bad bounce while towing

Beer Belly · August 8, 2012

I'll be watching this one.....I have the same problem towing a 3,500 # Pop Up.....and believe it or not....using W/D (Reeses mini 400), without W/D, the rear drops, and the truck gets pushed around turns....W/D gives more of a secure feel around turns with some wieght on the front.....and I've got new shocks all the around

TimmyG · August 9, 2012

I'll be watching this one.....I have the same problem towing a 3,500 # Pop Up.....and believe it or not....using W/D (Reeses mini 400), without W/D, the rear drops, and the truck gets pushed around turns....W/D gives more of a secure feel around turns with some wieght on the front.....and I've got new shocks all the around

pics of your truck with the camper hooked up?

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

Beer Belly · August 9, 2012

I'll be watching this one.....I have the same problem towing a 3,500 # Pop Up.....and believe it or not....using W/D (Reeses mini 400), without W/D, the rear drops, and the truck gets pushed around turns....W/D gives more of a secure feel around turns with some wieght on the front.....and I've got new shocks all the around

pics of your truck with the camper hooked up?

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

We have a trip coming up, and I'll try to remember to take pics, both hitched, and unhitched

brainpause · August 9, 2012

If you have not done so already, pls confirm the type of tires you're running and the psi that you're running them at with the trailer loaded. You need 10 ply tires to handle that load safely no matter what type of equipment you have with that weight

+1

I did a bunch of stuff, but the one thing that helped the most was BFG'S Rugged Terrain A/T tires, E rated. They helped sway and lashup stability more than anything.

rusty01 · August 9, 2012

I'm pretty sure my tires are E rated but I will have to double check to see. I know they are rated at over 2400 lbs per tire if that means anything.

brainpause · August 10, 2012

I'm pretty sure my tires are E rated but I will have to double check to see. I know they are rated at over 2400 lbs per tire if that means anything.

Depends on the tire size and brand. For instance, one Goodyear chart shows LT225/75-R16 Load range D tires having 2335# rating, but LT235/85-R16 tires also D rated, have 2623# rating.

So, you probably have D rated tires at least. If you have never specified E rated tires, you in all likelihood have D rated tires.

BlackZ71Silverado · August 13, 2012

As long as I am within the manufacurer specs for weight I don't see how they couldn't cover it.

Probably because it's far to much weight for your truck....Hope you have at least upgraded your brakes and suspension, that's a lot of weight for the factory set up. You should look into getting an HD to tow that thing.

Back to your OP, you most likely would not have that bounce if you had a truck rated to tow that camper.

rusty01 · August 14, 2012

So the consesus is that my truck is being overworked by the unit and the truck is just not big enough for it. While I would love to upgrade I just don't have the finances to do so. I need to make this truck work so I geuss I will just live it with and take it easy with it. Maybe add some air bags and attempt to squeeze some more power out of it. For a truck that is rated to tow an 8000# loaded trailer (mine should be a lot less then that) and maybe 1300# of total payload including gear, passengers and hitch weight, I am pretty disappointed in it.

music · August 14, 2012

So the consesus is that my truck is being overworked by the unit and the truck is just not big enough for it.

Wasn't my consensus... still curious about the tires & springs myself. Sure, you're in the upper end of capacity (maybe over a bit?), but not off in lala land.

rusty01 · August 14, 2012

Well that's what I was thinking was at or maybe a bit above tc. Gonna give the air bags a try I think. First though I'm gonna change the WD set up, move more weight to the front axle of the truck and see what that does.

pwall · August 14, 2012

Adding air bags would certainly be one of the easiest things to do to help improve the ride.

Regarding the 8000# tow rating and the 1300# payload, the weight of what is in your truck (including passengers) is part of the tow rating. It's all about GVWR.

rusty01 · January 22, 2013

I did adjust the spring bars and this helped quite a bit with the bounce. Only issue is the bars are not level and they scrap on the ground at times. I put some coil over shocks in the rear that added about an inch of hight to the rear of the truck prior to towing. It appears that the ball hight is too high (even though I have it adjusted all the way down) due to the higher hight of the rear of the truck. This TT does have a rather low hitch hight to begin with. It's like it was meant to be towed with a low rider, lol! From what I understand the ball hight is supposed to be an inch higher then the tongue with the tailer unhitched and level with the truck. I bet I have to raise the tongue 6-8" in order to get the ball under it. Just trying to get this all figured out so I don't ruin my spring bars this summer! BTW, if I had to guess, with a load of firewood, bikes, camping gear and loaded trailer I'm probably throwing more like 9k+ lbs. at the truck!

CKNSLS · January 22, 2013

I have seen this happen over and over again on some of the RV boards I frequent. That is too much trailer and not enough truck. There is too much tongue weight on the rear axle.

The salesman at the RV place told you your truck could pull that. I don't know how long you have had the trailer, but if a new truck isn't in the cards, try to undo the deal on the trailer.

There are not any answers here that well help you.

Good luck!

rusty01 · January 22, 2013

What I don't get is I took weight off the front of the truck which resulted in less bounce by lessening the resistance on the spring bars = more weight on the rear axle. I think my issue is that the tongue hight is too low and/or my ball height is too high. Yes I know I am over working the truck a bit but it's all I got for now.

rusty01 · January 23, 2013

BTW, I am giving up on my halfer. I am trading or selling it and getting a 3/4 ton. Already got an offer to trade for a higher mileage Suburban. Also gonna probably sell the current TT I have in favor of a 5er! lol I am so done with Coachmen!! Anyway, a little off topic but that is what I have decided to do. Wish me luck!!