What are the risks of driving bobtail?

No weight on the drives, so when you try to stop you may skip. Remember the weight of the trailer is what is on the drives. No weight, less stopping power.

 

It's a lot easier to skid and lose traction in general due to the lack of weight. Just be easy on it in bad weather and give yourself plenty of room. Take turns easy. The wind has never really bothered me bobtail. There were nights when I was local running up and down Cajon I wouldn't bring a trailer home with me due to the wind and never had a problem bobtail.

 

imagine a 450 hp 2wd pickup truck only worse

 

Your drives could lock up and you could slide in wet road conditions. Never hit your brakes hard when bobtailing. Stay away from traffic and allow plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front of you.

 

Well, put it this way, last night in SE Nebraska, we were spinning the wheels taking off from a stop sign in a blizzard with 40,000 in the box.

 

Like has been said the risk of locking up is greater as the brakes are designed for loaded axels more than for the light bobtail. The reason the truck will lock up easily is because as you brake the friction/traction between the road and the tyres increases (vehicle brakes 101) the same with the brake pad/shoe and the disc/drum the performance of the truck brakes is increased astronomically so in a low traction environment you will find the steer tyres will lock first and you will lose control and the momentum of the truck will keep it moving straight ahead and the stopping distance will be ridiculous also cornering you may find that the truck will under steer easily if you are in a single drive truck it will also over steer around corners with a bogie drive that risk is lesser but still a high possibility. Also the suspension is set up to carry weight and it rather stiff when bobtail so at speed the shock absorbers are working overtime to keep the wheels in contact with the road this along with poor road traction can also cause the truck to skip out and lose control.
Unfortunatly your concentration level required is the same if not more than when hauling a load.
alot o people will disagree but use the engine or exhaust brake to slow down even though your not heavy it will brake the truck but without the severe lock up an if it does compression lock the rear end at least your steer axel is not affected.
But that's just my Experience and thoughts it's not gospel I hope it helps you

 

In a nutshell, everything feels squirrelly in a bobtail. Steering, acceleration and braking for 80k at a fraction of the GVW. It's like everything else...you just have to be sure to take the time to adjust. Watch out for the jake.

 

Best thing about being in a bobtail you don't have to worry about a jack knife

 

when i took an air brake course decades ago, the instructor claimed that when the conditions are slick

"there is nothing more dangerous to be around than a bobtailin cab"

never seemed like a huge deal to me ..at all