What is the best way to recover when a towed camper trailer starts to "Fish tail" out of control behind me?

Question

Towing my little capler behind my ranger yesterday, when i made a sudden movement in the steering wheel. The camper fishtailed and skidded back and forh fishtailng behind me. It was hard to get under control and "Wagged the dog" and kind of threw my pick-up truck around. Lucky I did not hit the guard rail or a passing car.

Answer 1

The general rule is stay cool.

Don't panic and don't do anything any more suddenly or violently than you have to.

A sudden bumping or "fishtailing" may be a flat tire.

Don't jam on the brakes or mash the accelerator to try to "drive out of it".

Stop slowly and in as straight a line as possible.

If conditions permit, allow your rig to coast to a very slow speed and try to avoid braking, except when your wheels are straight ahead and the trailer and your tow vehicle are in line.

If your trailer begins to fishtail as you accelerate to highway speed, back off a little and it should cease.

If it begins again as you accelerate, stop and check your load.

It probably is not evenly distributed side to side or it is too far back so the hitch load is low.

Redistribute your load before continuing.

Answer 2

It may sound like the opposite thing to do, but hitting the gas instead of the brake will bring things under control right away. Then you can focus on slowing down carefully. Downshifting can cause a sudden change that may throw you out of control as well. The real secret for success is to correctly load the tow load so that the majority of the weight (at least 60%) is in front of the axles. Also makes sure that you are not carrying any more weight than you have to! Never overload or be beyond the capacity of what the truck is capable of handling. It is not worth the risk of endangering you or others on the road.

Answer 3

Accelerate AND "turn INTO the skid", which means you always always try to turn back to the straight line you started on.  It can be done.

Answer 4

Don't accelerate, slow down without braking until it's corrected, unless you can apply trailer brakes, or you can end up with the same problem at a higher speed causing an accident.

Check your load distribution too, as not enough weight on the hitch and to much in the back will also cause swaying.

Answer 5

The best wat is to accelerate, it will pull you out of a fish tail and then slow down slowly and try not to make any sudden movements. The more you do it the better you will get, I promise. I know the first time is always scarey. I've been thare with a camper and a boat behind it.