Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm not sure where to post this question, so I'll try here. How stable are these things on the highway at 65mph. It just seems that with the lightweight nature of these things and the large flat sides how susceptible are they to crosswinds and such?

Thanks,

If it's loaded correctly, there is no problem.

The flat sides act as a rudder and will instantly correct the trailer alignment the moment is is not in parallel with the line of travel.

While not a real serious problem with smaller tow vehicles there is a second phenomenon you should be aware of. If you are towing with a high profile tow vehicle with high ground clearance the round nosed teardrops have a tendency to want to take flight. Again this is not a real problem because of the rudder effect we just discussed. There is also a side benefit in reduced tire wear at high enough speeds.
Try and avoid that speed where take off just starts ,
the flight / touchdown , flight / touchdown speed will wear the tires more than either constant road contact or full flight.

WELL !

They told me if I went wheels under my trailer would flop on it's side if I went around corners to fast.

It ain't happened ......





YET !

bobhenry wrote:Try and avoid that speed where take off just starts ,
the flight / touchdown , flight / touchdown speed will wear the tires more than either constant road contact or full flight.

Thats why you have to install wings, so it just stays in full flight!

Damn. Just got another idea for my next build - whole trailer made out of balsa wood, with wings and a tow line instead of trailer hitch.



I will call it the Urban Parasail.

Now I know why those little Shasta travel trailers have wings !

you could install " slats' and or " vortex generators"

The slats allow the air to remain "hugging" the curvature of the profile, and the vortex generators will prevent the "boundary layer" to separate from the rear of the profile, giving you a smoother ride at high speeds, spoilers are over rated in that you will need to be at a speed above 80 mph to be of any benefit.

Our trailer is both slightly wider and slightly taller than our tow vehicle. And since it is a grasshopper design a bit more square. My experience in towing it was that it had almost no crosswind/passing semi disturbances at speeds up to 70 miles an hour.

My TTT weighs in at about 800lbs. I've never noticed any problems with it. My TV, a VW bus, is another story. The bus gets pushed around alot. But it doesn't go very fast. Or rather, I don't drive very fast when I'm in it.

There's teardrop time and there's bus time.

Weirdnerd wrote:spoilers are over rated in that you will need to be at a speed above 80 mph to be of any benefit.

Not if you make them large enough! But then aerodynamic drag becomes a problem...

...as you probably noticed, your question was answered with much tongue in cheek hilarity...that is because these things are about as stable as a rock sunk deep in the mud...at almost any speed and condition, they are rock steady stable and hardly noticeable at all...I have seen videos of a MiniCooper running HARD on the Dragon, pulling a tear and I have personally run 90+ pulling mine with no stability issues or even notice it was there...in fact the biggest problem is continually checking your rearviews to see if the camper is still there!!!!!!!!!
madjack

Amen to Jack's comments. I went over 11,000 miles this summer, mostly at 75 mph and never had any problems. Up hills and down, same speed and never a bobble. The tear tracks exactly to the truck.

I was in a hurry and quite honestly doing the flow of traffic to the Shreveport area from Dallas last year and did around 90 the whole way (That is not my norm). Of course you have to rate your springs appropriately too, too stiff and it bounces hard, and too soft and it bounces forever. Teardrops are a dream to tow.

Over 1500 miles our first summer, and yes, we would forget we were towing something. No drag, no issues with passing trucks. 70 miles an hour most of the way.

Greg(and Laurie)

Weirdnerd wrote:you could install " slats' and or " vortex generators"

The slats allow the air to remain "hugging" the curvature of the profile, and the vortex generators will prevent the "boundary layer" to separate from the rear of the profile, giving you a smoother ride at high speeds, spoilers are over rated in that you will need to be at a speed above 80 mph to be of any benefit.

I think seeing the benefits of slats and vortex generators on a teardrop trailer is optomistic at best. I'm sure the effects would become really noticeable only at speeds above, say, 140 knots indicated but I do agree with your comment on spoilers.

I'd save my money, not fuss with slats and vortex generators, and buy some "lead weights" and mount them to the undercarriage of the trailer for any desired additional stability. As a benefit, the lead weights would help with fuel economy when going downhill. I would, though, ensure the tow vehicle and trailer's brakes were operating correctly.

Facemeltingly Epic wrote:

Weirdnerd wrote:spoilers are over rated in that you will need to be at a speed above 80 mph to be of any benefit.

Not if you make them large enough! But then aerodynamic drag becomes a problem...

This issue can be minimized by doing the calculations, determining the angle of attack where l/d max occurs, calibrating your angle of attack meter/gauge to same, and continously monitoring your angle of attack meter and maintaining approximately 14 units during all approaches. Never had a problem using this "approach".

Cheers,

Gus