Towing A Hobie Getaway

I have been towing my Getaway for 3 years now on a well built trailer designed for the Getaway.
When I hit speeds of 60+ MPG on the highway, the trailer begins to wag back and forth. I have tried moving the weight of the boat back and forward to achieve different tongue weights, but it still is occurring. It's not a dangerous wag, just enough to shake the truck slightly and annoy you on long trips!
I trailer with the trampoline installed.

Any ideas on what I could do to prevent the wagging?

Regards,
Bill

First, you could try to move the trailers axle further back, then try different tires and even after that move any other things in the trailer forward, sail tube, storage box ect.
When the boat is hooked up to your vehicle is it riding flat? or pointing up/down several degrees? you can flip over the trailer receiver hitch and put the ball on the other side to get the trailer level. If none of that works you might some alignment issues with the car or the trailer.
Tim

_________________
Tim Grover

Memphis, TN fleet 134
Hobie 20! G-Cat5.0 and 2 Hobie 14's
Photobucket now wants $100 to post pics on forums......... pass.

Moving the axels back was not something I would have considered!

I took a good look at the trailer this evening, and I think it is the front mast support that is contributing to the sway. There is a lot of play in the frame because of the leverage of that support.
Wondering if there is a way for me to brace that support. I think if I can find a way to do that and move the axle back a bit, it may help.

Thanks for the tips Tim.

Bill

Two major causes of sway. Too much tongue weight and too little tongue weight. Too much tongue weight actually unloads the front axle of your vehicle. While it feels like the trailer is swaying, it it actually the tow vehicle with the steering axle improperly weighted that initiates the sway. The other is not enough tongue weight and from your description, this sounds more logical, especially considering that these boats are relatively light. Moving the axle rearward as suggested will help, though moving the boat forward or simply adding weight to the tongue will improve the handling. The latter would be easy enough to try without the expense of moving the axle rearward.

Maybe also consider supporting the bows from side to side motion at the tongue. Lines from spreader bar to tongue. That might stiffen the load a bit.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Matt,

Do you think a rachet strap would provide enough tension? Would you think running the strap from the spreader bar to the mast support would work? One strap on each end of the spreader bar?
Or, should I mount an eye on the trailer tongue by the hitch and run the straps there?

Appreciate all of the responses here!

Bill

Straps or lines from each end of the spreader. Doesn't have to be super strong... just to help stop the resonance that may be causing sway. May be wind buffeting... hard to say.

Btw... my Toyota Tacoma didn't track as straight on the highway when the tires were filled to a higher pressure than the manual suggested. That could translate to a trailer load. I got new tires and was hating the handling until I lowered the pressure a bit.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I would focus less on alignment or weight distribution issues. It is more likely a wind buffeting issue. Especially if you are towing with something like a Tacoma or a truck which has high drag coefficient characteristics. Also the fact that you say that it is more pronounced at highway speeds tells me that it is most likely a wind buffeting issue. Aside from dropping the tailgate to see if you can change airflow, there may not be much you can do.

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Air drag increases at the square of the speed in excess of 50mph and air becomes unhappy when it is forced to abruptly move out of the way and becomes very turbulent behind a relatively non-aerodynamic vehicle such as a Tacoma. I would be interested to see if dropping the tailgate helps. Keep us posted if you can.

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Vortex generators on each quarter panel on each side of the truck would be a fun experiment. The idea is that it would cause airflow to corkscrew back rather than create big alternating eddies that in turn is causing your sway issues.

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FYI Amazon sells a set of 9 magnetic vortex generators for $59 http://www.amazon.com/AeroHance-GasPods ... B00D37PV6U

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I tried to respond to this via Tapatalk from my phone but no luck. In my opinion your issue is related to wind buffeting behind your vehicle rather than weight distribution or alignment issues. Based on the relatively non-aerodynamic characteristics of a Tacoma, the alternating eddys forming behind your truck at highway speeds is impacting the hulls of the boat thus causing your sway. The fact that this condition exists at highway speeds is telltale as air becomes especially unhappy when objects that move through it begin to exceed 50mph. Air drag increases by the square of the speed over 50mph thus airflow eddys attempting to equalize the low pressure area forming behind your car are colliding with your hulls in an alternating fashion. Unless you can change the aerodynamics of your vehicle there is not much you can do. Dropping the tailgate, if you can, may change airflows and may be worth a try if your trailer allows for it. A fun experiment would be adding vortex generators to each quarter panel of your truck near the rear- perhaps just ahead of your tailights. There are magnetic ones available from Amazon that you could just place on your truck when you tow. It would be an interesting experiment. Keep us posted with the results if you try dropping your tailgate or using vortex generators. The idea is that the vortex generators would cause air to corkscrew rearward rather than form big opposing eddys behind the vehicle. Let us know what you find. (amazon link below)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D37 ... _i=desktop

Thanks Matt.

I have a 350 mile tow up to Cape Cod this weekend. I will post the outcome.

Bill

Car tires, yes, I totally agree they must be inflated to the manufacturer's recommended pressure. Trailer tires are much different. (Gosh I hate disagreeing with Matt!) While I'm a real newbie at sailing, I've been a trailer designer for 27 years. Maybe not the quintessential trailer engineer, but I've seen a lot of junk over the years and have seen more than the average number of busted up trailers and poorly designed ones as well. If you increase the tongue weight you are likely to have a straighter towing trailer. Try it first before heading off on a 350 mile trip with a swaying trailer. That's uncomfortable as you mention when slightly swaying, but unsafe and potentially dangerous if the sway becomes exaggerated.

It's not really a traditional sway. I raised the tongue weight yesterday and took it for a quick trip. The sway is definitely being caused by the mast support. As that rocks back and forth slightly, it creates the sway. I can't figure out a great way to stabilize it though. I tried running straps from the spreader bar down to the tongue and that support still moves.

Best description I can give is the mast support starts to rock, putting motion on the trailer frame which in turn translates to a slight sway.

I will keep at it.

Bill