new tow vehicle

[jimbo1710]

Question for you all. I had a 2015 Ram 1500 with the V6 motor as my tow vehicle for my 2019 21SS and use the Equalizer 4 point WDH. I bought a 2022 f150 with the 3.5 ecoboost this past summer. With the Ram the trailer seemed stable at hightway speeds, especially when semi's went by. With the f150 the trailer seems squirrly now, enough to get my attention. I noticed the f150 had passenger tires on it, and no sway bar, and my ram had a sway bar and E rated tires. I just had E rated tires put on, and bought a Hellwig sway bar to install and blistin shocks. Do any of you think doing this will help with a more stable feel?

[Rhumblefish]

Anyone else sense a LONG thread starting?

I don't have any direct experience with the Hellwig aftermarket sway bar on the F150, seems like they might be biased towards working against side-to-side sway in the TV suspension from high center of gravity AND eliminate some softness (tying the ends together), as opposed to the sway effects that come about as the TT sees forces (like the bow wake from semis) that translate up through the frame into the TV via the hitch.

So - worthless opinion - sounds like you're on a good path to lock down your TV, though the biggest pieces are proper TT loading, % payload use and appropriate tongue weight can all be optimized to make for a smoother tow experience. Tire choice, inflation rates, airflow over the TV (like towing with an empty pickup bed, vs a hard top) can all impact this as well. Lastly, friction anti-sway devices can mask a sway problem, but they don't necessarily fix the issue that leads to sway in the first place, they just damp sway forces with physical binding (friction of the bar itself).

You likely load your trailer the same from the Dodge to the Ford (though it's a generally good idea to load as directly over the axles as best as possible). Not to get all weight police, but do you have weights for your TT (axles and tongue), as well as the payload data form the yellow sticker on your driver's side door?

again, just worthless conjecture here - hoping to help.

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by jimbo1710

I just had E rated tires put on, and bought a Hellwig sway bar to install and blistin shocks. Do any of you think doing this will help with a more stable feel?

Yes.

[Traveling Circus]

Originally Posted by jimbo1710

I just had E rated tires put on, and bought a Hellwig sway bar to install and blistin shocks. Do any of you think doing this will help with a more stable feel?

Being that you've already made these purchases, get these items installed and smoke test it.
Happy Camping !

[moose074]

You bought them use them then you will know. Now I had the equalizer 4 point. When I went from a 2011 Ram 2500 to a 2014 Tundra I had less adjustments to make than when I went from the Tundra to 2014 150. So did you redo your hitch

Second the Equalizer 4 point has the friction bars so why would your Ram have them but not the Ford. I am sure I miss understood but was confused.

[flyflotrtim]

I also did away with the passenger tires, added Bilsteins (rear only), and use a 4 pt Equal-i-zer. I have a have a very solid towing experience; I believe my wts are similar to yours.

[rsdata]

from personal experience E rated over P rated is the way to go

[Rick the Rocket]

Originally Posted by moose074

You bought them use them then you will know. Now I had the equalizer 4 point. When I went from a 2011 Ram 2500 to a 2014 Tundra I had less adjustments to make than when I went from the Tundra to 2014 150. So did you redo your hitch

Second the Equalizer 4 point has the friction bars so why would your Ram have them but not the Ford. I am sure I miss understood but was confused.

i believe the OP was referring to an anti-roll (sway) bar that is between the truck rear axle and truck frame.

[Chuck_S]

Can only offer my 15 year experience with my similar size and weight Roo 23SS behind my P-Metric OEM tired, coil sprung Expeditions neither of which exhibit this behavior. I can't tell if there's an anti-roll bar on the rear suspension. Equalizer WDH and Ford HD tow package which includes brake controller and anti-sway.

Are you perhaps running the new "E" tires at maximum sidewall pressure (typically 80 psi)? 50 or 55 psi should easily support more than the GVWR of the F150 and provide more tread on the road. Over-pressured tires only ride on the center section of the tread. (Over-pressured for the load.)

Also unless your WDH is putting weight back on the front/steering axle the vehicle will feel squirrelly and the over-pressured tires only emphasize this. Probably need changes due to change of truck.

-- Chuck

[moose074]

Originally Posted by Rick the Rocket

i believe the OP was referring to an anti-roll (sway) bar that is between the truck rear axle and truck frame.

Excellent point thank you. Honestly I thought that would be standard

[Boborc]

The Roadmaster Active suspension works great with leaf springs. It will sure up the rear and add stability

[Boomerweps]

Originally Posted by moose074

Excellent point thank you. Honestly I thought that would be standard

Ford hasn’t had a factory anti-roll rear bar for many years. The tow package roll bar difference is going from a hollow bar to a solid one, same size.

The lighter aluminum body gets pushed around easier, basic fact. So a properly adjusted WDH with sway control is the first item on the agenda.
Then stiffer tires, better rear shocks (many blame them).

[Seachaser186]

I did the same thing to my F150 for the same reason. And "Yes", it made a huge difference.

[njfishing]

Did you readjust the hitch when you moved it from one truck to the other?

[jimbo1710]

Yes I did. WDH was reset to this f150. Tongue weight is 701 lbs with water tank full, and trailer is 5900 lbs with water tank full.

[Boborc]

Have you re-torqued the sway arms on your equalizer lately? I check mine routinely and they do need to be tightened a bit every now and then. I think it is somewhere around 60 ft lbs. Check the manual.

[RavensRoost]

Originally Posted by Boborc

The Roadmaster Active suspension works great with leaf springs. It will sure up the rear and add stability

Ditto, works great my Chevy Colorado 4X4.

[billnelson]

Originally Posted by jimbo1710

Question for you all. I had a 2015 Ram 1500 with the V6 motor as my tow vehicle for my 2019 21SS and use the Equalizer 4 point WDH. I bought a 2022 f150 with the 3.5 ecoboost this past summer. With the Ram the trailer seemed stable at hightway speeds, especially when semi's went by. With the f150 the trailer seems squirrly now, enough to get my attention. I noticed the f150 had passenger tires on it, and no sway bar, and my ram had a sway bar and E rated tires. I just had E rated tires put on, and bought a Hellwig sway bar to install and blistin shocks. Do any of you think doing this will help with a more stable feel?

Should be fine. My cousin has your setup on his F150 with Ecoboost V6. Pulls a 9000lb
5th wheel all over Michigan with no problems.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by billnelson

Should be fine. My cousin has your setup on his F150 with Ecoboost V6. Pulls a 9000lb
5th wheel all over Michigan with no problems.

Does his F150 have the Heavy Duty Payload package? The only F150s I know of, that have enough payload capacity for a 5th wheel, have that package.

[Underthedog]

Jimbo, I tow the same trailer with a 2016 F150 SCREW 3.5 ecoboost shortbed (as in 5.5ft), max tow pkg, NO payload pkg. I have a Reese FC hitch (no longer made) that provides sway control with friction pads under the lift bars. Truck tires are Goodyear Wrangler which I believe is the 'Ford Approved' OEM replacement.

There have been no sway issues with this setup, it rarely gets pushed around by passing trucks. Sway control is ON in the setup menu (I believe this saved our bacon a few years back). The only thing I've noticed is the truck feels a bit 'squirrelly', in a way I am at a loss to describe, for the first 10-15 minutes towing after having not towed for a while even though the truck remembers the trailer settings.

It seems unlikely there would be balance issues with that trailer but have you given that any thought? If there were something heavy hung on the back it could throw things off; I did that with a different trailer in the past.