I have recently purchased a F-250 PowerStroke. I am towing a 9000Lb travel trailer. I was driving a 10 to 15 MPH wind the other day and was all over the road. I have an anti sway hitch already. The truck is completly stock no extras. My question is, is this normal? And will changing shocks or something simple like that take care of some of the sway? I will be traveling to the west coast in a couple of weeks and would like to get this taken care of, Also should I expect any problems towing 9000LBs through the mountians?

 

I have a 350 and tow a 7500 lb travel trailer. The longest I have traveled towing is around 2 hours, but haven't had a major problem with the wind. I believe there are two different types of weight distribution kits, and depending on the kit it depends on how to adjust them.

 

How do you load the trailer? Maybe there is too much weight in the rear of the trailer or maybe you are taking too much weight off the rear axle with the WDH setup.

 

Yeah, first make sure you have the proper tongue weight and that your distributing hitch is properly adjusted and setup. You might even want to go to a public scale and weigh the rig, each part of the rig separately and the front and rear weights of the axles.

Then check that all your tires are properly inflated. The trailer tires should be near the max posted on the side wall. The truck will probably want something like 80-90 rear and 60 front, read the manual and or the sticker on the door post. Don't exceed maximu pressure.

Assuming the shocks and suspecnsion are OK and that you do have the antisway adjusted correctly, the next step if you still have sway is you might need 2 sway bars. Some heavier rigs may require two.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I should have included in my reply that I use a Dual Action Cam by Reese and not a frintion sway control. If you are not sure of the difference please take a look at the attached link.

http://www.reese-hitches.com/sway_controls.htm


Rich

 

You didn't mention, but is your S/D a 4wd of 2wd? If it is a 4 X4, it might be that the front of the trailer is elevated and shifting the weight to the rear. Weight distribution was already mentioned, but if the front is, too high, it will affect the drive.

 

The biggest cause of sway is too little tongue weight.

 

First of all I want to thank all of you who resopnded. This web site is great. I learned somthing about my hitch and that is that I have a load leveling hitch and do not have an anti sway bar. Thought they were one in the same.

The truck is a four wheel drive. And I will be reloading it to be sure that I have the weight distributed correctly. The toung weight is 700lbs. I am going to purchase an anti sway bar. Will this hook up to my existing hitch with out any problems? The super performance hitch from Reese looks pretty simple.

No one responded to the questions of pulling the camper through the Rocky mountians. I would expect the 7.3 Powerstroke to be fine but would like to know if anyone has been there done that and how well the truck performed.

 

Before I bought my S'crew, I had a 2001 F250 w/PSD; 2wd; C/C; short bed. I used it to pull a 33' Phoenix 5th wheel (aprox. 12000#). I put a 70hp/110ft# chip in it w/new and never had any problems pulling from Texas to Vancover, B.C. So, I don't think you'll have any problems. The one thing I wish I had was the PAC brake. I have one on my Monoco Diesel Pusher and it really gives you that extra since of security w/braking!!

 

Thanks for the advice. One question. What is a PAC brake, can I install one on a TT, how much are they, and where so I get one?

OK that was more than one question.

 

The PAC break is an "exhaust break" that is installed on the diesel exhaust system. It is a valve installed in the exhaust that can be closed to allow "compression breaking" that is not available on the diesel engine. "PAC" is a brand, "Banks" makes one and so does "Western Diesel". They all work on more or less the same principle.

 

wwsjr,

I pulled the rockies with my V10 SD and a 9000lb trailer, with no sway. I usually run 60mph and sometimes 65mph, its not how fast you can tow its how quick you stop.

I suppose if the V10 can take the rockies then surely a PSD could make it. But don't quote me on this I've never driven one and am not sure.

Cheers

 

I did not notice the length of your trailer but it makes a big difference. For 10 years we have towed a 36' travel trailer with an E350 15 passenger van. For 8 of those years we used the normal load levelers and the typical friction anti-sway. For all 8 of those years we experienced sway - side winds, trucks passing, sometimes just normal driving. Two years ago I finally spent the money and bought a Hensley Arrow hitch. We had almost been blown off of the road by tow tractor trailers the year before and I had to do something.
I can now say with confidence that the Hensley is some of the best money I ever spent. We now have literally NO sway. It does not matter - in traffic, trucks passing, winds - you name it. Before I would arrive at our destination tired. Now it is like driving the van without a trailer.
You can check them out at hensleymfg.com. They will send you a free video. I didn't fully believe everything on the video at the time but now I do. It worked for us.
Note: They are not cheap but one accident would pay for one.

Enjoy the trailer!
Charles

 

Some folks already touched on tongue weight, and it's really important. I think each combined rig has its own individual preferences, depending on stuff like wheelbase, track width, suspensions, centers of gravity, moments of inertia, etc. You may want to do some CONTROLLED experiments to find what works best.

Also, where you place movable/variable weight in the truck and trailer has effects beyond the tongue and axle weights. Loads in truck probably should go as far forward as possible (ie, between the axles), to balance the axle weights but also to reduce the moment of inertia should swaying start. Loads in the trailer should be OVER the axles, not in the ends, to reduce moment of inertia. However, you may need to move some "ballast" in front of or behind the axles to get the tongue weight right.

A model of moment of inertia for a truck & trailer is two equal weights on the ends a long, springy bar. You're holding the center of the bar, the balance point, in your hand. If the weights are the ends of the rod, they want to flop around- and will twist your hand around as well. This is high moment of inertia- once things start squirming, it takes a lot of force to stop the motion.

If the weights are in the center of the bar, the total weight and balance (like tongue weight) are the same, but they don't flop around and you can easily keep them still. This is low moment of inertia.

My general thought is that playing around with your tongue weight and movable loads might let you find a "sweet spot".

On my single jet ski trailer, which is a really benign tow, for long hauls I keep the gas tank as empty as possible and pull everything out of the bow storage compartment. That changes tongue by maybe 20 lbs on a roughly 850 lb rig, also has minor effect on moment of inertia (tank & storage are ahead of the axle), but it eliminates an annoying harmonic vibration between 60 and 65 MPH. Not a control issue (even on the S-10 I used to have), but might have broken or loosened something on a long trip.

You might also watch whether your steering contributes to the sway. I've learned that trying to counter-steer to alternate sides against the sway sometimes actually REINFORCES the sway. If you've got the road space, tension on the hitch (accelerate, or tap the trailer brakes without hitting the truck brakes) and neutral steering may be the best tactic. On the S-10, with my boat trailer (high 2000 lb range), I could start a sway with very sublte side-to-side steering input. If the rig got moved off to one side, I counter-steered the initial movement but quickly centered the wheel well BEFORE I was back in the center of the lane, and I didn't hit the truck brakes. This rig is surge-brakes only, so I didn't have the option of tapping the controller.

Hope you get the unruly trailer unde control!