Is it possible to put TOO much tension on the spring bars and cause the "tail wagging the dog" effect? The WD hitch I am using is a Pro Star EAZ-Lift.
yesterday we took our old TT to our Jayco dealer to pick up our new 31RKS. The old TT towed perfectly with my setup but because the new TT has the inverted coupler (i guess its called) I had to re-setup my WD hitch. I used the tongue jack to raise up the rear end up my truck quite a bit then snapped up as many links as I could. I was only able to snap up the second link and I was REALLY prying HARD. Let the tongue jack down and wow those spring bars really had a bend to them and the rear of my truck was sitting right at stock unloaded ride height, and the TT was sitting perfectly level.
going down the road the TT was pulling the back end of the truck left and right.... not A LOT though, just enough to make pulling the TT not fun.
also note: at the dealer we moved all of our crappy stuff from the old TT to the new TT and had the fresh water tank topped off. so we SHOULD be close to the weight we would be at when we are ready to go camping.
Im tempted to just take it down the highway for a test run not using any spring bars and see what she does. (I have the tow beast hitch)
Thanks in advance for your help!
Me 26, Class A CDL Freight Relocation Specialist
Wife 23, Nuclear power plant quality control inspector
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With your truck, it would be possible to tow without the WD bars, but it is not recommended. Yes you do have the bars way to tight. When you use an electric jack to raise the trailer hitch to tighten the bars, you can put the bars on with hand pressure, and then lowering it will tighten the bars the correct amount.
What I would do is hitch the trailer to the truck and put on the spring bars as tight as I could with hand pressure (with all hitch weight sitting on the hitch). Then decide if you want to tighten it with 2 links (or 1 link or 3). Paint that link or color it with a perminate marker. Now you can use the hitch jack to raise the back of the truck about 4-5" and then tighten up 2 links, lower and see what you have.
It is a good thing you did not go down a long mountain road with curves in it, jackknifing the trailer comes to mind with the hitch set-up so tight!
Fred.
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On flat, level ground, measure from the front of your truck to the ground. Measure from the back to the ground. Measure any spot that gives an accurate, repeatable measure.
Hitch up without the spring bars. Measure front and rear again.
Connect and tighten the spring bars. You want the front end of your truck to be a bit lower than when it was unhitched and the rear to drop an equal amount or a bit more.
Level your trailer with the height of the hitch head on the hitch shank.
Provide 5 or 6 links of chain under tension by changing the tilt of the hitch head. This is needed for movement when turning.
When everything is set, measure one more time just to be sure.
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If you're back to unloaded height, then the trailer is putting essentially ZERO weight on the rear wheels of the truck. Some of the weight has to go on those back wheels, or you won't have enough traction to control the trailer. The heavier the trailer, the more traction the rear wheels need to control it.
You probably need to tilt the hitch head forward some. What you're looking for is level truck, level trailer.
I was putting so much tension on the spring bars TRYING to get the front end to drop along with the rear of my TV. BUT no matter how many links I snap up I cant get that front end to budge. What I think I will do is, I will use my 1,000 lbs bars (also have 1,400 bars) and do a nice and easy snap up and just let the back of the truck drop enough to sit level with the front since the rear sits higher anyways.
When I get a chance to try it out I will report back with pics and let you know if it tows any better.
An F350 will not compress much at the rear. You'll probably need the scales to get it right. But start out using the setup info at the top of this forum. That will get you close enough to go to the scales and fine tune it.
05 F150 FX4 Supercrew, 5.4, 3.73 LS, Jordan Ultima 2020 Brake Controller,
04 TrailCruiser 30QBSS, Battery Disconnect,
Dual Cam HP, Ultra Fab Power Tongue Jack, Bal Lockarm Stabilizers
Don't worry about the front dropping, if it stays the same that's fine. And 1" or 2" drop in the rear is okay too. As you said the truck will sit level along with the trailer. A little extra weight on the tongue will help stop swaying and your truck won't mind it a bit. Your problem sounded like you took almost all the weight off the tongue....not good!
The HD Chevys have bump stops up front that prevent you from getting that magical "even squat" front and rear. You can only achieve original ride height.
Maybe the Fords have the same thing? Or, the front springs are just so stiff that you can't get them to compress with that piddly (for an F350) amount of weight?
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