Rough Ride in Wisconsin

[RWRiley]

Pulling back from Door County a couple of weeks ago got the absolute crap beat out of us by the Interstate highway. It's one of those conditions that you can't feel with just the truck alone, but throw the trailer on and I thought I was riding in a rodeo. The truck started jumping around so bad I had to slow down to 50 mph to get a decent ride.

I'm thinking a longer wheelbase and a 3/4 would help smooth things out, but I don't want to drop a ton of cash on a new truck if I will still have the same problem.

Current wheelbase is 116". Chevy Crew cab 3/4 is 159", so were talking 43" longer.

Trailer is 30'6". No problem with sway or getting sucked in by the big trucks. Just this.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by RWRiley

Pulling back from Door County a couple of weeks ago got the absolute crap beat out of us by the Interstate highway. It's one of those conditions that you can't feel with just the truck alone, but throw the trailer on and I thought I was riding in a rodeo. The truck started jumping around so bad I had to slow down to 50 mph to get a decent ride.

I'm thinking a longer wheelbase and a 3/4 would help smooth things out, but I don't want to drop a ton of cash on a new truck if I will still have the same problem.

Current wheelbase is 116". Chevy Crew cab 3/4 is 159", so were talking 43" longer.

Trailer is 30'6". No problem with sway or getting sucked in by the big trucks. Just this.

172" is even smoother

[JRTJH]

Several things to consider:

1. If you could "slow down to 50MPH and get a good ride" then that highway wasn't "too bad".... We've been on some interstates ((I-75 west of Eisenhower Tunnel) where even at 25MPH, the truck/trailer were taking a beating...

2. Longer wheelbase tow vehicles "typically" ride smoother than short wheelbase vehicles, but "typically" doesn't mean "in all situations"... Sometimes there's a situation where the distance from the front truck wheel to the rear truck wheel "sets up a bucking motion" sometimes, that distance is from the rear truck wheel to the front trailer wheel, sometimes it's the distance from the front truck wheel to the rear trailer wheel... Essentially, if the "joint spaces on the road match the spacing on the rig wheels (in most any combination) you'll get a bucking motion. You may find (hope not) that going from a 116" wheelbase to a 159" wheelbase doesn't cure the bucking, but moves the spacing from "one set of wheels to another set" and can make the motion worse rather than better.... On the other hand, if you don't "match the road joint measurements" then you may have cured that issue...

3. Depending on your specific tow vehicle, trailer and hitch settings, you might solve the bucking motion without buying a new truck.... Every setup is different, every setup needs "tweeking" and every setup changes with nearly every trip, depending on what's in the truck, what's in the trailer and what road you travel....

I don't know of anyone who has towed for any great length of time that hasn't found "that one road" where our rig just won't be comfortable... For us, it is the Morganza Spillway... My DW suggests any route to avoid that "monster" and every time we cross it, she suggests where I might want to go for taking her over it "again".....

[Sarge2]

Was on a section of I-69 going from Port Huron to M-53 to a campground a few weeks ago... the cement repairs on the road were washboard at best and the ride was about close to riding a bronco as I ever felt... the up and down movement was so fast that my wife mentioned taking a Dramamine to offset it... I can compare it to riding in a small boat in rough water and the hull pounding on each wave...
I contribute it to the shorter wheel base on my Ram... at 144" it's not enough.. I will be considering the 153" and honestly, may be looking into a full size 8" bed down the road... My Ford super cab with the 6.5' bed rode much better.. Wheel base on that was I believe 153 or 154.... Don't regret the Ram but sure will be looking to extend the wheel base on the next TV... Live and learn...

[flybouy]

Going down RT1 in Delaware headed for the seashore a few weeks ago I had the same issue. I slowed down a bit to about 50, and watched other trucks and campers having the same issues. One poor guy bobtailing looked like the cab was on a pogo stick bouncing after the truck settled down. Fortunately I was able to adjust my airbags to help mitigate it enough to get back some of my speed. The road was effecting all vehichles.

I have been on roads where the "frequency" of the road joints matched up with the axle spacing and speed. On those roads, observing other vehichles would reveal that it was effecting me more than others. I've also noticed the converse where I felt little effect and others looked like jet skis running in white caps. Bridges seem to be the worst culprits in my experiences.

[sourdough]

I've had the same situation. I was using a 1/2 ton to pull a Cougar High Country 319rls. The tongue weight was maxed. DW and I thought we would be thrown out of the truck and had to slow to 45-50mph just to make it seem controllable. The truck was a Ram 1500, CC, SWB truck. Bought a 3/4 Ram 2500, CC, SWB replacement. Took the same trip on the same highway. As we entered Shreveport (and later Jackson) I told her "OK honey, get ready, that stretch begins right up here". The stretch never came. The road got rough but NOTHING like trying to throw us out of the truck....just more rough. We were both astounded. That said

Given the particulars of a given situation the new truck may or may not help. I figure it would as dramatic as the change was for us; to this day when we hit that stretch (we do it at least twice a year) we look at each other and say....what happened to those bumps?? Just to add, I added AirLift 1000 air bags and Bilstein shocks before the last pass and it did not help that section of highway.

[Northofu1]

Originally Posted by Sarge2

Was on a section of I-69 going from Port Huron to M-53 to a campground a few weeks ago... the cement repairs on the road were washboard at best and the ride was about close to riding a bronco as I ever felt... the up and down movement was so fast that my wife mentioned taking a Dramamine to offset it... I can compare it to riding in a small boat in rough water and the hull pounding on each wave...
I contribute it to the shorter wheel base on my Ram... at 144" it's not enough.. I will be considering the 153" and honestly, may be looking into a full size 8" bed down the road... My Ford super cab with the 6.5' bed rode much better.. Wheel base on that was I believe 153 or 154.... Don't regret the Ram but sure will be looking to extend the wheel base on the next TV... Live and learn...

Loved that section last September.