Trailer "bouncy" on rough roads.

[Dodger454]

Our first trip out was Saturday with our new Salem 27 REI trailer, I am towing with a Nissan Titan. On smooth asphalt roads it rides quite well,no bounce,no sway,. On Pennsylvania's wonderful well worn roads like I-80. At speeds between 60-65 you can see and feel the trailer going up and down "bouncing" I would slow until it stopped.
Is there a solution? Add leaves to the springs? Air bags? Stay out of Pa?? It was worst on older worn concrete roads. On newer asphalt it was smooth as glass!
Ideas? Suggestions? No I'm not buying a different truck or trailer.

[5picker]

I've been towing trailers of all sorts for 40 years.

Some trailer/tow vehicle combinations are worse than others for porpoising.
Different make hitches and some air ride options often help alleviate these issues.

I've also lived in PA most of my life and I can tell you it is the worst! There are some roads where this phenomenon cannot be cured. I-80 is one of the worst in spots and some of our famous concrete roads have the expansion joints at just the right place to cause issues. Slow down and enjoy the 'ride!'

[doc73]

Adding airlift springs to my 1500 helped with the expansion joints. How is your weights and how are you loaded up?

[Lins]

Originally Posted by Dodger454

Our first trip out was Saturday with our new Salem 27 REI trailer, I am towing with a Nissan Titan. On smooth asphalt roads it rides quite well,no bounce,no sway,. On Pennsylvania's wonderful well worn roads like I-80. At speeds between 60-65 you can see and feel the trailer going up and down "bouncing" I would slow until it stopped.
Is there a solution? Add leaves to the springs? Air bags? Stay out of Pa?? It was worst on older worn concrete roads. On newer asphalt it was smooth as glass!
Ideas? Suggestions? No I'm not buying a different truck or trailer.

I had adjustable Rancho shocks on the rear of our '02 1500 that we had previously. When towing or hauling I had them dialed all the way up and they really helped.

[rsdata]

What is your weight distribution hitch setup?

I often tow with a WDH hitch that uses chains. I sometimes get lazy and pull up to 2 chain loops. When I get on those bouncy hiways, I will stop and redo to 3 chain loops, effectively tightening the trailer to the hitch by putting more weight onto the front end. Doing this helps the bouncies... but does not eliminate them. The SOLUTION is to slow down, OR add air bags.

[JayArras]

Yeah, you never said whether you were even using a WDH at all. If not, that's your problem.

[mopwr4me2003]

WDH? If so what bar weight do you have? Are you level with your set up? Weight of TT and tongue weight? What are your weights in general are you possibly close or over on payload or capacity? How old is the truck is it a possible suspension issue? Just a few things to know before any real help can be given. We can guess and have you all over the place but if you get us some more information we can all hopefully help you out.

Tim

[mopwr4me2003]

Originally Posted by Dodger454

Ideas? Suggestions? No I'm not buying a different truck or trailer.

LOL smart to include this! [emoji106]

[mwdilday]

Sometimes at certain speeds the rhythm of the road makes for a real bouncy ride. Change speeds is about all you can do. Moving trailer weight to the tongue would help if you can move anything but speed changes is the real solution.

[goduc]

Too much trailer for that truck unless it's the new style Titan. Tongue weight will be north of 1100 lbs and dry weight around 9,000 lbs. Way too much for MOST 1/2 tons. You've got 9,000 lbs yanking 6,000 lbs.

[Dodger454]

It's a 2017 Titan,with factory towing package,, using a WDH that uses the bars that you have to pry on and off with a bar. Dry weight is 8100, truck rated for 9300.
The truck sits close to level when hooked up.
The dealer set up the hitch (new) in his shop at delivery

[mopwr4me2003]

Originally Posted by Dodger454

The dealer set up the hitch (new) in his shop at delivery

This may be your first issue right there. Dealers almost always set the hitch up incorrectly.

Also what brand WDH? And what are the bars rated for? What is the total combined weight rating of the truck? My guess is you are over weight for your truck or you have the hitch set up wrong.

[goduc]

Originally Posted by Dodger454

It's a 2017 Titan,with factory towing package,, using a WDH that uses the bars that you have to pry on and off with a bar. Dry weight is 8100, truck rated for 9300.
The truck sits close to level when hooked up.
The dealer set up the hitch (new) in his shop at delivery

Cool on the truck.
1st thing to do is read what your manual says on how to setup the truck for towing. Each MFG is a little different.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by Dodger454

It's a 2017 Titan,with factory towing package,, using a WDH that uses the bars that you have to pry on and off with a bar. Dry weight is 8100, truck rated for 9300.
The truck sits close to level when hooked up.
The dealer set up the hitch (new) in his shop at delivery

The truck is probably at or over its capacity. Dry weights are never what they trailers weight.

Check the wd setup but if it is sitting where it should then you might need to see above or just slow down as suggested to minimize the bounce.

[jking46]

Agree with doc73. You are probably overloaded. Dry weight is a mythical number based on the average weight of empty trailers. Add...battery, full propane tanks, wdh, all the gear you take with you,the majority of which is in front of the axles. Easily overloaded.
Check the bars on the wdh. They should have a number stamped on them, such as 800, 1000, 1200.
You need 1200 lb bars. Your tongue weight will be over 1000 lbs loaded.
Air bags may help firm up the rear suspension.
Get back with us on the bar numbers.

[thecigarmann]

I have a 1500 and a 2500 truck. Most every concrete highway I have been on has buckles or high spots and will be much rougher than asphat whether pulling a trailer or not.

[SailorSam20500]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I've also lived in PA most of my life and I can tell you it is the worst!

Warning - minor thread hijack and rant...

Come drive in Michigan. The stretch of I-75 from Toledo up to the Michigan "Welcome Center" will really get your attention...

End of rant...

Now back to answering the OP's question...

[HDU]

I have a half ton Ram 1500, and pull a similar sized load. I do porpoise from time to time due to expansion joints in the roads. The worst was near New Orleans. The motorcycle fell over in the toy hauler, first and only time that ever happened due to the horrible road conditions, and I have been towing / chocking / tying down … for years.

However, my WDH was also set up by the dealer, and I later adjusted the WDH bars to provide more lift to the truck. I also added air bags to the rear springs, both helped to stabilize the ride and lessen the porpoise effect when it does occur.


I am not familiar with the characteristics of the Titan, but my Ram has a very soft rear to provide a nice ride. If your Titan is similar, you may need to stiffen things up back there.

[Quilter3446]

We had a similar problem with our truck & trailer.

Our Tow Vehicle is a Silverado 1500 with trailer package, we tow a Cherokee 27vfk.

The first thing we did was install air bags. The ride over rough roads was much improved, but the porpoising was still a problem on really rough roads. My husband had a chat with the Lippert folks at last year’s rally. They suggested we install their equi-flex rubberized equalizer. You can read about them on Lippert’s website. My husband is handy & was able to install the equi-flex with no problems.. (As he worked on the new equipment, he also discovered several bolts on the existing wheel assembly & undercarriage were damaged. One phone call to Forest River & the replacement parts were over nighted to us)

Installing the equi-flexmade a huge difference! There will always be a road that you arebounced around on if you go too fast, but our comfort level is much improved with those two modifications.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Slow down and enjoy the 'ride!'

x2

Sometimes the roads just defeat you.