Trailer stabilisers?

[RIP]

Curiosity got the better of me, this pic is the towbar on my Mitsubishi L400 (now sold and replaced with a "wife friendly" Galaxy). I've googled what the rectangular receiver (marked red) is for.



It's for fitting one of these bars:



Bit of Googling says it's an alternative for one of these:

Both of which apparently prevent "snaking":

Am I right that they both do the same? So which came first and which is better?

I remember someone telling me about an alternative stabiliser that is better than both those above but relies on a US tow bar with the square receiver (like below). I've got one of these towbars on my 4x4 but never found the stabiliser that the guy was talking about.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

AFAIK the lever type came first but the hitch type are best.

 

[Fazerruss]

Both of them use the same principle of adding "stiffness" or friction to the pivot point of the trailer and car. As said the later one is best because you don't have extra bulky brackets on the towing vehicle. Alko is one of the main manufacturers of the second one. Snakemaster the first.
Also the other advantage of the second is it can be used on a swan neck style tow ball. Disadvantage is they usually don't fit a standard 2 bolt tow ball as the nuts foul the sides of the hitch. The correct one has a slightly elongated shaft.

 

[Justme]

The blades have a much larger contact / friction area so can resist more.

Neither prevent sway. They help reduce it.

The newer AL KO one uses 4 pads not two but not come across one yet.

 

[pedrobedro]

The newer ones rely on friction with the ball so you have to remove all grease which is a pain if you also tow on a conventional trailer hitch.

 

[PhillipM]

The old farm trailers used to just use old spraying boom dampers bolted to the side. Worked much better than those friction ones.

 

[pedrobedro]

In the original picture the rectangle is higher than the ball which would suggest that it is for something other than a stabiliser which is usually bolted on level with the bottom of the chassis on the caravan, probably a bike rack or something. Does it have a bolt or threaded hole in the side to clamp the stabiliser ? they needed one.

 

[Gritineye]

At the risk of being ridiculed, unless you're towing a high sided trailer or caravan which can be affected by HGVs or side winds, proper loading procedures have much more affect on preventing a snake occurring than a stabiliser.

I've towed thousands of miles and never used one, a stabiliser can mask a badly balanced trailer until it's too late and the damping is overcome.

Just saying...

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I think the original idea for this type of stabiliser came from a gentleman by the name of Scott, who lived and worked in Aberdeen and was bought out by, or sold the patent to, a manufacturer of caravan 'stuff'. Can't say how I know/think that......

 

[Migmac]

You shouldn't really need them if your caravan or trailer is loaded properly. I have only ever had one trailer go out of control and it was due to my bad loading.

 

[Gritineye]

 

[Justme]

At the risk of being ridiculed, unless you're towing a high sided trailer or caravan which can be affected by HGVs or side winds, proper loading procedures have much more affect on preventing a snake occurring than a stabiliser.

I've towed thousands of miles and never used one, a stabiliser can mask a badly balanced trailer until it's too late and the damping is overcome.

Just saying...

I agree.

 

[RIP]

I agree.

I wouldn't buy one, I was just curious about what the rectangular receiver on my tow bar was for.

 

[normspanners]

They also could be fitted at 90 deg to the centre line

I think the plate was fitted upside down on his vehicle

 

[captain-destructo]

in the top pic it looks like its been bolted on upside down

 

[fizzy]

I saw this a while ago - it really does show that lack of nose weight is the culprit.

If you look you will see the loading ramp is right down which has moved the weight aft.

 

[RIP]

Well spotted, it must have been upside down! I'll check later today, I still have the towbar, took it off before selling the car.

I saw this a while ago - it really does show that lack of nose weight is the culprit.

If you look you will see the loading ramp is right down which has moved the weight aft.

In that video the trailer is empty so I don't get how it started swaying, do you really think the weight of the ramps is enough to cause it?

An engineer friend reckons it's to do with pitching moments around the trailers axles. If the weight is at the front then the moment follows the car. But if the weight is behind the axles then the moment is rotating the trailer against the car. I always thought it was just that weight behind the axles lifts up the cars back wheels.

 

[sg66]

I have seen them fitted upside down out of stupidity but usually on 4x4 its because some one had made a bike carrier to slot into it.

 

[Gritineye]

In that video the trailer is empty so I don't get how it started swaying, do you really think the weight of the ramps is enough to cause it?

Yes I think the weight of the ramps started it, but then as the ramps where contacting the road they acted as huge pendulums but with added drag which prevented any chance of recovering the situation.

How do I know this? Because many years ago I saw some scaffold poles slide off a trailer onto the road and do just the same thing, luckily no one hurt.

I also passed a neighbour driving towards me with a cement mixer loaded behind the axles of a long trailer, when I returned he was dead inside his upturned Range rover, the police had no idea how it happened because the mixer was stood upright on the central reservation.

 

[normspanners]

In that video the trailer is empty so I don't get how it started swaying, do you really think the weight of the ramps is enough to cause it?

That trailer has a load I think,

that looks like maybe roofing sheets with a strap over them.

An engineer friend reckons it's to do with pitching moments around the trailers axles.

it is the weight behind the axle a bit like someone throwing a medicine ball at your chest and you catch it fine, throw it further away and you catch it at arms length, it'll spin you round.
Any weight I used to put in the caravan I would put it on the axle and could tell when driving if the full toilet was still in the shower cubical, 25lts -30 ish kg was enough to make the difference.
and I have never had a major problem.