New '19 f250 moves around while towing
 

We just pulled our fifthwheel trailer for the first time with our new f250 crewcab, (regular tow package) and it wiggles or moves around more than I expected. It requires a fair bit of steering corrections and not sure if this is normal or is it the michilen tires or? My previous pickup was a 2014 Ram 2500 and it drove very straight, sometimes if the road was perfect you could forget there was a trailer back there. Now it had the coil link rear suspension with a sway bar, maybe that kept things tighter. I am not saying this truck is bad, just not quite as good as I think it can be.

What 5th wheel? Hitch setup?

What are you running for tire pressure in the rears? I had the same thing when I was running 65 PSI. Went away when I up the pressure to 75 PSI. Is the trailer level when hitched?

It is a 39.5' heartland, weighs 12000 loaded with 2000 or so of that on the pin. All tires are at 80 psi.

X2 and how is the weight distribution in the trailer? Same roads, time of year, wind conditions? Are your tires inflated properly, is the trailer suspension in good condition, any spring /suspension parts broken, or worn out? Short box or long box trucks, is the hitch point in the same place over the axles in both trucks? Did the previous truck have air bags?

Sorry missed the post

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3d448d451e.jpg
The trailer is level to a tad high at the front, very close to level. All the heavy stuff is middle to upfront. Trailer is in perfect shape. The ram had the five link rear suspension with coil springs. I will say it was a stiffer ride.

What is the GVWR of your truck F250? It looks like you have the 6.7 diesel. Also, what's the payload capacity of your truck? It will be on the yellow sticker inside the drivers door identified as "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed".
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...91e86cdccf.jpg

You could be close to your payload capacity if not over with that combination. The front tires shouldn't be at 80PSI. My 2018 F350 XLT CC 6.7 states 60PSI max for the front tires.

My Buddy has a 2017 F250 XLT CC 6.2 Gasser and pulls a Keystone Hideout 298BHDS fifth wheel. I believe his fifth wheel is 35'5", GVWR 11,500 with a hitch weight of 2300lbs when fully loaded. I believe his payload capacity is around 3100lbs. With the weight of his passengers/hitch/ gear, he still had roughly 100lbs of payload remaing and his F250 gasser pulls it perfectly.

I am 400 pounds over the max payload when full of fuel. When another pickup is passing you, once they get to the front bumper, I have to counter steer as the air pressure changes off the front of the truck. Things like that didn't bother the ram, but I never had new michilen tires, bf ko2's. The truck is brand new, 500 miles, so maybe it is in the tires, the new soft tread is making it squirm and I am correcting for that. Could be that simple.

It very well may be the tires. My 2018 F350 and my Buddy's 2017 F250 both have the Goodyear Adventures. We took a trip together last year to Myrtle Beach from Cincinnati, Ohio. He was new to the whole fifth wheel towing thing and was super impressed how rock solid his F250 pulls his fifth wheel. Have you checked the tire pressure on your Hearland?

It very well may be the tires. My 2018 F350 and my Buddy's 2017 F250 both have the Goodyear Adventures. We took a trip together last year to Myrtle Beach from Cincinnati, Ohio. He was new to the whole fifth wheel towing thing and was super impressed how rock solid his F250 pulls his fifth wheel. Have you checked the tire pressure on your Heartland?

Trailer tires are at 80, Checked them before we left. And I always take the bypass around Cincinnati!

Are you sure about those weights? Have you had the rig across the scale and done the math? 12,000 lbs. is extremely light for a 39.5' fifth wheel and 2,000 lbs. is light on the pin weight for a 12K gross. For example, my 36' "mid profile" fifth wheel is 13,980 loaded with 3,000 of that on the pin. Besides the tire advice above, I'd double-check and confirm your weight information. Most 39' fifth wheels are too much trailer for a 3/4-ton truck.

Rob

Yes, it is an extreme light model, that is all it weighs, it is at just under 20 000 gross combined. (truck and trailer)

Maybe 80 is too much in the truck tires also and is making it worse. I could try that, they are rated for 3750 pounds each at 80 psi, so that is 7500 pounds, almost the entire weight of the truck with just two tires. The front weighs 4750 with me in it, so I could easily run 65 psi.

​​​​​​​I'd leave the rears at 80 and run the frts at 65.

That's what I was thinking.

What type of hitch are you using?

Also could you define moving around? More like when and how?

It is a curt hitch on rails. It "meanders", best I can describe it. Have to make small corrections to keep it in a lane. Which is normal right, but I am comparing it to the ram I had and it drove "straighter", with no trailer they both drive fine, the Ford does have a smoother ride overall. Also, like I mentioned above, when someone is passing you the air pressure change around the truck makes you have to correct the steering enough, like say driving over uneven pavement with extra wide tires, if you get what I am saying. Just more than I am use too. I really think it is in the tires. That is what makes the most sense to me.

If you had a travel trailer I would say that you have lost too much weight from the front axle. From your picture it looks fairly level so I wouldn't expect weight loss from the front axle, but looks can be deceiving. A trip to the scale is in order.

The high PSI on your front tires could be part of the problem. Even on my F-350 the fronts are set to 60, not 80. Only the rear tires go to 80.

Sounds like wagging the tail. More trailer than truck but your previous Ram handled it fine. Wierd.

I did weigh it, front axle is 600 pounds less than the rear.

Not a slider.

I have the Goodyear 18" E rated wranglers, and my towing is rock solid, no matter what PSI, even double towing I'd suspect the tires..

OP, are your trailer axles straight (any odd wear on trailer tires). That could cause slight sway and transferring to the tow vehicle. Just a thought.

The truck is brand new, as in I only drove it about 200 miles before hooking the trailer on. So I haven't done anything else with it. Wasn't even planning on buying a ford, but the had rust starting on the cab floor of the ram, so I figured now was the best time to trade it off.
The tanks were completely empty and the truck and trailer tires look perfect. I am going to try 60 or 65 in the fronts and see what that is like for the way home. To me it sounds backwards to think less pressure is going to improve things, but have to try the simple easy stuff first.

My bet is its the tires. Michelins tend to squirm anyway and the pressure is probably too high. My truck came with 18" Wranglers and the door tag says 65 psi/rear and 60 psi/front. That's where I run mine (F250, CCSB, 6.7) when towing and its the model of comfort and stability. I bumper pull about 10K.

My plan was to run these til next winter, then install bf ko2 35 x 12.50's for the winter. I am going to drop the pressures and see what the drive home is like, that is a week out.

I think you have cited your problems here. 1) you are over the max payload. 2) the front end gets pushed around by another truck's bow-wave.

I know the front tires being at 80 psi will make them much more sensitive to the bow-wave, especially if you consider the excessive load on the rear tires.

The load shouldn't be excessive for the tires as if it were a 350 srw it would of come with the same tires. And I think it should work fine because yes I am at the max payload, but still well under the max trailer weight. It should work perfect even at max payload and max trailer weight, there is no way they made it work barely good enough at the maxes, Ford has been building trucks for way too long.

Over max payload is over max payload and you can't cite the max trailer weight and think everything should be happy. That's not how it works.

Ford should put a footnote in their max towing capacity numbers that says, "Yes, the truck can handle the max capacity, but the drive is really, really going to suck."

I guess I am just comparing it to my old truck, I was more over the payload on it and it drove perfectly.

It is just ahead, not by much and it doesn't add hardly any weight to the front axle, just like my ram, but the ram did have a sway bar. I really don't think that is the problem, but like I said early, I'll find out in a week with lower tire pressure.

Are you really at 12K trailer gross weight, and only 2000 lbs on the pin? That is your actual certified scale weight? Not a "guesstimate"?

That just sounds way too light on the pin weight to me.

And a 2000 lb pin weight puts you 400 pounds over your truck's weight rating?