bad sway real bad...

[chris199]

What is the wheelbase of the F150? What model do you have? Short bed?

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

[donnie_o8]

Went back to the dealer with the unit and I was surpised...! A different mechanic took care of me this time. He came out , looked things over and said..."looks like your light on the front axle" no measurement no nothing. He then says..."lets take it for a ride". ok lets roll you drive I said...we get about two miles up the road he's driving like hes driving his car (one hand on the wheel the other arm on the arm rest and just shootin the breeze. We get up to about 58 and it happend......I said "did ya feel that"? His expression on his face never changed and he was still talking....He said yeah...And just kept rollin ....It did it again at about 60 and it really got my attention and Im in the jump seat. I said "there it goes again feel it"? He says...Yep but it aint that bad. Wow is all I can think...Im gonna have to find a lot on a lake to put this thing cause if this is how it is.. we aint going far....LOL.So we get back to the shop and he takes two spacers out of the hitch dropping the head angle down toward the rear and the hooks the chains back up with only two links hanging insted of three. Tells me to take it for a ride just like we did and come back and let him know how it feels. I pulled it down the road and back afraid to get much over 58 and I was surpised....It was a whole different animal....it moved around abit but I was on a two lane country road with a stiff cross wind right in the side. went back and told him what I felt and he says "you'll get used to it".So I left there and drug her back home (about 45miles) with the violently bad sway gone. I still don't have confidence in it. Im now not sure how it should feel. Im alittle gun shy now. But it is now WAY better then before.

[ed cobos]

feel your grunts - what we learned was to make sure all kinks are out of the chain before hooking - my wife usually has to unkink it to allow this 145 pounder to hook em. good luck

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by B&T

From your description:


No, straight bars will not work.

There are better pictures up at etrailer to give you an idea.

http://accessories.etrailer.com/search?w=dual%20cam

What do you mean, straight bars won't work? He has a Reese and both round and trunnion bars are straight.

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by camper 2010

The E tires will make a lot of difference bit your hitch may be set up wrong. Get on level ground, measure from the ground to top of fender well on both rear and front before hooking up to the trailer. After hooking up to the trailer, measure the wheel wells again. There should only be about 2 inch drop on the rear. If much more than this your hitch is set wrong.

The only fender height measurement used in setting up the hitch is the front one. The height or squat in the rear has nothing to do in determining if the WD is set up correctly, as the purpose of WD is to return weight to the front axle, not level the truck. The truck's manual will tell him how much weight should be shifted. Once the front end is right he can level it with bags if he likes, but the current train of thought is to get the front axle right and let the rear take care of itself.

[B&T]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

What do you mean, straight bars won't work? He has a Reese and both round and trunnion bars are straight.

Was going by the OP's description, he said they were flat at the end of the bar next to the trailer. I guess i did not clearly understand his description.

At any rate, he should be able to look at at the pictures;

http://accessories.etrailer.com/search?w=dual%20cam

at Etrailer and determine if he has compatible bars or not.

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

The only fender height measurement used in setting up the hitch is the front one. The height or squat in the rear has nothing to do in determining if the WD is set up correctly, as the purpose of WD is to return weight to the front axle, not level the truck. The truck's manual will tell him how much weight should be shifted. Once the front end is right he can level it with bags if he likes, but the current train of thought is to get the front axle right and let the rear take care of itself.

Well you've got me totally confused with your statement, I've been told on this site on how my truck should sit after adjusting the WD hitch, I've been messing around trying to get my camper and truck set up right, since it was set up wrong from the dealer, camper was riding nose up and the truck was sitting too low in the back, do I've got the hitch with the camper level, the front fender went down 1/4" and the rear went down 7/8", so today I'm taking it oo the CAT scale too see where my weights are.

[Bob Landry]

If he meant that the bars are straight all the way to the end, then the dual cam anti-sway won't work. He should have the bars with the bend at the end to accommodate the anti-sway cams. The way I read it, the dealer sold him the hitch and it would seem unlikely that the dealer would sell him an old style hitch that would not accommodate the DC anti-sway. If that's what happened, that was probably an old style hitch that the dealer had in stock and saw a chance to unload. If that is the case, I would be back at the dealer screaming for selling me a discontinued, limited use hitch and also for putting me on the road with a friction anti-sway with that size trailer

[Bob Landry]

The tech says, " try two links hanging..."? That's scary. I never cease to be amazed at the number of buyers that drive off from the lot with a dealer setup hitch thinking they are OK.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Hansel

Well you've got me totally confused with your statement, I've been told on this site on how my truck should sit after adjusting the WD hitch, I've been messing around trying to get my camper and truck set up right, since it was set up wrong from the dealer, camper was riding nose up and the truck was sitting too low in the back, do I've got the hitch with the camper level, the front fender went down 1/4" and the rear went down 7/8", so today I'm taking it oo the CAT scale too see where my weights are.

He's just saying that you shouldn't use the W/D bars to pick up the back end of the truck...

What you did is what he's talking about... you brought the front end down... you can't do that without pickin' up the back end too...

[x96mnn]

@donnie_o8

I feel your pain, I got myself into a bad sway situation about 4 years ago and it is always with me. Even though my new set up seems fine and have no issues I am always a little on edge waiting for it to happen again.

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by Hansel

Well you've got me totally confused with your statement, I've been told on this site on how my truck should sit after adjusting the WD hitch, I've been messing around trying to get my camper and truck set up right, since it was set up wrong from the dealer, camper was riding nose up and the truck was sitting too low in the back, do I've got the hitch with the camper level, the front fender went down 1/4" and the rear went down 7/8", so today I'm taking it oo the CAT scale too see where my weights are.

Sorry for the confusion, but you've gotten some bad information here, so I'll try to explain. When you hitch a trailer, the fulcrum action of the tongue weight on the rear axle takes weight off of the front axle. That can result in the truck being squirrely in the front end especially in adverse conditions. That weight has to be returned to the original weight on the axle under unhitched conditions. Too little, the truck is hard to control, too much and you accelerate suspension components and tires. The only way you have of returning that weight is with the WD. You can't guess at it or tweak it until it feels right. The easiest way and the one most people use is measuring the front fender height before and after hitching. Your truck's manual will tell you how much weight needs to be returned to the front axle In most cases, the manual will tell you to return it to the original height. The new Fords are adjusted to split the two measurements. This starts with positioning the bars on your hitch relative to the trailer frame. I'm talking about Reese because that's what I use. You want the bars parallel to the frame. The exception is trunnion bars, which should angle down slightly, but you should never end up with the bars pointing upward. Reese recommends 5 links minimum, and that's links under tension, not loose and hanging. This prevents interference between the bars and the tongue in sharp turns. Once that is set, it's left alone a by changing the tension on the bars and the WD is then adjusted by tilting the hitch ball. Tilting away from the truck increases the weight transfer, tilting it towards the truck decreases. If you think about in the context of the bars never moving, you can see how tilting the head affects the WD. If you need to add an extra link to the chain during the adjustment you can but you never want to use less than 5 links. The Reese instructions explain this probably more clearly than I can.
Rear end squat - The function of WD is not to level he truck. It's only purpose is to return weight to the front axle. The truck may end up level, but that will be coincidental and not what you are trying to do. If the rear squats too much, you can level it with bags if you like, but you'll have to go back and readjust the WD. Once you have the WD and the trailer is not level, you can fix that by moving the hitch head up or down in the backer. This will level the trailer and will not affect the adjustment. You are going to set the trailer pretty close to level before ypu start, so you aren't going to have to do much of an adjus tment. Just remember, get the front of the truck right and let the rear take care of itself. Now, all of that said...

Go to RV.net, go to the towing section and read two stickies. One describes in detail, how WD works and the other explains in detail how to set it up. The guys who wrote them should have a PhD in towing. The stickies are that good. I hope this helps. Happy and Safe Towing!!

[donnie_o8]

Im sooooo confused now.......

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

Go to RV.net, go to the towing section and read two stickies. One describes in detail, how WD works and the other explains in detail how to set it up. The guys who wrote them should have a PhD in towing. The stickies are that good. I hope this helps. Happy and Safe Towing!!

Bob, thanks for the reminder on this. I've added a link to that forum on our new "where to find it" document that I am working on. I know JBarca pretty well from the Sunline forums. He's a major contributor to the RV.NET forums on many topics. His information on WD setup really adds to the posts over there.

For everyone else, I can't say enough good things about the info in these two stickies on RV.NET that Bob mentioned. They really ought to be required reading for every new TT owner as they explain the how's and why's of weight distribution exquisitely well.

Here's the link to the Towing forum over there: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...s/forum/40.cfm

[Bob Landry]

The OP indicated that he is still totally confused. Hopefully we didn't scare him off and he'll come back and let us try to get him through the hitch setup thing. It is a lot of information to absorb for the newbie, and I have to admit, my first hitch setup by the dealer was a disaster and I didn't know it. Hopefully he will also go read the stickies at RV.Net. John Barca is a genius when it comes to this stuff. Ron Gratz is another one, but sometimes you need to be a math professor to understand some of his explanations, but they to are nothing short of amazing. I would just love to sit down with those two guys over a cup of coffee. There's a ton of information on towing on RV.Net, but you have to have thick skin and be able to get past the testosterone and the "my truck's better than your truck" mentality that gets going sometimes. It can get a little rough sometimes.

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

John Barca is a genius when it comes to this stuff.

I had the pleasure of spending a long weekend with John and Cindy at a Sunline Club Meet and Greet up here in the Adirondacks several years ago. Great folks!

[donnie_o8]

I didn't get scared off by any means. And I really am thankfull for all the input and help you all are offering me. I have been working alot and trying to get the house and yard in order so we can camp as much as possible this summer.I don't have the TT here at home to mess with it like I would like... so its kinda limited to when I bring it home that I have time to mess with things. I did read the stickys at rv.net and it was very helpfull. This week and weekend coming up I hope to have the house painted, bushes planted, new gates put in and whatever else she comes up with done.... I hope to bring the trailer home after that and start over with the hitch and get her all washed and waxed up. When I do I will definatley take some pics and pick your brains again. Thank again for all the help and support everybody.

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

The OP indicated that he is still totally confused. Hopefully we didn't scare him off and he'll come back and let us try to get him through the hitch setup thing. It is a lot of information to absorb for the newbie, and I have to admit, my first hitch setup by the dealer was a disaster and I didn't know it. Hopefully he will also go read the stickies at RV.Net. John Barca is a genius when it comes to this stuff. Ron Gratz is another one, but sometimes you need to be a math professor to understand some of his explanations, but they to are nothing short of amazing. I would just love to sit down with those two guys over a cup of coffee. There's a ton of information on towing on RV.Net, but you have to have thick skin and be able to get past the testosterone and the "my truck's better than your truck" mentality that gets going sometimes. It can get a little rough sometimes.

I wasn't scared off either here are the results of the CAT scale:

Steer Axle: 3780lbs

Drive Axle: 3540lbs

Trailer Axle: 7320lbs

Gross Weight: 14640lbs


Truck by itself:

Steer axle=3780 lbs
Drive axle=2780 lbs

Gross wght= 6560 lbs

[sagebel]

How much did your front fender height change? Looks like you have at least kept the front axle carrying the same weight loaded and unloaded. Don't forget that things will changed base on how the truck and trailer are each loaded. I would dare say that most everyone packs things in the same spot every time they head out.

[Hansel]

Originally Posted by sagebel

How much did your front fender height change? Looks like you have at least kept the front axle carrying the same weight loaded and unloaded. Don't forget that things will changed base on how the truck and trailer are each loaded. I would dare say that most everyone packs things in the same spot every time they head out.

Truck measurements:
Front 35 1/8" no load
Front 35 1/4" trailer load

Rear 38 1/2" no load
Rear 37 1/2" trailer load

I actually made one more adjustment after this measurement, and the rear only went down 7/8" and the front stayed dead the same at 35 1/8". Other than food, the camper and truck are loaded for vacation.