HELP!!!!!!!!

[nyal]

I purchased a new 22' Aluminum Wells Cargo Silver Sport. I picked the trailer up in Utah and had to pull it home empty to Idaho. Holy Cow, White Knuckle all the way. True the wind was BLOWING but I couldn't hardly keep it on the road. It is a deck over with 7' walls. I was hoping that it would pull better with sleds in it so I tried it out today. M6 141 loaded in the front v with a 155 Pro directly behind it. Right side of trailer full from front of v to the very back. On the left side I loaded 163 Axys as far forward as I could. Tips of skis were basically touching the cat in the v. All sleds were loaded forward. Hitch is adjusted so that the toung is slightly lower than the back. We took the trailer out on the highway and it still whips way more than I am comfortable with. My previous trailer was a 2005 20' mirage and I never had any problems with that trailer whipping on me. My tow vehicle is a short bed crew cab 2015 f150. Any thoughts or suggestions you might have to keep the trailer from whip[ing would be great. Hard to get excited about a beautiful new trailer if you can't keep it on the road.

 

[Snowmow]

Sway control hitch is worth a try.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

I would try the Andersen hitch. There is better load levelers out there, but IMO none better at sway control. That babies light and tall in the wind. Sadly you may need more truck out front of it.

 

[icr]

Tongue weight should be 10% of gross trailer weight, sounds like you need to redistribute your load.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

Generally as you increase tounge weight you reduce sway. It sounds like you have plenty of tounge weight based on how you loaded it. The wind is a bitch.

 

[LoudHandle]

Generally as you increase tounge weight you reduce sway. It sounds like you have plenty of tounge weight based on how you loaded it. The wind is a bitch.

I disagree with you on the point I bolded given the information he provided. If he was towing it with a truck made for towing (3/4 ton plus) your comment may have some merit, but with a F150 and all the trailer weight on the tongue, the truck is riding on the rear wheels and the trailer is on the front axle. There is nothing to keep it from whipping. Load the trailer evenly (majority of the load centered over the axles). Strongly consider a more capable tow vehicle if you want to enjoy your driving and not have to white knuckle it everywhere. A 3/4 ton truck will be far more forgiving to hap hazard loading of the trailer. From my Experience.

I have a Featherlite the same size and have lifted it 3" to accommodate our Sh!tty Alaskan and northern Canada's roads, I've towed it with various 3/4 ton GM trucks and thru 100 plus MPH cross winds that were blowing semi's over / off the road and never had an issue. Been from the lower 48 states to Alaska and back many times. Quite often forgetting I was even pulling a trailer, until I looked in the rear view mirror. That makes it so much nicer on a trip. The only trip that was a white knuckler was due to hundreds of miles of black ice. Where if you stopped, you slid into the ditch. As long as you were smooth and steady it was fine. Took twice as long as normal but we made it safely.

 

[Mafesto]

I agree with
longhandle's points, however before you run out and buy a 3/4 ton try a different hitch height to get the trailer level, and verify tongue weight.
If needed, the axles should be able to be moved.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

Is the back on the truck squatting? IMO you want all the tounge weight you can get with the truck and trailer level. If squatting maybe bags? How about tires? Not still running the p metric tires?

My 1/2 did fine with my trailers, but when I went to the dmax I was amazed how much better it is.

 

[volcano buster]

I have a 2012 F150 supercrew long bed. The longer wheelbase makes a big difference. I also run E-rated tires so they don't flex as bed. This truck also has the electric steering which to me has less "feel" when the rear end is loaded such that it kind of wants to wander a little easier. The 7' tall trailer is adding a ton of wind drag.

I am thinking about putting some bags on mine as it will be basically my dedicated tow rig for the next several years. I did find one that you can run 0 psi when empty so you don't feel like you are running a HD truck when you don't need the boost in the back. Otherwise, they usually require a minimum of 5# to keep the bags inflated and in place which I think would create a harsher ride in the summer time.

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31284

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

I have ran bags on several vehicles over the years. The last set was air lifts on a 14 Chevy 1/2 they worked great. Have had 3 sets of Firestone. No problems. I wouldn't pay the money for the on board compressor. I bought a wal mart compressor then wired it into a 7 prong plug and plugged it into my trailer plug. Get the trailer hooked up then plug it in and pump it up to level.

 

[Reg2view]

Pull it with a 3/4 HD or bigger, loaded and unloaded, and compare. If it's much better with the HD, which is highly likely, bags and stab bars might get you there without a bigger truck, but, you might find an upgrade will be in order.

 

[boondocker97]

Before you do anything drastic, get your tape measure out. Measure how far back the wheels are on each side and make sure they are equal. Also check squareness to the frame. I've seen brand new trailers with the axles on crooked before.

 

[milehighassassin]

Couple things:

1. What is your truck? Year? Make, model, motor?

2. What kind of tires do you have on your truck? Load rating?

3. What is the load rating on the trailer tires? I've seen so many trailers come with complete garbage tires and often this is why one place's price beats a different place.

4. Have you gone through the trailer? Wheels, tires, axles, bearings are all good? Just because its new doesn't mean nothing is wrong with it.

 

[nyal]

Pull it with a 3/4 HD or bigger, loaded and unloaded, and compare. If it's much better with the HD, which is highly likely, bags and stab bars might get you there without a bigger truck, but, you might find an upgrade will be in order.

New truck, new sled, and new trailer in one year. Don't think I am going to convince the wife on another new truck.

 

[gonehuntnpowder]

Before you do anything drastic, get your tape measure out. Measure how far back the wheels are on each side and make sure they are equal. Also check squareness to the frame. I've seen brand new trailers with the axles on crooked before.

This is a great idea. We are all assuming it's typical tail wagging the dog, but it could actually be an alignment problem with the trailer. Look tires over close for edging. Run your hand over them and feel for a sharp edge one way or the other.

 

[nyal]

Problem solved

Good news. I hadn't actually put a tape measure on the trailer to measure the distance from the ground to the trailer at the front and back of the trailer. Just looking down the trailer it looked like the nose was barely lower than the back but once I pout a tape on it I was surprised to realize it was 5" lower. I raise the hitch and wouldn't you know it, the trailer tows like a dream. Thanks for input and feedback. New set of 10 ply tires prior to snow season and we should be good to go.

 

[richracer1]

Glad it was an easy (AKA cheap) fix. Oh yeah, nose to high/low will cause all sorts of problems.

 

[AZ800]

And your front trai.er axle will thank you for it!
Presume it's torsion spring axles and those need to be evenly loaded, i.e. Trailer level front to back. I like tandem axles on leaf springs with a center pivot to equalize the load, each axle acts independently and the tension springs are stiff.
Your front axle was taking more weight and the trailer was basically riding on one axle.

 

[turbolover]

Before you do anything drastic, get your tape measure out. Measure how far back the wheels are on each side and make sure they are equal. Also check squareness to the frame. I've seen brand new trailers with the axles on crooked before.

You need to check that the axles are square to the Hitch. It won't matter it the axles are square to the frame if the hitch is out of square. If the axles are square to the hitch, the frame and body can be sideways and it will still tow straight. It will look funny as heck but it will tow straight.

 

[SRXSRULE]

You can buy a 10,000 lb weight distribution hitch with sway control off amazon for a little over 300 bucks shipped to you. WELL WORTH IT. Even with a properly set up hitch and load its so nice to be able to tighten up the sway bar if you get into wind or icy roads. Eric