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.

[aftermath]

I agree with getting good LT tires. I did this on my Tundra and it did make a difference.
As far as your rig being nice and level, and it is by the way, this can happen a couple of ways. I have an Equalizer and I can pretty much level the trailer by raising the ball, or by tilting the head and engaging the bars. If the ball is high enough it doesn't provide much pressure on the bars to keep it level. With little friction here the potential of sway goes up.
If the ball is too low then it will take a huge amount of pressure on the bars to level the trailer. The key, in my mind, is to balance this out. In the pictures your spring bars don't look like they are loaded down much.
Again, I don't have a hitch like yours so I might be missing something and I apologize if I am.
Don't give up on your combination too soon. Get some LT tires and by all means get it weighed. Try setting it up so it is just slightly nose down and see if that makes a difference.

[4x4ord]

I'm betting you don't have enough tongue weight. How does it tow without the bikes? If it is good without the bikes I'd try putting some ballast in the front of the trailer when the bikes are loaded. The best solution would be to move the trailer axles back a couple feet.

[valhalla360]

95jersey wrote:

correct, max tow HDPP is not available on the crew cab for some reason...payload on the door says 1970lbs. Even if it is say 1300-1400lbs, I am still within spec, but the honest answer is that doesn't mean it is going to tow nicely, just that I am in spec.

Maybe a simple upgrade to LT tires and 1500lb WD may work...may not

If the tongue weight is 1400lb and presuming if you have 3 bikes, you have 3 people in the truck, you could be north of your 1970lb payload before you put a single stick of firewood or anything else in the bed.

Taking it to a weigh station is a cheap first check but with more info it looks like you need a bigger truck or a smaller trailer.

Weight limits are a good first pass but if you are having handling issues, that trumps official limits.

[fj12ryder]

95jersey wrote:
So even if my tonque weight is 1200lbs, I still have 700lbs in payload. I don't carry anything in the truck be people (2-3 max) when towing. Now if my tonque is 1500lbs, then I have a problem. I honestly don't think getting a bigger truck or larger WD hitch will help. The bars have good tension and are set up properly. I am beginning to think the design of the trailer along with the extreme height (12ft) is just catching every bit of wind and not distributing the load very well.

I do think specs aside (even if I am within), this trailer is just a bit too much for a bumper pull. If it were 5th wheel, it'd be a different story.

You can guess at everything, but until you actually weigh the thing, you don't know. Weigh it and you'll know whether you're way off, or just a little off. Knowing is always better than not knowing.

[Bedlam]

Adjust the hitch head angle to put more tension on the spring bars when engaged and reduce your bag pressure a little. This will shift tongue weight around a little and may feel better when towing.

We still need actual weights to really help you rather than just brochure weights and visuals.

[95jersey]

So even if my tonque weight is 1200lbs, I still have 700lbs in payload. I don't carry anything in the truck be people (2-3 max) when towing. Now if my tonque is 1500lbs, then I have a problem. I honestly don't think getting a bigger truck or larger WD hitch will help. The bars have good tension and are set up properly. I am beginning to think the design of the trailer along with the extreme height (12ft) is just catching every bit of wind and not distributing the load very well.

I do think specs aside (even if I am within), this trailer is just a bit too much for a bumper pull. If it were 5th wheel, it'd be a different story.

[Grit_dog]

Also do you have the 9.75 or 8.8 rear axle? Long wheelbase Eco truck likely has the 9.75 anyway which makes it the same as a HDPP axle.

[Grit_dog]

95jersey, that's a seriously nice looking setup! And if that's all leveled up ready to roll, I might suggest letting the back of the truck take a little more weight. The pics look like you have it dialed up to no sag in the rear of the truck.
there should be zero issue with that truck tugging that trailer....which you've already identified, other than you get a little wiggle or push in winds.
Now it's all about YOUR expectations. Are you expecting it to tow like it's not there? If so, trailer too big or truck too small. If you have reasonable expectations, your truck more than fits the bill for that trailer.
Like mentioned above. Get some D or E load tires. Doesnt look like your suspension needs help at all, but a sway bar may help a little.
Happy camping!

BTW, the payload cops are out in force on this one, lol. What they fail to realize is even IF you believe the factory payload numbers are gospel, they are developed considering most of the payload is.....where? You guessed it, in the bed, over the rear axle. Do a little moment diagram that takes into account the uplift from the wdh on the back adding to the front and you may be more comfortable with your situation.

[mhamershock]

Another one of these threads. Too much trailer and not enough truck. I too did this with my last combo - a 3.5 Max Tow with a 27 foot 7000 dry TH. It was not comfortable or safe, and was very sensitive to load placement. You can bandaid it all you want, but at 1970 payload you are 500 lbs short and you can't fix that. You shoulda bought the HDPP if you had to have a 1/2 ton. That's what I did with my 18 and it tows 9000 lbs beautifully. You have a primitive WD setup too - you need 1200 lb bars and real sway control. Friction sucks. Look at the Husky Centerline TS series. Far superior and not expensive.

Scale it unloaded and loaded, otherwise you are guessing. I'll bet you are over 1000 lb tongue weight which doesn't leave much payload, and that you are at or over RAWR. Gonna need a bigger boat.

[JeremyFr]

As others have mentioned, get LT tires ASAP that will make a huge difference in towing performane on your F150, I have a similar F150 (2016 3.5TT S-CREW, 6.5'Bed) with nearly identical weight sticker. I can tell you from my own experience towing my 23' 6k trailer that 62-65mph is the sweet spot for the F150 when towing. Just because it CAN go faster doesn't mean it SHOULD. Slow down and enjoy the drive. Anything over 65 while towing is just asking for all kinds of issues especially in a 1/2 ton truck.

[carringb]

You really need to hit up a scale.

I agree that everything looks perfectly level, which is good. However it looks like there's not much tension on the WD bars. This, combined with the layout which looks like all cargo goes behind the rear axle, and the tanks are at the axles as well, I think you simply have an unstable trailer.

This is your floorplan?



With the full-width cargo area completely behind the axles, you might have to load the bike backwards to have any chance of maintaining a reasonable tongue weight.

[95jersey]

Hopefully these images work. Here is the trailer hooked up with 2 bikes in the back. As you can see this thing is HUGE.

[HTElectrical]

Adding air to the air bags takes weight off of the front end, and also reduces the effectiveness of the WD hitch.

[carringb]

If your current lightweight bars are adequately leveling the trailer, that lends credence to the theory you don't have enough tongue weight to make the trailer stable. This is problem with all longer 2-axle trailers. Weekend warrior had to upgrade many of their 2-axle 28' trailers to triple axles, because nobody could haul anything in the back without destabilizing it.

Once test you could try is filling the waste tanks fully (so they don't slosh) and see if that improves stability.

[95jersey]

Another question...trying to figure out what a higher rated WD hitch is going to do for me at this point? My current WD hitch has no issue leveling out the trailer/truck. If I get a heavier rated WD hitch, and it pushes up with anymore force, it will just raise the tongue higher and out of level.

I would think going to a heavier WD system would be useful only if you can't level the load with a lower rated set up. What am I missing?

I understand I need to weight the full rig and will do that soon.