Sway and jerking issues

[thskilla0069]

I am making a big 2900 mile move across the country here soon. I decided instead of paying another company to just move my stuff that I would buy a trailer and pull it with my 2012 Ram 1500 4x4 Crew cab. This truck allows me to have up to 8500 lbs for towing. I bought me an 8.5x20 enclosed trailer that has a foot taller height than normal (for sxs when I buy another). I towed it home on a regular ball hitch as it was unloaded and it towed fine even without brake controller. It weighs 3,000 lb empty and I am only allowed to load 4k in it since its just a 7k trailer. I installed brake controller and got a use weight distribution setup. I loaded the trailer and first trip to scales showed about 1800lbs tongue weight and 6600lbs on the axles. I noticed some pushing back and forth on this small trip to scales from the trailer. I since then have redistributed my weight towards the back. Yesterday I went to the scales and had 7100 on the back axles and 700lbs of tongue weight (granted this is with weight distribution hooked up so I am guess probably 1000lbs of actual tongue weight). The back and front axles of truck were under the 3900 lb limit and I know the axles on the trailer are 100 over but I feel with a new trailer doing just this one trip and greasing the hubs daily on the trip should be all right. I went for a little trip down the interstate just keeping it at 60-65 mph. I got a bad swaying motion the one time and it was pretty scary. The things I think that are causing the issue with the swaying is the hitch for the WD I bought used is base of ball about 24 inches high and trailer is only 19 inches at the bottom of the coupler. I measured trailer with it hooked up and the front is 2 inches taller than the back. Being this trailer also is very tall and pretty square at the front I would imagine the wind is pushing the top of this rig and reducing my tongue weight along with the hitch having it nose up 2 inches. Instantly when I got home I ordered a new WD setup with adjustable hitch to be able to lower the trailer and get it level or even maybe an inch lower in the front and it came with just one friction sway linkage and 1200 lb bars. Do you think the 2 inches, no sway prevention, and having a tall front squared trailer could be removing a lot of my tongue weight and causing this sway? I know when I actually leave I will probably add about 200 lbs of residual stuff in the furnished place we staying to the front to add a little more tongue weight not to mention sons bikes and stuff in the back of the truck.

[thskilla0069]

Thanks for the wishes. Today I setup new wd. Trailer is sitting level in front and back. Another trip to scales shows I have 1000 of the 8000 total weight of trailer I'm tongue weight. I'll add at least 100-200 more the day before we leave. The front doesnt sag a single bit and I lost 3/4 of inch in the back but that is fine. My weights are way less than axle max and I have All of the 3100 lbs in front axle still there with wd. In my numbers the back axle got 800 of the 1000 tw and the trailer got the other 200 and the front didn't change. I even did weight of next link less and it only took 100lbs off the front. The test run seemed great as long as I run it at 60-65. I got to remind myself 70-80 is not safe at 14,000 lbs lol

[Bob_Olallawa]

Best of luck to you on your trip. I do hope you listen to these posters and not end up pilled up in a ditch somewhere.

[Lynnmor]

thskilla0069 wrote:
yeah I mean I won't going to fully grease it each time we stop. I have pushed out all the crappy grease they put in from factory and put good grease in them. I just plan to check each day if they need a pump or two. I will just make sure they don't get hot and run low. I thought from semi research into the e-z lube that they didn't have a back seal to deal with like the older style hubs. I could be wrong.

The spindles with a grease fitting are exactly like the ones without. It is just a hole drilled in the spindle with a fitting on the end.

The very best way to use that grease fitting is to beat it with a hammer till it is flat, then hand pack the bearings at your annual brake inspection.

[thskilla0069]

yeah I mean I won't going to fully grease it each time we stop. I have pushed out all the crappy grease they put in from factory and put good grease in them. I just plan to check each day if they need a pump or two. I will just make sure they don't get hot and run low. I thought from semi research into the e-z lube that they didn't have a back seal to deal with like the older style hubs. I could be wrong. I will make sure that I just check them periodically through the trip.

My new WD hitch came in today.. single day delivery when it was supposed to be 2 day. I will get the anti sway bar mounted and go by the recommendations to get it all setup and right and maybe even go do a check at the scales and another test ride again to see how it does after I got it all setup properly.

[mkirsch]

There has to be a seal on the inside of the hub. That's how they keep the brake dust out of the bearings.

That issue with "E-Z lube" axles only happens sometimes, but when it does, it's a mess. Regardless, greasing as much as you propose is going to be overkill, expensive, and very messy. It takes 1/2 to a full tube of grease per wheel to push the old grease out. Just lube them up at the beginning of the trip and check each one periodically to ensure it's not loosening up.

[thskilla0069]

This trailer has the sealed system where there is not a seal at the back so I don't have to worry about the grease getting on the brakes.

Yeah I think the tire rating for the trailer is like 7280 so yeah I will be right at that. They are all brand new and this is the only trip I plan to have it overloaded like this at all so I would hope they can get 2900 miles maxed out. I got one spare.

I know how to get out of a sway but I am just trying to do my best to get it fully setup the best it can be to avoid having to worry about getting out of one.

[Bob_Olallawa]

I would not grease the trailer bearings with the zerk fittings on the end of the axles. You will loose your brakes, the grease will push past the grease seal and be all over the brake shoes and drums. Get the trailer hitch set up and load the trailer properly. If you go over the axle weight rating you more than likely will be over the tire rating also.

[coolmom42]

If you do get in a sway situation, the first thing to do is SLOW DOWN. Take your foot off the gas, and carefully apply some TRAILER brake with your controller. Then carefully and gently brake the truck if necessary.

You can drive as slow as you need to. That's what the right lane is for!

[thskilla0069]

The wind here in Nevada is crazy. Just hoping the days I am leaving that it is very mild.. If I run into another 50 mph head wind like I did when I towed it back then I will just pull over and wait it out. It didn't sway that time because it was unloaded and pretty head on but it was working the truck pushing through that amount of air. I don't like to be over 3500 rpm for anything. I am use to my truck at low rpms. on flat ground I was doing 60-65 at about 2200 rpm last night and that's fine. It was just the one time I got into a bad sway that was sketchy. I am hoping this system dialed in will take that away since trailer will be level and truck will be.

[thskilla0069]

The truck has a 8500lb tow capacity with 1600lb payload. Each axle is capable of 3900lbs.

as of last reading with the old WD hooked up
front axle = 2840
rear axles = 3680
trail axles = 7140
Combined 13,660

both axles are less than the 3900 lbs. I do see I need this new WD to add more weight to the front cause manufacturing says base weight for front is 3,092 and 2,350 for the rear. My last time weighing I believe I weighed in at 5820 lbs with me (300lbs) in it. This tells me that with WD hooked up my last reading at 6,520 (2840+3680) is carrying a distributed weight of the tongue of 1000lbs (6520-5500) which could be a little more that was distributed to the TT axles.

There will be no added cargo or people in the truck for the this haul. It'll be me and the family following in the car.

The truck is going to be really close to its 14k gcwr. I am trying to keep everything within its limits.. axles under 3900 each. I hoping this newer WD is going to let me push more of that distributed weight to the front axle. It won't lifting but a half an inch now but I want to get it back up to normal weight on the front and make sure the back and front are level on the truck and on the trailer. I know its not right hence I am trying to buy or adjust whatever is needed to get it right. I know the trailer is overloaded and the axles will be a few hundred lbs over but I will justify that in it being brand new and greasing daily.

[handye9]

Your 8500 lb towing capacity is calculated without any aftermarket accessories, cargo (in the truck), or passengers. in the vehicle. As you add weight with people, accessories, and cargo, that 8500 tow capacity is dropping, pound for pound. If you put 1000 lbs of people and stuff in the truck, it's max tow capacity is only 7500 lbs.

Besides a max tow rating, your truck also has a rating for what it can carry. It can't carry it's max payload and tow it's max tow rating at the same time. That is because part of that max trailer weight is being carried, not towed. Look for the tire / loading sticker on your drivers door post. It will show a max CCC / passenger number. That is your payload (what the truck is rated to carry). That weight capacity is eaten up by people, pets, cargo (in the truck), weight distributing hitch, and trailer tongue weight. Overloading the tow vehicle can also have an impact on trailer sway.

Example:

Say the tow vehicle has 8500 lb tow rating and 1500 lb payload.

The 8500 lb trailer would eat close to 1200 lbs of that payload. The WD hitch would eat another 100 lbs. That would only leave 200 lb of payload to carry the driver, passengers, and cargo.

Check your truck tires for both air pressure ratings and the type of tire. Passenger (P) tires have softer sidewalls and lower air pressures than light truck (LT) tires. Softer sidewalls allow more side to side flexing. Good for passenger comfort, bad for towing heavy loads.

If you've got the hitch setup to tow the trailer nose-up, not enough tongue weight, overloaded tow vehicle, and passenger tires that are not inflated to their max pressure, that's a perfect recipe for sway issues.

[humblerb]

Couple of things.
As stated, you need to get the trailer level to nose slightly down.
That 2" makes a difference. The rear of the truck will be light and the heavy trailer will be in control (tail wagging the dog).
Second, if you commonly have 30 to 60 MPH gusts, you are going to have sway. You can't stop that.
If it just the gusts, just drive a little slower.
If the sway is continuous, then your set up still needs work.

[thskilla0069]

Well when I had 1800 lbs I had a WD hitch. I actually took the trailer off on the scales to get the 1800. It had like 1400 when the WD was hooked up on the first time. This last time I just took the two truck axle weights and removed the amount that I got from the truck weight from the prior weigh when I had the trailer removed. This is why I say it was 700lbs with WD hooked on. Which some of that weight was transferred back to the TT axles. So in regards to thinking about it again it seems like I might only have 800lbs of actual tongue weight and not 1000. So I probably should move a few more of the stuff sitting on the axles back up to the front to give it a few more lbs in the front.

The head I have now on the WD is older style and it was welded on. There is no adjustment as it would have to be cut off and re welded. Instead of thinking of doing that I just got a new WD system so I could adjust the head and get trailer level and then I will probably do that little more moving in the front and take it over and actually drop the trailer again to get accurate tongue weight of it so I know its 13% or so before I leave for this drive.

[mkirsch]

How are you calculating tongue weight?

You went from one extreme to the other. 1800lbs is "rip the receiver off your truck" weight, especially with no WD hitch. 700lbs on a 7100lb trailer is "sway city" with or without a WD hitch.

The head can be adjusted up or down on the hitch shank by unbolting it and relocating it. The shank can be flipped over to provide rise or drop as needed to get the trailer level.