Scary end to first big trip

We spent a little over 2 weeks in FL, traveling with friends who have just bought an r-Pod. Lots of fun paddling and biking in different parts of the state. Then we headed to their home in NC so the friend, an accomplished woodworker, could make a countertop extension for our 181. Since we were fairly close to the dealership where we bought our MPG, we decided to go that way to get some questions answered. but 50 mi. shy of our destination we had a scary end to our vacation. We were traveling west on I-40 in good weather and visibility, going about 60 mph, when the trailer started to fishtail. Just as Ronn got it behind the Pilot, a wheel went off the pavement into soft, wet dirt. We came to an abrupt stop, with the trailer leaning against a guardrail, still attached to the hitch, and the Pilot tipped on the 2 right wheels - but still in our lane. By some miracle, no semi rammed into us and no other vehicles got tangled up trying to avoid us. Neither of us was hurt even though the airbags didn't deploy.

After a long time and many emergency services arriving on the scene (all did a fabulous and very professional job of helping us and safeguarding others), the MPG headed to the dealer on a flatbed tow truck. We were able to drive the Pilot there and eventually back home to Marietta, GA. We spent the night near the dealer and the next day emptying it of all our personal items. The dealer thinks it will be totalled. A wheel and possibly the axle are damaged. There's minor damage to the fiberglass exterior and the metal molding around curved edges, but b/c they're 1 piece construction, must be totally replaced (or so we were told). The interior is also damaged from everything flying out of the storage areas. A couple of cabinet doors came off the hinges. window bunged up, paneling cracked. However, the new countertop, which was made to store under the mattress when not in use, survived!

So the car is in the shop, we're still waiting to hear about the trailer, and we have to file a 3rd claim for our damaged bikes and bike rack which were on the back of the trailer. If we can conquer our flashbacks and newbie jitters, we hope to find another MPG and resume our travels again. But finding the right model at an affordable price within a reasonable distance will be a challenge as these units become more and more scarce.

We hope none of you have a similar experience, but just in case, do your homework about how to handle a fishtail situation!

Hi MountainTop,

Glad you and your family are all OK. What type of hitch were you using?

Jim M

The hitch is a 2 pt. Equalize with stabilizer bars added.

Wow, pretty scary. Good thing no one was hurt.
Fish tail? Don't know how I would respond. Maybe hit the brake controller to stop the trailer which would straighten the whole mess out. Dunno, but that is what I would do.
I would however be sure that I had enough tongue weight as to not fishtail in the first place. By adding a bike rack to the rear and depending on how you packed there is a chance you made the front a little too light. Just a thought.
Hope everything gets repaired and you are able to find what you want if your rig was totaled.

Peace
Dave

We were aware about loading up the back end too much. Whenever we prepared to hit the road we stored things on the bed and other forward areas in order to take weight off the rear. By the time of the accident we'd already logged nearly 2300 miles on local roads, interstate and dirt campground roads. It sure would calm our jitters if we actually knew the cause so we could make a plan to avoid it in the future.

MountainTop said:

The hitch is a 2 pt. Equalize with stabilizer bars added.

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Does that include an anti-sway device? When we had a TT, we had a weight distributing hitch with two chain bars, and a separate anti-sway device that had to be attached when hitching up.

Wow that is a scary thing that happened. It's always easy to repair and to replace things than to fix you. Glad that you guys are OK!!! GB

MountainTop,

Sorry to hear of your experience! We had some sway issues one time when we were towing our 21FBS with a 4Runner, but not enough to wreck. It did scare us enough to trade the 3 mo old 4Runner for a pickup, tho. A friend of mine had the same thing you describe happen to her, pulling a toy hauler in the mountains, jackknifed them and totalled everything (motorcycles, trailer, truck). All she could say was, "It was like it was in slow motion, but it was happening so fast I couldn't do anything to stop it." Her DH and she never thought to pull the trailer break switch, which might have slowed the trailer and sway. So don't think you are alone! Glad y'all are OK, and insurance will take care of it.

JohnDar - Yes, we have sway bars that are attached each time we hitch up. We don't have the type of hitch you describe - at least, ours doesn't have 2 chain bars, though it does have 2 chains that connect from the trailer tongue to the hitch on the Pilot.

Good to hear that you are both ok. You are lucky no other vehicles complicated your problems. The Ford F-150 has an anti-sway system built into the anti lock brakes. It has only activated a few times but it worked. Good luck with your farther travels.

Once a tire gets into the soft stuff, all you can do is hang on for the ride. Take your foot off the gas and leave it off the brake. You can try to gently manuever back onto the road way once you slow down or just coast to a stop. Curious why the trailer started to fishtail for no apparent reason. Sudden crosswind?

I don't know if I misunderstood the original post describing the accident, but could this have possibly been a case of a wheel coming off due to loose wheel bolts? They need to be torque checked frequently when the rig is new, and before every long trip.

Glad you are safe.

Not sure I understand what actually happened?

What caused the wheel to come off? Loose/broken lugnuts or bad bearings?

Marc515, the wheel never came off, but it appears that one wheel slipped off the pavement and into soft dirt as my husband was doing his best to maneuver things back into alignment. He almost had it there when the right side wheel went into the dirt. Based on previous instructions, he didn't hit the brakes. We were headed down a slight hill at the time, which made it almost impossible to just slow down. I don't know if we'll ever understand what caused the fishtailing. One of the emergency responders said that area is known for wind gusts, but we didn't notice any at the time. Our speed was around 55-60, so it doesn't seem that would be the cause on a clear, well maintained highway. We'd traveled at that speed many times in our previous 2300 miles. So we'll probably have to live with a mystery and hope that we've had our one-time-only baptism by fire.

Do you travel with water in the fresh water tank and or in the grey or black tank? It appears there was not enough hitch weight. The loose wheel has already been discussed. On my 183 the fresh water tank is more toward the rear and holds 30 gal. Black and grey are more forward and centered. sometimes it's a real balancing act!

Mountaintop, glad you are both okay, even if your 181 isn't. Is your hitch an Equal-I-Zer brand? Ours is supposed to have an anti-sway component to it, and so far I've not seen any evidence of sway, although I've not towed it in strong cross winds. I suppose that a steady cross wind from your left that is suddenly blocked by a semi going the other way on a two-lane road might cause a situation like you had, but I don't know. I'm not an accident investigator. As you said, you may never know for sure what the problem was.

It could only be that your Honda is over loaded. Specs show a Honda Pilot can tow a max. of 2000#. A MPG 181 weights 2,800 lbs dry, and 3,800 lbs gross. Glad no one was hurt.

westxsrt10 said:

It could only be that your Honda is over loaded. Specs show a Honda Pilot can tow a max. of 2000#. A MPG 181 weights 2,800 lbs dry, and 3,800 lbs gross. Glad no one was hurt.

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Specs show that a 4WD 2012 Honda Pilot has a tow rating of 4500 lbs. 2000 lbs is for 2WD.

MountainTop said:

Marc515, the wheel never came off, but it appears that one wheel slipped off the pavement and into soft dirt as my husband was doing his best to maneuver things back into alignment. He almost had it there when the right side wheel went into the dirt. Based on previous instructions, he didn't hit the brakes. We were headed down a slight hill at the time, which made it almost impossible to just slow down. I don't know if we'll ever understand what caused the fishtailing. One of the emergency responders said that area is known for wind gusts, but we didn't notice any at the time. Our speed was around 55-60, so it doesn't seem that would be the cause on a clear, well maintained highway. We'd traveled at that speed many times in our previous 2300 miles. So we'll probably have to live with a mystery and hope that we've had our one-time-only baptism by fire.

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Just curious, was he hitting the brake control on the brake controller? When in a fishtail situation you should be using the brakes on the trailer not on the tow vehicle. When everything is straight then you can use the brakes in the TV.

PeternLiane said:

Just curious, was he hitting the brake control on the brake controller? When in a fishtail situation you should be using the brakes on the trailer not on the tow vehicle. When everything is straight then you can use the brakes in the TV.

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Didn't use the brakes on the Honda. It happened so fast there wasn't time to think about tapping the controller brakes. Just as he had the trailer almost lined up with the Pilot the trailer wheel went into the mud and that was the end of any kind of control.

It's now confirmed - the trailer is totalled and we are back in shopping mode - ugh! But, we're certainly wiser now than the first time around and may opt for some changes as a result.