Got weighed today. What do I need to do?

[BrannonB]

Hello all. Today was our first trip in our Pioneer. I went and weighed first. I weighed at a CAT scale and weighed the following.

Truck only.

Steer 4840
drive 3560

total 8400


trailer only, each axle on separate pad, but still hooked to truck.

Front 3680
rear. 3560


truck and trailer.

Steer. 4620
drive. 5040
trailer. 7220

total. 16,880


i get sway at 58-61MPH. Tried to stay at 55 or below and it’s fine.


The trailer cargo in front had wood for leveling, water hoses, chairs X3 electrical cords and misc. nothing too heavy. Rest of trailer is blankets, and clothes. But just enough for a weekend. No water.

 

[cookie]

Are you using a weight distributing hitch? You took 220 pounds off your steer axle when hitched.
Are you using an anti-sway device? If not you should.

Peace
Dave

 

[BrannonB]

Yes I am using a WDH. It came with 1 friction style sway bar, but I installed a second one today after I weighed. It helped a lot, but not completely.

One varible i didnt mention is tow vehicle has a 6” lift and 37” mud tires.

 

[SNOKING]

One varible i didnt mention is tow vehicle has a 6” lift and 37” mud tires.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Most likely not E rated tires????

 

[Manzan]

Adjust your WD hitch so you have more weight on the front axel. Should be close to the same added weight on both the front and rear axels--that should help a whole lot with the sway.

 

[BrannonB]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Most likely not E rated tires????

Good question. I’ll have to look in the morning, but the TV tires never really crossed my mind.

- - - Updated - - -

Adjust your WD hitch so you have more weight on the front axel. Should be close to the same added weight on both the front and rear axels--that should help a whole lot with the sway.

i tried that too. I tightened up a link on the chain and the bars are not parallel at all, so I added another 2 washers to the head angle stud. That got the bars more level, but not parallel.

 

['Lil Guy']

Yep, sounds like the WDH isn't set right. When set up TT should be level and truck should maintain its original stance but a bit lower. Like stated earlier, a stabilizer bar will help some also. With the WDH, a 3/4 T truck shouldn't have the sway. I wouldn't towd with trailer sway. Highly recommend you get it taken care of for your own safety and the safety of others. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[DaveC6]

How’s the level of the trailer when hooked up? I measure from the frame front and rear to make sure I’m level. Being lifted you may not have enough drop on the hitch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SNOKING]

I see the trailer comes with Load Range D tires. A set of Goodyear Endurance ST225/75R15E tires might help out things also. They are the newest upgraded ST tires available and quite robust.

 

[hoefler]

You need heavier bars to transfer more weight.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Hello all. Today was our first trip in our Pioneer. I went and weighed first. I weighed at a CAT scale and weighed the following.

Truck only.

Steer 4840
drive 3560

total 8400


trailer only, each axle on separate pad, but still hooked to truck.

Front 3680
rear. 3560


truck and trailer.

Steer. 4620
drive. 5040
trailer. 7220

total. 16,880


i get sway at 58-61MPH. Tried to stay at 55 or below and it’s fine.


The trailer cargo in front had wood for leveling, water hoses, chairs X3 electrical cords and misc. nothing too heavy. Rest of trailer is blankets, and clothes. But just enough for a weekend. No water.

What is the max tire pressure you can get on the truck. I run my Micheline tires at 80 psi this gives me maximum load carry. It also gives me maximum sidewall strength.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[CoveredWagon]

Is the rear of the truck squatting? You might Want air bags to raise the rear under load.

 

[BrannonB]

Here’s a pic of before I added the extra washers to the hitch head. The front is 1/4” highter than normal height and the rear is 1 1/4 lower. The trailer is level.

I have not measured the level coupler height VS the normal ball height because the ball mount is already in its lowest hole and I didn’t have place / time to find a level lot to unhook and measure. But that will be done on the way home tomorrow.

 

[JohnD]

Sounds to me like you don't have the WD stuff set up right.

You don't need to add washers or air bags, or adjust the chain links to get the truck and trailer level.

You need to go to a real hitch shop and have them show you how to hook it all up correctly!

Or come to an HOC Rally and have one of our members show you how to do it right.

 

[DaveC6]

If I took all my washers out the chain ends of the spring bars would be above the frame. You’re doing it right, washers, chain link, and ball height adjustments are how it’s done with our type of WDH. But I do agree that you have some adjusting to go. It should not be swaying at all. I would focus on proper ball height, it might be too high.

What size spring bars do you have? Based on the numbers it looks like your tongue weight is 1200.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

['Lil Guy']

Google up WDH and look at the youtube video of setting up the hitch and ball. I believe when you back your unloaded truck up to the level trailer, there should be 1" difference. This is the 1st thing you need to do. If your ball is too high, you need to get a longer drop for your hitch,
Watch the video.
If you don't have the tools, again, back p to the hitch with the trailer level and measure form the top of ball to the bottom of hitch cup. Make a sketch and you could take it the truck to the dealer and have them adjust it to the right height if possible or order your new drop for your WDH.
Then it's getting enough tension on the bars to maintain the stance as close as possible in a slightly lowered state. IE if you drop the rear 1/2" you want to drop the front 1/2" also. (close as possible)

Off subject but I had to get bigger rims and taller rubber to help level a 5th wheel on my ram 4X4 due to its height. Ran out of adjustment on the pin and hitch.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[JohnD]

What I was getting at was hitching it up the right way.

Just attaching the stuff without putting it on the right way each time does no good.

I had the DrawTite WD setup for 20 years and loved it:



When hitching the trailer up every time I would drop the trailer on the ball of the truck (with a full tank of gas and all of your stuff loaded), then raise the trailer until the truck is level and then give it an extra inch or so, THEN I would put both torsion bars on and attach the chain links on the ends of the torsion bars to the hitch, THEN I would lower the trailer (ie.- crank the tongue down) to put the weight back on to the truck ball.

THAT is the important part of connecting the WD stuff.

Which is why I suggested that if the OP doesn't understand the correct procedure to hitch it up that going to a proper hitch shop for instruction, even if it costs a few bucks, would be prudent.

As a footnote, even though a lot of RV dealerships install hitches, I've found that most RV dealers do not understand the critical hitch-up procedures I described above.

I just showed a newbie neighbor here a couple of days ago how to do that.

He told me his dealer installed all of this stuff, but never showed him how to hitch it up 'the right way'!

 

[carl.swoyer]

Hello all. Today was our first trip in our Pioneer. I went and weighed first. I weighed at a CAT scale and weighed the following.

Truck only.

Steer 4840
drive 3560

total 8400


trailer only, each axle on separate pad, but still hooked to truck.

Front 3680
rear. 3560


truck and trailer.

Steer. 4620
drive. 5040
trailer. 7220

total. 16,880


i get sway at 58-61MPH. Tried to stay at 55 or below and it’s fine.


The trailer cargo in front had wood for leveling, water hoses, chairs X3 electrical cords and misc. nothing too heavy. Rest of trailer is blankets, and clothes. But just enough for a weekend. No water.

I got on the scale today! It said 1 at a time please!.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[BrannonB]

Thank you for all the replies. Yesterday on the way home I did stop at a large level lot and set it up per instruction. I leveled the trailer and took coupling measurement, took measurement of truck ball height. They was within 1/4 of each other. Took measurements of front and rear of truck. Couples trailer, raised 2-3 inches, put chains on and lowered. My bars are bending. They sold me a 10,000 pound hitch with 1000 spring bars..... my Tounge weight is just over 1200lb. I think that’s a major part of the problem. Wether I get 6 links between the latch and bar or 7 links I still get the same squat in the rear, just bars bend more. I will talk to them today about heavier bars.

My TV tires are at max, but they are only a D rated tire and 50psi is the max. So may have to baby it till they need replacement then go with E or F tires.

 

[cookie]

You might get some useful information about trailer sway HERE.

Peace
Dave