Trailer sway

[jjacobson71]

Wildwood 27RKSS

[jjacobson71]

I have a 2015 Wildwood 27RKSS and have a lot of sway. I'm using a 2014 f150 with ecoboost. Pro series WDH with 10000 lb rating and sway control. Took it to scales and have 900 lbs on tongue, trailer weighs 7040. Where am I going wrong

[OldCoot]

I would assume you have P rated tires on your truck. If so, try inflating them to 44 psi. If that helps, you need to switch to an LT LRD or LRE.

[crunchman12001]

Can you post a picture of the truck and trailer hooked together and also a close up of the WDH setup? It will give us a visual to work with.
crunchman

[jjacobson71]

I will this weekend when we take it out

[crunchman12001]

Originally Posted by jjacobson71

I will this weekend when we take it out

jjacobson71,
We'll be looking for the "levelness" of the truck and trailer while hooked together. Also, you will want to check the tires on the truck as Oldcoot suggested and go to a LT tire if you have P tires.
I had a WDH like you do on my old trailer and it did take some time to get the bars set correctly. You may just need to go up or down a link on the chains.
We'll look at the pics for you.
crunchman

[rr retired]

I have a 2014 f 150 long wheel base max tow and max haul. pulling 27rkss salem. using eaz lift with two sway bars one on each side, don't have any problems, need to know more about your set up and truck.

[jjacobson71]

Here's a pic of when I picked it up

[jjacobson71]

I lowered the front 1 notch on the hitch to see if that would help.

[MtnGuy]

Looks like a WDH without integrated sway control, but maybe using 1 friction bar ?? Also, the rear of the truck seems a bit low.

With a 33' trailer, a 2nd friction sway control bar might help. a WDH with integrated sway control might have been a better choice, but maybe work with what you got and see if the 2nd friction sway control bar helps.

Depending on what the WDH manufacture suggests, a bit more weight distributing may be in order. That involves tilting the head back 1 more notch, or using 1 less chain length if you are not using less chain lengths than what the WDH manufacturer suggest. Doing fender measurements or doing 3 weigh-ins at a CAT scale will give you an idea of what is going on.


The scale weigh-ins involve 1 with the truck and trailer with the WDH spring bars in place, 1 with truck and trailer without spring bars, and 1 with just the truck. Weight with each set of tires (the trailer tandems being 1 set) on a separate platform. Keep all passengers and cargo in the same position each weigh-in, as well as the same fuel level...........in other words, do all 3 within the same trip.

Doing the CAT scale thing will also give you the percent tongue weight vs. trailer weight, which if too light could contribute to sway.

[caper]

A second friction bar will help with sway. When using the friction bar style sway control the manufacture recommends two sway bars on trailers over 28'.

[jjacobson71]

How "tight " should sway control bar be

[thebrakeman]

Thanks for the pics. This confirms your WDH has no integrated sway control. I see the friction sway control ball on the side there, and I assume you are using it.

1. Please provide your loaded TW. This must be between 10-15%, but with known sway concerns, more would be better. That, the tires, and leveling should take care of any tendency to sway on it's own.
2. Once that is done, the friction sway controller should be adjusted to handle any outside influences (wind-gusts, passing semi-trucks, quick lane-changes).
For this, you tighten the sway bar handle all the way. Yes...all the way, until the handle's threads bottom out on the housing. You then go on a test drive. Flick the steering wheel. If things don't settle down in 1 back & forth oscilation, tighten the adjuster BOLT (next to the handle) 1/4-turn. Continue adjusting until under control. If things are already under control, loosen 1/4-turn until it feels loose, then tighten just until things are back in control.

The goal is that after a wind gust or other input, the trailer should come back into control quickly. With such a long trailer, you may find that you need 2 sway controllers to feel comfortable. And you have the capacity for that in your WD head.

[Brother Les]

Originally Posted by jjacobson71

How "tight " should sway control bar be

the sway control bar is to keep the unit straight behind you as a braking action. Any time that you turn left or right there will be a braking action, but it will slide through the friction material and create stability. Crank it down tight and then a little more, you want to hear the thing creaking and groaning when you are going very slow around a parking lot and corners.

As for the picture of the alignment of your truck. It does look at though the front of the truck is high and the back of the truck is squatting a little. To correct this, can you drop your ball down lower one more hole? This will make the tongue of your trailer lower when the lift bars have not been pulled up. When the lift bars are pulled up your whole train, truck/camper should be level. This action will shove more weight to your front axles and front wheels and give you more steering stability and shove more weight to the back axle in order for the combined weight load is evenly distributed from front/middle/back. This should help reduce more of your swaying action. At this point I would not put another sway bar on your unit until all other options are tried.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by jjacobson71

Here's a pic of when I picked it up

My eyes cant see your setup but with the round bar setup head it looks like you need to go down some more to put more pressure on the bars to bring the Truck front end up and the trailer down! Your goal is Bars parallel with the trailer A frame and Truck and Trailer Level! Have (2) sway bars and tighten them as per decal on side most say (Turn by hand until bottomed out)! If truck has P tires/BAD! Upgraded Tires on the Trailer is also a Plus! Youroo!!

[Windjammin]

Hard to see precisely in the photo but the rear of the truck looks low. My previous rig was a 3/4 ton pickup pulling a 31' trailer with one friction sway bar. I had some sway when semis would pass me on the interstates or if I was in strong crosswinds.

My new rig is a 1/2 ton pickup pulling a 34' trailer. I currently run P rated tires at 44 psi when towing but will probably switch to LTs when they need changing. I have no sway and I attribute it to my new Equalizer 4 point hitch even though I am pulling a longer, heavier trailer with a smaller capacity truck.

[pappcam]

Originally Posted by jjacobson71

I have a 2015 Wildwood 27RKSS and have a lot of sway. I'm using a 2014 f150 with ecoboost. Pro series WDH with 10000 lb rating and sway control. Took it to scales and have 900 lbs on tongue, trailer weighs 7040. Where am I going wrong

That should be a good match for that 1/2 ton. That picture you posted looks like you may be sagging too much on the back end of the truck and that causes the front tires of the truck to be light and that affects steering quite a bit. You may need to go up another link on the chain on the bars or you may need to play with the hitch head tilt to get more weight transfer.

Also, I'm assuming you have the factory tires? Like someone else said, pump those tires along with the TT tires up to max. pressure on the sidewall of the tires.

[schrederman]

As other have said, the truck is squatted in the rear. It appears to me that the trailer is too high in the front, too. Trailer should be level or slightly nose low and the truck should be level.

[goduc]

You need to set thr front of the truck and don't worry about the rear. Before hitching measure the front fender well. Set the coupler on the WD without spring bars. Measure the front fender well again. You want the front fender well to be 0-50% of the hitched to unhitched number.


Example
38" unhitched
40" with the couple only on the WD
You want the front of the truck to be;
38-39". This is per the Ford manual.


Also 2 of those friction bars are required for any trailer over 25-26'. 1 is not enough.


Next you need to make sure the TT is parallel to the ground. Don't use a level unless you know the street you're on is dead level. Measure the front of the frame and the rear of the frame on the TT. Slightly low in the front is fine.


JMHO but get rid of the friction bar plates and get a good sway control WD. Like a Reese DC or Equalizer 4 pt sway type. They're all in one and work in conjunction with the spring bars. With a 900lb TW I would get the 1200lb version. Most 1/2 tons are inherently soft in the rear and they need extra help to lift. I don't think the 1000lb bars are going to get you the correct weight transfer to the front of the truck.


Part of the problem is that it's an RK. Most of the weight is in the rear behind the axles. Couch, fridge, pantry, hot water heater, etc. With the axles being in front of all that even though you have about 12.5% TW you still get that horizontal teeter totter effect. Considering that your TT weighs the same as your loaded truck, but is 14' longer, I think you're always going to have some sway or normal wiggle issues. Changing to LT tires is really just a band aide.
You'll notice some improvement but it won't be night and day.
If you're really serious about the whole sway issue then IMO a used Hensley Arrow or ProPride hitch is the absolute best way to go. It will eliminate 100% of your sway issues. Spendy but they're the real deal. The money you spend on getting a better WDH and LT tires will buy you a used HA or PP. Then you can keep the nicer riding P tires and enjoy your truck like it was meant to be. BTDT with a 2010 F150. Changed the stock P's to LT E rated tires. Ran them at 35psi empty and 50 psi loaded. The soft ride was gone and I didn't get ride of the sway. And this was with an EQ and 7300lb 31' TT.


One other thing to look at is what size tires are on the TT? If they'er boaderline as far as load capacity for your 7000lb TT then they could be flexing enough to create sway issues.

[Black]

Originally Posted by jjacobson71

I lowered the front 1 notch on the hitch to see if that would help.

You need a second sway bar with that lenght trailer...from your picture, you have only 1.
It will probably solve your problem, if everything else is well adjusted.