Need help

[mikereidjr]

I am at my wits end-

I just cant figure this out no matter what I do I cant seem to get this leveled out-

I have a 2014 Ford F250 and no matter what I do my trailer and truck won't get level.

I had a 1/2 ton ram and had the same issue, I am thinking it is the trailer-

I know the truck is supposed to squat, but it is to the point where I am afraid to put anything into the bed when we go places.

I have tried adjusting the hitch, and this is the best I can get, but it bounces a lot when I go down the road. I am thinking about timberens or airbags.

[notanlines]

Mike, I believe that the tongue weight of your trailer is in the neighborhood of 8-900 lbs, and your cargo capacity is probably around 3000 lbs. That leaves more than a ton to cover people, fuel, miscellaneous. I simply cannot see how your truck is going to squat down much with that load. Your WDH if properly fitted should bring that rig right back to exactly where you want it, certainly without the necessity of bags. We have long bed and short bed 250's at the shop and that trailer would be a dream for them to haul. I might be inclined to go back to your dealer (call and ask if they'd mind taking a look) and explain the problem.

[gearhead]

Looks pretty good in the pics.

[C130]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Looks pretty good in the pics.

That's what I thought, I don't see anything wrong with it.

[GmaPaTime]

Agree with "gearhead"....

From these photos, your TT looks level and the truck maybe dropping 1". I'd call that good. Timbrons won't help any because you'll have about 1 to 1-1/2" clearance between the Timbron and the bumper.

Steve

[sourdough]

Mike, I have to agree, that looks pretty good. How is the weight distributed in the trailer? Where are the tanks and are they full? Tires at proper pressure? It looks good enough sitting that it makes me think that you have something in the loading that is giving the tongue enough inertia to tug up and down on the hitch - realizing that on bad roads you will get some bounce.

[therink]

The trailer looks level and the truck squatting a bit. I would do two things: 1) load the camper and truck as if going campingand hitched to trailer. Weigh the combo hitched at a Cat scale and weigh truck again unhitched. This will confirm tongue weight. Optimal tounge weight should be +/- 13 percent. Redistribute weight in trailer the get the 13 or so percent.
2) If truck still squats, and tongue weight is good, drop hitch ball one hole on shank and raise WD chains one or two chain links to lift and get truck up about and inch. By dropping hitch ball height, this should keep trailer level as is and extra spring lift should elevate truck rear a bit.

[Ken / Claudia]

Hard to get much of a idea of the problem, looks OK from the photos. I question your hitch height. We cannot see any of that. As a example on mine, my ball top is about level with the top of the bar mount that goes into the receiver. You know that the rear of any 3/4, 1 ton is higher than the front of the truck making it angled up at the rear when empty. This is so when it is loaded it will level, your looks level.

[Bossman]

Hitch height for sure. Draw a straight line through the hubs of your wheels and compare the front of the trailer height to rear trailer height, compared to that line. Your front height is 4" higher than the rear, definitely not level even though the truck is squatting. You need to drop the hitch height while moving more weight to the rear of the trailer at the same time.

[GaryWT]

Looks good to me as well, if anything you want the trailer slightly nose down.

[mjeronimo]

When I got my 14 (f-250) I put the wd hitch (10k equalizer) in the receiver, it was within 1/4 inch same height as it was on my 09(f-150). I thought should be pretty close? I put the bars on and the 14 squatted pretty bad. I thought how can this be? It's a heavier duty truck twice the payload! Got the manual out reset up the wd hitch, numbers within specs. But it still looks like the rear could go up 1/2" - 3/4" to look level. My truck sits just like yours does in the pics when I'm hooked up to a Passport 28bh.

[mikereidjr]

Thank you for all the comments, I don't really have anything in the trailer other than the just the normal pots and pans. We do not have the tanks full, we rarely use them, but it would be nice to be able too.

The RV dealer told me to raise the ball up, I thought the trailer sat better with the ball lower, but the truck squatted more.

I don't get it-

[{tpc}]

I don't have much to add other than it looks pretty good to me. I'm not a hitch expert...actually I'm the opposite but maybe someone else will add in. Could hitch head angle be playing a part in this? Maybe that is what needs more adjustment?

An easy thing to try, assuming the water tank is in the front of the trailer, is fill it up full and drive it around. With a 50 gal tank thats 400 lbs of weight, not quite on the tongue (or maybe it is, because its ahead of the trailer axle?), but its significant enough I think to change how it would tow. That might give you an idea if more tongue weight or more gear redistributed to the front of the TT will help.

My only word of caution is longevity of the straps holding the tank in. I know some drive with full tanks, some don't, personally I don't, because I think it adds more wear to those things. Plus if you spring a leak on the way..sounds like a mess.

Aside from that, getting it weighed at a cat scale might help figure things out as well.

From what your saying, the "bounce" is your issue. I couldn't say if airbags would help or not. I have no idea how they work in the unloaded motion...I could see in the loaded motion...but when unloading...how do they dampen that effect?

Could it also be that you went from not enough truck to too much truck? Maybe the springs are so much stiffer they are making the ride more harsh? Thats why I suggested more weight on the tongue..just to see. I suppose the same effect could be had with sandbags in the back of the truck instead of water in the tanks?

Just throwing ideas out there....

[Cfoxtrot]

Do you have before and after measurements of the trucks front and rear wheel well to ground? This would help a lot to see if you are lifting the front of the truck and to see just how much squat the rear has. A properly set up WDH will pass some of the tongue weight to the front wheels of the tow vehicle, you should never see the front raise after the trailer is coupled.

Have you played with the hitch head angle to allow more/less force transmitted from the spring bars?

By the way...what hitch do you have?