How to Keep Your Trailer Upright in High Winds?

Good thing about a tanker, hammer down!

 

Open deck too, unless you have a high load of foam or an empty conestoga.

 

I love seeing all the RVs by Livingston, MT as they’re pulling the seat cushions out of their zzz and I’m blowing their doors off with 3500 gallons of sodium hydroxide on in a 4000 gallon tank

 

On my 48’ lift gate when the wind gets really cranky, I’ll slide the tandems to the back.
When I worked out in KS i usually kept my tandems to the rear when I was running empty on 50 from Hutchinson to Dodge.

Same way up here in NoDak. I really hate those side skirts though. Makes for an over sized sail boat.

 

Side skirts are actually have a positive effect by pulling wind side down, balancing top out a bit. Not much, but still. On the other hand, yeah, bigger sail to sidetrack.

 

You are comparing apples to oranges here. My post was talking about how crosswinds 'affect the stability of the rig depending on tandem location'. It said NOTHING about preventing a trailer from being completely blown-over. The picture you are using for what I assume you consider to be some sort of "proof" show a trailer already blown-asunder to an angle which is past recovery. Where the tandems were placed has no bearing on a situation like this at all. If you are too light, it's going over at a certain wind speed no matter what. And, BTW, of your pictures, #4 is a straight truck; drive axle placement is NOT adjustable.

The picture you show is of a situation completely out of the driver's control; a wind velocity too strong on a trailer either laden too lightly or with a center of gravity too high to remain upright. In conditions as severe as this, my original suggestion of just parking the rig would be the one to follow.

 

OP asked a simple question, "What is your advice on keeping your truck and trailer from tipping over in high wind conditions?" For a 53' van or reefer, the answer is simple: Put your tandems all the way back. Others had already given that answer and other sound advice such as slow down and no sudden movements. We even got the wind chart, park into the wind, etc.

Then you said, Put your tandems all the way forward. That is incorrect, and the opposite of what helps keep the trailer upright in wind.

I know this from experience dragging empty Walmart trailers back to Cheyenne after delivering to stores from Montana to New Mexico for several years. I have driven past a lot of trucks on their sides. They all had their tandems forward.

You are correct that it is best to park it when the wind is over 35 mph if you're empty. I have gone as high as 50 mph when heavy (over 40k in the box) but I don't recommend doing that. It's scary, especially if the road is slick. I never enjoyed doing it, but the wind blows all winter in the northern plains and I have bills to pay.