Trailer Sway

[aaronwsummers]

I have a F150 Eco Screw pulling Rockwood coming in at 8800 dry. I use a reese pro 11000lb wdh and 2 reese friction bars also.

1. I adjusted the wdh so that I had proper weight going to front (equal squat front and back).

2. Bars are tightened down tight.

It still sways. Thoughts?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by aaronwsummers

I have a F150 Eco Screw pulling Rockwood coming in at 8800 dry. I use a reese pro 11000lb wdh and 2 reese friction bars also.

1. I adjusted the wdh so that I had proper weight going to front (equal squat front and back).

2. Bars are tightened down tight.

It still sways. Thoughts?

Personally, if your TT is really a Rockwood 8335SB, as an owner of a F150 Ecoboost SCREW, you are WAY over on everything.
Over on length, hitch receiver rating, loaded tongue weight and loaded towing weight.
And you're using an old school WDH with friction antisway bars.
No wonder you've got sway.[emoji32][emoji1786]

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/trave...re/8335SB/5185

That trailer is 3/4 ton minimum.

[ARhappycamper]

Originally Posted by aaronwsummers

I have a F150 Eco Screw pulling Rockwood coming in at 8800 dry. I use a reese pro 11000lb wdh and 2 reese friction bars also.

1. I adjusted the wdh so that I had proper weight going to front (equal squat front and back).

2. Bars are tightened down tight.

It still sways. Thoughts?

Way too much camper for that pickup ! I tow 8000 GVWR 29’ with my F150 3.5 Towbeast and it is all I want !

[REL]

Take your rig (loaded for camping) to the scales and get actual weights. Verify payload, tire load and axle load, and GCVW against your trucks limits.

[Roberte52]

Originally Posted by ARhappycamper

Way too much camper for that pickup ! I tow 8000 GVWR 29’ with my F150 3.5 Towbeast and it is all I want !

X2 IMHO you're pulling too much weight.

[aaronwsummers]

What do you mean over on length? I understand that I am at 90 percent ish on tow but I checked and didn't think I was over in tongue weight either....

Originally Posted by bikendan

Personally, if your TT is really a Rockwood 8335SB, as an owner of a F150 Ecoboost SCREW, you are WAY over on everything.
Over on length, hitch receiver rating, loaded tongue weight and loaded towing weight.
And you're using an old school WDH with friction antisway bars.
No wonder you've got sway.[emoji32][emoji1786]

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/trave...re/8335SB/5185

That trailer is 3/4 ton minimum.

[aaronwsummers]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by REL

Take your rig (loaded for camping) to the scales and get actual weights. Verify payload, tire load and axle load, and GCVW against your trucks limits.

[{Tpc}]

I agree. Seems too much trailer for that truck. Also, at what speed? Not that it matters, just curious.

[Cabinfever97]

Originally Posted by aaronwsummers

What do you mean over on length? I understand that I am at 90 percent ish on tow but I checked and didn't think I was over in tongue weight either....

No matter what truck, that long of a TT needs a better system than what you have for sway. Also, even if you weights are correct simply putting a few things behind the axle can be enough to upset the balance when using friction sway.

[{Tpc}]

With a spec tongue weight of 1057 according to the link that was posted, I can’t imagine the weight isn’t quite over on the tongue. I’d have to run out and check what the rating of mine is with a wdh, I think maybe 1320 lbs?

That said if you use 15 percent of 8800 lbs, you are right at 1320 lbs.

I’m sure it all depends on what engine, what year, and what the sticker on the bottom of the hitch shows, plus what the actual payload of the truck is and the actual weighed trailer specs. The rest is guessing.

If you have the short box truck, I would imagine sway could be a concern. But what is the actual tongue weight? How tight do you have the friction bars? What is the actual weight of the trailer itself? All these things come into consideration. Speed as well?

The length in my mind of the trailer and the likelihood of a short box truck would be a big culprit in sway IMO, that is if the weights actually fall within the specs.

[aaronwsummers]

65

Originally Posted by {Tpc}

I agree. Seems too much trailer for that truck. Also, at what speed? Not that it matters, just curious.

[aaronwsummers]

This helps!! What system is a better system? This is what the dealer put on...ugh.

Originally Posted by Cabinfever97

No matter what truck, that long of a TT needs a better system than what you have for sway. Also, even if you weights are correct simply putting a few things behind the axle can be enough to upset the balance when using friction sway.

[aaronwsummers]

How would a3/4 ton fix the length problem? Thank you for helping

Originally Posted by {Tpc}

With a spec tongue weight of 1057 according to the link that was posted, I can’t imagine the weight isn’t quite over on the tongue. I’d have to run out and check what the rating of mine is with a wdh, I think maybe 1320 lbs?

That said if you use 15 percent of 8800 lbs, you are right at 1320 lbs.

I’m sure it all depends on what engine, what year, and what the sticker on the bottom of the hitch shows, plus what the actual payload of the truck is and the actual weighed trailer specs. The rest is guessing.

If you have the short box truck, I would imagine sway could be a concern. But what is the actual tongue weight? How tight do you have the friction bars? What is the actual weight of the trailer itself? All these things come into consideration. Speed as well?

The length in my mind of the trailer and the likelihood of a short box truck would be a big culprit in sway IMO, that is if the weights actually fall within the specs.

[dustman_stx]

A weight distribution hitch is not setup properly with “equal squat front and back.” You need to ditch your current system and get an Equalizer 4 point 14K.

[Cabinfever97]

Originally Posted by aaronwsummers

This helps!! What system is a better system? This is what the dealer put on...ugh.

There are really good sway control out there. Dustman just added one. I am sure you will get more suggestions. We have a Hensley hitch. Some say these are too expensive and not needed. I found mine used for $700. If I needed to buy a new one I would. With our current TT the only thing we feel are wind gusts when they approach 35. It feels like it is rolling the TT on the suspension, not sway. I did not feel that with our previous TT, same hitch. It weighed nearly 1000lbs more and was not shaped the same.

[{Tpc}]

It is hard to determine what you need to do without actual weights. Do you have a sherline scale and can you get an actual tongue weight with the trailer loaded for camping? Do you have at least an actual full trailer weight as well?

There are plenty of ways to determine what you need or if you have enough, but in the end without more information it’s hard to figure out.

There are plenty of threads about getting weighed at a cat scale. I suggest you look that up and go to one and see what you get weighed in at. Otherwise all your doing is guessing. At 65 mph, in normal conditions, you shouldn’t have sway. If you do, that is a problem, and you are correct in looking for help to fix it.

Another thing to consider is what kind of sway you are experiencing? Is it swaying so bad you have to slow down to 40 to correct it? Does a manual grab of the trailer brake for a second help straighten it out for awhile? Is the truck telling you it’s swaying? Like the sway control of truck is activating?

I also think the hitch is part of the issue. I feel like the friction bars might not be up to the task with that size of a trailer.

[aaronwsummers]

Only a couple of times had the truck kicked in. It mostly is that this one wiggles and moves more than my previous one

Originally Posted by {Tpc}

It is hard to determine what you need to do without actual weights. Do you have a sherline scale and can you get an actual tongue weight with the trailer loaded for camping? Do you have at least an actual full trailer weight as well?

There are plenty of ways to determine what you need or if you have enough, but in the end without more information it’s hard to figure out.

There are plenty of threads about getting weighed at a cat scale. I suggest you look that up and go to one and see what you get weighed in at. Otherwise all your doing is guessing. At 65 mph, in normal conditions, you shouldn’t have sway. If you do, that is a problem, and you are correct in looking for help to fix it.

Another thing to consider is what kind of sway you are experiencing? Is it swaying so bad you have to slow down to 40 to correct it? Does a manual grab of the trailer brake for a second help straighten it out for awhile? Is the truck telling you it’s swaying? Like the sway control of truck is activating?

I also think the hitch is part of the issue. I feel like the friction bars might not be up to the task with that size of a trailer.

[bikendan]

Folks, the TT that he's pulling is almost 37ft long, with a 1/2 ton.

[getzold]

We have the F150 Eco boost and tow a 32' trailer w 7600 Gross Weight. The weight is no problem, but when the wind picks up over 15MPH, the length turns into a big sail that can cause some squirrely behavior. Never had that problem with a 26' trailer that weighed about the same. The combination of your trailer weight and length is more than I would want to tow.

[jeffdawgfan]

Do you have your Trucks automatic traction control on? If so, turn it off. With anti sway friction bars sometimes the truck tries too hard to fight the trunnion bars and you get a weird oscillating motion that can be quite troublesome....also your trailer is to big for your truck.....just saying.....

I pull a 26FKBS that is a little over 29 feet long. I two with a RAM 1500. Even with the anti-sway hitch I still get some sway sometimes in a good crosswind. I would want to tow anything heavier (about 8K) with a 1/2 ton.