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Preventing Your Travel Trailer From Tipping Over

Oct. 6 2021 How To By Rte. 125 RV & Marine Inc.

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Travel trailers can tip over while driving on the freeway, the highway, or on back roads. This can seriously damage your trailer as well as the tow vehicle, and could easily injure people. For this reason, RV owners need to understand the risks of travel trailer tipping and take steps to prevent it.

Here’s a quick guide to common reasons that travel trailers tip and how to prevent it. If you have questions or want to shop travel trailers for sale, please talk to our team at Rte. 125 RV & Marine in Rochester, New Hampshire, near the Maine border. 

Why Are Travel Trailers Easy to Tip?

Because travel trailers are tall, they have a relatively high center of gravity. They are also fairly heavy, so they are vulnerable to forces and events that may tip them over. Here are the common causes of travel trailer tipping so you can take steps to prevent it.

Issue 1 - Trailer Sway (the trailer moves uncontrollably from side to side) 

The Cause: 

  • Poor weight distribution.
  • Damaged hitch or problem with the hitch.

How To Prevent: 

  • Pack the trailer according to appropriate weight distribution strategies.
  • Check that the hitch is in good condition.

Issue 2 - Sudden Stops

The Cause: 

  • Not slowing down far enough in advance.

How To Prevent:

  • Practice towing your trailer in an empty parking lot or low-traffic neighborhood. Develop familiarity with your braking so you know how much time you need to bring the rig to a stop. 
  • Avoid slamming on the brakes as much as possible.
  • Allow plenty of time and distance to bring your rig to a stop.

Issue 3 - Taking A Corner Too Fast

The Cause:

  • Not slowing down adequately for a turn.

How To Prevent:

  • Begin slowing down before the corner.

Issue 4 - Tire Blow-Out

The Cause:

  • Improperly inflated tires.
  • Old tires.
  • Too much weight on tires.

How To Prevent:

  • Inspect the state of the tires before each trip.
  • Replace tires when necessary.
  • Don’t overload the trailer.

Issue 5 - Excessive Wind

The Cause:

  • High-speed wind ranging 50 mph or higher.

How To Prevent:

  • Avoid traveling on exceptionally windy days. 
  • Pull over and wait for high winds to die down.
  • Decrease your speed when passing trucks since they can hit you with a gust of wind.

Issue 6 - Hitting A Patch Of Ice

The Cause:

  • Icy pavement.

How To Prevent:

  • Avoid traveling during and right after bad weather.
  • Take it extremely slowly and cautiously if you must travel in/after bad weather.

We hope you found this guide to preventing travel trailer tipping helpful. For more information or to shop travel trailers for sale, visit Rte. 125 RV & Marine near Massachusetts.