Maybe you are feeling the tires tread squirming a bit. In your original post you said they were new tires I have felt a bit squirm from brand new tires in the past when hitched up.
I think you should hook the trailer to another unlifted standard tired truck and give it a try. That way you will know if it is the truck or the trailer. As for the lift and tires, maybe not quite as stable as stock but I know lots of guys that tow with a small lift and larger tires, and they are towing large toy haulers without any problems. Did you get wheels to match the wider tires, if not that could be part of the problem with sidewall flex.
* This post was
edited 07/02/09 12:46pm by Bob/Olallawa *
07 Chevy 2500 4x4 gas
07 32ft Holiday Rambler TT
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35x12.50-17's are not a heavy load tire, they are a floatation tire. They have soft side walls and are designed to flex.
Your lifted springs are probly soft too, contributing to the problem.
Most lift kits seek to 'level' the truck when empty, by lifting the front more than the rear, eliminating the stock ride angle of the truck, which is high in the rear. Looks cool driving around empty, but put a load on it, and the rear sags below level and now your handling and steering are less than optimal.
What you need is stiffer rear springs, less spring height in the front, and tires made for load carrying.
Dropping down to 285 E load range tires will solve your squishy tire problem and still look good on the truck.
With the smaller tires, you can remove the frontend lift and put the stock springs back on, which will set the truck rear-high when unloaded (which is how it was designed to set) and put it back to level when loaded, instead of rear-low.
Once your truck set up right for towing/carrying again, then work on the weight distributing hitch setup.
The truck does set level. with the trailer the rear end sags about 1 1/2". The wheels 17"X9" were changed to accomodate the tires. I think I may put the stock tires back on with the lift to see what happens. They are 10 ply. My truck doesn't surge forward while passing trucks it actually feels like the rear end is shifting or being pushed side to side. Makes me feel like a snale down the road. Or I have been looking at an 09' F-350 Powerstroke maybe thats the answer
You have a capable truck, in stock form. I don't think changing to another truck is the answer (or at least not a cost effective one anyways). All that's needed is some re-modifying of the truck you have for a better towing set up.
Setting level empty, sagging when loaded, is just what I was talking about with the lift. You need to get your spring situation back in order, in addition to the tire situation. By putting taller springs in the front and softer springs in the rear, you went the wrong direction on both ends. Need to turn around and go the opposite way.
cableman, posting some pictures of your rig as it sits ready to go down the road, would be helpful to everyone responding. Also, if you're able to post some pictures, include pictures of your hitch, but be sure to pull the camera back enough to capture an image of the ENTIRE hitch.
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2007 Jayco Eagle 322 FKS.
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Go back to stock tires and remove the lift kit. If that helps, which it surely will, you have the answer you wanted. Non stock vehicles do not behave the same as stock. If you want stock, big and a tow vehicle get a Unimog.
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tjar66 wrote: Maybe you are feeling the tires tread squirming a bit. In your original post you said they were new tires I have felt a bit squirm from brand new tires in the past when hitched up.
I give this a second vote.
I just replaced my tires a week ago. I went from tires with 60K miles on them (should have been replaced about 10k ago!!!) to brand new ones with LOTS of tread. Even without the trailer attached, after HARD acceleration, I can feel the rear end come off of torque.
Now, this past weekend, we towed the trailer with the new tires on the truck. There was a "noticeable" squishy feeling to the whole rig. I have a good setup and all adjustments are perfect. I run max (sidewall) pressure in the rear and about 70 up front. Tires on trailer are also new and are run at 75psi.
So, a call to my tire dealer confirmed that after some miles on the tires, this feeling "should" go away. He stated probably around the 2500 mile mark....
Just backing up the above comment with some more "Real World" experience.....
The push-pull you feel from a passing semi is NOT sway. It is normal. You will always feel it, no matter what.
Give us a break!!
The poster said... "QUOTE" ..when I'm towing my trailer (2008 Keystone 30' TT) my truck feels like its all over the road. "QUOTE".
I wish folks would start taking marginal, to "less than marginal" set ups more seriously. There is no excuse for driving a combination with any kind of handling or stability issues.
Lets promote safe and comfortable towing, not the white knuckel, AWTH* rides.
*accident waiting to happen
Airstreams.... the best towing trailers on the planet!
The push-pull you feel from a passing semi is NOT sway. It is normal. You will always feel it, no matter what.
Give us a break!!
The poster said... "QUOTE" ..when I'm towing my trailer (2008 Keystone 30' TT) my truck feels like its all over the road. "QUOTE".
I wish folks would start taking marginal, to "less than marginal" set ups more seriously. There is no excuse for driving a combination with any kind of handling or stability issues.
Lets promote safe and comfortable towing, not the white knuckel, AWTH* rides.
*accident waiting to happen
Did I miss something ??
The statement that mkirsch made I would have to totaly agree with.
That type of push pull you will always feel a bit.
pacamper
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