Sway Control options - help please
We are a 2019 F150 ecoboost with towing capacity of 13,000 lbs. We are pulling a 2015 TimberRidge 28' trailer, 6933 lbs. We have a Reese equalizer hitch system (1000 lbs bars). We are looking to add...
Forum Discussion
Ron Gratz did this up years ago, I borrowed his Three Pass Scale Method and have pushed it heavily as it gives an unparalleled picture to the operator and all others who wish to help.
On the same day, consecutively:
1). Loaded for camping. Max fuel. Full propane & fresh water. All passengers aboard. Cross the CAT SCALE (get phone app) with hitch adjusted (tensioned) as at present.
2). Cross scale second time, EVERYTHING the same; EXCEPT all tension removed from hitch (don’t remove).
3). Drop trailer. Return to scale third time. Solo truck where all is as in (1).
See CAT website for any directions you may need. At end, go inside and get the three paper copies of the scale tickets. Post the four lines of info from each as above.
Also, from the TV door sticker: the axle limits Steer & Drive (front & rear).
Me, I’d start beforehand by using Andy Thomson's HITCH HINT column, “How to Set Your Torsion Bars”, from the RVLife article as my way to get the hitch roughed in at home. That, with the hitch manufacturers instructions. (Hitch bead tilted as far back as possible, one example)
Then, before setting out, get the cold overnight tire pressure readings. Once at the scale the actual load on each TV axle (with any hitch corrections) gives me the COFRECT basis for tire pressure (trailer tires are ALWAYS to maximum).
The result here is a start. A baseline.
We’d like to see the STEER AXLE weight in #1 & #3 to be the same. If they aren’t, adjust the hitch until it’s close.
This is where one makes evaluations which can be repeated. The highway feel is (will be once you’re finished) as if on rails.
Braking will also be improved. To the point you stop faster than the loaded tow vehicle while solo.
Get the tools. Borrow a friend (many heads make confusion more pleasurable) to do the rough-in. A SHERLINE Scale is a tool many of us like. The Dual Cam is the original, and still the best of the obsolete hitches. (A Hensley-patent hitch superceded them all more than 20-years back).
At the end, the WD is traditionally 1/3-1/3-1/3. Not perfectly, but enough that set is a rule of thumb.
And it’s why an 1,100-lb TW is the province of cars. It’s not a problem and hasn’t been since the latter 1960s.
Do the work. Get the numbers as above.
.
On the same day, consecutively:
1). Loaded for camping. Max fuel. Full propane & fresh water. All passengers aboard. Cross the CAT SCALE (get phone app) with hitch adjusted (tensioned) as at present.
2). Cross scale second time, EVERYTHING the same; EXCEPT all tension removed from hitch (don’t remove).
3). Drop trailer. Return to scale third time. Solo truck where all is as in (1).
See CAT website for any directions you may need. At end, go inside and get the three paper copies of the scale tickets. Post the four lines of info from each as above.
Also, from the TV door sticker: the axle limits Steer & Drive (front & rear).
Me, I’d start beforehand by using Andy Thomson's HITCH HINT column, “How to Set Your Torsion Bars”, from the RVLife article as my way to get the hitch roughed in at home. That, with the hitch manufacturers instructions. (Hitch bead tilted as far back as possible, one example)
Then, before setting out, get the cold overnight tire pressure readings. Once at the scale the actual load on each TV axle (with any hitch corrections) gives me the COFRECT basis for tire pressure (trailer tires are ALWAYS to maximum).
The result here is a start. A baseline.
We’d like to see the STEER AXLE weight in #1 & #3 to be the same. If they aren’t, adjust the hitch until it’s close.
This is where one makes evaluations which can be repeated. The highway feel is (will be once you’re finished) as if on rails.
Braking will also be improved. To the point you stop faster than the loaded tow vehicle while solo.
Get the tools. Borrow a friend (many heads make confusion more pleasurable) to do the rough-in. A SHERLINE Scale is a tool many of us like. The Dual Cam is the original, and still the best of the obsolete hitches. (A Hensley-patent hitch superceded them all more than 20-years back).
At the end, the WD is traditionally 1/3-1/3-1/3. Not perfectly, but enough that set is a rule of thumb.
And it’s why an 1,100-lb TW is the province of cars. It’s not a problem and hasn’t been since the latter 1960s.
Do the work. Get the numbers as above.
.
