driving in rain grooves

[steve eboe]

I have noticed that driving on interstates and other highways with rain grooves causes my rig to vibrate and shake very badly. We first noticed it while driving from Green Bay, Wis. to Door County. The shaking was so severe I pulled over to see if we had a flat tire or lost one of our eqaulizer bars or had some other serious problem. Since then we have experienced it on several other interstates with rain grooves (which are becoming more and more common here in Wisconsin, and I assume elsewhere). The vibrarting and shaking is very bad. It happens only when we're pulling the trailer, never when driving the truck solo.
Have others experienced this? Perhaps it is just a unique situation with the configuration of my rig. I drive an eight-cylinder, four-wheel-drive Dodge Dakota and pull a very light, 19-foot Passport Ultra Light (model 189ml). Otherwise, the rig pulls like a dream. We have driven thousands of miles with no problems, but now try to avoid these new highways with rain grooves.
Thanks'
Steve E-boe

[Bushman512000]

Need to have trailer tires ballanced..Bushman:D

[tommy71964]

yes me and my wife had problems in the rain with groves in the shoulder of road and tar sticking up filling in cracks all over the highway ,indiana& ohio 76east its a long story i will post pictures of road. were lucky to be alive f150 ecoboost ,brand new 2012 321res werent so lucky .thank god for allstate insurance. they are defintly the best auto&rv insurance money can buy.instantly got us rent a car, health coverage if needed. had are truck & rv looked at and towed first bussiness day. i can defintly tell you how the 321res.cougar is constructed how it held up and what did not. f150 has the best safety features saved or lives all 4 air bags caught us like a baby crash response activated called 911. turned on flashers&horns even up side down if anyone that disconnected sync.with after market radios buy the wire harness.and reconnect.sync for crash responnce,the best $160 i spent

[KenBob]

It may be a tire concern. There is some info about vehicles having poor stability on roads with grooves. I have had this happen on a motorcycle and a car. If you are due for tires soon, may want to try a different brand or tread design. JM2C

An example:

http://www.epinions.com/review/Goodyear_Integrity_Passenger_Performance_Tire/content_551143575172?sb=1

[wgb1]

Ok, I work for a state department of transportation. What the heck are "rain grooves"?!

[hankaye]

wgb1, Howdy;

milled grooves in the road's surface that run 'kinda-sorta' parallel with the lines painted thereon.

hankaye

[Paddler]

Our most recent outing took us thru Atlanta on I-75, we ran across a short section of rain grooved concrete and yes we also experienced the "Tail wagging the dog" effect. It was not severe but it was the first time I have felt that while pulling our Monty. Certainly an attention getter!

[JRTJH]

Our only experience with this sort of issue is going over bridges with steel open surface roadways (like a suspension bridge) The Mackinaw Bridge on I-75 has almost 2 miles of steel gridwork in the left lanes (both directions). If we get stuck in the left lane, it's not a real stable ride. I've noticed the "swerving" solo and towing. I'm not sure if the trailer has anything to do with the rain groove instability. You might want to try a section of pavement with only the tow vehicle and see if it's just inherently unstable because of the way the tire tread moves over the grooves.

As for "shaking and bucking" I've never expereience that because of grooves in the roadway that run with the direction of travel. We have had a vibration set up with grooves that run crossways to the direction of travel, but that's pretty much to be expected.

[wgb1]

wgb1, Howdy;

milled grooves in the road's surface that run 'kinda-sorta' parallel with the lines painted thereon.

hankaye

I suspected as much, but I have never heard them referred to as "rain grooves". A milling machine was probably used to texture the surface to increase traction and/or eliminate a rutted surface. If the crew knows what they are doing they can achieve an acceptable surface, but many times milling crews will leave a surface that is worse than what they removed. If the machine didn't track very straight then it will be very noticeable by making your vehicle wobble back and forth. They can also leave humps and dips if the electronics on the machine were not working or used properly.

[f6bits]

I've seen tow truck tires with permanent ridges from spending so much time towing cars on grooved freeways.