I pull my cougar 34 footer with my 2004 dodge ram 2500 diesel 4X4. SEVERE SWAY yet when i use my father in laws 2005 ford F350 diesel theres no sway...go figure. anyways i use a brand new equalizer hitch (chains) and i just bought a $60 sway bar from my dealer. will i get away with using 1 or should i of gotten 2 sway bars as theres room for 2? do i have to unhook this sway bar every corner? or just for backing in? ive never used a sway bar before. If it doesnt cure this i might get air bags on my truck in back as i feel suspension in rear a little weak for my trailer.
Your Cougar at close to 10,000 lbs loaded, and 34' long...is likely already exceeding your trucks 10,200 lbs towing abilities. Your father-in-laws Ford has a rated 13,300 lbs capacity for towing. There's really nothing to "go figure" or be puzzled about, you're towing over your limit. You may have to rethink your rig's capabilities. Is the trailer completely level when towed? Is the trailer weight distributed evenly between all 4 trailer wheels and the hitch? . You need to make a trip down to your local truck scales and weigh all axles...the truck/trailer combo, together and just the hooked up truck all 4 wheels on the scale, then the hooked up trailer all 4 wheels on the scale. This will say volumes about what kind of remedy to take next. It may be you'll need a dual cam reese, or even a PullRite or Hensley. Keep us advised!
fordsooperdootydieselsmoker wrote: Your Cougar at close to 10,000 lbs loaded, and 34' long...is likely already exceeding your trucks 10,200 lbs towing abilities. Your father-in-laws Ford has a rated 13,300 lbs capacity for towing. There's really nothing to "go figure" or be puzzled about, you're towing over your limit. You may have to rethink your rig's capabilities. Is the trailer completely level when towed? Is the trailer weight distributed evenly between all 4 trailer wheels and the hitch? . You need to make a trip down to your local truck scales and weigh all axles...the truck/trailer combo, together and just the hooked up truck all 4 wheels on the scale, then the hooked up trailer all 4 wheels on the scale. This will say volumes about what kind of remedy to take next. It may be you'll need a dual cam reese, or even a PullRite or Hensley. Keep us advised!
That is an extremely dangerous an irrelevant piece of information. Even if he is over the rated towing capacity that is ABSOLUTELY NO reason to sway. Maybe if he was trying to tow 15K behind a Dakota you may have a point, but 12K behind a 2500 is not a sway inducing problem.
You are correct that a trip to the scale is in order, sounds like a loading problem to me.
Edit; I suspect his diesel 2500 is rated a little higher than 10,200???
* This post was
edited 07/03/08 05:58am by chadsalt *
You have your own truck manual to check what your truck can tow. Severe sway problems come from too much weight to the rear of the trailer. I agree with getting your trailer and total rig weighed. If you are not overweight, getting the load balanced should solve the problem. Also recheck to make sure the hitch, equalizer, and sway bars, are capable for the weight being hauled.
Mark
Mark & Jan "Old age & treachery win over youth & enthusiasm"
2003 Fleetwood Jamboree 29
This isn't a problem with your truck being overcapacity as some others have indicated. The fact is, you can't expect the same settings to work on the equalizer for both trucks. Read up on how to properly adjust the hitch, and make sure your trailer is slightly nose-down.
There is a long thread going right now about a similar situation that resulted in the deaths of all but two of the family members. He has stated that he gets sway and his FIL with a F350 does not get sway. To me this is a clear indication that there is something seriously wrong. Overloaded hitch, inadequate truck, improper hitch setup on his truck, something is seriously and dangerously wrong and needs positive advice, not snide comments of others peoples comments. Without actually looking at and measuring his setup all one can do is guess where the problems lay. He needs to first measure his hitched combination to be sure he is level or slightly nose down. Second he needs to get his rig weighed loaded ready to camp.
Please use the term "weight distributing hitch" or WDH, unless you specifically mean the Equal-I-Zer brand of weight distributing hitches. It gets confusing otherwise.
chadsalt is correct, the LAST source of sway is an inadequate tow vehicle. Nearly all sway can be controlled by proper loading, proper sway control setup, and proper WDH setup. Your truck may be mushed to the ground under the weight, and limited to 25MPH in 2nd gear up hills, but it shouldn't sway.
Did you load the trailer any differently when you towed it with the F350? Maybe because you felt you had a more capable truck, you filled the water tanks, perhaps?
Go through your WDH setup, especially if the dealer did it for you. Dealers usually screw it up. Most important is both truck and trailer should be level with the WDH engaged. Too much tension on the spring bars will actually try to lift the rear wheels of the truck off the ground, and could cause sway. You need enough weight on those wheels to maintain traction and control.
Any sway control is better than nothing. You should be able to install up to two friction-bar types, one on each side of the hitch. Friction bar types only need to be loosened when you are making VERY tight turns, or backing up. Consider chucking the friction bar and upgrading your WDH with the Reese Dual-Cam add-on. It's a much better system.
Pump up your tires to the maximum when towing. If the tires are too soft for the load, they will squirm around under the truck, causing some waggle.
mkirsch wrote: Please use the term "weight distributing hitch" or WDH, unless you specifically mean the Equal-I-Zer brand of weight distributing hitches. It gets confusing otherwise.
Consider chucking the friction bar and upgrading your WDH with the Reese Dual-Cam add-on. It's a much better system.
Pump up your tires to the maximum when towing. If the tires are too soft for the load, they will squirm around under the truck, causing some waggle.
All good advice here. Finding your exact weights is absolutely important here. You need to determine your loaded tongue weight and make sure your WD spring bars are properly rated for that amount. Also, I agree with the advice to ditch the friction bar and go to the Dual Cam System. Friction bars on a trailer of that size are completely useless.
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