cableman
Staunton
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Joined: 07/01/2009
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Ok guys I'm sure you have heard this a million times but I'm new to the larger trailer scene and am concerned. First off my problem is that when I'm towing my trailer (2008 Keystone 30' TT) my truck feels like its all over the road. My truck is an 06' Dodge 2500 4X4 Quad Cab long bed with a Cummins. It has a 4" lift and the tires are BFG 35X12.5X17. I have tried distributing the weight according to articles I have read. I just installed sway bars on the trailer. I upped the tire pressure in my truck 5 lbs. over recommended and I still feel like a snake going by a big semi on the interstate. I have contacted several people as in the folks who installed my lift and they blame the tires. I talked to the folks I just bought the tires from and they said to up the pressure 10lbs. over recommended. I just replaced these tires from a mud terrain tire for the same swaying reason. I am lost. Do you guys think my side walls on the tires are buckling??
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BuckBarker
Overgaard, AZ
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Joined: 06/06/2007
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I never met a lifted truck that towed correctly, and how would I possibly know if your walls are buckling. You don't think buckling walls are causing your sway, do you?
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hookie
Naperville, IL
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Joined: 04/02/2006
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Those huge tires with large sidewalls that flex a lot are your biggest culprit, I suspect. Also, are you using a decent sway device? Sounds like you might be using a sway bar on each side? Those (one or two) are totally inadequate for a TT that length.
Put on approrpiate LT tires and a sway hitch (Resse or Equal-i-zer)and your troubles should be solved.
'00 Sunline T-2753 Travel Trailer
'04 GMC Yukon XL 2500, 8.1, 4.10
Hensley, Prodigy
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I am still wayne_tw
everywhere
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By lifting the truck and putting on non standard tires, you have dramatically altered your truck's center of gravity, and hence its stability. That trailer is quite large and is exerting a lot of forces upon the tow vehicle that is not very stable.
I bet those tires, with considerable more sidewall area than standard tires, are flexing considerably, causing much unstability. Over-inflating them is an attempt to reduce that sidewall flex, but may actually add to the problem, as over-inflated tires will have less tread on the ground adding to instability.
I am not familiar with your trailer, but it could not be a very stable towing trailer to begin with, which is compounded by your truck. The tongue weight should be about 15% of the total trailer weight, which can only be determined by actual weighing the trailer and tongue.
Regardless, the Hensley Arrow hitch will work to provide the best towing experience regardless of the trailer or tow vehicle. You should seriously consider it.
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NHguy
Nashua, NH
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If the truck acts good by itself you should be able to get it to act good while towing. Does it handle well by itself? If so move on to the towing setup.
Make sure the trailer is towing level, the tongue weight is 12 to 15% of the total, the WD is set correctly, and the truck is loaded not more than it's GVWR.
Get it weighed too, that will help you dial it in to the best towing setup. I don't think putting 35 inch tires on a truck that started life with 32's will make it bad, but if you bought a simple lift that did not retain the OE steering geometry you might have to work on the suspension to get satisfactory behavior.
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cableman
Staunton
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The truck handles great by itself and even towing smaller utility trailers. I guess I need to try and figure out my tongue weight and go from there. The lift I purchased is of top quality and did not alter the truck geometry. The steering arm was lenghtened to eliminate any issues there also. My weight dist. hitch is made by EAZ along with the sway bars I installed. I did install 2.
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I am still wayne_tw
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NHguy wrote:If the truck acts good by itself you should be able to get it to act good while towing.
Not true. A truck that is stable by itself may not be stable towing because the dynamic forces the trailer exerts upon the tow vehicle may be more than the tow vehicle can handle. My son in law has a small older model Nissan pick up, It handles very well by itself. It will not handle very well with the OP's trailer hooked to it.
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I am still wayne_tw
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cableman wrote:The lift I purchased is of top quality and did not alter the truck geometry. The steering arm was lenghtened to eliminate any issues there also.
Actually, you dramatically altered the truck's "geometry" by altering its suspension. The quality of the apparatus you installed has nothing to do with how it impacted the truck's "geometry."
In fact, you could have altered the truck's "geometry" enough that it will never be a stable towing vehicle with your 30' trailer.
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67Airstreamer
Louisiana
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Joined: 12/03/2008
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I wouldn't put the Hensley hitch on to mask an unstable tow combination.
If the two sway bars don't stop the trailer from undue motion when being passed by a truck, then something needs to be fixed, and it's not the sway device.
I'd suspect the big tires first, then the elevated suspension. Some offroad-type equipment is just not meant for towing.
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mkirsch
Rochester, NY
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Joined: 04/09/2004
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Wait a bloody minute.
The push-pull you feel from a passing semi is NOT sway. It is normal. You will always feel it, no matter what.
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