Newbie towing issues

Rhoogenakker · 08-10-2014, 09:48 AM

My wife and I just retired and purchased our first camper. We have upcoming plans to spend a few weeks in the western states. Maybe I'm new at this, but I am not happy with how it tows. We get a lot of fore-to-aft pitching. I feel like we are bobbing along in a rowboat, pitching front to back. If the road is even a little rough it feels like the camper is intermittently pushing us along. Windjammer 2809w trailer, Equalizer 1000 lbs. hitch, Ecco Boost F-150 with towing package. We don't carry much in the way of stuff, 6200 dry weight with about 700lbs on the tongue.
Too much on the tongue? Too little? Should I adjust the hitch to add weight to the tongue?
Thanks in advance!

kappel15 · 08-10-2014, 09:53 AM

I'm no expert so hopefully someone else will pipe in too, but from what I have heard, the "porpoise " effect usually comes from too much weight put on the truck from the load levelers. Try a link or two less in the chains and do a test pull.

youroo · 08-10-2014, 10:06 AM

Not much Info to work with,year & Miles on truck?,Tire type on truck? How much preload on T-bars? Fluid in Tanks of unit? Full/half? Front to back jerking can be lots of diff.things! Call a friend with a diff.truck to give it a test pull.

Youroo!!

Rhoogenakker · 08-10-2014, 10:46 AM

Truck is a 2013 f150 with about 6500 miles on it. The leveler are sett at their lowest setting. I swapped out original tires with 8 ply truck tires. Tanks are all empty. My neighbor has a trailer about the same size and weight. The receiver height on his GMC 2500 is close to the same height as my truck so we tried my trailer and his truck. Same effect but not as severe. His truck is obviously heavier.

kappel15 · 08-10-2014, 11:24 AM

When hooked up to trailer, have you measured fender wells front and back to see if they are the same height? This is what you are trying for when hooking up load levelers.

Rhoogenakker · 08-10-2014, 01:01 PM

You know, I checked that before. I just went and I rechecked to be sure.
Truck only: 38 fr. 40 rear
Truck & camper 38.5 fr and 38 rear
Truck & camper- bars attached 38 fr and 38 rear.

Rhoogenakker · 08-10-2014, 01:24 PM

Whoops. Truck and camper was 37 rear.

dalford · 08-10-2014, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhoogenakker

You know, I checked that before. I just went and I rechecked to be sure.
Truck only: 38 fr. 40 rear
Truck & camper 38.5 fr and 38 rear
Truck & camper- bars attached 38 fr and 38 rear.

Your readings seem strange. It looks like that when you added the bars you did not transfer any weight from rear to the front. I was suprised your front only rose 1/2 inch.

Check out the install instructions below..

http://www.equalizerhitch.com/pdf/eq...anual_0111.pdf

Safari-Rick · 08-10-2014, 01:36 PM

Yes to everything all the guys said.. But, another thing to consider is ensuring that your fresh water tank has water in it. This helps stabilize the trailer and if your weight distribution bars can be adjusted...do so. Too tight is not right and too loose wobbles you like a goose....

That's my 2 cents

)

Batts-toy · 08-10-2014, 02:03 PM

Another member recently had the same problem, turns out his hitch ball was to small for the TT hitch allowing a lot of slop in the connection, just something to double check.

The_Rhino · 08-10-2014, 02:13 PM

Your TT has the rear master so IMO it is easy to reduce your tongue weight simply by adding your clothes & gear in the back of the TT... IMO you should try shifting more weight to the tongue & see if that helps... Your TT has the wider axle spacing which can reduce trailer sway if your tongue is too light. However, you can still feel it in the fore-to-aft motion... Just adding 100 lbs. can make a huge difference...

Our 34' 6600 lb. (empty) TT pitched fore-to-aft on my way home from the dealer with nothing in the TT & just me in the TV. However, once our TV is loaded with our family of 5 & the TT is loaded with gear, it is very stable - no pitching or swaying. I have also towed with a full tank of water & it seems to ride even better with the extra tongue weight...

IMO manufacturers advertise the low 10% tongue weights to appeal to the 1/2 ton crowd but these long TTs seem to do better at 12%-15%. The wider axle spacing helps to reduce sway even at lighter tongue weights, but you can still feel the fore/back motion especially in a 1/2 ton.

Rhoogenakker · 08-11-2014, 07:47 AM

I adjusted the sway bars since I picked up the to from the dealer. I reduced the bar tension, and my guess is that this would increase tongue weight, right? Today I plan to find a truck scale and get a read on tongue weight, overall weight, truck weight. Checked ball size, it's correct. Will add some water to the tank, too.
Thanks to all for your comments, I will report back.....

Rhoogenakker · 08-13-2014, 01:19 PM

Thanks for a,l the input from everyone. I spend a couple days working on this and it appears that the hitch setup from the dealer had way, way to little tongue weight. In fact, the camper tipped toward the back end when it's hooked up. I adjusted the equalizer a lot and added washers until I got to the point where there is no porpoise whatsoever. Funny thing. I went to a Truck stop to weigh everything and they just starred at me..... Seems their scales don't read anything under 15000 lbs!

dalford · 08-13-2014, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhoogenakker

Thanks for a,l the input from everyone. I spend a couple days working on this and it appears that the hitch setup from the dealer had way, way to little tongue weight. In fact, the camper tipped toward the back end when it's hooked up. I adjusted the equalizer a lot and added washers until I got to the point where there is no porpoise whatsoever. Funny thing. I went to a Truck stop to weigh everything and they just starred at me..... Seems their scales don't read anything under 15000 lbs!

Go to a CAT Scale. They have 3 scales in one that measures 3 axles at once. Truck front, truck rear along with tongue weight and trailer axles. Do two measurements at a min. One just front and rear truck axle. Then connect trailer and re measure front and rear truck and trailer axles. It only cost a few dollars for the second weigh as long as it is within 24 hours..

bwbarnes · 08-14-2014, 06:37 AM

Rhoogenakker, have you remeasured your fender heights with your new hitch setup? I have some porposing also and I would like to eliminate it. I have a SRW F350 LB CC and a Flagstaff V-lite 30WTBS

3fan4evr · 08-20-2014, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalford

Go to a CAT Scale. They have 3 scales in one that measures 3 axles at once. Truck front, truck rear along with tongue weight and trailer axles. Do two measurements at a min. One just front and rear truck axle. Then connect trailer and re measure front and rear truck and trailer axles. It only cost a few dollars for the second weigh as long as it is within 24 hours..

This is a MUST DO !! Very eye opening.

Rhoogenakker · 08-20-2014, 08:36 AM

I did. My fender heights seems a little odd in that there is very little deviation. For example, 38 front no load, 38.5 load no bars. In my humble opinion, the f-150 trucks have a lot of travel before you get to a load bearing point. I am guessing this is done so the thing rides like a car. I ended up taking the hitch apart and putting it together correctly (dealer error). What really worked was adding washers to the hitch. Adding washers drops the ball a little bit and transfers weight forward. Funny how adding 4 washers maybe a 1/16th thick can make such a big difference. You camper is a little larger than mine. You should probably add or subtract 2 washers at a time to see any difference.

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