A little uncomfortable with my set up...

[95jersey]

Let me explain...

I went from a Wildwood travel trailer (22ft, 3600lbs) to a Jayco 273 Toy Hauler (31ft 6500lb, 12ft high). My tonque weight went up significantly from probably a few hundred lbs to 1000lbs. Not to mention, putting in 250-750lbs of dirt bikes behind the rear axle.

My truck is a new 2018 F150 with the 3.5TT, 10 speed, and best towing package you can get on an F150 (extra payload, rear axle upgrade, etc). It is a beast and I could not even feel my Wildwood behind me. My truck specs fully support the load of the trailer with room for safety, but I am not here to discuss specs, but more or less tow feel on highway. Please don't recommend a 250/2500, not going to buy another truck at this point.

Towing the 22ft Wildwood was a walk in the park, I didn't even need a WD hitch. I could do 75mph without blinking. The experience with the Jayco is not so nice. It gently sways and pushes me around just a little, at highway speeds (65+). Not anything significant or dangerous, just unpleasant and requiring your attention. The 18 wheelers passing by are a real joy. I have a HD-WD hitch, airbags on the truck, and 2 anti-sway bars as well. It is set up as good as it is going to get. It is 100% level and the truck has the HP to pull it without question.

I am thinking 2 factors are causing the uncomfort at highway speed (the sheer height 12ft+, and the 31ft length). I am sure the higher tonque weight and 750lbs of dirt bikes loaded past the rear axle isn't helping.

I am thinking of selling it and downgrading to a smaller unit (maybe 20-26ft toy hauler, and in the 5000lbs or less range). Before I go down this road, is there anything I am missing to make my current set up handle better? Also, if I just go down 3-4 feet in length and 1500lbs in weight, will that even improve my situation? Or am I going to have the same problem with the increased height? Would hate to downgrade and have the same **** problem.

[WE3ZS]

Jersey, anything anyone here suggests at this point is nothing more than a guess, and many of those guessing have never dealt with the TH situation. Until you get the rig to a good 3 pad scale, like a CAT scale and post up the actual ready to travel scale weights these guesses are just that, guesses. Go weigh the rig.
My old 31' TH (28' box) scaled at 9,500lbs with just some campsite gear and 6 bicycles in the 12' garage, but it had 1460lbs of tongue weight. TH's are typically very tongue heavy, I seriously doubt that you issues are related to the tongue being too light.
Does your F-150 have P metric tires or LT tires on it? If you are going to be towing a heavy TH then upgrading to LTs would be a good first step.
You have mentioned that your WD is a good HD unit, but you have not shared what rating spring bars are on it, it's possible that you are not transferring enough weight back to the front axle of the truck with too light of spring bars on the WD hitch. The scale weights will verify or dispel this.
And yes, upgrading to a better WD with some sort of built-in sway control will be superior to the bolt-on friction bars, they are just a better setup.
If the TH has crappy no-name Chinese ST tires on it, upgrading to a heavier load rated name brand tire is a good idea. The USA made Goodyear Endurance tires are building a solid reputation.
The length, weight and height increases over the old TT will absolutely change the towing dynamics of the truck/trailer combo with respect to crosswinds and passing large vehicles. Where the current hitch was adequate for the old TT it may be beyond it's abilities with the new larger TH. WD hitch spring bars come in a variety of sizes for a good reason.....
I think your F-150, properly setup with a good WD with built-in sway control and balanced correctly via a 3 pad scale should be a pretty comfortable towing combo.

[bikendan]

jersey, you don't have to spend $2000 for a quality WDH with integrated sway control.
Something like the 4pt Equal-i-zer costs less than $500.

[theoldwizard1]

Wills6.4 Hemi wrote:
If the dirt bikes are on back of TT and weigh hundreds of pounds that is your problem.

That is my guess also ! Probably results in TOO LITTLE tongue weight.

[time2roll]

Keep your speed down and live with it?

[rhagfo]

My thoughts;
Put LT tires on the TV, that should firm up the TV rear ending.
Do what you need to run at 15% tongue weight, you likely need at least 1,200# or more. The axles on TH are typlicly further back than a regular trailer, so bikes in the garage should not an issue if the hitch weight is 15%+ of total GVW.
Just to add that is one long tall TH to be pulling with an F150, even Max/Max.

[PhilipB]

Spend money for a Pro Pride or Hensley hitch. It'll solve your towing issues, be cheaper than trading, and will last forever. And when forever comes you cal re-sell it.

[discovery4us]

My TH pulled better with more weight behind the axles. The weight of toys balanced the trailer and brought the pin weight back to acceptable levels. With out that weight I experienced what you describe.

My current cargo trailer is a handful empty but tows nicely behind my F150 when loaded. Empty it is tongue heavy and the toys balance out the trailer.

[95jersey]

trail-explorer wrote:
DUPLICATE THREAD.

Not true, the other thread is specific to folks with Toy Haulers who deal with height/weight issues. Their opinions are valuable and could be much different than the folks on this forum, so IMO completely legitimate.

[95jersey]

hornet28 wrote:
Why are you adamant about not getting a bigger truck but have no problem spending money again to go to a smaller trailer? Keep the bigger trailer and go bigger truck or put some more weight in the front of the toy hauler. When loaded does the trailer sit level or is it tail down? If so that will contribute to the ill handling

Just got the truck 2018. I will lose more on the truck than if I downgrade the trailer. Got the trailer 1 year old for amazing price, it is still worth 90% what I paid at least. I could downgrade and not pay a cent out of pocket.

[trail-explorer]

DUPLICATE THREAD.

[hornet28]

Why are you adamant about not getting a bigger truck but have no problem spending money again to go to a smaller trailer? Keep the bigger trailer and go bigger truck or put some more weight in the front of the toy hauler. When loaded does the trailer sit level or is it tail down? If so that will contribute to the ill handling

[Lwiddis]

"I could do 75mph without blinking." Or thinking?

[95jersey]

boogie_4wheel wrote:
My 22' (box measurement) TH experiences the same thing, and I have more truck than you; running a 4-Way Equilizer. Before bikes, I'm right at 1k on the tongue and 5100 on axles. I do get a slight push from passing semis, and got tossed in a wind storm two weeks ago. I never felt unsafe in the eight years of ownership, the wind just required more focus.

So going to a shorter trailer will not resolve the issue, just reduce the severity.

So do you think this is because of the height and weight over the rear, inherit with Toy Haulers? Like you said, it is not at the point it is unsafe, but a 300+ mile trip is just not pleasurable. with my TT is was like it was not there...

[boogie_4wheel]

My 22' (box measurement) TH experiences the same thing, and I have more truck than you; running a 4-Way Equilizer. Before bikes, I'm right at 1k on the tongue and 5100 on axles. I do get a slight push from passing semis, and got tossed in a wind storm two weeks ago. I never felt unsafe in the eight years of ownership, the wind just required more focus.

So going to a shorter trailer will not resolve the issue, just reduce the severity.

[95jersey]

Just to respond with additional info, I have airbags. Funny though, if I put in anymore than 30-40lbs, the problem actually gets worse (they take up to 100lbs). The sweet spot is around 35psi. WD system is set perfectly level. I too think the weight of the bikes past the rear axle is not optimal, but unfortunately that is the nature of the design. The water tank 55 gallons is directly over the rear axle, which could exacerbate the situation as well. Lots of weight in the rear.

So this is my quandrum though...is going to the same set up but just smaller size going to even help? Even if I go 25ft and 5000lbs, the bikes will still be in past the rear axle, offsetting tongue weight