28BRS Front End Too Light?

[eluwak]

We purchased a NT 28BRS last Fall and am thinking that the tongue is lighter than I would like it to be. Right now the trailer weight is 5700 lbs, and the tongue weight is 620 lbs (10.8 %). When driving it feels just a little squirrely in the rear. I tow with the F150 in the sig using a fixed head Blue Ox SwayPro with 1000 lbs bars. I think if I can shift weight forward then it might drive better down the road. When we pulled it home the truck only had 700 miles on it and the suspension seems to have loosened up a bit which is I think why I am feeling it now.

Has anyone else has this problem?

Things I'm considering include:
- Relocate spare tire to tongue from rear. I know other versions of the NT trailers have it mounted there. Are the battery tray bars strong enough to hold the tire if I clamped it on there?
- Install second battery. I don't need it since we don't boondock, so maybe I can fit some cinder blocks in battery boxes instead.
- Install bike rack on tongue. We have two adult bikes and two kids bikes that I had initially planned to put in the bed of the truck, but I can move some or all to the tongue if there was a rack there.

I'm thinking that I would like it if there was another 100-200 lbs on the tongue. Without increasing weight 15% would be 855 lbs, so I have some room to grow.

Thoughts?

 

[danemayer]

Hi eluwak,

Welcome to the posting side of the Heartland Owners Forum.

I'm sure someone will chime in shortly with advice.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi eluwak,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. I'm sure someone will be in soon with some information to help.

Jim M

 

[pegmikef]

If your tongue is set up like mine (see pix) then it is plenty strong enough to hold the spare and two batteries. When I boondock I use two Trojan 105 6 volt batteries for the increased amperage and they weigh 55 pounds each and it holds them just fine. I always run at 14 to 15 percent on the tongue. My storage compartment is right behind the battery and I keep it loaded with a couple of hundred pounds.

One thing you might check is the hitch ball height if it is adjustable. I am not familar with your sway control, but I use the EZ lift WD hitch and the ball height is critical. I followed the manual instructions and it is perfect. In my case it is 1/8 inch per hundred pounds of tongue weight above the tongue's ball cup.

 

[westxsrt10]

Put 800-900 lbs on the tongue and watch how much better it pulls. Set you WD chains weak and go from there. (2nd link, or third link)

 

[eluwak]

Thanks for the quick response guys!

If your tongue is set up like mine (see pix) then it is plenty strong enough to hold the spare and two batteries. When I boondock I use two Trojan 105 6 volt batteries for the increased amperage and they weigh 55 pounds each and it holds them just fine. I always run at 14 to 15 percent on the tongue. My storage compartment is right behind the battery and I keep it loaded with a couple of hundred pounds.

One thing you might check is the hitch ball height if it is adjustable. I am not familar with your sway control, but I use the EZ lift WD hitch and the ball height is critical. I followed the manual instructions and it is perfect. In my case it is 1/8 inch per hundred pounds of tongue weight above the tongue's ball cup.

My tongue is setup similarly except that the spare tire is currently on the rear bumper. I'm thinking that I could probably get some J hooks to mount it under the battery tray.

Here is what the Blue Ox SwayPro looks like: http://www.blueox.com/p-1181-swaypro.aspx

 

[pegmikef]

Yeah, I looked at the installation video and they are not really specific about the ball height except that it should be one to two inches higher than the ball cup when your trailer is level so you might want to check the height. Mike

 

[eluwak]

When the hitch was setup they had the tongue a little high, but I lowered it 2" which makes it level to a hair low. It didn't change the towing characteristics any though. In creasing the links loose seemed to help. I am still playing with it, but still feel that the tongue needs a bit more weight on it.

 

[priorguy]

I use an ultra-fab 1000/10,000 adjustable round bar w/d hitch but my '11 28brs has the spare on the front. The ball angle is also adjustable on my hitch and you add or remove washers on a pin to set it up. Three links showing and trailer loaded behind an '11 F150 SC 5.0L 4x4 pulls nicely.

 

[bogeyman2b]

We purchased a NT 28BRS last Fall and am thinking that the tongue is lighter than I would like it to be. Right now the trailer weight is 5700 lbs, and the tongue weight is 620 lbs (10.8 %). When driving it feels just a little squirrely in the rear. I tow with the F150 in the sig using a fixed head Blue Ox SwayPro with 1000 lbs bars. I think if I can shift weight forward then it might drive better down the road. When we pulled it home the truck only had 700 miles on it and the suspension seems to have loosened up a bit which is I think why I am feeling it now.

Has anyone else has this problem?

Things I'm considering include:
- Relocate spare tire to tongue from rear. I know other versions of the NT trailers have it mounted there. Are the battery tray bars strong enough to hold the tire if I clamped it on there?
- Install second battery. I don't need it since we don't boondock, so maybe I can fit some cinder blocks in battery boxes instead.
- Install bike rack on tongue. We have two adult bikes and two kids bikes that I had initially planned to put in the bed of the truck, but I can move some or all to the tongue if there was a rack there.

I'm thinking that I would like it if there was another 100-200 lbs on the tongue. Without increasing weight 15% would be 855 lbs, so I have some room to grow.

Thoughts?

We upgraded to this exact same model...but I also purchased a new tow vehicle. I was not able to tow with same setup to compare. However, you're right about a little squirrly...I dropped our ball to level out the trailer and discovered over 25 gallons of fresh water in that tank. Drained the tank and will try the 2nd link instead of 3rd link on WD bars next week.
We pull with a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel...still a learning curve.

Interested on your spare mounting solution. Could not get our dealer to move the tire.