i have a 80 extended 2wd van, seems to get wiggly pulling a empty car trailer behind it. anyone else have problems towing with these extended vans.

i think the rear axle is to far forward giving it to much tail to wag.

 

I have an '88 e250. Towed a 16ft trailer with it unloaded and with a vehicle on it. I didn't notice any wiggle loaded or unloaded. I did read that extended vans can have this issue for the reason you listed.

You could also look at your tires and suspension. They can have an affect on handling under load as well.

 

im thinking about adding a carrier bearing and extending this rear axle out to the bumper! what a bad design.

 

You could do that, and then you'd have no traction like the Chevy Express vans. Slightest dusting of snow and our Chev is all over the road.

I've pulled another E-250 on a car hauler with an extended E-350 and it was pretty solid. Biggest problem were the tires on the trailer weren't up to the load and so it didn't feel good past about 65mph. My guess is your problem might be worn suspension components in your van or tire related. You'll need E load rated tires and a full 80 PSI in the rear... I'm assuming you have an E-250 or higher??

 

FWIW - Having the correct tongue weight is also important for towing stability

 

im pretty sure my tires are low on pressure. they are e rated

from a engineering standpoint the way this van is balanced with the location of the rear axle its not a good vehicle to tow with if everythings in perfect shape.

 

i think one of the problems is weight in rear of van, id be afraid to put any tounge weight on it, i think the front end is to lights, as it was pulling the pretty much empty trailer(dirt bike on it) ok on the way to the fuel station, then after filling both tanks is when i noticed it. maybe eliminating the rear fuel tank would help. or not filling it up when towing. but this is with just a empty trailer and not much tounge weight.

id hate to see it with anything on the trailer that increases the tounge weight any.

 

I don't know if things are maybe different on a 1980, but the towing I've done has gone just fine without overly thinking about tongue weight (beyond just setting a reasonable balance).

The car hauler I had was an 1800lb trailer with a 5000lb load rating. The van I loaded onto it was around 6600lbs, so it was overloaded by a bit. I pulled the loaded trailer with a Chevy Suburban 1500 and it was literally terrifying beyond about 45mph. So I hitched up the '06 E-350 to it and man was I glad I did that. I went from constant worrying about loosing control and wiping out myself and everyone around me to cruising along just fine without really noticing much except if I got towards 70mph. I'm sure if I had higher load rated tires on the trailer that I could have pulled it past 70.

Tires are huge in towing, load rating and pressure.

 

i think the front ends too light, the pivot point of rear axle to body is the problem.

 

What are the details of the van you are pulling with? 150/250/350? Engine/trans etc.

An empty car trailer isn't going to be very heavy. Was the back end squatting a lot? Mine isn't an extended van, but when I hooked up a loaded car trailer the rear of my van didn't squat much at all. Not sure about my tongue weight.....I just balanced the load on the trailer axles with a bit more toward the tongue.

Won't it make the trailer wag more if there isn't enough tongue weight?

 

Good work. Better give Ford a call, they'll want to know about your findings. Send the photos, they may not have spotted the issue.

 

Ours is not extended body, but I had just about 700 lbs of tongue weight (just above the 10%) with the Tbird on our open trailer, and except for a really windy day everything was very stable up to / above 65 mph.
A weight-distributing hitch should keep the front end from getting light.
What is the maximum tongue-weight rating with the extended body?

 

 

I understand your point regarding the pivot location of the van, but that's not your problem.

"From an engineering standpoint" I'd recommend pumping up those underinflated rear tires that you mentioned.

And yes, too little tongue weight will cause bad towing for sure. Been there, done that.

 

With my 99 I towed an empty car trailer a few hundred miles and didn't even feel it back there. With the car on it, there were a couple times where I had excessive movement, but I have a high top and it was a really windy day. Your trailer axles might be out of alignment and cause the trailer to sway and then cause the issue you're experiencing. Not to mention it's a 35 year old van and I would assume some of the suspension and bushings could be worn out a bit.