New trailer swaying, looking for advice
Hello! Brand new posting, but have read the forum for a long time. Brief intro.. We have camped for many years, our first camper was a 17 foot Palomino Stampede Hybrid. We towed it with a Nissa...
Forum Discussion
After thinking about it some more, I'd like to add a point or two.
You might think about when the sway is occurring. If it's only when you are braking, for example, that might suggest a problem with the trailer brakes; perhaps only one side is working.
Your Scamp is around 2200 lbs. You'd want at least 200 lbs tongue weight, preferably 250 to 300 lbs. Too little tongue weight is the most common sway inducement. However, too MUCH tongue weight (say, 350 lbs or more?) could be taking too much weight off your tug's front axle, affecting steering control and thus perhaps allowing the tail to wag the dog.
One person I'm aware of suddenly started having sway with his 21' Bigfoot, towed by an F350. It turned out that both of the trailer springs had broken, and when he braked he sometimes got a violent sway rhythm. So it is possible for mechanical problems to cause sway, but these problems can sometimes be hard to ferret out... he stumped several mechanics on the route to his solution. (Makes me wonder how good the mechanics were, though.) You might need to crawl underneath and inspect the frame and everything.
You might think about when the sway is occurring. If it's only when you are braking, for example, that might suggest a problem with the trailer brakes; perhaps only one side is working.
Your Scamp is around 2200 lbs. You'd want at least 200 lbs tongue weight, preferably 250 to 300 lbs. Too little tongue weight is the most common sway inducement. However, too MUCH tongue weight (say, 350 lbs or more?) could be taking too much weight off your tug's front axle, affecting steering control and thus perhaps allowing the tail to wag the dog.
One person I'm aware of suddenly started having sway with his 21' Bigfoot, towed by an F350. It turned out that both of the trailer springs had broken, and when he braked he sometimes got a violent sway rhythm. So it is possible for mechanical problems to cause sway, but these problems can sometimes be hard to ferret out... he stumped several mechanics on the route to his solution. (Makes me wonder how good the mechanics were, though.) You might need to crawl underneath and inspect the frame and everything.
