The Lateral Stability of Recreational Vehicles in Steady-State Turning: A Spread Time Model

The term “recreational vehicles” refers to many different types of vehicles from motorhomes to trailers to ATVs. The results presented in this paper apply only to on-highway, self-powered vehicles such as motorhomes, pickup/camper trucks, or conversion vans. Because recreational vehicles come in a vide variety of sizes and shapes and because the utility of the vehicle dictates certain design restrictions care must be taken to insure that these vehicles handle as safely as reasonable possible. In addition, the companies who manufacture recreational vehicles are. generally fairly small firms when compared to automotive manufacturers and do not have large research and development departments. Thus, a need exists for simple analytical expressions which the recreational vehicle designer can use to determine the effects that various parameter changes may have on the stability of the vehicle.