I have an 07 F250 SD PSD 4WD CC/SB. It is all stock, except for Bilstein shocks. It has the tow package that comes with a rear stabilizer bar.

I tow a 28' tag enclosed car hauler with the trailer and contents weighting ~8-9000lbs, depending upon track and spares package I take along.

I have a Reese 1200lb WD hitch with the cam sway control.

The trailer really pushes my truck around a LOT. all I have to campare it to was a 2500HD GMC 2WD that pulled the trailer with ease. I never got that tail happy floating feeling like a get with the new truck. It's as if the rear sway bar is not attached.

Nothing changed other than trucks. The Ford is a 4WD and sits significantly higher.

I have experimented with tire pressures, hitch angle, hitch height, trunion bar weight, load placement ... you name it. Nothing seems to help.

Any suggestions on what I might've missed?

 

It sounds as if you are running with too little tongue weight. With the approximate 10K load you describe, the mimimum tongue weight should be 1K.

I would try moving the car far forward on the trailer and seeing if that makes a difference. If the rear of your truck drops too much a set of Timbrens might help.

Lou Braun

 

Since the Ford is significantly higher than the GM, does the trailer sit level when you're hooked up, trailer loaded and towing?

I would imagine the trailer is sitting with the tongue too high causing the light tongue weight as Lou Braun described. When you ride over bumps on the road the trailer hitch would tend to lift the trucks hitch causing the feeling you have described.

Are the weight distribution bars rated high enough for that load?

My truck andoverall setup is very close to yours and I've not experienced that feeling at all. The Hensley is rated for 1,400 pounds though.

 

When I first hooked up my horse trailer to my new truck (3 1/2 years ago) I used the same receiver off of my old truck. The trailer sat too high on the tongue and the result was sway and instability. I then got another receiver that was too low. Tongue sat too low and I had a lot of sway and even more instability. I then got a receiver than makes the trailer level. Now there is no sway and the trailer is rock solid. I also notice that when I load up the trailer tack room with hay and a full water tank and only one horse there is a slight instability. When I load it with two horses it is rock solid again. My point is there can be a lot of variables and how the load is on the trailer will affect the stability.

 

Sounds to me like you need to set up your weight bar tension differently. To have a floating feeling all of a sudden with no changes to the trailer indicates to me that the bars have too much tension and are sending too much tongue weight to the front wheels, making the back end light - same effect as having not enough tongue weight. Whenever you change trucks, even if they are the same models, subtle differences in ride height, receiver angle, and others I can't think of right now, can change the handling dynamics of a trailer immensely. Try letting off a little tension on the bars and see how that works.

 

I really appreciate all the suggestions and opinions.

Greywolf had a nice post not long ago about the hitch angle and I;ve experimented with that to try and get more leverage. To be honset, it didn't fel any different.

The hitch height is adjustable and I made sure the trailer is sitting level.

I measured the front and rear heights of the truck alone, trailer unloaded, trailer loaded and with the bars set at various tensions, searching for the truck at near stock ride height (or at least the F/R deltas being the same) and the trailer level.

I thought it was shocks, so I installed a set of Bilsteins.

With all teh adjustments and variables, I think I am to the point where I need to take my loaded rig to my local RV center and have them adjust is according to the actual weights.

I learned sorting a race car with adjustable suspension components, there are thousands of setting that are junk and only a handful that are decent and only a couple that are good.

 

Sorry I didn't have any good suggestions for you. Let us know how you get it worked out... hopefully soon!

 

What is the load range of the tires on the SD? Any chance that one of the rear tires has slipped a belt or something that is only noticeable with the additional weight on it? Maybe try rotating the tires front to rear and see if that helps.

 

Load range is what came on the truck ... E? I know that they are inflated to 80psi as stated on the tire. a slipped belt is possible, I guess.