He's over on the Cummins forum.......









JK

 

Wonder if he got his WD problems sorted out...

 

I did make it back from the trip last night. Buffalo NY to Washington DC to Myrtle Beach to Orlando to Tampa and back to Buffalo. And not one bit over 62 MPH the entire trip. Got to DC and took truck to another shop to have rear suspension components checked. They suggested aftermarket rear sway bar. Ordered from Jeg's delivered to Myrtle Beach and installed by shop. No change. While returning from Tampa blew a tire on rear of camper. Into RV dealer for 4 new tires. Also had them be 3RD DEALER TO CONFIRM HITCH IS SETUP CORRECTLY. They saw no problems, but still had same issue. I am at my wits end.

Basically, when I get over 62, I feel every crosswind possible. Its a half ton truck, I expect to feel a tractor trailer going by, but not a Mini Cooper. Literally. You feel out of control once you go over 62. And this is the same camper I have towed with 2 other F-150's. The only way I can describe it is it feels like the rear end shifts behind you. I tried adding weight in Georgia, have some sandbags from Lowes. I removed weight. I changed the number of chain links on the WD. I give up.

My friend's father has a 15 Screw as well. Hoping to hook up with him this weekend to compare trucks towing my camper. If it is not present in his truck, I am taking it to the dealer and not leaving until they figure out what is wrong.

 

Hooking up to another 15 Screw should tell you a lot. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I'm at a loss here. Sorry to hear it's giving you that much grief, and very interested in seeing how your dad's truck pulls it. Lots of folks pull campers weighing more than yours without issues....so I really have no idea.

 

Okay, not ready to say this is conclusive, but here is where we came out. The other 15 Screw towed it about the same. However, we tried adding a link to the WD just for fun while it was still hooked to my truck. Dramatic improvement. Did the same with the other F150, first with 4 links then down to 3, and adding more spring pressure on WD made a huge difference. However, it made the camper sit nose high on the truck. So, opposed to the instructions from Reese, we adjusted the ball height to sit low so that when we set the spring bars where it towed better everything looked level. Additionally, I was able to get about 1-2 turns on the U bolts for both the axle and the newly installed rear sway bar, which should also help tighten things up.

I drove home at about 60-65 on normal roads and things felt better. I am not getting too excited until I travel down the highway again and see how it feels in traffic at speed, but I am optimistic.

My friend is adding both the rear and front sway bars to his truck, so we are going to test them again after he has them installed to see what type of difference that makes.

Thank you again to everyone for your help. It looks like it was the hitch setup after all, but it was set correctly according to Reese and 3 different RV shops. Looking good and towing good are two separate things I guess.

My next highway trip is not til end of July, but I will update once I take that trip.

 

Too many times people disappear without posting a conclusion, so THANKS for taking the time to follow up with us. Glad to hear it's looking good, and I look forward to reading the results of your next tow.

 

Amen! And especially on something so difficult to understand.

 

I am assuming the OP is using a hitch sway control bar? My weight distribution bars don't control the sway of my 29' trailer much but my hitch mounted sway control bar, when cranked down as tight as I can get it really makes big difference.

 

Yah, real glad to hear that you're getting a handle on it. It really did sound like you had too much weight on the back wheels, but without actually being there, it's hard to interpret.

We're picking up a new TT on Tuesday, and I will be paying extra attention to how they set it up (WD setup was part of the purchase deal).

 

And, let us know?

 

Yes sir! I've been doing some reading & YouTube surfing to get a better understanding of what's going on. I think I have a pretty good handle on it, and understand the basic principles. Different manufacturers have somewhat different setup techniques.

The WD hitch we're getting is an E2; no chains, & has built-in anti-sway.

 

ive read this thread several times and either im missing something or you havent weighed your rig correctly or havent posted your weights here so that we can see what youre weight distribution is doing when hitched up.

have you done this?

1. weigh truck unhitched: get steer axle weight and drive axle weight separately.
2. hitch trailer without weight bars and weigh steer, drive and trailer separately.
(this tells you how much your trailer weighs and how much your tongue weight is with no weight distribution}
3. install weight distribution system adjusted as you have been towing and weigh steer, drive and trailer separately. (this tells you how much 'tongue weight' is going to drive axle and how much is going to steer axle)

also, have you changed the 'hitch ball angle' at any point in time? this greatly affects your weight distribution adjusting. can you post a picture of your hitch and ball with and without trailer connected?

the hitch manufacturers installation instructions is VERY IMPORTANT.
advice of 3 rv dealers, not so important unless they actually install or adjust your hitch and KNOW WHAT THEYRE DOING.
advice of each poster here may or may not help your situation (including myself) but you need to know 'where the weight is' on youre setup before spending any more money.

also if this thread was in the TOWING FORUM, it could help greatly.

just trying to help and in no way being critical here.

 

I was going through the trailer/towing setup in the console yesterday, and I noticed there is an "anti-sway" setting that you can turn on/off. Did the OP mention whether he'd turned that on or off, or did he look at it?

 

I did not adjust this. I have read a few things about it and have had it activate once when the trailer was really swaying bad. My understanding is that when ON, accelerameters and the computer determine when you are having excessive trailer sway. Once this is recognized, it automatically applies brakes or cuts power to wheels to help stabilize the trailer. It is an emergency feature, not one that effects driving under normal conditions, or a notification you want to see very often.