towing advise please

[waltrazz]

hello, towing my 38 ft travel trailer close on 10,000 lb with my f150 heavy towing package and i added air bags so it sits nice and level with 15 lbs in bags. tows petty good at 50 to 55 mph tops , but once a while i feel the tail wag and it calms down quickly but i don't like it . so hears the question will i improve by experience by replacing the truck with an F-350 or similars with dullies. thanks for looking .

[waltrazz]

Thank you for all the input, i guess i really didn't know what was doing , sometimes that happens, anyway we put on a Curt sway bar and weight distribution kit and the problem is solved.
The truck and trailer behave just great , very comfortable drivability . thanks guys .

[tomman58]

I still say a 250 is likely the best all around size truck for those who want more than casual usage. My diesel just add less cares for towing and provides a steady run for my trailer loads and long hauls. the trans has few shifts due to hills and even mountains. Piece of mind if you are a serious hauler and do so often is worth the price.

[NamMedevac_70]

In my experience you have way too much of a heavy trailer in weight and also length for the enhanced F150. And I would not even think of trying to tow it in the steep mountains of the Rockies and the western USA.

Scary.

[blt2ski]

One reason I like to make sure things are set up correct.....I loaded a bobcat in a trailer per a sales reps advice. It was 3-4' farther back than I would have done. Off I went with an 8500 lb trailer behind my 12k lb class 6 dump flatbed. Trailer was all over the road going side to side.
Pulled into an empty DOT scale along the freeway.
Weighed things. Truck was at typical 5900 front, 5700 rear empty weight. Trailer was at my estimated total 8500 on axles. Ooops, I had no hitch weight! No wonder the trailer was going side to side!
Moved the bobcat back the 3-4' where I thought it should be. Trailer axle was down 1000 lbs, rear on truck up 1020, front down 20 lbs.
I was two finger steering after that! Trailer tracked straight!
A BIG truck is not always going to stop fishtail sway!
If as noted, one is talking side wind movement. If the trailer is pulling straight, there is some side to side rocking, I call that somewhat normal. On my travel trailer, no bars there was more rocking, plain WD less, dual cam less yet. I could still pull the trailer at 60-65 without issues in 30+ crosswinds. With an 80+ mph gusts on I205 going over the Columbia river, that gust move me and everyone else in the road a half lane to driver's side. I had no fishtail sway. Everything moved as a unit. That's not to say a few brown stains weren't on my shorts!
I'm a set the trailer up so it can be pulled at 60 no bars etc. Then add the bars/Hensley as a backup. Because if you trailer wants to uncontroll sway move etc without bars, if the bars brake, fall off, as I had happen once, you will be in trouble! I didn't notice the bar fell off for 80 miles up and over a pass, mid winter with a light amount of snow and ice on the road
With this also said, I prefer not to pull trailers over 2x the rgawr. For "MOST" 15 series trucks, the rating is typically a max 4000-4500. So 9000 lbs of trailer. A 10k trailer, I would want an 8 lug 6000+ lb rated rear axle.
Today many 15 series trucks have more power, better gearing, performance etc than the BB 25/35 series trucks I owned and drive in the 70's and 80's. My C6 GM 1500 out pulls these trucks. I still would not pull a 10k box with it! Suspension is too light IMHO.
IF the trailer still wants to sway, a bigger truck will not fix the issue, as I pointed out at the beginning of this post.
A slightly under powered correct chassis truck, is better than ample or overpowered too small of a chassis truck.

Marty

[ktmrfs]

As far as the push/pull from passing trucks, I have a 36ft TT towed with my CC 4wd duramax short bed. And a reese dual cam setup. The push/pull from trucks is very very minor, yes, it's there, but hardly noticeable and not an issue. Now I do have about 18% on the tongue and I've adjusted the bars to bring the front end back down to about 1/4" higher than unloaded. GM does NOT like front to drop below unloaded, the rubber bump stops then come into play.

[PA12DRVR]

I'm a follow the #'s sort of guy, but as Marty and Grit have suggested, for the OP, I'd look into your setup first...based on nothing more than reading the posts, I'd want to make sure you had a decent % of weight on your hitch. Would also recommend the Hensley Hitch....an alternative that I had good experience with was the Reese Dual-Cam HP: it eliminated sway so that when a big rig went by, both truck and trailer felt an equivalent push.

If the magic wand was working as well as the crystal ball....and you felt you had to upgrade your rig, I'd suggest a SRW 350/3500...Nothing wrong with duallys and I drove a DRW F350 as a daily driver for a few years, but the SRW's are just a tad more nimble and probably (see the crystal ball issue) perfectly capable for the OP's needs.

[BarneyS]

hondapro wrote:
Snip...It is due to the hitch point is so far back from the rear axle of the truck and the trailer is acting like a lever on the truck when the trailer is subjected to a side force.

I solved my issue with a 5th wheel, they do not sway when trucks pass due to the hitch point being over the axle.

This is exactly the reason I recommended the Hensley Hitch in my earlier post. It effectively moves the hitch point forward to just behind the axle of the tow vehicle. Therefor, the passing of trucks, gusts of wind, ruts in pavement etc. have little effect on the truck.
Barney

[hondapro]

Grit dog wrote:

blt2ski wrote:
You need to weigh your set up before you go spend money on a heavier duty truck.Reality, the problem may be the trailer with too little hitch weight. Too much weight from side to side. Trailer axles that are V'd vs perpindular to the middle of trailer.
You might even have a trailer where the axles are too far forward to have enough hitch weight. Even with a 25/35 series truck, your trailer will still want to fishtail sway.
Look at what is the cause of the effect before spending money.
I've towed over ratings for many decades, most of the time I go slower than I like, due to too little motor. BUT, if everything is set up correctly, I have no towing effects like sway!

Marty

Except this guy. You should listen to him. Seriously. He knows more about towing than most of the rest of em put together, so far.
Like he said, hate to hear you still have the wiggles occasionally after trading up to that big bad HD truck!
Or in other words do you have an actual issue with your setup or is this just another perception thing due to inexperience or personal sensitivity?

Also, not trying to dissuade you from a bigger truck. It WILL handle the same trailer better than a half ton. The devil is in the details and it’s whether the half ton is “good enough” for YOU.
My perception is a bit different than most weekend warriors as I’ve spent 3 decades in mostly 1/2 ton company trucks that I’d use for anything within reason and some things very arguably unreasonable. Sometimes I’d get a HD pickup and it was a luxury for towing, even if they were mostly always gassers.

These two posts are correct. I had a 35 foot travel trailer pulled with my F350.
When trucks passed by I always had the push/pull sway effect, and it was at the worst when going downhill and a truck passed.
I never could get rid of it no matter how I adjusted my hitch.
I think you will always have some of it when pulling a travel trailer.It is due to the hitch point is so far back from the rear axle of the truck and the trailer is acting like a lever on the truck when the trailer is subjected to a side force.

I solved my issue with a 5th wheel, they do not sway when trucks pass due to the hitch point being over the axle.

[ktmrfs]

As mentioned first I'd get everything weighed, not guessed. tongue weight, trailer weight and then make sure the WD hitch is adjusted properly. If you don't get enough weight back to the front end of the truck, the front rises, tires are cambered and what may seem like trailer issues is to light a front end. That was the issue with several friends towing with 1/2 tons and larger trailers. WD hitch was doing almost nothing. Once they got the distribution correct world of difference.

If your trailer is indeed 10K lbs, you should be 1500lbs or more on the tongue. That takes a decent WD hitch setup to get yourself back to where the front of the truck is where it should be. Personally my feeling is air bags aren't doing anything for you other than making it look like your set up correctly, and maybe then even making the situation worse. But that's my opinion on air bags.

If you have it adjusted correctly and are within all the tow ratings, consider something like an equalizer for reese dual cam hitch with a trailer that big.

And I don't think you need a dually. maybe a 3/4 ton,

[C_Schomer]

~25 years ago, a friend with an 3/4t srw, pulling a huge TT, traded for a DRW and he said it was a night to day improvement, even with a TT. I've noticed the same thing with my 5ers. Craig

[Grit_dog]

blt2ski wrote:
You need to weigh your set up before you go spend money on a heavier duty truck.Reality, the problem may be the trailer with too little hitch weight. Too much weight from side to side. Trailer axles that are V'd vs perpindular to the middle of trailer.
You might even have a trailer where the axles are too far forward to have enough hitch weight. Even with a 25/35 series truck, your trailer will still want to fishtail sway.
Look at what is the cause of the effect before spending money.
I've towed over ratings for many decades, most of the time I go slower than I like, due to too little motor. BUT, if everything is set up correctly, I have no towing effects like sway!

Marty

Except this guy. You should listen to him. Seriously. He knows more about towing than most of the rest of em put together, so far.
Like he said, hate to hear you still have the wiggles occasionally after trading up to that big bad HD truck!
Or in other words do you have an actual issue with your setup or is this just another perception thing due to inexperience or personal sensitivity?

Also, not trying to dissuade you from a bigger truck. It WILL handle the same trailer better than a half ton. The devil is in the details and it’s whether the half ton is “good enough” for YOU.
My perception is a bit different than most weekend warriors as I’ve spent 3 decades in mostly 1/2 ton company trucks that I’d use for anything within reason and some things very arguably unreasonable. Sometimes I’d get a HD pickup and it was a luxury for towing, even if they were mostly always gassers.

[BarneyS]

Although I agree with the "need a larger truck" crowd, if you really like your existing truck and are satisfied with its' towing capabilities, then instead of buying a new one, I would get a Hensley Hitch.
Although it is quite expensive, it is a LOT less expensive than buying a new tow vehicle and it will solve your sway problem.
I towed with one for about 17 or 18 years.
Barney

[cekkk]

I don't think there's a great price difference between an F-150 and an F-350. 150s run roughly $50,000 to $80,000. There are a couple that are cheaper than 50 but do you really want the base package with no rear seat? F-350s, skipping the f-250, Run just a couple thousand more per model level. An F-350 Dually is 85 to 90, and that's pretty much top Line, diesel and all, not a basic dually. So I'm not understanding why anyone would hold up upgrading to a real tow vehicle for a couple thousand dollars. And if you take a package that's a single step lower, it will probably cost the same. I had no problems with my F350 dually for the nearly 20 years that I owned it. Of course, I didn't have to deal with DEF.

[blt2ski]

You need to weigh your set up before you go spend money on a heavier duty truck.Reality, the problem may be the trailer with too little hitch weight. Too much weight from side to side. Trailer axles that are V'd vs perpindular to the middle of trailer.
You might even have a trailer where the axles are too far forward to have enough hitch weight. Even with a 25/35 series truck, your trailer will still want to fishtail sway.
Look at what is the cause of the effect before spending money.
I've towed over ratings for many decades, most of the time I go slower than I like, due to too little motor. BUT, if everything is set up correctly, I have no towing effects like sway!

Marty