logoalt Hacker News

nradovyesterday at 2:07 PM1 replyview on HN

European caravan trailers are generally designed with a much lower tongue weight, like only 4%. This reduces strain on the tow vehicle at the cost of reduced stability. It is ridiculously dangerous to tow such a trailer at full "Autobahn speeds". You might be able to get away with it on a straight road if nothing goes wrong but a sudden maneuver or even a strong gust of wind can lead to uncontrolled oscillation and a roll-over crash.

https://www.theautopian.com/heres-the-physics-behind-tongue-...

US trailers are generally designed with something like 10-15% tongue weight which allows for much higher dynamic stability but also requires a much stronger tow vehicle. As usual there is no free lunch in mechanical engineering.


Replies

ErroneousBoshyesterday at 5:37 PM

[dead]