capable of towing. And thats 2/3 loaded up ready to hit the tar!!

[BruceandBobbi]

I would bet that half of the accidents caused involving caravans could be halved if people bought a van that was a maximum 2/3 of what the glossy advert said their vehicle was capable of towing. And thats 2/3 loaded up ready to hit the tar!!

And did a recognised course on towing that includes reversing, emergency braking, keeping a safe distance, knowing the caravan doesn't follow the same track as the towing vehicle ect.