I have a 2000 Excursion 2wd V10 3.73 gears, I tow with OD off. Aiflift 5000 bags in the rear. Reese WDH with trunnion bars. Dual friction antisway. Rancho 9000xl shocks in the rear. Towing a 2005 Keystone Cougar 33' TT. Since I added the bags and set the WDH up appropriately (having an electric jack is awesome btw) it tows much better than when I first picked up the trailer. There is still a little push/pull when Im being passed by vehicles. How much of this should I expect or what is normal?(Oh an after my first trip with the trailer, bringing it home, my torque converter failed sending shards of metal through the tranny, sliced the front tranny seal while I was backing trailer in my yard. This earned me a rebuild with Transgo Tugger HD2 shift kit and all possible upgrades to the 4r100 tranny. That was an expense I wasn't counting on.)

Nobody can comment on that push/pull feeling when being passed?

I think that you are going to have it to some degree no matter what. The solution is to be aware of your surroundings and know what is in your mirror at all times. Don't let the suckas sneak up on you!

There will always be some. At higher speeds large vehicles push a lot of air around. As long as the entire rig moves as one unit you have done all you can do. If the trailer is wagging then there are better sway control measures available than friction sway control. Your hitch may be a good candidate for the Reese dual cam set up. The problem you describe is very common and is magnified by the size and speed of the vehicle passing. Your set up presents a very large surface to be pushed by the air being displaced by a passing vehicle. The amount of space between the two vehicles also has an impact. It can be minimized by moving as far over as possible as it approaches. The dual cam system would make the entire set up move as one unit.

Yes you will feel some push/pull with any hitch! I would recommend ditching the friction sway bars and going with a Reese Dual Cam system. do you have a rear sway bar? (on the axle of the Excursion). I didn`t and it was downright scarry towing without one even with the air bags! I installed a Hellwig sway bar and it was a night and day difference. I have towed for 14 hours straight (I don`t recommend that!) and other than being tired the last 2 hours it was a comfortable relaxing drive.

I owned 2 Excursion before my current combo. Excursion make great tow vehicles however they can be finicky due to their soft rear suspensions.Air bags,sway bars ans RAS (Roadmaster Active Suspension) are all popular fixes.I also believe you need to upgrade your hitch. The push pull effect can be eliminated with a premium hitch. A Hensley or Propride hitch will deliver an entirely different/rock solid tow experience.I was not satisfied with my Excursion TT combo until I upgraded to a HA.Photo of my old rig with Hensley. It was an awesome combo

My towing setup | Good Sam Community

ScottG
Nomad
May 06, 2014
BroncoRN wrote:
Im running my tires at 65 psi front and 75 psi rear. I only have provision for 1 sway bar as per design of hitch head.

I have a second WDH. It has round bars but can accomodate dual friction bars if that would help?

Try going to 75 or even 80 PSI in the front as well. I was amazed how much difference this made.
jerem0621
Explorer II
May 06, 2014
Yep sure would help... A second sway bar will take most if not all of the remaining wiggle out of the trailer.

You can have a second sway bar mount added to your hitch head for just a few bucks. It has to do with welding on a little tab for the mini ball mount on the hitch head.

Thanks!

Jeremiah
BroncoRN
Explorer
May 06, 2014
Im running my tires at 65 psi front and 75 psi rear. I only have provision for 1 sway bar as per design of hitch head.

I have a second WDH. It has round bars but can accomodate dual friction bars if that would help?
Campfire_Time
Explorer
May 06, 2014
As already said, some is pretty much unavoidable. I used to tow a 17' HTT. I got some of that "push/pull" but not a lot. I have a 21' HTT now and I can certainly feel a bit more of it. Nothing alarming, but you have to be watchful what's coming up. I tend to pull a little closer to the shoulder when trucks pass. And most of them are courteous and pull close to the left shoulder.
jerem0621
Explorer II
May 06, 2014
Before I dumped big money into a new hitch I would just do a few things that are FREE.

1) air your tires on the TV and the TT to the max sidewall pressure
2) add 1/4 turn of tension on the tension screws on your sway bars. (Sway bars are fine btw)
3) check for play in the steering...excursions and super duties of this era had some steering issues. And the steering boxes can be adjusted to take some slack up.
4) double check the WD hitch set up again.

thanks!

Jeremiah
BroncoRN
Explorer
May 06, 2014
I looked at dual cam, but i dont know how the cam setups will fit. I have very little room between the bars and tongue of trailer. Am i missing something?

My rig moves as a complete unit when that push pull thing happens.; And i have no rear sway bar. The thing that messed me up this last time was i forgot to adjust rear shocks. I had left them set on 3.
ScottG
Nomad
May 06, 2014
Switching to a dual cam set-up will get rid of most of it but you will always feel some movement as big vehicles go by.
Lantley
Nomad
May 06, 2014
I owned 2 Excursion before my current combo. Excursion make great tow vehicles however they can be finicky due to their soft rear suspensions.
Air bags,sway bars ans RAS (Roadmaster Active Suspension) are all popular fixes.
I also believe you need to upgrade your hitch. The push pull effect can be eliminated with a premium hitch. A Hensley or Propride hitch will deliver an entirely different/rock solid tow experience.
I was not satisfied with my Excursion TT combo until I upgraded to a HA.

Photo of my old rig with Hensley. It was an awesome combo
dodge_guy
Explorer II
May 06, 2014
Yes you will feel some push/pull with any hitch! I would recommend ditching the friction sway bars and going with a Reese Dual Cam system. do you have a rear sway bar? (on the axle of the Excursion). I didn`t and it was downright scarry towing without one even with the air bags! I installed a Hellwig sway bar and it was a night and day difference. I have towed for 14 hours straight (I don`t recommend that!) and other than being tired the last 2 hours it was a comfortable relaxing drive.
fla-gypsy
Explorer
May 06, 2014
There will always be some. At higher speeds large vehicles push a lot of air around. As long as the entire rig moves as one unit you have done all you can do. If the trailer is wagging then there are better sway control measures available than friction sway control. Your hitch may be a good candidate for the Reese dual cam set up. The problem you describe is very common and is magnified by the size and speed of the vehicle passing. Your set up presents a very large surface to be pushed by the air being displaced by a passing vehicle. The amount of space between the two vehicles also has an impact. It can be minimized by moving as far over as possible as it approaches. The dual cam system would make the entire set up move as one unit.