Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Tech Forums > Towing
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-07-2016, 06:43 AM   #1
gary31
Senior Member
 
gary31's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 123
WD setup

I have a 31ft Carbon TH I bought new. I have since bought 2 other trucks to get the right vehicle. The current one has all the bells and whistles lifted and Airbags in rear. The dealer set the camper up back when I bought it with my F150 as I knew I would be buying a bigger truck but needed to get it home. Now the challenge with TH's depends on what's loaded in the garage and fluids. Example when we go to the beach I do not load the garage with 2 quads and 30 gallons of Fuel and 100+ gallons of water. I may be 2k lbs lighter and pulls completely different than when I load it up for a long weekend of boon docking with all the necessities. The question is how to set the tension on the distribution bars and how much air to put into the airbags on the truck. It seems to experimental with the air as I travel down the road but I would like to get a more precise setting for the WD tension so I am not doing so much experimenting. Any suggestions welcomed...
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	camper.jpg
Views:	114
Size:	90.4 KB
ID:	10847  
gary31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2016, 12:44 PM   #2
BirchyBoy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Colorful Colorado
Posts: 798
What brand and model hitch do you have?
__________________
Current:
'17 Winnebago Vista 31BE / Wife, pesky Eski and loco Toto dog
Former:
'15 Open Range 256BHS / '05 F350 CCLB RWD V10
'14 Keystone Passport 238ML / '13 GC Trailhawk Hemi
RIP Birch (pitbull)
BirchyBoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2016, 01:32 PM   #3
Steve S
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: B.C
Posts: 1,399
Is it just the pic or does the truck seem to be sagging in the rear?
__________________
2010 Keystone Cougar 25 RL.
Steve S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2016, 01:40 PM   #4
BirchyBoy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Colorful Colorado
Posts: 798
It looks likes it's sagging to me. That trailer has to have a heck of a tongue weight without anything in the garage.
__________________
Current:
'17 Winnebago Vista 31BE / Wife, pesky Eski and loco Toto dog
Former:
'15 Open Range 256BHS / '05 F350 CCLB RWD V10
'14 Keystone Passport 238ML / '13 GC Trailhawk Hemi
RIP Birch (pitbull)
BirchyBoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2016, 08:48 PM   #5
audio1der
Senior Member
 
audio1der's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Airdrie, Alberta
Posts: 552
Quote:
Originally Posted by BirchyBoy View Post
It looks likes it's sagging to me. That trailer has to have a heck of a tongue weight without anything in the garage.
If the front is leveled, the rear sag will be more pronounced.
I'm at a loss as to how to set it up for empty/fully loaded save for finding a halfway (compromise) point with the WD.
I can't tell which WD setup you have- Blue Ox?(the bars look thin). Does adjusting the number of links do enough between your pulling weights?
__________________
2013 Passport 3220BHWE, upgrade axles, Kumho Radial 857's, all LED, TST507 TPMS, Reese DCSC, DIY corner stabilizers
2012 Ram 1500 Sport crew cab, Hemi, 4x4, 3.92 LSD, factory brake controller, S&B CAI w/scoop, Moroso air/oil can, 87mm ported/polished/knife-edged throttle body, Magnaflow exhaust, 180* t-stat, Rear lowered 2", Airlift 1000.
audio1der is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2016, 04:01 AM   #6
xcntrk
Senior Member
 
xcntrk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 252
You're going to have to experiment with it.

When my garage is empty the pin weight I incur is at it's greatest (which is a difficult concept to get used to). The more weight I put in the garage, the less pin weight the truck has to support. Same concept for the bumper pull, but your setup will be compounded by the air-bags and the amount of tongue weight redistributed by the WD bars.

I've towed multiple bumper pull trailers with WD and bags. My advice is to setup the WD system before messing with the bags. Personally I would dial in a little extra bar tension so that when you raise the rear-end with the air-bags (to remove sag), the tension on the bars will actually get reduced. Once you start to get a routine for loading you can hit the CAT scales and capture some weight numbers if you want to confirm your settings.
__________________
2015 F350 LARIET CCSB SRW PSD
2017 KEYSTONE FUZION 325


xcntrk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2016, 05:10 AM   #7
gary31
Senior Member
 
gary31's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 123
Thanks Guys,
As for the setup it is Blue Ox. I guess my take is that I should get more aggressive with the WD and get the bars more tensioned, then add a little air to smooth out the ride. This TH has about a 1300lb tongue weight before I add cargo. I noticed in the past that adding the air really smooth's the ride when the road is bouncy and the TH wants to porpoise but then it gets to light on the tongue and fish tails at higher speeds. I will continue experimenting with the different setups based on the loads and get the happy medium place that feels good and safe.
gary31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2016, 08:53 AM   #8
xcntrk
Senior Member
 
xcntrk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 252
I don't believe the Blue Ox are well known for their ability to manage sway control. One suggestion would be to upgrade the hitch (if possible) to use a 2.5" shank if you haven't already. That will help to remove any slop in the mounting system. Also if the sway-control features of the BlueOx use the weight bars to operate, then I would definitely ensure you have sufficient tension on the bars to get as much sway-control as possible. Lastly if sway continues to be a problem, you might consider upgrading to a premium sway-control hitch like Equalizer, Hensley, or ProPride.

(side note; I have a complete ProPride P3 premium WD with Sway control hitch for-sale if interested. Includes 2" & 2.5" shanks. PM if you want details).
__________________
2015 F350 LARIET CCSB SRW PSD
2017 KEYSTONE FUZION 325


xcntrk is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 09:09 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.