HELP trailer sway almost killed us!

[cahillprc2]

We have a 2013 Somerset E2 "Off-road" PUP. We were on our way to the dealer for lift repair when a minor dip in the road surface caused the trailer to start swaying wildly. I immediately applied the electric brake controller brake (not the TV brakes) . . .nothing happened; that is it continued to sway wildly. We then started applying the TV brakes gently and to pull off on the shoulder. After a hair raising stop, we barely avoided a culvert and guardrail. After I checked myself for wet pants, I got out and rechecked all the hookups. The alarming thing is that this is the 3rd time it has done this for no apparent reason. Does anybody have any insights or possible causes?? We're about to get rid of it.

[MarkTwain]

Help, trailer sway-
Driving 70 MPH with any trailer is just asking for dangerous problems and related mechanical failure issues, IMHO!!! First park the trailer, repair or replace brake controller , have the complete brake system of trailer repaired or replaced, buy a Reese Dual Cam hitch. I always run with 1/4 tank of fresh water in tank.

[Beer_Belly]

Friction Sway Control....I don't pull out of the driveway without it

[kerrlakeRoo]

If nothing else, when you pick the trailer up from the shop, drive on the interstate to see how it does and see if the sway returns, if you see small bits of it that worry you, put 3 or 4, 5 gallon water cans in the front of the trailer or if possible add some weight (battery, water whatever) to the tongue and watch for changes from that.
Level and a need for additional tongue weights are likely the issues after the brakes are fixed.

[DownTheAvenue]

Until you actually weigh the trailer and tow vehicle together, the trailer by itself, and then the tow vehicle by itself, anything is merely speculation. Get those weights, and come back here with the numbers.

[DougE]

I've experienced this with a 19' travel trailer. Base cause turned out to be a low rear tire on the tow vehicle. Sway started after hitting a whoop-t-do on the interstate. Broke two springs on the trailer (so check your springs and mounts). How I finally got it under control: Slammed on the brakes each time the trailer was directly behind the tow vehicle.

[DiskDoctr]

SidecarFlip wrote:
95% of company owned trucks are governed to 70 max for insurance reasons (and tires).

That is quite the overreaching generalization! When I'm doing 70mph on the interstate, far more than 5 out of 100 trucks PASS me.

Do you have any documentation to PROVE your 95% claim? ELD requirements might help that in the future, but not so much yet.

Or are you also claiming that 95% of trucks on the road are company trucks, with 100% of them being governed to 70mph limit?

Furthermore, telling OP he is just imagining trucks passing him at 80mph is bad form when you weren't there.

[jmtandem]

Make sure you have at least 10 percent of the trailer's weight on the tongue. And as others have mentioned it appears your trailer brakes are not working.

[SidecarFlip]

MARKW8 wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

cahillprc2 wrote:
This particular trial has a 12' box but no cargo area out front. We were traveling 60MPH on Interstate 70 outside of Baltimore where the posted limit is 70 MPH and people and big rigs drive 80mph. We were in the far right lane and if we went any slower we would have pose a danger as well. I obviously made a mistake using the hitch we had because it did ride a bit high in the front. We'll be getting a new one ASAP.. Someone mentioned a drawbar, what is that?

Not exactly correct. The minimum speed on any Interstate (Federally funded highway) is 45 mph. Don't thin big t=rigs are going 80. Most are governed speed wise to a maximum 70 mph. Heavy truck tires are not rated for speeds above 70 anyway.

While some are to 70 or less, there is a huge number that will go much faster. Most of the drivers are paid by the mile.

Mark

95% of company owned trucks are governed to 70 max for insurance reasons (and tires). Commercial carriers that insure fleets won't insure them if the fleet average is faster than 70 and even that is fast. The majority of trucks on the road today are set for 65. That don't include owner operators. My Western Star will run 102 in 13 double over.

The number isn't huge, in fact, it's very small.

You obviously know little about modern trucks. Speeds are monitored electronically all the time now and drivers whether paid by the mile or not, when they exceed the governed speed (like going downhill) are subject to disciplinary action. It's the big brother scenario. With fleets, the central operations manager knows how fast a truck is running, all they have to do is log in to a program like Trip Master and they can not only see the average speed, they can see the maximum speed for a given time period and locate the truck via GPS and track it in real time.

What I did before I retired last year. I was a safety and compliance officer for a major private carrier. Believe me, I could look at any of the 80+ units the company had anytime I wanted (right here on my laptop) and extract any and all information I wanted to plus I could notify the driver via his or her transponder if they were in violation and / or come and see me if necessary.

You may perceive a truck hauling balls, but in reality, it's probably not.

Has nothing to do with the thread. Just wanted to enlighten you about reality, not something imagined.

[Harvard]

Like mobilefleet says, the tongue weight was/is far too light. A balanced load is a recipe for what you experienced.

[rexlion]

You're the second one today who has posted on this issue. You're not alone. Be sure to read the responses in the other thread, they may help you: https://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29388792/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm . My comment to him is on page 2.

Simply put, you must find out your actual trailer weight and trailer tongue (hitch) weight. Hitch weight needs to be 10% to 15% of total trailer weight as loaded for camping. Sway is almost always caused by insufficient hitch weight.

Don't go by "I think it's pretty balanced," you must find out for sure what those weights are. Once you have made sure of correct hitch weight, you can further enhance handling by making sure all tires are inflated to max pressure as indicated on their sidewalls and by having the trailer slightly nose-down when hooked up. And you can increase your safety by adding a good anti-sway hitch such as Equal-i-zer, Reese Dual Cam, or Andersen No-Sway. Or at the very least, get a friction sway bar... but I'd recommend the Andersen for any trailer under 3500 lbs or the Equal-i-zer brand (from Progress Mfg) for heavier trailers.

I put 140,000 towing miles on a 2008 Highlander without incident. Trailers were 16'-17' overall and ranged up to 3500 lbs and 425 on the hitch. You should not have to suffer with sway.

Anyone at all can check to see if the controller is activating the trailer brakes and if they're adjusted well, it's easy. Drive about 10 mph and activate the controller; you should feel the brakes slowing your rig down (eventually stopping it gently) but not locking up the wheels. If you feel nothing, turn up the controller power (read your manual, there should be a dial or something). If all the way up and still no braking, it could be a broken wire or a defective controller, but first thing I'd suspect is that the magnets in the brake drums may have stopped working.

There is a slight possibility that you may have a broken weld on the frame or loose u-bolts on the axle, something like that. The way it happened when you hit a dip makes me wonder a bit.

[cahillprc2]

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm leaning towards a problem with the trailer brakes and a hitch that was too high. The load I think is pretty balanced. Most of the "open" storage is towards the front of the PUP and the fold down kitchen is directly over the axle. We always travel with an empty water tank. Also this happened on our previous vehicle when the trailer was level and it had a different brake controller. So, it has occurred on two different vehicles with two different brake controllers, leaving the common element or variable being the trailer brakes. Again everyone thanks for all the advice and help. Trailer brakes are being check now by the dealer. If they checkout good, then I'll go back to the place that installed the controller as well as getting the correct height hitch.

[MARKW8]

SidecarFlip wrote:

cahillprc2 wrote:
This particular trial has a 12' box but no cargo area out front. We were traveling 60MPH on Interstate 70 outside of Baltimore where the posted limit is 70 MPH and people and big rigs drive 80mph. We were in the far right lane and if we went any slower we would have pose a danger as well. I obviously made a mistake using the hitch we had because it did ride a bit high in the front. We'll be getting a new one ASAP.. Someone mentioned a drawbar, what is that?

Not exactly correct. The minimum speed on any Interstate (Federally funded highway) is 45 mph. Don't thin big t=rigs are going 80. Most are governed speed wise to a maximum 70 mph. Heavy truck tires are not rated for speeds above 70 anyway.

While some are to 70 or less, there is a huge number that will go much faster. Most of the drivers are paid by the mile.

Mark

[mobilefleet]

Number one cause of trailer sway is too light of tongue weight i.e. heavier items loaded to the back of any trailer is never a good idea. I would recommend loading heavy cargo items Such as your supplies for camping in the front cargo area if there is one, or strapping some bulky items to the tongue. Do what is necessary to get more tongue weight on the hitch

[time2roll]

Hold the wheel straight as possible. Do not try to steer out of it or compensate.
Do you have at least a friction sway control?
Is tongue weight at least 10 percent of the trailer weight?

I fixed my pop-up sway with an F150. 1985 S10 was miserable with both sway and a harmonic bounce on some freeways 😞

[MarkTwain]

cahillprc2 wrote:
This particular trial has a 12' box but no cargo area out front. We were traveling 60MPH on Interstate 70 outside of Baltimore where the posted limit is 70 MPH and people and big rigs drive 80mph. We were in the far right lane and if we went any slower we would have pose a danger as well. I obviously made a mistake using the hitch we had because it did ride a bit high in the front. We'll be getting a new one ASAP.. Someone mentioned a drawbar, what is that?

The best hitch from my experience is the Reese Dual Cam hitch.