SnoWest Project Trailer 2015: Building a "MORE" perfect trailer.

[christopher]

I am seriously wondering if there is something going on with my truck or not.

I have the Ford factory heavy duty suspension and when the trailer is loaded and on the hitch, the overload leaf at the top still has a good 1.5 inches of space before it makes contact. So I am absolutely not overloading the system. When the trailer loads onto the truck, I would say she squats down 2 inches in the back???
I compensate the trailer to keep both of her axles level by raising the hitch on the truck UP a couple inches. So the trailer pulls FLAT, but the truck is down in the rear.

Suspension and Towing kit are bone stock.

I load the 2 phazers well forward of the trailer axles, and the nytro/viper directly over the axles.
In the following picture you can see how the two rear sleds are both slightly tilted Inwards, as the outboard ski is ON the wheel well.

Last year's trailer did not seem as squirrely as this one does.
Yes, when a semi would pass me it would absolutely push me over.
But the truck didn't "hunt" left and right.

I wonder if there is something going on with the front end of the truck.
Its been aligned SEVERAL times, both upper and lower, and it still tends to hunt a bit left and right when unloaded driving down the highway. But when the trailer is on it, and loaded up, its MUCH worse.

 

[christopher]

 

[christopher]

Looking for photos of the truck and loaded trailer.

 

[Scott]

Maybe airbags would help that.

 

[meathooker]

What is the distance from the front trailer axle to the hitch?

 

[christopher]

Maybe airbags would help that.

I thought about that as well to begin with, but the rear end isn't anywhere even CLOSE to being overloaded?
The front end of the truck absolutely does NOT bounce up or down at all when towing.
It doesn't "Feel" like the front end of the truck is light.

Its the Left / Right darting that is driving me nuts.
I am having a bear of a time keeping the truck going STRAIGHT ahead down the highway.
its always going Left or Right.

 

[christopher]

What is the distance from the front trailer axle to the hitch?

Not even a clue.
I suppose I could go out and measure it, but its -5 outside and the wind is blowing right now, so I am not super inclined to go crawl under the trailer right this moment!!

 

[turbolover]

Swap the sleds around and see if that has any effect.
Put the nitro and viper up front with the phazers in the back.
How the weight is distributed could be causing it to do this.

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[christopher]

Swap the sleds around and see if that has any effect.
Put the nitro and viper up front with the phazers in the back.
How the weight is distributed could be causing it to do this.

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CRINGE...
This is a tongue heavy trailer.

Front loading two FourStrokes is REALLY going to increase the tongue load. Like by another 200-300 pounds!

Honestly, is it a wise thing to place that much more weight on the trailer tongue.

The truck is rated at 12,500lbs towing and a GCWR of 21,000lbs

Ford says tongue weight should be not less than 10% and not more than 15% of trailer weight.

Trailer is 4,500lbs give or take dry.
4 sleds are around 2,200lbs
For a Guesstimated total weight of 6,700lbs

10% =670lbs
15% = 1,005lbs

Moving those two sleds forward is really going to have a big impact on tongue weight.

I guess I really do need to take it to a scale and get it properly weighed to know for sure..

 

[turbolover]

Move one of them forward and one back.
Play around with it and see. That's going to be the cheapest solution if it fixes the problem.
You said yourself that your not hitting the overloads. It can't be as heavy on the tongue as you might think.

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[n2otoofast4u]

FFS YOU ARE TALKING 300 POUNDS NOT 3000. THERE IS NO WAY I'D TOW WITH THE EXTRA WEIGHT IN THE REAR OF THE TRAILER. 300 POUNDS IS LIKE PUTTING A BUDDY AND HIS GEAR IN THE TRAILER RATHER THAN THE BACK SEAT. AND MOVING THE HITCH UP IS JUST PUTTING THE TRAILER IN A WHEELIE AND AMPLIFIES THE PROBLEM WITH LEVERAGE. TRUCK FRAME AND TRAILER FRAME SHOULD BE REALLY CLOSE OTHERWISE GEOMETRY AND GRAVITY TAKE AFFECT. THIS IS ALL JUST MY OPINION OF COURSE.

 

[christopher]

Note that I do not load the rear weight of the trailer.
I am loading the two heavy sleds directly over the axles with 2 more sleds well forward of the axles.
The trailer is absolutely TONGUE HEAVY.
You can clearly see that as the trailer is lowered onto the ball and the rear end of the truck squats down a couple inches under the load.

 

[christopher]

Move one of them forward and one back.
Play around with it and see. That's going to be the cheapest solution if it fixes the problem.
You said yourself that your not hitting the overloads. It can't be as heavy on the tongue as you might think.

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Time to load it and head to the scales to find out for real...

 

[turbolover]

They have a scale at the spud house up the road from ya.
I'm sure they would let ya run across it if ya asked.
The weight readout is right there to see at the scale.

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[Blk88GT]

You need a proper weight distributing hitch and an hour at the scale with the truck and trailer loaded.

Weigh the truck loaded up without the trailer and then with. Take the readings of all the axles (truck and trailer) individually and post them up.

A 30ft trailer absolutely should have a weight distributing hitch IMHO.

 

[NorthMNSledder]

They also sell a scale that you can put on a jack that can measure the tongue weight of a trailer just buy jacking it up. We have one but it might be too far of a drive for you to use. LOL But your problems you talk about really sound like the trailer is to light on the tongue to me.

Not counting crosswinds on a large enclosed trailer. Any time I have had a truck pulling a trailer handle the way you talk about it has always been because there was not enough weight on the tongue of the trailer.

A couple other thoughts:

- Is the axle to hitch length the exact same as your last trailer?
- Like Turbo said you can try switch the sleds around and go for another drive. That's an easy and cheap way to see.
- Call your local rental center and rent a weight distribution hitch. That size of trailer really should have one anyway.
- Buy your new truck early and get a 1 ton LWB.

Nothing is scarier then a "dancing" truck and trailer when it happens at higher speeds. It's really a safety issue.

 

[christopher]

Ok.
So I will try to get all 4 sleds in the trailer and over to the local potato scales where Chris used to work for a FULL set of empty and loaded weights and post all of that here as part of the ongoing review.

Having some hard configuration weights might be of some use to other trailer pullers.

If they have the time and patience to let me reconfigure the load in the trailer it will be interesting to see just his much the tongue weight actually changes from moving the sleds into different positions

 

[Jaynelson]

Why not just load the heavier sleds in the front of the trailer and try it? Isn't that an easy enough at-home experiment? It's not like you'll break the truck just giving it a shot even if you sack the crap out of it. Scale numbers won't mean anything ....you'll still have to drive it to see if it's helped the issue.

As someone else said, every trailer I've pulled that had those issues wanted more tongue weight. If it wants more tongue weight, there's no way around it. If the amount of tongue weight it wants sacks out the truck, you'll need WD hitch, bags, or both.

Concurrently, if the truck handles poorly sans trailer....you've got worn parts, poor alignment, tire issue....or some combination thereof. Although some trucks/tires wander a bit even if everything's fine....depends if it's always been like that or if something has changed with the handling.

 

[christopher]

Oh sure, but at this point now I want to KNOW.
Now I am curious to what the actual tongue weight really is...

Flipping the sleds around for a quick drive down the highway is easy.

And I am NOT opposed to installing the Weight Distribution Hitch and Anti-Sway system. It certainly seems like the right thing to do when you cross the 26-28ft threshold.

 

[kevinm7]

My buddy had some issues with his truck acting the same way with 4 sleds in the trailer. About 3 hours, a case of beer and 2 airbags later the problem was solved Worked on his truck and everything sits nice and level. Worth a shot. Airbags are cheap.