http://www.jokeroo.com/videos/extreme/windy-truck-bridge.html

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

is that a unimog on the back?

Yeah UNIMOG 404. The suspension is really spongy and if you don't cinch it down tight, stuff like that happens.

This same thing happened when Rolf and I towed his project 309 RV back to Atlanta from the Gulf Coast. After struggling with it for a couple hours, redistributing weight and such, we gave up and drove 45 MPH on the back roads all the way back...

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

HOLY COW!!!!

X2

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Wow, I figured that would have toppled over after just one or two heaves.

Can anyone else verify that the video was taken on the San Mateo Bridge headed eastbound just after leaving Foster City?

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

How come he kept going after it settled down? Accident going some place to happen !!

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I bet you that the driver's seat in that towing PU doesn't smell, or look, that good anymore!!!

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Here's the YouTube version.

The video tags say it was the San Mateo.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

That's an interesting video.

The response by the trailer was fueled by the driver of the truck. When the oscillation of the trailer begins, the driver must take the appropriate action to stop the sway. Unfortunately, that action is exactly opposite to the desire of the driver to keep the truck in his own lane. The more he tries to keep the truck going straight down the road...........the more he adds to the oscillation of the trailer.

His only solution to stop such behavior is to allow the truck to move in the direction that it wants to go..........even if it crosses into the next lane.

He's really lucky that it stopped..........he must have stopped fighting the truck.

This is the primary reason that the towing vehicle is limited in how much it can pull...........the driver can easily lose the trailer and the load if he's not sure of how to check the sway.

I assumed there was some kind of expansion joint where the bridge met the highway that started the Mog bouncing. I also assumed that only the axles were chained to the trailer and with the amount of articulation in a Mog's suspension, it allowed huge motion in the body of the truck while the axles were still firmly attached to the trailer.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I've always been curious about this.....So the appropriate response in that situation is to loosen your grip on the steering and let the outfit slow down? (As opposed to 'powering out of it')?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehZL0bCnkg
6:00

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

If you're pulling a trailer and it starts swaying, the appropriate response is to push the accelerator to the floor and pull the trailer straight forward as hard as possible to stop the swaying, then gradually slow down. Counterintitutive in the same way that it's counterintuitive to put the accelerator to the floor when a tire blows out.
In this instance, I'm not sure, I'm tending to the conclusion that the same response might have been appropriate, although the issue in the video is not just the swaying of the trailer but the huge momentum of that heavy mog at the end of very long springs. Seems to me that the biggest danger was that with the axles chained to the trailer the whole trailer would flip over when the springs met their limit on one side. I don't know if the pulling effect of the truck on the trailer would have inhibited in any way the tendency of the trailer to flip. Maybe?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

When you haul something like that you need to chain it down to load the suspension. That's how you prevent it from moving, whether its a little ATV or Mog in this case the same thing happens at high speeds. If you keep it under 40 you can get away with nothing.

I move equipment all the time, around town under 40 we don't chain it down. More so if it has tracks.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Power out and don't fight it, if it wants to go right or left go with it. Than gradually slow down and figure out what went wrong.

Worst thing to you can do is fight it and nail the brakes, which is the natural response.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200