Weight distribution hitch for lifted truck

I would make sure your current setup the trailer is level to slightly nose down.
Do you have enough hitch wt, ie >10%, closer to 13-15% is better.
Also, if you can verify the side to side wt on the tires, that can also make sway an issue too, if one side is heavier than the other. Local state law is no more than 500 lbs difference side to side.
Also verify that the axels are not "V"d any any way.
If all the above are good, then a sway control is needed. Reality, one of these items is probably out of whack, hence the swaying in side winds. IMHO, If you need sway control, then you have a bad designed trailer.

Marty

First, check out your lift design/materials/construction/etc

Body lift or suspension lift ?

You might have too much play in the lift mechanical's, which allows for loosey-goosey steering control

And/or is the trailer level or nose high ?

Best controlling attribute in regards to trailer leveling is slightly nose down

Have you figured out if the 5th wheel will have enough clearance with a 4" lift ?

WD hitch system never hurts, IMHO

IF,because you are carrying the trailer very nose high because of the lift on the truck, you have manufactured the problem yourself.
Tryto lower your hitch height to get the trailer level, with near equal weights on each axle.

Thanks for the reply’s so far. Didn’t think I’d get all this info.

Axles on the trailer are perfect.

It’s a suspension lift, no blocks, no hack stuff. It’s all done right.

With the camper hooked up to my truck the camper sits perfectly level. I don’t have a side pic showing the camper.

So a 7,500# camper shouldn’t experience any sway?

My steering box was getting a little worn out. There was excessive play left to right in the steering wheel but I’ve since replaced the box and it’s nice and tight now

I have a Dodge Ram 2500 with 4" lift and 35's pulling 7500# trailer with 900 lbs of tounge weight, it does squat some.

Wondering if you have enough tounge weight to mitigate sway.

If it only gave you some sway with the strong winds, but towed fine otherwise, it's likely tongue weight and alignment are ok. The 35" tires with I assume aggressive tread probably contribute to the unstable condition in the wind. A 2003 F250 I think has a 500 lb dead weight, 1,000 lb WD rated receiver. A 7k lb trailer is going to likely have over 900 lbs of tongue weight. I would recommend a WDH to satisfy the weight rating of the receiver and sway control for the wind. My choice is the Equalizer 4-point. But they are noisy. I keep mine quiet with grease on the ball, at the sockets and a dab on the L brackets. With only a 4" lift and 35's, the standard shank "should" have enough drop. Just my humble experience.

Hannibal wrote:
If it only gave you some sway with the strong winds, but towed fine otherwise, it's likely tongue weight and alignment are ok. The 35" tires with I assume aggressive tread probably contribute to the unstable condition in the wind. A 2003 F250 I think has a 500 lb dead weight, 1,000 lb WD rated receiver. A 7k lb trailer is going to likely have over 900 lbs of tongue weight. I would recommend a WDH to satisfy the weight rating of the receiver and sway control for the wind. My choice is the Equalizer 4-point. But they are noisy. I keep mine quiet with grease on the ball, at the sockets and a dab on the L brackets. With only a 4" lift and 35's, the standard shank "should" have enough drop. Just my humble experience.

Yes. I had no problems towing it otherwise. Like I said towing there with no winds it was fine. 68mph the whole way.

On the way home with winds I wasn’t comfortable on the highway.

My parents have a Ford Expedition with all the proper hitch equipment and once my father got home he called and told me he was surprised how windy it actually was and he noticed it towing his camper.

Do you have a link to that hitch? I want to get it set up properly wether we trade it in or not. Safety is #1.

The tires are cooper At3s not super aggressive but not a highway tire per say

I've been towing with a Cooper "AT" version of some sort for over 30 years. Never had an issue with them! I currently tow with my C2500 245-75-16 AT3, Son has some 285-75-18s on his lifted 1500, no issues towing either. Both of us use LR E tires. Both of us are usually around 40-50 lbs per tire, just due to the fact, neither of us have more than 4000 on an axel!

ANother hitch you might look at, is a dual cam. I have one, I like it compared to just a WD system. Its on par from what I can tell to the Equilizer Steve is suggesting. If you want to go upwards better yet, then you need to go with a Hensley.

as some of us have noted, verify hitch weight, that it is above 10%, or 700 lbs if your trailer total is 7000 lbs. You want at least 800-900 lbs for a 7K trailer, leaving you 6300-6100 on the axels.

Marty

Here’s a link to Equalizer.
https://www.equalizerhitch.com/how-equalizer-works

I found mine on eBay barely used for $375. Picked it up locally. I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a Reese Straight Line either. Maybe even better with the cam notches. If you don’t have an inverted coupler.

https://www.reeseprod.com/products/weight-distribution/strait-line/xDqAUvNOHeKtsUlhKkqrPpp1KSMoYS1U

As far as setup with our F250 and only 3/8” rise up front without the bars, I set ours up so that with the coupler on the ball and just enough lift with the tongue jack to take up the slack in the receiver, I can push the bars onto the brackets and put the clips on. Then raise the tongue jack and it tows like a champ. Initially, the ball is 1” higher than the coupler with the trailer level. Hitched up, the trailer is 1” down in the front. I like using as little WD as I can. I don’t like the stress it puts on the trailer. The bars bring the front of the truck back down about 1/2 of that 3/8”. Barely measurable. Just my opinions based on my experience. Others may disagree.