WD Setup

Just got back from 11 days out. Going up it towed pretty well, at times it was a little bouncy but seemed like sway was better. Coming back it was pretty windy and notably more fighting it to keep it going straight. Still not happy with the way it pulls, I don't know if the short trailer is worse or not. Should I sell the E2 and just get a standard chain style WD with external sway? Thanks Michael

Tongue weight is 393. Can't use both the way the E2 is setup. I think I am going to mount the friction sway plate back on and try that. I will take the WD with me in case I think it's better that way. Thanks Michael

Michael,

I strongly recommend that you first load the trailer approximately as it would be loaded for camping and measure the tongue weight.
Relatively short and light trailers have been known to push sizable tow vehicles all over the road if the tongue weight percentage is too small.
If the TW% is too small, you should try to increase the TW by moving items from the rear of the trailer toward the center or slightly forward of center.

Since you already have the E2 WDH, I would suggest that you try using it plus the friction sway control.

Even if your tongue weight is below the 400# minimum specified by Progress Mfg, you still will get some sway control benefit from the E2.
Using a friction bar in addition to the E2 should not cause any problems.

However, it still would be good to know what the loaded TW and the loaded total trailer weight are.
If the TW% is too low, it can become quite difficult to control sway even if you do have a relatively short and light trailer.

Ron

Took some new measurements today

Truck only F 37 1/2 R 38
Hitched F 37 7/8 R 37 1/8
Hitched WD F 37 5/8 R 37 3/8

I think for this trip I would try just the friction sway control with no WD, I think I am just making my sway worse by removing tongue weight with it being so low already. Ron I appreciate your help on this, what are your thoughts on this idea? Thanks

Hornnumb2 wrote:
When I talk to the manufacturing on setting it up last time and wasn't happy with the sway, he said to add another washer. I was running 6 and now have 7 but it was over correcting so I moved the trailer brackets down 2 slots to get where I am now. How does the washer effect the setup?---

Michael, adding washers increases the rearward tilt if the hitch head.
That, in turn, causes to rear ends of the WD bars to be lower.
When you lift the bars up to their previous elevation, you increase the amount of load transfer.
By lowering the brackets, you lower the ends of the WD bars which decreases the amount of load transfer.

In a different thread, you mentioned having a 2006 Shamrock.
If you still have that trailer in a 19' length, according to page 6 of this brochure, the trailer has a dry tongue weight of 161#.

Do you know the loaded tongue weight of the trailer?
With its relatively low TW, you could get a good estimate by using the Bathroom Scale Method.
It's important to know the loaded TW because the E2 WDH is supposed to be used with a TW of at least 400# in order to generate sufficient sway control.

If I go to the scale, what all do I weigh. Just WD on and then off?

If you want to know the TW and how much load is being transferred by the WDH, you need to make three sets of axle load measurements.
On a CAT Scale with three weighing pads, you should:
1) for truck only -- measure steer axle load on pad #1 and drive axle load on pad#2,
2) for truck plus trailer with no WD applied -- measure steer axle load on pad #1, drive axle load on pad#2, and trailer axle load on pad #3,
3) for truck plus trailer with WD applied -- repeat 2).

Before the first weighing, tell the scale operator you will be returning for additional weighings. If done within 24 hours, the additional weighings usually are only $1 or $2.
You also should ask the operator if it is okay to apply load to the WD bars while on the scales.
Be sure the loading (including driver and passengers) of the truck and trailer is the same for all weighings.

Tongue weight is the sum of truck axle loads from 2) minus the sum of truck axle loads from 1).
Front axle load from 3) minus front axle load from 1) gives the difference between front hitched and front unhitched.
If you want help interpreting the results of the weighings, post the results here.
Even if you don't want help, it's always interesting to see another set of load data.

Good luck with getting your WDH adjusted,

Ron

When I talk to the manufacturing on setting it up last time and wasn't happy with the sway, he said to add another washer. I was running 6 and now have 7 but it was over correcting so I moved the trailer brackets down 2 slots to get where I am now. How does the washer effect the setup? If I go to the scale, what all do I weigh. Just WD on and then off?

Hornnumb2 wrote:
Yes both front and rear are back to unhitched height. I don't remember the exact measurement but with no WD it only drops the rear about 1 1/2. Would I be better off just going back to the standard ball with the external sway? Thanks Michael

If the loaded tongue weight of your trailer is more than 600#, Chevrolet says you should use a WDH with your 2011 Silverado 1500.
Since your Owners Manual for your 2011 Silverado specifies that you should bring the front end back to the unhitched height -- I recommend that you follow Chevrolet's specification.

I also recommend that you check the WDH setup using hitched and unhitched axle loads rather than wheel well heights.
It is not possible to have both the front and rear returned to the unhitched weights -- even though your wheel well height measurements seem to be the same before and after.

If your 2011 Silverado 1500 has the front suspension jounce bumpers you might be transferring too much load to the front axle causing the jounce bumpers to be carrying load and preventing the front from dropping farther. This could explain how you are able to get both the front and rear to return to the unhitched heights.

Ron

Yes both front and rear are back to unhitched height. I don't remember the exact measurement but with no WD it only drops the rear about 1 1/2. Would I be better off just going back to the standard ball with the external sway? Thanks Michael

skipnchar wrote:
--- but the new recommendations are to replace only HALF of the rear end sag using the WD.---

No, Ford does not recommend to replace HALF of the rear end sag.

Ford says to eliminate 50% of the front end rise.

Doing so would eliminate only about 20% of the rear end drop.

Ron

Hornnumb2 wrote:
Traded TV so setting up the hitch again, I have it setup so the unhitched and hitched with WD come out to the same wheel well measurements. --- Should it have some weight on the rear of the truck or should it be ok like it is? ---

Are you saying that both the front and rear wheel wells were returned to their original heights after application of WD? If so, that would be an unusual result because it would mean neither the front nor the rear axle is carrying any tongue weight.

If you return the front axle to the unhitched height, per the manual, you will remove about 45% of the load which was added to the rear axle. So, even if the front is returned to unhitched height, the rear will have a noticeable amount of sag.

Ron