Bless him - Chicken George obviously does not like caravanners but he reads and comments on nearly all the posts - he must be the number one poster in this section.

Does he do it just to let off steam or to push his blood pressure up?

He is getting very boring now.... Tattoos - Why would you choose to look like the wall of a public toilet?

Experienced my new (to me) 6 month old freelander 2 lock up whilst towing my caravan Friday

Once about a mile from home, just pulled on to the motorway and heard the ABS sound on the car and a lot of breaking force for a second or two then nothing more,

To be honest it wasn't sure what had happened then, so kept on going, knowing that I had triple checked prior to leaving my house, after a 4 mile trip from the storage site

A few miles down the road, overtaking a lorry, just as the caravan levelled its front, same again, hard breaking, abs breaking sound, but I noticed the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) Light illuminate on the dash board

I believe this all happened at the point were the larger lorry sucked the caravan towards it so rocked slightly

Enough for the ATC to kick it? I don't know, maybe it was the car reacting to the suction of the lorry, or the combined force of the suction and ATC acting caused the car to think the back end was going to go and deployed the DSC to counteract it to save it self, I believe from the cars brochure it might have trailer tow assistance but can't find anything in the manual to say so

Either way, it was a very nervous experince, one which led to a not so pleasant return trip which I was consentraiting 110% waiting for it to happen again

My on board camera doesn't appear to show any out of the ordinary movements just before or after the incidents and my speed was approx 60mph at each time, loaded correctly, nose weight correct and all tyres pressures checked Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

The following is BMW's description of their trailer stability control system - it does sound similar to what you experienced.

Quote:

Trailer stability control.

The trailer stability control system ensures superior stability and safety when towing - and keeps your BMW and trailer steadily on course.

With increasing speed, trailers tend to swing from side to side, and may even swing out of control. This is especially the case for heavier trailer loads or if the weight of the trailer load is not distributed evenly: even at relatively low speeds, a swaying motion can arise. This can destabilise both the trailer and the towing vehicle unless a stabilising measure quickly intervenes.
The trailer stability control system integrated in DSC recognizes the early signs of this dangerous swinging motion. It activates the brakes immediately to slow the trailer down and return stability.
It discerns this danger by constantly monitoring the rotation movement of the vehicle using special sensors.
If these values exceed the safe limit, trailer stability control activates the brakes on all four wheels via the DS hydraulics. Simultaneously, the engine output is reduced. The resulting drop in speed brings the trailer back to stability. As soon as stability is restored, the driver is again in full control of the vehicle's speed. If the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system is deactivate, the trailer stability control feature is also deactivated.

thanks PAB

bit worrying that it feels the need to break so hard to violently to do this, but would like to know how the LR system works also Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Agreed! Sounds like the van got pulled towards the lorry as you went past and that was enough to trigger the rotation sensors. Sounds like they may be a bit over-sensitive. Bad enough on the motorway, but what if it had been an A road and you're suddenly left on the wrong side of the road with no overtaking speed!

It could be the ATC on the 'van. I have had mine engage when towing on a rough road and it does exert a considerable braking force. I haven't had it enage the ABS on the car or noticed the DSC light come on.

I am not sure how ATC monitors for "lateral" movement as it has nothing in the wheels to detect rotational speed. It may be worth getting the ATC checked. Is the green light on when you connect the electrics? Mine engages as soon as the 13 pin plug is connected (and makes a noticeable noise) even with the engine off.

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Split from LRCS thread to discussion thread GONE - '07 TD4 GS manual Zermatt Silver
LONG GONE - '55 Norton Dominator 99 SS cafe racer

The green light was solid, as always since having a caravan with ATC on it i have a checklist of things to do


hitch up, check green notch on hitch
push down stabaliser, checking wear indicators
attach break away cable
insert electrics
wait for ATC check to complete, and solid green light is shown
check indicators break lights and driving lights
attached TPMS to caravan tyre valves and check pressures

Arriving back home, the caravan was left hitched up, and prior to pulling away another check for a solid green light on the ATC

I don't like towing in windy conditions and take it easy if conditions are like that, after a very unnerving incident, so even though the conditions were good, it was the first time with the new car, so steady away was my moto of the day

upon arriving at the site, actually prior to it as i pulled over, the wheels were all showing good pressures and temps and nothing upon actually feeling each wheel was showing anything like the wheel had binded or anything Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

you can see in each video at about 6 seconds the nose dip and the rumble of the ABS kick in

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and the second time over taking the lorry

?list=UU84rHdobsbVBrF5mEtTbNWw Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Correct me if I'm way out on this, the FL2 has Trailer Assist built in and any sway caused by the caravan will directly act upon the car, so individual wheels will brake with perhaps some loss of power.

A caravan can have fitted the Alko stability control that will work via a 12v supply from the car only.

Is each designed to work independently of each other and not designed to work together, in other words should you choose one system only rather than the vehicles control fighting against the caravans control and vice versa.

They won't fight each other, the car will attempt to straighten the van by braking individual wheels to bring the van in line, the ATC will brake the van on both wheels(all wheels) to drag itself behind the car, rather like a sea anchor. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.