New 2906WS, Advice?

[ALPO]

I just upgraded from a Coachmen 248RBS to the Rockwood 2906WS. While relatively new to Travel Trailering (3yrs) I have towed Boats, Car Trailers and Utility Trailers for many more years (I realize that Travel Trailers have much more Side Area exposed to winds). My current Tow Vehicle is a 2014 Ram 2500 Laramie Extended Cab with the Cummins. I specifically mentioned the Cummins as the Weight of the Truck with the 1k# Cummins (Full Gas, Passengers, and expected Cargo) at 8400# pretty much ruled out any acceptable 5th Wheel (left only 1600# before hitting the 10k GVWR Limit). I’ll add that I have the Equilizer 4Point Sway Control Hitch. The 2906WS has almost the same exact floor plan we were looking for, albeit with more conservative numbers within the Trucks Range. We got a GREAT Deal on a New 2018 (<29k) but needed to take a 4.5 hour drive to get it. For the most part towing it back was effortless for the Truck and event free. Not much different to the Coachmen, but it was more significant. On occasion I did notice some uncomfortable bouncing being imposed on the Rear of the Truck from the Trailer (no sway though, and we were passed by many Semis). I attributed this to Road Surface Harmonics occasionally building up. This occurred randomly on Highways at Speed (~65mph). The Trailer was “as delivered”, meaning no Cargo but equipped with full Gas and Battery. Has anyone else experienced this “Bounce” and how has it been minimized? I consider myself growing into this life, and also a cautionary person preferring to stay on the Safe side of life. I did not do much with the Coachmen but am retired now and plan on expanding my Trailering experiences. I would appreciate any advice from the masses out there. Thanks in advance.

[Daves rv]

Congratulations on your new trailer. That is an awesome floor plan. It is the big brother to our 2606ws. We did a coast to coast trip earlier this year and spent 65 days in 18 rv parks for our 1st retirement trip. On certain roads we did experience the "bounce" effect you described and I think you may be correct in it being more the road than the trailer. I drove semi for many years and you would be surprised how much road condition plays a role in towing.
Sounds like you have a good tow vehicle for the 2906ws. Enjoy it and happy camping!

[pilotpip]

If it were empty, I also wonder how much having a few hundred pounds of stuff in the trailer would effect things.

Love that floorplan. We will probably be going the same route.

[aceinspp]

I use the same WDH and yes you will encounter some bonce on different roads especially at bridges. Adding your stuff may help. Later RJD

[Lzerarc]

What is the hitch rating on the E4 hitch? My guess is your TW went up quite a bit between the 2 trailers. If you are at the limits of the hitch rating the bars flex more, thus more bounce I have been told by someone at Fastway. I had a similar issue with my 2905ws. Loaded I was about 1000 lbs tw. I had the 1k/10k E4 and changed to the 1200/12k and it helped with both sway control and some bounce.

[ALPO]

The Hitch is the 1200# model, the Tongue Weight was roughly 900# empty on the New Trailer so I upgraded from the 1000# hitch I was using with the Coachmen. I’m thinking I will install new shocks in the spring, go through the Hitch set/up again IN DETAIL and then get some REAL LIFE weights at the local CAT Scale. From that information I’ll see if there are any smoking guns, but hopefully the issue will be gone. Of course there is plenty of feedback indicating that Road Conditions can cause Porpoising all by itself, nothing I can do about that.

[Lzerarc]

It's said that it's best to setup the hitch as if you are loaded for a trip, including anything in the back of the truck, especially if it's behind the axle.
So it's wise you plan on checking it out again once you are loaded.
I can't imagine you would have any weight issues with the 2500.