Anyone experienced this...pogo stick ride especially on Wisconsininterstates. Your TV bounces up and down like your breaking ina horse. Some manufacturers say the new axel placement being further apart prevents this, I keep thinking a new TT might be worth it if that's the cure. The word is IF. I have noticed almost allthe new TT do have the axels further apart, got to be a reason. Ithink the wife has finally had the swelling go down from the rapsshe took on a recent trip in Wisconsin with the TT in tow but thedents in the TV roof are still there. Most other states we hardly notice the pogo stick affect. Can anyone shed some light on this?I had a UHaul come off the hitch while traveling in Wisconsin. Wewere really lucky no one hit the thing as it passed me by and rammedinto a ditch. The UHaul was undamaged but took myself and a passerbyto hook it back up. We did not experience this in ILLINOIS justto the South but as we got closer to Madison, Wisconsin the pogostick affect started. I wrote to the state but the DOT said it wasnot their problem and would pass my letter on. We never heard a thing.

Try a different speed. The spacing of roadway joints, the spacing of axles, and the timing of when they are hitting will cause oscillations to develop. Slowing down may get them out of rhythm.

I too have noticed this on Wisconsin's highways... At one point it was making me so nauseous that I moved to the left-most lane, and all was well. I assumed the right hand lane(s) were more beat up. I only have a single axle trailer and speed didn't much matter but faster was better as the frequency increased with speed. Noticed this first with my station wagon towing my trailer, and also a half ton truck towing the same trailer.

Our roads in the US are in such poor shape that this effect is often the result. The right lane is the one the trucks use and it gets beat up by the weight. Moving to the left when you don't obstruct traffic is one way to compensate. When we drove our DP I would increase the air bag pressure the ride was a little stiff but it ended the porpoising. The other thing to consider is if you are using a WD hitch you may have shifted too much weight to the front. You may try dropping 1 link and then see if the ride improves without making the front feel light. Good luck on these roads. I came through Wisconsin a few years back and I thought I was going to shake myself to death.

Shocks, Shocks, Shocks!!Put Bilstein's on the TV and a good quality gas charged on the trailer!!

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger buddy! When the concrete on the highway sinks a little bit at the expansion joint it will rock you. I put Stable Load inserts on my truck and Bilstein shocks. Roads that I used to slow to 45 on I can now cruise 60+. The truck also handles and rides better empty with the good shocks. 3-4 hundred dollars can eliminate a lot of that.

Pogo Stick Ride or Saddle Up Your Bucking Bronco

rhagfo
Explorer III
Mar 03, 2015
travelnman wrote:
Thanks to all of ya. I wonder if 5th wheels experience this probably not.
Those of you going to the Wis Dells get ready for the ride of your life just before Madison and after but take some Benadryl with you and stop in Janesville and check your hitch connections. Last year I arrived at the campground and
started unhooking as I cranked up the front end of the TT I noticed the
ball came right out of the hitch, the nut had come off from all the bouncing.
I think my guardian angels held it on.

5ers can get a similar issue, refereed to as "Chucking". It is more of a push pull effect of the tandem tires and expansion joint spacing.
travelnman
Explorer
Mar 02, 2015
Thanks to all of ya. I wonder if 5th wheels experience this probably not.
Those of you going to the Wis Dells get ready for the ride of your life just before Madison and after but take some Benadryl with you and stop in Janesville and check your hitch connections. Last year I arrived at the campground and
started unhooking as I cranked up the front end of the TT I noticed the
ball came right out of the hitch, the nut had come off from all the bouncing.
I think my guardian angels held it on.
Oldme
Explorer
Feb 08, 2015
That was at onetime called "Freeway Hop".
It can even be dangerous at higher speed.
Usually of you slow down or sometime speed up a little
you will pass the pint where the expansion joints
interact with the wheel base and speed to setup the
harmonic vibration that causes the problem.

I had a sports car with a very tight suspension.
At certain speed it would almost bounce off the pavement.
Go above or below that speed and there was no problem.

I soften the suspension to near stock and the problem went away.
My suspension was too stiff.
manualman
Explorer II
Feb 03, 2015
It's called curled joints and happens with concrete highways built with poor moisture control during the curing period. Was less common in the 60's era construction because the Portland cement granules were coarser and they had to use more of it to get their 14 day strength. Modern mixes get strength faster, but respond poorly to drying out during the curing process.

It will be bad until they either do grinding at the high points to smooth things out or overlay the whole thing with asphalt.
Beaker
Explorer
Feb 03, 2015
Try a different speed. The spacing of roadway joints, the spacing of axles, and the timing of when they are hitting will cause oscillations to develop. Slowing down may get them out of rhythm.

harmonics!
Slowing down or speding up should help.
AndyW
Explorer
Feb 03, 2015
Apparently several years ago there was a flaw in the construction methods being used, causing this issue to appear on all interstates constructed during that period. Parts of 94 are bad, 41 near Appleton is terrible, I'm sure there are others. These roads aren't so much worn out (though others certainly are!), but rather fundamentally flawed yet too expensive to rip out and replace.

In my experience, the effect varies drastically with different trailers and tow vehicles, though not necessarily by weight or length. Probably a resonance thing.

It's not noticeable in an average passenger vehicle, so there isn't much of a push by citizens to correct the problem.
stetwood
Explorer
Jan 29, 2015
Wisconsin is projected to have 2 Billion shortfall so don't expect the roads to improve much. To help the budget our Governor is cutting the University system 13%, next thing will be selling the infrastructure.
GordonThree
Explorer
Jan 29, 2015
Having "survived" the roads in northern BC, Yukon and to some degree Alaska, the roads here in the south don't seem so bad anymore.
azchuckmo
Explorer
Jan 29, 2015
Got the same issue on the interstates in the west, especially the freeways in and around LA.
chevor
Explorer
Jan 28, 2015
Janesville :R Slow down drive in a lower gear helps. I can't figure it out either. Have traveled that road weekly. Whole road is resurfaced to Minneapolis but the WORST part.