Horrible Bumpy Ride in 1/2 ton pulling TT

Don't forget that your car like ride will disappear when loaded up. And if you think a 3/4 ton will be better riding, you will be disappointed.
I have an f250, tho it does ride nice it's nothing like the plush car ride of the new 1/2 ton Silverado

You have two serious problems.... way too much trailer and not nearly enough truck. Your TT has a GVWR of over 9,500#. This will require around 1,200# of tongue weight plus another 100# for the WDH. Chances are good that those two numbers alone exceed your trucks available payload. As noted above your current TV probably is riding on "P" tires which only exacerbates an already bad situation.

Yes, a 3/4 ton truck would help.... a lot! Good luck!

:C

As mentioned, do you know for absolutely sure what the weights of the trailer are? There will be a sticker, usually on the exterior streetside, with the dry weight and GVWR, among others. Those are just numbers to sorta go by, but you do need to go to a CAT scale and weigh everything separately and then together + a tongue weight. Sometimes you find that what you thought was the true weight is actually wishful thinking. And you need to know for sure what the towing capacity is. Never mind reading the manual because it'll list all the available models. Get your VIN and have the dealer pull up the specs with the exact info. Not all trucks and towing packages are the same...you could be over capacity and not know it.

Also agree on the set up of the WDH.

This may sound crazy, but when driving the new truck without the trailer, does it ride smoothly and no bumping?? When we bought our F-150 CC in '03 it came with General tires. It really "rode like a truck"...after just a few miles of driving, DH realized it was awful. He took it back and they checked balance. Checked for out-of-round. Checked all the front end stuff. DH just could not have a brand new truck that rode like that. The dealer contacted Ford and they said that they would supply 2 new Michelin LTX (I think), the dealer would buy 1 and we would buy 1. Pricey tires but made all the difference in the world, so have your tires checked out if any question.

Finally, does this bumping happen just on certain roads or all of the time when towing? Example...our F-150 rides perfectly both towing and not towing on most roads. Driving through Birmingham enroute to FL each year, we all dread it....like driving on a washboard. All the cabinets need to be straightened up after we finally get through there. Consider when this happens and where you're driving.

I certainly would not make a jump to a 2500 without knowing exactly what's what...you'll take a bath financially on that deal. Same with the trailer. You need to figure out what is causing this and then decide.

Like others have said check the WD setup. Make sure the TT is level and not nose high. No guarantees that a 3/4 ton will be better. BTDT.
Who setup the WD hitch? Tell your husband to come on here so we can talk to him directly. Saves time.

Your TT is 7010lbs dry (per brochure), that equates to 8000lbs loaded. tongue weight will be between 800lbs and 1200lbs.
960lbs for tongue weight would be ideal. 8000lbs for a 1/2 ton is too much unless it's got the HD towing package. Tell us what the GVW of the truck is as well as the payload capacity. Does it have a tow package?

Spanousis wrote:
Thank you all for your responses! We do have an EZ Weight Distribution Hitch. Any ideas what 3/4 ton would be the best for a smooth ride with this huge TT?

Who set up the WDH? The dealer or you? Do you know if it is set up correctly? Did anyone measure the before and after front fender rise? The first thing I would suspect is the WDH isn't set up right. Do you have a friction sway control bar(s)? But this might be a small issue compared to the payload the truck is trying to handle.

Going to a scale is a really good idea. Get your truck's actual payload capacity by subtracting it's actual wt. from the GVWR on the door pillar sticker. The payload capacity ca be lower depending on any options and things you've added like a canopy for ex. If taking the TT to get weighed, it takes 3 separate passes - one with just truck; one with truck and WDH engaged plus TT; and one with truck and WDH dis-engaged and spring bars in back of truck plus TT. Then you can calculate the actual tongue wt. and TT total wt. The truck should include any passengers and anything else you'd take for camping and the TT should be as all loaded up for camping.

If it's the Springdale 282BH, it looks like the GVWR would be 9515 lbs. Tongue wt. is usually something like 12-13% of the actual total TT wt. (GVWR) and sometimes up around 15%. Until you have weighed the TT I would use the GVWR and 13% to estimate the tongue wt. which is thus over 1200 lbs. Then you need to include the weight of passengers, pets, groceries, tools, firewood and other camping gear in the truck which is going to be something like 400-500 lbs and upwards. That could mean your truck *could* be trying to handle around 1700 lbs of total payload which is 3/4 ton territory unless you have one of the special ordered and optioned trucks (or one of the new 2015 F150s?)

Without knowing more info. on the truck, it would appear to be overloaded on payload capacity and possibly by a lot. The typical 1/2 ton is good for up to about 7K lbs of TT wt. Unfortunately there is no easy fix and it sounds like you got bad advice from either the RV dealer or truck dealer, or both. As you are seeing already, people are going to say you should have a 3/4 ton truck. I would not tow the TT anymore until you have sorted the issues out. You'll get lots of opinions on what a good 3/4 T truck is.

First like everyone else says WEIGHT the truck then the truck and trailer. Look at your axle weights to see if you're within limits. Next just because the dealer set up your weight distribution hitch DON"T ASSUME THEY DID IT RIGHT. How level is the trailer setting when hooked up. If it's not level then the hitch is not set up right. As to weight there should be MORE weight on the trucks FRONT axle when hooked to the trailer then when not. These are the basic starting point to fix a handling issue.

Spanousis wrote:
Thank you all for your responses! We do have an EZ Weight Distribution Hitch. Any ideas what 3/4 ton would be the best for a smooth ride with this huge TT?

While a 3/4 ton truck might help, there are also 3/4 ton trucks that won't help. If you just jump into a new truck without doing some homework first you could wind up very disappointed and much poorer.

Spend $20 and find a public scale in your area (CAT scales are popular). Hook up the trailer, load it up as if you are going camping, and go get it all weighed. You might be just way out of adjustment which would be a lot cheaper to fix than a new truck. :)

A 3/4 ton truck will definitely tow that TT better, but there are a few things I suggest you do first. First of all, make sure your WD hitch is adjusted correctly. Download the instructions for your hitch and follow them carefully. Do NOT rely on the RV dealer for the setup. I have seen some crazy, STUPID setups done by RV dealers at camp sites.

Another easy thing to check is whether you are riding on your bump stops. If so, that would easily explain the crazy bumpy ride you're experiencing. The next time you hook up your TT, look under the rear of the truck to see how close your suspension is to hitting the bump stops. If it's less than an inch or so, I bet that's a big part of the problem. In which case, you can install air bags.

Having said all that, honestly, you're TT is more appropriately pulled by a 3/4 ton or larger. Unfortunately, the tow capacity rating for 1/2 ton trucks is marketing BS.

Our TT is a 2015 Springdale 270LE limited edition with bunks.
My husbands truck is a short bed and we have an EZ Weight D Hitch.
We did not travel with the water filled in TT, and its located in the front of the axles.
Thank you! :)

sljkansas wrote:
Do you tow with the water tank full? where is the tank located,( front of trailer axles or behind?)

Do you have a weight distributing hitch?

What brand of hitch do you have?

We need the questions answered to provide more help.

Would add to that question list:

What model TT? Example: The Springdale model 282BH is actually 32 feet long, has a 7000 lb shipping weight (dry weight), 715 lb hitch weight (again dry), 2515 lb load capacity. Those dry numbers are fantasy weight numbers you will never see.

Was the TT loaded ready to camp? Unloaded TTs don't tow as nicely as properly loading a TT with your camping equipment which can be used to more heavily tongue load the TT for better road manners. That also means your tongue weight will absolutely increase and possibly into areas not recommended for 1/2 tons.


Will a 3/4 ton truck help? Probably.