I am currently towing a 28.5' "light weight" travel trailer with my '06 F-150, SCrew, 5.4L, 4x2, 3.55LS, factory towing, 38-40# rear tire pressure. The trailer weighs 5500# dry and I estimate ~7000# wet and loaded. I estimate ~700-800# tounge weight.

Additional equipment: Equal-I-zer hitch (10,000 x 1,000), Prodigy Brake controller, and Ciba clamp on mirrors.

The rear end of the F-150 sags alot without the WD hitch...over 3" spring compression with the trailer "dry".

I set up the WD hitch per the instructions to transfer as much weight forward as possible and eliminate rear end sag......here's the rub..... I can get the rear sag limited to about 1-1/2", but try as I might, I can't get the front to compress at all. Static ride height is 34.5", loaded with no WD 35", loaded with max WD 34.5". 36" Static rear, 34.5" loaded w/WD. I think I'm to the point where adding adjustment to the WD hitch just flexes the bars more and does not transfer more weight.

SOOOOO....I took it on it's maiden long distance run last weekend. Pulled it fine, plenty of power, decent control, etc., but the rear end is still plenty "soft" and rolling bumps in the highway can create quite a bit of "jounce" and "wallowing" on the rear axle of the truck. This can make the rear of the truck feel more squirmy than I'd like. Bottom line, the truck seems to be sprung a bit light.

What I'm considering is installing a set of Ride Rite bags by Firestone to take some of the tounge weight, allowing the WD hitch to apply some compression to the front end instead of carrying all of the weight of the lightly sprung rear end. Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on making the rear end rock solid like a big 1-ton dually, I'd just like to share some of the load, firming up the handling a bit and helping the WD hitch keep the front end well planted.

Any and all thoughts on this situation would be appreciated, thanks.

 

from what i know and thats not much! your weight distribution hitch is only gona redistribute hitch touge weight! not trailer weight but i could be wrong?

 

Having towed all kinds of trailers (12'-36') with a variety of vehicles, all over the western U.S., for the last 35 yrs, the following items will effect your current setup the most.

Your tires are a major contributor your "squirmy" feel. Your car tires are not designed for load stability, they are for "comfortable ride". Install LT tires that carry a max 50-65psi and you will have far stiffer sidewalls and more load capacity. When towing keep your rear tires at max pressure. The fronts can be at normal pressure or slightly higher.

Air bags work well for leveling out your truck while loaded and do add some stability to the rear end of the vehicle.

You may want to look at better/stiffer shocks for the truck. Factory shocks are designed for that "comfortable ride".

Do all three of the above and you will notice a major reduction in squirm and sway and an increase in handling and control.

 

I would also weight your trailer, weight tongue weight as loaded and weight each truck axle with and without trailer hooked up. My 27' weights 7000 empty and 8500 loaded, my tongue weight is 800 empty and 1100 loaded. This sure makes a big difference when you are setting up your EQ hitch. How many washers in the head alightment bolt? I suspect your trailer is much heavier than you think, what is the advertised sticker show for empty and max GVW. I suspect once you weight actuals, the next step should be tires and then airbags. If your 150 isnt including the heavier axle and tow package, I suspect your are in for more serious modifications to get a level and controllable tow.

 

I tow a slightly heavier trailer with my F150 SuperCab and I did install the Firestone suspension. Its amazing... even my normal ride is much more smooth now. Its actually at the point where I have to DROP the air pressure in the suspension to hook up the trailer because it lifts the gooseneck too high! The truck looks level loaded with 1500lbs in the bed... amazing system. It SHOULD help you out... won't guarentee it, but it'll do something to help!

 

c.f.more cover the steps pretty well. There is also an issue with the rear springs as weight is added. These leaf springs flex mainly in the front when loaded. Between the front eye and the axle. This flex lets the spring curl upward and affects the distance of the spring eye to axle, thereby changing the alignment of the axle to the truck. in a very bad way. It enhances the sway. I had the problem with brand new leafs. (heavy load) Adjustable shocks did little to eliminate the sway. The bags I used install in front of the axle and apply correcting pressure down on the leaf. The is likely accidental, but fixes it. I recognized due to a similar experience with a trailer.

 

Thanks for the replys guys.

Equal-I-Zer hitch has 6 washers on the rivet, and I'm definately at the point where the bars flex before they transfer any more weight to the front axle, I tried going up another hole on the L- Brackets and didn't change the front or rear measurements any at all.

The truck has the "7200# Payload" (window sticker) package with 3450# front and 3850# rear axle ratings. Truck weighs 5980# with me, all of my normal stuff , and full tank of fuel per elevator scale.

Tires are as others have mentioned "P-rated", but since they only have 14K on them, I may wait until I get some more use out of them before going to LT rated tires. (I don't pull the camper that often and can deal with some tire squirm short term if I can stop the "soft sprung" rear end problem)

It sounds like your comments are giving me "go for it" opinions on the Ride Rite bags and stiffer shocks.

I know I need to make it up to the scale and get all of the weights 100% accurate, I just need to find some time to call in a favor or two with the local grain elevator manager and play with it on their scale. I may do that after the Ride-Rite install because I'll have to re-adjust the hitch anyway.

 

I would add more washers first. When I had my ultra-light and the equalizer my first setup with a Jeep had 8 or 9 washers in it. When I traded to the jeep for an Expedition I only took one washer out.

The bars should flex. They are designed to flex. One way to look at them is like the handles of a wheelbarrel made like a leaf spring. You are going to put pressure on the one end. Some of that pressure will be displaced by the bar. The remainder of it will pull up your back end and push down your front end.

I would first work more on the hitch before you spend more money. You should be able to transfer some weight to the front of your truck and get the truck to sit down close to proporionally. I know that I was able to with my Expy and the ultra-light and then with my Jayco.