Need advice on toy hauler swaying on freeway
I would greatly appreciate any feedback and advice please. My TV is a 2012 Toyota Tacoma DBL Cab short bed 4x4 with a 4.0 V6. I just bought a toy hauler that is 22' long and weighs 3600#s dry with a...
Forum Discussion
Firstly, thanks for all the constructive comments. Secondly, I headed to the scales after work. I first put another 5 lbs. or pressure in my rear tires to bump them to 45 psi. That seemed to help a little. I weighed the whole thing at once set up exactly like E-Trailer had it which was the WD Hitch on the last link (least w.d.).
Steer axle= 2560
Drive axle= 2860
Trailer axle=3320
Total weight=8740
I then un-hitched and weighed just my Tacoma.
steer axle= 2560 (no change)
Drive axle= 2060 (800 lbs. less)
Total weight=4620
I guess that means I had 800 lbs of tongue weight which was 150 lbs. more than the max Toyota says which is 650 lbs. I clearly had too much tongue weight.
I then hooked up the trailer, but this time dropped 3 links to the 4th link. As soon as I left the parking lot I could tell a difference. My truck seemed to have more even power and instead of feeling like the truck and trailer were working against each other , they felt more as one.
I decided to re-weigh just for kicks. This time....
Steer axle=2880 (320 lb. increase).
Drive axle=2400 (450 lb. decrease).
Trailer axle=3420 (100 lb. increase).
Total weight=8700 lbs. (40 less I guess cuz my Dad was driving this time and I got out of the truck).
End result, is once I lessened the tongue weight the truck quit moving all over the place as bad. The trailer sway was probably 80% better at least. I wouldn't even call it sway, but movement maybe instead. The front of the truck seems more planted and not so light like it's floating. I do still get some side to side feeling when I hit 60 to 70 on the freeway. But, I was actually able to drive on the freeway whereas yesterday I was afraid to and never got above 55 mph.
So, all in all, I went from completely dejected to feeling somewhat optimistic about being able to keep my truck. I still haven't loaded anything into the toy hauler. So, I'm wondering how the 983 lb. Harley will affect the equation. After I load the Harley, I'll head back to the scales to re-weigh to see where how it affects things.
Steer axle= 2560
Drive axle= 2860
Trailer axle=3320
Total weight=8740
I then un-hitched and weighed just my Tacoma.
steer axle= 2560 (no change)
Drive axle= 2060 (800 lbs. less)
Total weight=4620
I guess that means I had 800 lbs of tongue weight which was 150 lbs. more than the max Toyota says which is 650 lbs. I clearly had too much tongue weight.
I then hooked up the trailer, but this time dropped 3 links to the 4th link. As soon as I left the parking lot I could tell a difference. My truck seemed to have more even power and instead of feeling like the truck and trailer were working against each other , they felt more as one.
I decided to re-weigh just for kicks. This time....
Steer axle=2880 (320 lb. increase).
Drive axle=2400 (450 lb. decrease).
Trailer axle=3420 (100 lb. increase).
Total weight=8700 lbs. (40 less I guess cuz my Dad was driving this time and I got out of the truck).
End result, is once I lessened the tongue weight the truck quit moving all over the place as bad. The trailer sway was probably 80% better at least. I wouldn't even call it sway, but movement maybe instead. The front of the truck seems more planted and not so light like it's floating. I do still get some side to side feeling when I hit 60 to 70 on the freeway. But, I was actually able to drive on the freeway whereas yesterday I was afraid to and never got above 55 mph.
So, all in all, I went from completely dejected to feeling somewhat optimistic about being able to keep my truck. I still haven't loaded anything into the toy hauler. So, I'm wondering how the 983 lb. Harley will affect the equation. After I load the Harley, I'll head back to the scales to re-weigh to see where how it affects things.
