Hey all, my wife and I recently upgraded our TT. We out grew our older one so we purchased a 2014 Salem 29UD3. It's heavier and longer. We took it on its maiden voyage to RRE in July. The truck pulled it flawlessly, it was more stable than our older smaller TT. Only problem was after loading it with our gear it squatted the truck pretty good. So I decided to do some upgrading. I opted for a set of Firestone Riderite 2550s. Well the tires were getting a little weathered too so I decided to upgrade those as well. I went with a set of BFGoodrich Rugged Terrain 265/75/16 load range E. Great price and after the camper and a new Reese straight line hitch with dual cam sway control and the airbags, my tire budget had taken a hit. Ok, fast forward to our summer beach trip. We loaded up and headed out. And it was ALL I COULD DO to keep it in the road!!!! I had the tire pressure set at 80 psi (per BFGs load range E specs). I had maybe 45 psi in the bags and the truck set level. So I was wondering if any of you that are running airbags have experienced the same sway after the install. I even ordered a rear sway bar ( my 99 didn't come with one ) and had it shipped to the campground and it didn't really help much. I'm calling it sway but it's like when you float the steering wheel back and forth while driving, and you go to pull it back a little and a little more then it sways back quickly. And when a CAR would pass us it pushed us over. Any and all thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated..Thanks..Phil

 

No, the air bags are not causing sway, the trailer is.

Are your air bags connected in a Tee to a shared air line? If so, undo that. Give each bag a separate line with its own fill point. What can happen is sway can push air from one bag to the other. People who experience this often opt for independent air lines, but its really just a bandaid. If you have that much sway you should reconsider your setup.

 

Yep I have the lines run separate with each having its own schrader valve. Like I said, it pulled rock solid on the trip before the tires/airbags were installed. I checked the hitch and the "cams" were still in the "saddle" where they need to ride. I've been busy since so I haven't had time to look in to it much. I just wanted to post and see if anyone else is experiencing sway from adding airbags.

 

Phil, I understand how scary that sway can be. Before I got the hitch I have, I almost went into a very deep gorge with my 31' travel trailer. Semi truck went by at the wrong moment. I did some research. After looking at all the available hitches at the time (three years ago) I decided to try a Hensley Arrow. It immediately solved the sway problem for me. It does not use friction pads or cam locks. The hitch uses a swivel plate that connects the trailer to the tow vehicle with a trapezoidal connection. There are four large vertical axles each with tapered roller bearings. There is a 2-5/16" ball on the hitch that fits up inside the trailer hitch socket. The hitch receiver on the truck gets a bar that connects the truck to this special hitch contraption.
Even after using this hitch for three years, I cannot figure out how it actually works, but it does work and work well. I have driven through Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Colorado when the winds were blowing and trucks passing me. There is absolutely no sway. The hitch prevents the trailer from initiating any articulating action or swivel. The truck can turn the trailer, but the trailer cannot turn the truck. It is the darndest thing I have ever seen, it is so simple, but so effective. It is not cheap, it takes some time to get used to hooking it up-I use a temporary rear facing camera to connect. And the hitch weighs about 200#(during normal use you do not have to lift the hitch, you can use a floor jack to install it on the trailer). If you are serious about no sway I suggest you check out Hensleymfg.com
No I do not work for them, Larry

 

I have bags and never experienced what you are describing unless I was tongue heavy, which is what it sounds like you were. If the steering feels loose you are tongue heavy and front end light. If you can replicate your last tow load, I bet you are tongue heavy. With the diesel it is harder to do but not if you are pulling a 29 footer that is front loaded.

 

Phil, I haul a slide in truck camper and I had lots of sway at first. I ended up doing what you did and installed a rear sway bar and air bags. It eliminated the sway and big trucks no longer push me around when passing.
2 things come to mind. The first is that your WDH might need adjusting since now you have bags amd the rear end sits higher. I wonder if you are cranked down too tight on the torsion bars.
The 2nd is that if you are using the bags that mount inboard of the springs then that will exacerbate sway. Been there done that. Gotta use the bags that mount on the outside of the frame and on top of the springs.
Just a couple things that came to mind reading your post.

 

Have you weighed your rig? I'd be curious what the whole thing weighs loaded, each axle.
Steer axle. drive axle, and the trailer axles.

As mentioned before, are the airbags mounted on the springs? Or under the frame?

 

Also, what kind of shocks are on your truck?

 

If your hitch is like the Hensley or Pride Pro, I believe those need to be "dialed in" to get the maximum benefit out of them.

 

Thanks guys.. @Larry..I'm sure the Hensley is a fine hitch just wayyy too pricey. I have a Reese Straight Line with dual cam sway control, which is a very good WD hitch. A lot of people don't like them due to them being a lot of work to get set up correctly. Going to RRE this year we towed the new TT using said WD hitch with zero issues, as I said in my OP it was more stable than our old TT. It just squatted more than I like ( I HATE seeing a tow vehicle squatting...pet peev I guess).
@Dave..I don't think it was light on the steer axle, I'll post the numbers in a few. It's actually a 37.5 ft TT. The only thing changed from the RRE trip to the beach trip was airbags and tires. Also the stable tow to RRE trip was hills and mountains, while the beach trip was smooth flats roads.
@Keith..I cranked the WD one more link than where it was originally and it seemed to get a little better..Placebo..maybe. Yep the Firestone airbags are inside the frame. Which is why I wanted some feedback from someone running them. When I hooked it up and went for the first test drive it felt kinda loose. Keith,LOL, it wouldn't take a truck to push us around. We could feel a car passing when it got mid way of the camper.
@John..I'm running 6 year old Rancho 5000s. here are some numbers I had posted to the RV.net crew.
Like I said before I had the hitch dialed in perfect. We were really surprised to realize the newer/longer/heavier TT pulled so much better than our old one...Until the airbags and tires.
From here down was originally posted to RV.net____________________________________________ ____________________

Ok guys, original poster here. I finally had a chance to hit the scales and get some numbers. We were discussing whether or not my 1200lb bars on my new Reese WD hitch with dual cam sway control was gonna be sufficient for our new TT ( 2014 Salem 29 UD3). It had a "declared" empty weight of 8000lbs, and a heavy of 11,000ish. Well on our way to Myrtle Beach today we hit the scales at the FlyingJ. Our numbers are as follows:

Truck and 5 people and stuff..( 1/2 tank of fuel)
Steer:4940 lbs
Drive:4000 lbs
Total:8940 lbs

Truck and TT "W/O" WD..
Steer:4400 lbs
Drive:5860 lbs
TT Axle: 7860
Total: 18120

Truck and TT "with" WD..(Set light I guess I would say, only on fourth link)
Steer: 4520 lbs
Drive: 5700 lbs
TT Axle: 7900 lbs
Total: 18120

Truck and TT "AFTER" cranking the bars one more link..(on fifth link)
Steer: 4600 lbs
Drive: 5580 lbs..
TT Axle: 7960 lbs..
Total: 18140 lbs..

 

By placing inside the frame, or even under the frame you place the weight of your truck and trailer too close to the center of the axle. Move those airbags to the outside of the frame, on top of the springs, and your sway issues will go away.

 

I agree with this. It may sound strange but these bags mounted inside the frame made things worse for me on my prior truck. You could always try another test run but this time leave the bags deflated and see if your situation improved. If it does, then you know what to do. Good luck!

 

Just throwing this out there for consideration. I had problems with tire squirm when I ran an open shouldered mud and snow rated tire on my truck. The rear end felt like it was floating side to side. Running empty it was annoying, with 900lbs of tounge weight and higher speeds it was a high maintenance vehicle to drive. Tire shop tried various pressures etc. I ended up replacing the M/S rated tires with a closed shoulder tire design. Problem solved.

 

This may be an issue as well. But the way Phil has the airbags mounted is not right. I would get that taken care of before looking any further. There are many folks that tow with M/S tires without issues. Perhaps your tires were bad from the start.

 

Thanks guys. I have them mounted the way this particular kit mounts. I'm not sure they could be mounted any different. I do agree though, opening up the "stance" of the bags does make sense. But being mounted the way they were designed to be mounted is the main reason I was hoping to get some thoughts from those that have them.