ATC

[Muggler]

Has anyone had any expirence of ATC activating whilst towing over uneven roads at reletivly low speeds 25-30mph. It occoured twice on two different A roads I felt the caravan brakes come on quite hard which natuarly slowed the outfit down (I Stopped the outfit to check the atc light which was a steady green after the second activation). I phoned our caravan dealer explained what had happened, spoke to service who could'nt help they gave me the number for Alko so I rang them explained again, didnt get a very good explaination just that it may activate more than you would expect. I found it very un-nerving because I wasnt expecting it to activate at low speeds going over pot holed and uneven stretch of road. If any body knows a little more about this system and if this is normal any help would be appricaited.

Thanks in advance Ian

 

[Lutz]

All electronic stabilisers, whether the AlKo ATC, the BPW iDC or the LEAS systems, work by sensing the sideways sway of the caravan and then applying the brakes accordingly. Under unfavourable circumstances, a poor road surface can cause the caravan to sway enough for the stabiliser to deploy. Speed does not come into it as none of the systems have any provisions to sense speed of the wheels and are not supplied with this information from the towcar.

In other words, the phenomenon that you experienced, is quite normal. However, maybe the AlKo is more sensitive to detecting sideways sway than the iDC or the LEAS, which may be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

 

[Lutz]

ps: In the meantime I have been able to dig out a comparison test of the AlKo ATC vs. the BPW iDC (the LEAS stabiliser was unfortunately not included in this comparison) and the conclusion was that they are both about equally sensitive, but the AlKo applied the brakes for slightly longer than the iDC.

 

[Muggler]

ps: In the meantime I have been able to dig out a comparison test of the AlKo ATC vs. the BPW iDC (the LEAS stabiliser was unfortunately not included in this comparison) and the conclusion was that they are both about equally sensitive, but the AlKo applied the brakes for slightly longer than the iDC.

Thanks for your comments Lutz