I am towing a Wildwood with an F150. The Wildwood is 4600 pounds. I made sure before buying I would be well within my capacity for both towing and payload. I have only been out 4 times with it and most were about an hour drive except for a six hour drive to Gatkinburg. Sometimes when I am towing it is really jerky. Other times I don't even notice it back there. We always travel with relatively the same amount of gear. I always hook it up the same. I did notice when I push the tow button on the 150 it gets worse. Any ideas on the problem. I have a friction sway bar. Could having that turned too tight cause it?

If there is movement of the hitch shaft inside the receiver, you may experience some jerking. If the hitch pin through your receiver is even a. It smaller in diameter than the hole it slides into, this small amount of slop can feel like jerking when first starting or braking. If those holes begin to wear also, you eilm experience jerking too. No much you can do about the slop except find a better fitting pin.

What Dutchmen said. And you didn’t specify what hitch you are using. That might help “us” help you. One thing that happened to me once - my hitch Ball came loose. I started noticing something was amiss and started really looking over my setup. I paid no attention to the ball at first, but finally I saw that it must have moved and got a hold of it. Sure enough I could move the dang thing with two fingers! Shame on me and lesson learned. Visited a friendly local RV dealer and they had one of their service guys get it tightened back at no charge. Now I check it and the other parts a LOT more closely at every hitchup.Also not mentioned: You don’t happen to use a sleeve in your receiver by any chance? I doubt it but that’s another source of slop.

What roads were you towing on....cement highways with joints are notorious for jerky, bouncy ride with travel trailers...Sometimes called porpoising.

It is an eaz lift elite hitch. With weight distribution and friction sway bar

I would go back to the basics, the beginning. Make sure the trailer has about 12% to 14% tongue weight.Ensure the WD hitch is correctly set up and you are at 100% FALR. Verify this at the CAT scale.Consider changing the shocks on the rear of the truck. I like and use Bilstein 5100's.Do all this and report back. In other words it's helpful to have all the basics in a known configuration, then if there is still a problem, you can start changing things one parameter at a time until you find the problem and solution.Hope this helps.

Jerky while towing | Good Sam Community

billroz
Explorer
Jul 19, 2018
Adjust wd bars
BarneyS
Explorer III
Jul 14, 2018
facory wrote:
You can buy a clamp that clamps the receiver and hitch together to eliminate all play. It eliminates the noise too. I have been using one for years and wouldn't be without it.

I also have used a Hitch Vise when carrying my bike in a carrier on the back of my truck or pulling a utility trailer. They do not work with a weight distributing hitch however and they are not needed there as the WD spring bars keep the shank pulled to the top of the receiver almost all the time. The only exception would be where you go over a RR crossing or other "bump" that causes the spring bars to unload.

The Hitch Vise or shims probably would not help the OP as I don't think shank movement is causing his situation. It sounds to me more like trailer tongue weight, not enought WD, or just bouncy pavement. Pushing the "tow button" on the truck would have nothing to do with the problem IMO.

If the problem is occuring only when stopping or starting, I would check the small bolt under the ball on the bottom, trailer side of the hitch between the WD bar sockets. This helps keep the hitch head locked in the proper tilt position and tends to loosen up after a bit of time. It should be checked every time time you tow.
Barney
facory
Explorer
Jul 14, 2018
You can buy a clamp that clamps the receiver and hitch together to eliminate all play. It eliminates the noise too. I have been using one for years and wouldn't be without it.
aftermath
Explorer III
Jul 14, 2018
cgconrad004e, It is not your TV. There are lots of variables when it comes to this issue. Loading the trailer might be one. If you remove weight from the hitch as you would by loading heavy stuff behind the axles, you can get into trouble. This usually shows up as trailer sway. Your hitch could be a problem if it is an older one with parts starting to wear.

The receiver on your TV can and usually will wear to the point where the stinger can move around a bit. I had a new '08 Tundra and after about 7 or 8 years mine developed a bit of slop. I noticed it when starting out from a stop as I would hear and feel a "clunk" when the stinger moved back against the pin. I looked into a fix and there are a few out there. The shims mentioned earlier work but they wear out quickly and have to be replaced. There are after market fixes you can find on line. You can also go into a hitch service and they can weld bead into your hitch opening which will firm things up.

Being your typical lazy American, I just got a new truck. Actually, the hitch wasn't my only reason.....:B
cgconrad004e
Explorer
Jul 12, 2018
I'm experiencing the same issue; and this has caused a bit of skepticism with the camper & vehicle purchase; 21' travel trailer (4800# dry weight) and a used Toyota Sequoia as a pull vehicle. Most of the jerkiness is at about the 35mph & 55mph speeds. Very little issue while braking. Uses a weight distribution hitch. Not sure if I am loading the camper incorrectly, or an issue with the hitching, or if I should have purchased a different tow vehicle.
facory
Explorer
Jul 09, 2018
You should adjust the electric brake. Too much brake and it will be uneven and jerk. Back off until you have a smooth stop.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Jul 09, 2018
naturist wrote:
The cure for slop in the receiver calls for cracking open a cold one, enjoying it in the shade, then getting out the tin snips and making the beer can into a shim so the ball carrier doesn’t have so much space to bang around in.

Wow! I never thought of this easy solution! I think I'll try it.... um.... that is .... the beer! Forget the hitch! :B
naturist
Nomad
Jul 09, 2018
The cure for slop in the receiver calls for cracking open a cold one, enjoying it in the shade, then getting out the tin snips and making the beer can into a shim so the ball carrier doesn’t have so much space to bang around in.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Jul 09, 2018
There is always some play in the receiver.
Npdchief07
Explorer
Jul 09, 2018
In regards to movement of the hitch shaft inside the receiver, if I grab a hold of my hitch ball and shake it, there is definiite movement. Side to side particularly. Should this not occur?