Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

SC, Thanks Dude !!! Yeah , I’ve experienced the wind in some of those areas out West before (like driving in a Hurricane ) ... made driving most anything really difficult ... No Place for a Foamie for sure !!! or anything else for that matter ....
SC , I’m guessing the cold heavy air falls off the mountains and accelerates across the prairie , which I’m thinking is where you are huh ?

well hmm, i guess we won't be making it to your neck of the woods afterall as that is exactly what i was planning of towing out there. thanks for the heads up however. i think that would be a real bummer while on vacation.

Eagle , it’s not like that ALL the time ... Gotta’ check the weather report / warnings ... although there are areas I’ve driven through that had permanent highway signs posted warning about the winds ... and they weren’t kidding ... Plan ahead and ballast up ...the more weight Low on the trailer , the less likely it will be affected as much by the high cross winds ... to a point anyway ... You can see how all those boxy semi truck trailers , RV, things like that get blown over easily ... It’s cause they’re taller , bigger ... more area to be affected facing dead to the wind ... weight high up / high center of gravity ... it can’t end good !!! We’ve all seen those videos . The fool shouldn’t have been trying to drive in those winds ... Sometimes it’s prudent to duck into the leeward side of the Wal Mart and rest till the weather gets better ... and you can shop ...

Plan ahead and ballast up ...the more weight Low on the trailer , the less likely it will be affected as much by the high cross winds ... to a point anyway ...

I think there's a thread here somewhere about towing 500 pounds of beer being mandatory in a foamy.

I have first hand experience with that Wyoming wind, also. A few years ago we were on our way from Devils Tower to Buffalo (dad's home town). I was following behind Mom and Dad while they were driving a 30ft motorhome. I thought for sure they were going to blow over a couple of times. Dad said he had never seen so much wind around Buffalo, but followed that with the wind never seems to stop in Casper.

Bill

It is very much about aerodynamics. In fact it is almost all about aerodynamics. Compass Rose is less aerodynamic that most teardrops as it is a Grass Hopper design, it is not super light but proportionately size vs weight is. We don't have super high sustained winds but do have some hellatious thunderstorms/tornadoes CR is rock solid in high winds, and big trucks, I don't notice any difference.

Not meaning to hijack this thread, but: I most likely will never get up to Wyoming to see the endless winds there, but it brings up a related question. I, for one , am using Andrew's weight balance calculator for designing and moving weight aound for best effect. The calculator shows the center of gravity, LCG, horizontally, in relationship to the rearmost edge of the trailer. But, in view of wind effects and overall trailer handling on the road, I was wondering whether or not someone (angib, perhaps?) has a corollary formulation to locate the vertical component of the center of gravity? In rough form of course, since no height measurements are called for in the basic balance spreadsheet, much less the squat imparted to the tires and suspension with load.

Just don't tow it empty! reason for a light trailer is to be able to put more init.

From previous experiments with airplanes , I believe aerodynamics of the vehicle play an important part in how easily it could be blown over ... Big tall sharp edge Boxes (typical RV) comes out the absolute WORST !!! Smoothly rounded shapes , the wind just flows over and around them ...

Work , I’m sure some of our more enlightened members could provide you with proper CG calculations for the vertical component , but we could just say , the more weight located up high , the more likely it is to get blown over , once that weight got started moving , would tend to stay moving ... ... generally speaking of course... since the only real fear here is a high cross wind .... our trailers experience high winds from the front all the time ... I think we could also say , the higher the vertical area presented to the cross wind , the more Leverage to tip it over ... like a sail... Deductive reasoning would have us believe that a short , wide ,heavy ( the 500# BEER !!! ) , well rounded trailer would be less likely to be blown over in the wind.... But that just kinda’ makes sense anyway , doesn’t it ... Probably better sense just Not drive in high winds if you can help it ...

working on it wrote:Not meaning to hijack this thread, but: I most likely will never get up to Wyoming to see the endless winds there, but it brings up a related question. I, for one , am using Andrew's weight balance calculator for designing and moving weight aound for best effect. The calculator shows the center of gravity, LCG, horizontally, in relationship to the rearmost edge of the trailer. But, in view of wind effects and overall trailer handling on the road, I was wondering whether or not someone (angib, perhaps?) has a corollary formulation to locate the vertical component of the center of gravity? In rough form of course, since no height measurements are called for in the basic balance spreadsheet, much less the squat imparted to the tires and suspension with load.

I tried to answer this here if anyone else is interested.

Facts for you:

Wyoming Wind Information: http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/sco/climateatlas/wind.html

Read the first paragraph on the website, and the data in Figure 11.22. (1 knot = approximately 1.151 mph.)

Wyoming's Speed and Other Traffic Laws, etc: http://legisweb.state.wy.us/statutes/st ... CH5AR3.htm

Got time for it?....:

All Wyoming Statutes: http://legisweb.state.wy.us/statutes/statutes.aspx

Of course you can't take a trailer there but the Santa Barbara Channel is known for high winds and rough seas. The locals call it "windy lane". Non locals call it "hurricane gulch". Nothing like reaching with twenty five knots dead abeam doing nine knots in a boat with a six and a half knot hull speed.

Cheers,

Gus

slowcowboy wrote:gpw.
this morings current weather in pavillion. wyoming.

west wind at 20 something mph. temputer at 27 degreas. wind chill feels like 5 below zero with the wind blowing.

slowcowboy.

Uh....Just call me a California Wuss. Today, it was a sunny, 72 degrees with a very light breeeeeeze.