wind and my Casita

[Scamper Jim]

"A wind speed of approximately 73.14159 mph."

Mike, I think you are stretching it a bit. Everyone knows Oklahoma doesn’t have 7 pi's, , only cow pies

Whenever the camper is being hit with a severe side wind, I unhitch the pickup and park it tight against the side of the prevailing wind so it breaks the force of the wind hitting directly on the side of the camper. If being hit from the front, I leave it hitched up to the pickup.

[Mike Magee]

True enough, Jim. Cow pies and oil rigs.

Ah, well... if one is in a FG trailer and one feels a wind coming on, the solution is simple: step outside and let 'er blow.

[Scamper Jim]

Mike,

Since 3.14159 are the first 6 digits of the geometric value “pi”, that describes the circumference of a circle in relation to its diameter, I figured you added the 70 mph and were talking code here for hurricane-force winds. You are after all in Hurricane Ally, OK!

I think when I open the windows to reduce the pressure-differential and let the hurricane pass through, it would also take care of any other pre-existing “wind issues” generated inside previously and no need to step outside.

Jim

[robertsd8]

For those who want to compute the wind speed to topple their trailer, here is a formula posted by 2oldman on RV.Net in 2011. WARNING: It may make your head hurt! Note: I have not independantly checked this out to vouch for it.

V=SQRT (W*B/{0.00666*L*[H-H2/2]*(H/2+H2/4)})

Where:

V = Wind Speed
SQRT = Square Root
W = Trailer Weight, LBS
B = Trailer Width (Tire Center to Center), FT
L = Trailer Length, FT
H = Trailer Height (From Ground), FT
H2 = Tire Height, FT

[steve dunham]

Since the grey tank , black tank and fresh water tank are located at or near the bottom of our trailers ,would filling up all the tanks with water make the trailer bottom heavy or lower the center of gravity.?
Thinking about days with high winds and no way to anchor the trailer.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Wind is something I've never worried about. Been in some pretty strong winds, but not concerned about the trailer tipping over. We tow that trailer between 55 and 60 mph. Ran into a a 40 to 50 mph head wind a few years ago that total wind speed 95 mph to 110 mph.
Also in the 10+ years of ownership and watching the forums I don't know of a single incident where a molded fiberglass trailer blew over.

This appears to be looking for a solution for a non-existant problem.

[Jon in AZ]

Trees are what I'd be most concerned about. More that a few RVs, molded fiberglass and otherwise, have been destroyed by falling branches and trees.

I like Scamper Jim's approach- using the vehicle as a wind block- hitched up and facing into the wind if possible, stabilizers deployed.

Even better, keep up with local and regional forecasts when you're out and avoid severe weather altogether.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Wind is something I've never worried about. Been in some pretty strong winds, but not concerned about the trailer tipping over. We tow that trailer between 55 and 60 mph. Ran into a a 40 to 50 mph head wind a few years ago that total wind speed 95 mph to 110 mph.
Also in the 10+ years of ownership and watching the forums I don't know of a single incident where a molded fiberglass trailer blew over.
This appears to be looking for a solution for a non-existant problem.

Towing/driving into a head wind is not a problem, it's the side winds that can get you. How many pics have we all seen of big rigs being rolled over because of that?
I think the OP was talking of a static situation. Two years ago we had a 100+ wind storm that blew for hours. One of the neighbors had his large 5th wheel go over, a number of roofs were lost also. My Casita was parked behind the house which broke the wind. If it had been in it's normal spot you would have heard of a cracked egg . BTW, I do remember a post and pics of an egg being blown over with the owner inside.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by robertsd8

For those who want to compute the wind speed to topple their trailer, here is a formula posted by 2oldman on RV.Net in 2011. WARNING: It may make your head hurt! Note: I have not independantly checked this out to vouch for it.

V=SQRT (W*B/{0.00666*L*[H-H2/2]*(H/2+H2/4)})

Where:
V = Wind Speed
SQRT = Square Root
W = Trailer Weight, LBS
B = Trailer Width (Tire Center to Center), FT
L = Trailer Length, FT
H = Trailer Height (From Ground), FT
H2 = Tire Height, FT

For what it's worth, the formula gives an answer of about 63 (mph?) for my Scamp 13 (W=1600, B=5.5, L=13, H=7.25, H2=2). Gusts, and even sustained winds, of that magnitude are common in parts of northern Arizona (and the California desert). I wonder if the formula takes into account the use of stabilizers. I also wonder how differing trailer profiles affect the dynamics.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Towing/driving into a head wind is not a problem, it's the side winds that can get you. How many pics have we all seen of big rigs being rolled over because of that?
I think the OP was talking of a static situation. Two years ago we had a 100+ wind storm that blew for hours. One of the neighbors had his large 5th wheel go over, a number of roofs were lost also. My Casita was parked behind the house which broke the wind. If it had been in it's normal spot you would have heard of a cracked egg . BTW, I do remember a post and pics of an egg being blown over with the owner inside.

I don't think the OP was talking about "big rigs" either. Or roofs flying, etc.
Since you are worried about side winds then park the trailer facing into the wind. DUH!

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

I don't think the OP was talking about "big rigs" either. Or roofs flying, etc.
Since you are worried about side winds then park the trailer facing into the wind. DUH!

You're correct Byron, the OP didn't mention big rigs or roofs, I used that as an example of what side winds can do, which was his question as he was parked and a bit worried. Some folks don't have much experience with high winds and 30 is only a breeze here. It's been blowing 40-60 here for the last two days. Sorry you didn't care for my response but it was to the OP. Being static and driving into a headwind are two different critters.

[Raz]

V=SQRT (W*B/{0.00666*L*[H-H2/2]*(H/2+H2/4)})

Where:

V = Wind Speed
SQRT = Square Root
W = Trailer Weight, LBS
B = Trailer Width (Tire Center to Center), FT
L = Trailer Length, FT
H = Trailer Height (From Ground), FT
H2 = Tire Height, FT

I'd love to see the derivation. Raz