First time towing with the new van, not fun!

[The_LeRoys]

So I got to tow with our new van for the first time today. It was one of my worst experiences towing ever. The engine and transmission seemed to run great, but the steering was miserable.

To be fair, my hitch isn't adjusted quite right for the van, its still setup for our truck, but the hitch heights were similar so I figured I could drive it home as is then adjust. We have the equalizer hitch and it has been awesome on this camper and our previous one. It needs to add a bit more weight onto the front wheels. Its not off by much probably 1 hole, but I know its not perfect. THere was some weight on the bars but not a ton.

My tires are brand new Michelin LTX MS2 tires and my alignment was checked and really good. On the road not towing it goes pretty straight downt he road.

When the road was in good shape and straight it seemed to go along pretty well, not as good as my last truck but not unbearable. However as soon as I had to make one steering correction, I ended up having to make about a dozen more to get it straight again, with my tail wagging all over. When the road was uneven (construction zone) or in bad shape, I felt like I was all over the road. If a semi passed me on level ground, there wasn't any sway or pull really felt. BUt if they passed me on the uneven section, it was miserable. A curve in the road when it was uneven was about as bad as you could get. I just felt like I spent the entire time zigging from one side of the lane to the other trying to keep it straight the whole drive.

I wont get a chance to adjust the hitch and try again for probably a week, and we leave for our big trip in under 3, not leaving me much time to correct any issues.

Could not having the hitch perfect really cause me that much misery? Or are there other things I need to be considering? That hitch has been amazing on the same camper and other vehicles in the past.

I remember when we went from a 1/2 ton van in the past (on a different trailer) to a 3/4 ton suburban thinking the towing was night & day better. Is it just towing with a van that is different? Or should I be considering adding something? AntiSway bars to the front or rear axle of the truck? Steering system like Roadmaster?

Thoughts / Suggestions?

[carringb]

PS - Maybe your trailer just isn't a good towing trailer?

Maybe a ProPride wouldn't be a bad idea?

I'm actually thinking about one, mostly to get more hitch length so I stop kissing the cargo box on my bumper, but also because I get more bow-wave in strong crosswinds, using my Blue-Ox, than I ever got with my Reese Dual Cam.

[carringb]

Have you taken a look at the shocks yet? Are they still the factory shocks?

I'm just surprised you are having so much trouble still. I even did one trip using my dad's van (mine was getting new gears) pulling my 41' toy hauler, and I never felt it was unstable. It's bone stock except for a Hellwig rear sway bar. That trip was with a Dual Cam hitch.

I will say that a rear sway bar does make the vans much better drivers in general, with and without a trailer. But even without I wouldn't expect it to be the struggle you are describing.

Also, can you take a look at your rear leafs and take a count? One popular "upgrade" for livery vans is removing the lowest leaf for a better ride, as they don't need to the full carrying capacity since they don't tow.

[LarryJM]

dodge guy wrote:
Personally I don`t care for the Equalizer hitch. it is really just a friction sway control. the better hitch would be a Dual Cam for it`s resistance to sway. even better for a Van with a large overhang would be the Hensley or Pro Pride. I don`t think you`ll ever get it to where you want because of the overhang on the van unless you step up to a better hitch.

I'm really not sure all that is correct. While not the ideal hitch the Equal-i-zer should perform just as well as the Dual Cam. I do agree the HA or Pro Pride would be best, but that is a lot more added wt. on the already apparantly maxed out receiver limits.

I can tell you that unless you have a good load in the Van the handling with larger TTs won't be as good as if you have plenty of dog for these larger tails.

Larry

[LarryJM]

The LeRoys wrote:
I've got the new 14K Hitch on and have it adjusted perfectly. I've taken it to be weighed and things look to balance out really well. Plenty of weight on the front wheels, good percentage of tongue weight.

You say you've weighed it so can you please give us those wts per axle with the three required weigh ins? Those should be the Van loaded with all typical gear and passengers w/o the trailer attached, weight with trailer attached, but WDH bars not connected and finally with trailer connected with the WDH bars on.

Without this level we and you are purely guessing and that can lead to exactly the kind of issues you are experiencing.

Larry

[dodge_guy]

Personally I don`t care for the Equalizer hitch. it is really just a friction sway control. the better hitch would be a Dual Cam for it`s resistance to sway. even better for a Van with a large overhang would be the Hensley or Pro Pride. I don`t think you`ll ever get it to where you want because of the overhang on the van unless you step up to a better hitch.

[Cummins12V98]

rockhillmanor wrote:

The LeRoys wrote:
....My tires are brand

new Michelin LTX MS2 tires

and my alignment was checked and really good. On the road not towing it goes pretty straight down the road......Thoughts / Suggestions?

Take two fingers and grab the outer tread on the front tires and move it back and forth. My bet is,it is going to flex back and forth like nobody's business.

Had perfect handling on my RV until I put the new Michelin's on and we were all over the road......to aggressive of a tread.

I had that MH in 4 shops trying to figure out what was wrong with the 'handling'. The 5th shop was a semi-truck repair. Mechanic walked right out to the tires and showed me why. 😞

Too aggressive, Really?

[The_LeRoys]

I've got the new 14K Hitch on and have it adjusted perfectly. I've taken it to be weighed and things look to balance out really well. Plenty of weight on the front wheels, good percentage of tongue weight. THe tires are inflated properly on van & camper. I had taken it on a few short test tows, and it seemed better, not as great as a diesel pickup, but better.

So I was feeling pretty good heading out on a 300 mile drive today. Day one of our 11 week trip. By about an hour in I was ready to cancel the trip and go home. It was very windy, rainy, and I was driving through the construction zones on uneven pavement with a lot of tractor trailers passing me. I was being pushed and pulled all over the road, it was very uncomfortable. It wasn't as bad as the first tow, but it wasn't a pleasant experience either.

I stopped after a few hours and made some adjustments. First taking off the hitch haul on the back of the camper which had a few totes on the back, and moving that weight further forward. It got slightly better, but still not great.

I found holding the wheel with resistance in both directions in both hands helped some as well. The steering wheel seems very sensitive and the slightest movement will cause a big reaction on the back end.

The hitch sway control on the equalizer seemed to end sway pretty quickly, but the amount of pull on the TT and TV was still far more than I'm used to with a truck. I'm pretty sure its because of the hitch being so far behind the rear wheels on the van compared to a truck acting as a HUGE lever.

It seems we're moving in the right direction of improving things, but its not as good as I want it to be yet. What should I consider next? Should I post this or have it moved to a Class B/C issue because people towing there would have a similar wheel base and steering issue?

I'm thinking something like the roadmaster active suspension? Or would a track bar be my next option?

[Hybridhunter]

E350's have terrible steering, and the slop level is disgraceful, and is not like any other current Ford product. I drove one, provided by my employer for over a year, got it brand new, with the "handling package" and it was a turd, steering wise.

[RGar974417]

I have towed with a van for about 40 years.the first thing I would check is the van rated to tow your trailer? If so,do you have enough tongue weight? Do you have enough air in your tires? Are you using a weight distributing hitch? You may not have the spring bars pulled up tight enough to distribute the weight.Are they heavey enough for your trailer? If you have met all of the above criteria,then you may need a sway bar.

[Community Alumni]

ssia2485 wrote:

Bingo - You found your problem. That 20 inch difference from the axle C/L to the hitch ball will create more sway. The shorter wheelbase is also bad for your application. The van will never handle like the truck because of this. You don't see many vans on the road pulling large trailers for this reason. The van was a bad choice for a tow vehicle.

I wouldn't say that a van is a bad choice. It's actually a pretty good choice for lots of people. The 350/3500 series vans are built just like the 1 ton trucks and they have a decent wheelbase. I see quite a few pulling big TT's. Extended vans on the other hand aren't as good of a choice, but I wouldn't rule them out. You just have to be a lot more careful with the setup.

[The_LeRoys]

I spoke with the Equalizer team yesterday. They said that the bars on the 12K and the 14K are identical at 1 1/2" rather than 1 3/8" used by the 10K. The difference is in the sockets and the head, they are both reinforced more to handle the extra pressure.

[carringb]

Dodge Guy, I'd agree with you if it were and empty pickup. But a loaded van should be able to keep enough weight on the rear end all the time 😉 Plus, 200 lbs is a pretty smal change in spring rates. I think he'll be just fine with the 1400 bars.

[dodge_guy]

I`de be careful on going with a higher rated hitch. too much and it may make it worse. you want the spring bars matched very closely to the loaded tongue weight. hitting a dip in the road with a heavier rated hitch could actually take weight off the rear axle.

match the tongue weight to the WD hitch rating.

[The_LeRoys]

Thanks everyone for all of the tips and advice, it really has gotten better, but I do want to see it improve more. After speaking with the nice people at Equalizer, I opted to go with a 14K hitch. The differences between the 12K and the 14K are so minor, that I'd rather have a larger one should I ever want to upgrade TV or Camper in future. They 100% agreed and said that is generally their recommendation.

I put the Michelin tires on myself because I love them.

[carringb]

Sorry, have to disagree with the last post. Compared to any SUV, vans are superior for towing. Compared to any pickup, vans are superior for hauling passengers. Extended body vans are not inherently unstable, but I do agree they can be more affected by a bad setup. I've towed many trailers with 5 different vans (hundreds of thousands of miles in total) and only had away once, pulling a landscaping trailer with too little tongue weight. I did pull my 41' toy hauler with my dads van once, and it did get blown around more compared to my du ally, but was still stable overall.

Also, one more thought related to stability... Since it was a fleet van, it's tires were probably picked solely on cost. Good tires with firm sidewalls make a big difference. Also, it wouldn't hurt to get a full alignment check done. Toe out, or too little caster, or too much camber, will still drive straight but won't be as stable.