Towing Question
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Junior User
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Towing Question
I am using my single wheel, 2015 F-350 King Ranch to tow. I have towed small trailers before with no problem. Last night I picked up a friends deck over axle flatbed (it is 18' plus a dovetail) to tow a 5K tractor. The trailer has a wood deck but is heavy duty (10 tons I believe, has dual axles each with 4 tires). It is a bumper pull.
When I was driving it home (empty) I felt like I was constantly bouncing up and down to the point it made me a bit sea sick. Is that shocking to those of you with more experience towing bigger items? Will it improve when I put the tractor on the trailer? The truck pulls it just fine, I am just worried I'm going to puke before I get the tractor home.
When I was driving it home (empty) I felt like I was constantly bouncing up and down to the point it made me a bit sea sick. Is that shocking to those of you with more experience towing bigger items? Will it improve when I put the tractor on the trailer? The truck pulls it just fine, I am just worried I'm going to puke before I get the tractor home.
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Junior User
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I'm not sure I fully understand your response. I think you are asking for the empty weight of the trailer? I am not sure, but it is probably in the 3K range or less.
Please clarify your response...are you saying I made a bad post? Are there typos?
I appreciate the input!
Please clarify your response...are you saying I made a bad post? Are there typos?
I appreciate the input!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Land of Taxes
I am using my single wheel, 2015 F-350 King Ranch to tow. I have towed small trailers before with no problem. Last night I picked up a friends deck over axle flatbed (it is 18' plus a dovetail) to tow a 5K tractor. The trailer has a wood deck but is heavy duty (10 tons I believe, has dual axles each with 4 tires). It is a bumper pull.
When I was driving it home (empty) I felt like I was constantly bouncing up and down to the point it made me a bit sea sick. Is that shocking to those of you with more experience towing bigger items? Will it improve when I put the tractor on the trailer? The truck pulls it just fine, I am just worried I'm going to puke before I get the tractor home.
When I was driving it home (empty) I felt like I was constantly bouncing up and down to the point it made me a bit sea sick. Is that shocking to those of you with more experience towing bigger items? Will it improve when I put the tractor on the trailer? The truck pulls it just fine, I am just worried I'm going to puke before I get the tractor home.
You might get away with biasing the tractor towards the rear of the trailer over the axles to balance the distribution and bring the tongue up. A draw-bar or distribution hitch solves this in most cases.
Do a good check of the trailer and tractor boiler plates to see what the total weight is for both to make sure your safely loaded. What size ball is the receiver on the trailer? Does this trailer have brakes?
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Junior User
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Thanks for the response. While I may be significantly off on the trailer weight, my truck is rated to tow 15K pounds off the bumper so I can't imagine I am anywhere near that, nor would I think I would get near that with a 5K pound tractor on it.
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From: Oregon
Are your front wheels touching the ground?
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Your problem is the tractor was too far forward on the trailer and putting too much tongue weight on your truck. As you were driving this was causing the tractor to bounce and instead of the trailer taking the weight your truck was taking it causing the up and down sea sick motion. Simply move the tractor back a few feet to put the weight over the trailer axles and your ride will be smooth as glass
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Junior User
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Do the front wheels need to be on the ground??? That is what is wrong! 
I guess that could be the problem....is it too much tongue weight period or just too much when the trailer is not loaded? My truck should be able to handle thousands of pounds of tongue weight but I guess if the truck is supporting a lot of trailer weight it would make the rear relatively lighter which may lead to bouncing? If that is the case, would think putting load over the axles would help.
Is there a chance that this is something my truck is not equipped to do? Or, is it just tolerating bouncing and driving safely, especially until I get the trailer loaded?
I guess that could be the problem....is it too much tongue weight period or just too much when the trailer is not loaded? My truck should be able to handle thousands of pounds of tongue weight but I guess if the truck is supporting a lot of trailer weight it would make the rear relatively lighter which may lead to bouncing? If that is the case, would think putting load over the axles would help.
Is there a chance that this is something my truck is not equipped to do? Or, is it just tolerating bouncing and driving safely, especially until I get the trailer loaded?
Posting Guru
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What you are feeling is a lot of tongue weight on the trailer fighting against the lighter weight of the rear of the truck. If you pull that trailer a lot, I would recommend putting some weight in the back of the truck. When you load up the machine it will tow smooth.
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SuperDutyScaler-I haven't put the tractor on yet. I was getting the trailer to go get the tractor. The problem is with the trailer empty (at least for now...may be better worse or same with load...not sure yet)
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I forgot to ask if the trailer was level, nose down or nose up. It's very important to tow a trailer as level as possible, that means having the correct draw bar and the correct amount of drop or rise and if needed a weight distributing hitch when loaded.
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Trailer is perfectly level...we moved the hitch to adjust that.
Yes, I realize I don't want to two thousands of pounds of tongue weight but my truck should handle the tongue weight of that trailer with no problem, right? And the truck can handle thousands of pounds of payload so it will not hurt the truck, right?
Yes, I realize I don't want to two thousands of pounds of tongue weight but my truck should handle the tongue weight of that trailer with no problem, right? And the truck can handle thousands of pounds of payload so it will not hurt the truck, right?
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Good I am glad you took the time to adjust the hitch, I have seen too many times where people are lazy and don't bother and then wonder why they had a bad towing experience. When you load up the tractor I promise you will have a better towing experience. Load the tractor more toward the front to avoid sway and you will be just fine.