1st tow

Chopper911ed · 07-05-2015, 07:45 PM

1st time towing my camper this weekend and it was really bouncy. Ram 1500 pulling 32' vibe tt. Just wondering if I upgrade to a 2500 will the bounce go away.

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Ford Idaho · 07-05-2015, 07:55 PM

Is your WD hitch adjusted correctly?
Anti sway bars enough for the job?
P-metric tires or LT?
Air pressure in tires at max?

Chopper911ed · 07-05-2015, 08:03 PM

Sway bars worked great an I did check pressures in tires all were maxed. It just bounced so much I felt like I needed to drink a protein shake after that workout. RV dealership set be up with a e2 hitch an measured my truck for the right height. Granted I'm using a ram 1500 an the back sagged pretty good.

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asquared · 07-05-2015, 08:26 PM

Was your trailer loaded yet or still empty? I'm guess I g you were feeling porpoising where it has a front to back bounce. It sounds like you need to adjust your wdh better. Never trust the dealer setup. If you can, get to a cat scale and weigh your rig loaded, ready to camp. First pass, Weigh just the truck with front axle on scale pad one and rear axle on scale pad 2. Second pass weigh truck and tt without wdh bars hooked up. Have truck same as first pass, trailer axles go on scale pad 3. Third pass will be truck plus tt with wdh hooked up. Same positioning as second pass. You can now determine your tongue weight. You want to get 13-15% of loaded tt weight for your tongue weight. You want to adjust your wdh to get your front axle as close to unloaded weight as possible without going heavier. You should tow much better after this.

wbdavey · 07-05-2015, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chopper911ed

RV dealership set be up with a e2 hitch an measured my truck for the right height. Granted I'm using a ram 1500 an the back sagged pretty good. Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Two things stand out to me. First, the dealer installed the hitch. A lot of dealers don't set the hitch up properly. You say the back sagged pretty good. IMO, either the hitch does not have spring bars with adequate rating for your trailer and/or the hitch needs to be adjusted to move more weight toward the front of your truck. Second - read the owner's manual http://www.fastwaytrailer.com/wp-con...0710_small.pdf

and adjust the hitch yourself based on actual weights you'll get when you take your rig across a CAT scale. My experience is that the manual directions will get you close, but the scale weights will get you right on the correct settings.

Chopper911ed · 07-05-2015, 09:01 PM

Dealer just installed the e2 receiver part. My bad. Truck has factory ram tow hitch.

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**bikendan** · 07-05-2015, 09:44 PM

I wouldn't have chosen the E2.
For that size of trailer, I would've picked the 4pt Equal-i-zer.

wbdavey · 07-05-2015, 09:47 PM

Chopper - we're using different terms for the pieces involved here. I call the hitch that's permanently attached to your truck the receiver since it receives the hitch. To me the hitch is the part with the ball and spring bars that you slide into the receiver. So using my terms, the hitch needs adjusting.

Chopper911ed · 07-05-2015, 09:53 PM

Wbdavey gotcha I did adjust the hitch by moving it up 1 spot an it did help a little on the way back home. Also adjusted it up 1 spot on the tt portion for the sway bars to keep them level.

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jgroff · 07-06-2015, 07:27 AM

I have a similar setup to yours but went with a lot more hitch then you did. I definitely don't think the e2 is up for the job. I went with the propride 3p. I also put a set of airlift 1000's on the truck.

purduepete97 · 07-06-2015, 08:08 AM

Have a Solaire 269bhdsk. Slightly smaller than your TT. Towed 3 times w 2013 Ram 1500 and propride. No sway, but a very uncomfortable towing experience with lots of bouncing and rough ride. I added Timbrens with very minimal improvement. I then added airlift 1000 airbags also with very little improvement. I finally decided that for my personal preferences to get the type of towing experience I want I needed a different vehicle. Upgraded to a 2011 Ford f 250 with Powerstroke diesel and the difference is night and day. The Ford tows my travel trailer the same way my old SUV used to tow our pop-up. You really don't know it's there. Others may have different tolerances for what comfortable towing is but for me this is the level that I needed for this travel trailer.
The source of the problem in my opinion is the very soft rear coil springs on the newer Ram half ton trucks.
You can probably continue to improve the towing experience with your 1500 in very small increments but to make a significant change my opinion is moving to a three-quarter ton vehicle will help more than you could imagine.
Best of luck to you and safe travels
Brian

PopBeavers · 07-06-2015, 09:37 AM

The topic of wheelbase has come up already.

As a point of reference I used to tow a 4,100 pound 20 foot Trailmanor, a hard sided folding TT. I started out towing with a Chevy 1500HD. This is a crew cab with a short bed. I subsequently upgraded to a GMC 2500HD. This is stiffer suspension and a crew cab long bed. A world of difference. Porpoising disappeared and the built in brake controller was so much better than the Prodigy.

When it comes to wheelbase, longer is better, even for relatively small trailers.

I did not need and did not use a WD hitch.

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