Agreed ligito...To the OP do some reading on GVWR and tow ratings. It can be difficult to understand but you need to get a better understanding of how tow weights are calculated to safely tow and not damage the truck. The 15000lbs tow rating dose not mean you can put 15000lbs on the bumper. 15000 means the truck can handle 15000lbs total, Do a Google on it its explained very simply. 10% of the total trailer weight should be carried on the tongue.

For example, if you have a 5,000-pound truck with a 6,200 pound GVWR, you can safely carry 1,200 pounds in the vehicle. If you are towing a trailer with a 300-pound tongue weight, the amount of passengers and gear you can carry decreases to 900 pounds. Simple, right?

A trailer chassis (springs, wheels, tires, axles, frame and tongue) is designed to carry a certain maximum load. This load consists of the empty trailer itself, plus weight added in the form of water, food, clothing and anything else that may be stored in or attached to the trailer(tractor). The maximum load for which the trailer is designed is called the GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT RATING (GVWR). This is the total of the weight on the axles and weight on the trailer tongue or fifth wheel kingpin.

The maximum trailer weight a specific axle is designed to carry is the GROSS AXLE WEIGHT RATING (GAWR). Again, the rating represents the empty vehicle’s axle weight plus the maximum added load. On trailers with more than one axle, the weight is divided between each axle and each has its own GAWR. The total of all axle loads plus the tongue weight must not exceed the GVWR. All of these ratings are found on the Federal Certification Sticker on the tongue of your trailer. This label is attached on the front roadside of the trailer. Ask you dealer or hitch installer where it is located if you are not sure.

To be safe, you must compare the actual trailer weight (loaded) of your trailer with the GVWR rating on the sticker.
That total includes the total engineered weight of the truck and the load.

IMO...Bottom line is your tongue is over loaded empty. if your towing the tractor at any distance Id look into electric brakes and load distribution hitch.

 

Just for reference, even the aluminum U-Haul car transporters (not the dolly) is about 2,300#. And they are basically two tracks on two axles.

But yeah, I also vote tongue weight. I haven't had a real need, but I was going to try the bathroom scale method of tounge weighing if I'm feeling mathy.

 

Maybe I'm reading the OP wrong.. but you said the trailer is empty and bouncing? If so, my car trailer does the same thing if I tow it unloaded. I always thought it was just because they're designed to ride with a load on them, not empty. The suspension is just too stiff to right nice when unloaded.

I'll bet it smooths right out once you put the load on it.

 

If this info is correct and you say the Tare weight of the trailer is 3K then the trailer WOULD toss you around a bit because the trailer weighs nearly half what the truck weighs. Not an issue. Take it slow and make sure that the truck DOES squat a little when the tractor is loaded. You are safer with more tounge weight than tail weight. Trust me when I say that. If you have a say 5k tractor and a 3k trailer then it will throw you off the road with too much tail weight. I'm not trying to scare you but I don't want to see you get hurt either. Make sure the trailer brakes work as well. You may need them.

 

Thanks for the comments. I do (I think) understand the tow ratings. My truck has a GVWR of 11K (it may be like 1090 or something but is approximately 11K). I haven't weighed the truck, but I am told it is in the 7K pound range, which sounds about right. That means I can carry approximately (round numbers for sake of discussion) 4 thousand pounds of people, cargo, AND tongue weight. I understand that the truck is then rated to pull in the ballpark of 15K off the bumper (meaning trailer and load on it minus the tongue weight which is carried by the truck)

I do not know exactly how much this trailer weighs. I do know that it is likely no more than 5K, but that is a semi-educated guess based upon the known weight of a similar trailer. Even if you say the trailer is 8K pounds (very unlikely) it is still barely half of the load my truck is rated to tow.

I think the big question, which I am getting mixed reviews on, is whether the tongue of the trailer is weighing down the truck rear end and bouncing or whether it is bouncing because the trailer is empty.

When I load the trailer, 90% of it will be carried by the trailer axles but the tongue weight will also increase some. Will loading the trailer fix this problem or is this trailer incompatible with my truck for some reason? It is a beefy trailer, but definitely doesn't weight 15K empty (the tow rating of my truck) or have 4K of tongue weight (the payload capacity of the truck) so why is it not towing stable?

I appreciate the help--I have my theories but I am admittedly inexperienced. Hence the reason I am on this board asking. I don't want to find anything out the hard way and am always interested in learning more so I can tow safely.

 

And, yes, I have not tried towing with anything loaded (wanted to make sure it was safe and appropriate since I was bouncing with no load).

I, too, was thinking that is is probably due to the fact the trailer is made to carry a load. Just like how the rear end of the pick up truck with slide around when empty--it is designed to carry a load and will be more stable when loaded.

 

You are correct. You've got it right.
If I understand you correctly in your original post, that the trailer has two axles with 4 tires per axle (Meaning the trailer has 8 tires and wheels). If so, that is one BEEFY trailer. Like you said 10 ton rated (10k per axle).
That will throw you around a bit and I believe that 3k is about what that would weigh.
I think the biggest reason that it feels so foreign to you is because it is so short for the weight it can carry. Those springs are not compressing AT ALL being rated for so much weight and it being so short (transferring any road elevation changes to your bumper hitch).
It will ride much better with weight on it.

 

Too little weight on the tongue will cause the bouncing you describe. Without knowing the weights of the loaded / unloaded trailer and tongue you will need to make an educated guess when loading. At the very least run the Tractor up the trailer until you can see some weight on the rear truck suspension.

 

When in doubt

http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/...TTgde_Feb3.pdf

 

Check out the link in post #24. Look at page 28. Your stated capacities are limited by the included options/packages on the truck as well as what type of hitch. You may only have half the towing capacity that you think you have..... And the tongue weight.

 

Ox is right on the money SML.
Do take the time to understand all the numbers that have been mentioned here, and I as well feel you will be within your trucks capabilities.

 

Some of the replies you have gotten are quite funny. It's not at all unusual for an unloaded trailer to buck, both the truck and trailer are designed to haul heavy loads which compromises unloaded ride quality.