Help with hitch setup

[CLE-PRE]

We have had our camper for a little over a year now and I have just never been to happy with how it has towed. After reading thru the directions on my hitch again, that the dealer installed, I see they didn't do it quite right. Or that's what im thinking.

The rear of the camper always seems to be moving around to much for my liking causing me to be constantly making steering adjustments. I went thru and redid the hitch according to what the directions say. It said to put 6 washers in behind the head but doing that I couldn't get the trailer to lock down around the ball so I went back to 4 washers.

Going by my measurements, after hooking everything up it did bring my front height back down a little bit but something still doesn't seem right with how my bars are looking. Don't see I will get much sway control with them barely touching the L brackets.

The truck is a 2012 f150 max tow and the camper is a 2017 crossroads zinger328sb. The hitch im using is a Fastway E2. If anybody has any suggestions please let me know.

[Persistent]

Truck Level
The bars remove weight from the Tow Vehicle rear wheels and transfer the weight to the TV front wheels and to the TT wheels.

First unhook the TT and remove the hitch.
Measure the height of the truck at the wheel wells. Record the numbers.
Reattach the hitch and TT.
Re-measure the heights of the wheel wells.

The rear wheel well should be lower with the TT attached. Mine is 1 to 2 inches lower.
The front should be the same or slightly higher than it was. Mine is ¼ inch higher.

If the rear is higher with the TT attached, that could cause your rear end looseness.

Axle Weights
Get your axle weights from a commercial truck scale. Load both the truck and trailer the same as if you were going camping. Weight the rig with the TT attached and again without.
The front axle weight should be the same or slightly lower with the TT attached.
The rear should be higher with the TT attached.
Calculate the tongue weight by subtracting the truck total weight without the TT from the truck total weight with the TT attached. The difference is the tongue weight. Tongue weight should be 10 to 15% of the TT actual weight.
Now compare the actual weights to the weight specification stickers on the truck driver’s door frame and the TT weight specification sticker on the front driver’s side of the TT.
Exceeding the specification limits could cause your problem.

[DENSHER]

I use that same type hitch on a friends trailer that I take out to the lake and back 3-4 times each year, about 20 miles with 1/2 being interstate. I had same issue, after a few different adjustments finally got it set to my Silverado.
Had to tell from photos but in bottom pic it appears the trailer slightly higher at the tongue, trailer should be level or slightly lower at the front.
Do Not place the stabilizer arms on the brackets before lowering hitch on to the ball. Lock the hitch on the ball without putting any on the truck then swing to arms over to the brackets and measure distance from bracket to the arm, should be approx. 3". Adding or removing washers in the hitch will adjust this.
With the hitch locked on ball extend the jack to lift rear of the truck up to swing the arms onto the brackets, lock in place then and raise the jack.
Need to have the ball latched to provide a pivot point to flex the arms enough to transfer tongue weight forward and apply friction at the L brackets for sway control.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by CLE-PRE

The truck is a 2012 f150 max tow and the camper is a 2017 crossroads zinger328sb. The hitch im using is a Fastway E2.Attachment 262010

1] Probably too much trailer for your F-150. GVWR is 9,740, so if you load it to about 9,000 your properly-loaded tongue weight (TW) with a good WD hitch will be about 1,250 pounds. With a small family and normal tools and camping stuff in the truck, you're probably overloaded over the payload capacity of your F-150. Do you have a scale ticket for your loaded F-150 with the wet and loaded trailer tied on with the spring pars adjusted? If you do, then add the weights on the steer and drive axles to get GVW on the F-150. Compare GVW to GVWR to determine how much overloaded you are.

2] Cheap hitch. If I wanted to tow that trailer with that F-150, the first step I would make is to replace that cheap hitch with an Equal-I-Zer 4P or Blue Ox SwayPro or Reese Strait-Line tunnion rated for 1,400 pounds TW. Then adjust the hitch to result in close to one-half inch rise in the font fender with the trailer connected and hitch adjusted and the trailer level, front to rear.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by CLE-PRE

The hitch im using is a Fastway E2.

Your RV dealer probably sold you the cheap hitch to close the deal on the trailer. You may have balked at a more expensive WD hitch, and they wanted you to buy that trailer from them.

Per the photo, your E2 is the round bar version. The most TW capacity available in the heaviest-duty E2 round bar is 1,000 pounds. Your wet and loaded TW will probably be over 1,200 pounds, so your E2 cannot be adjusted to handle your actual TW.
https://www.fastwaytrailer.com/e2-hitch

Even a cheap hitch can do a decent job of weight distribution if properly sized and adjusted. The difference in cheap hitches and good hitches is sway control. Cheap hitches have inadequate sway control compared to better hitches, especially under severe sway-causing conditions.

Excellent sway control is expensive. The best is the ProPride, which costs almost $3,000 delivered for a new one. Back off to the affordable sway control hitches and they list for almost $1,000 and are available online for a bit over $500 to $700. Affordable sway control hitches include the Equal-I-Zer 4P, Blue Ox SwayPro, and Reese Strait-Line. Those have very good sway control under most sway-causing conditions. The spring bars on your WD hitch must be rated for more TW than you would ever have. Because your TW will probably be over 1,200 pounds, your hitch should be rated for at least 1,300 pounds, and 1,400 or 1,500 pounds rated TW will work just fine.

Here's a Reese Strait-Line with trunnion spring bars rated for 1,500 pounds TW:
$555.65
https://www.amazon.com/Reese-66130-P...5&sr=8-1-fkmr0

And here's a Blue Ox with trunnion spring bars rated for 1,500 pounds TW.
$576.84
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ox-BXW15...3&sr=8-1-fkmr1

And the very popular Equal-I-Zer with trunnion spring bars rated for 1,400 pounds TW:
$679.68
https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-9...0012405&sr=8-1

Note: Round bar hitches have less ground clearance than trunnion bar hitches, so you're more likely to scrape the bottom of the round bars on the ground when crossing dips and ditches. Trunnion bar hitches don't have that problem.

[Persistent]

I think DENSHERhas nailed it. CLE-PRE needs to add more washers and hook it up properly. A new WDH is not yet called for.

On the other hand, the TT is pushing the limits of the TV. Trailer actual weight and tongue weight when loaded for travel should be measured and compared to the TV specifications found on the driver's door frame.

[CLE-PRE]

Thank you all for the help and insight on this. I have tried adding washers to the hitch but it tilted the ball so much that I couldn't get the trailer to lock onto the ball.

When I was messing with it the other day, my front measurement with w/d hooked up was in the middle of my measurements of truck alone and truck/camper with no w/d.

Just doesn't feel like I'm getting enough sway control from the hitch. Or is that just something inherent to a long bumper pull trailer? Would it be the same if it was a fifth wheel?

[shane_the_ee]

Get thee to a CAT scale and figure out your actual weights and distribution. Load everything up like you'd be going camping and then use the three pass method. No weight distribution hitch in the world is going to help if your tongue weight is only 5%. Once you have the weights you can make informed changes instead of just throwing parts at the problem and hoping they'll fix it.


*bigger bars? different hitch? better adjustment of what you already have? more truck?

[Cumminsfan]

Are you raising the rear of the truck with the tongue jack prior to snaping up the springs bars?
Looks like you need more downward WDH tilt.
You bars don't look parallel to the L brackets.
I would lower the L bracket and add more washers.

Bottom line though, that TT is just too big for your F150.
At 36'6" and 8500 lbs loaded it's a 3/4 ton truck TT.
Dry TW of 942# is probably 1200+ loaded. You could easily be over your trucks receiver rating.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by Persistent

A new WDH is not yet called for.

Even if his TW is 200 pounds more than his WDH is rated for?

With the hitch being that much overloaded, neither the weight-distribution nor the sway control will be adequate.

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

Even if his TW is 200 pounds more than his WDH is rated for?

With the hitch being that much overloaded, neither the weight-distribution nor the sway control will be adequate.

I agree the poster needs to get the rig weighted. But, at this time we don't know if the tongue weight is too high, too low, or just right.

[CLE-PRE]

Just wanted to stop in and say thanks all on the input for my truck and trailer. After looking at it a little more we did end up taking it up to my work and putting it on the scale. Was able to determine that the tongue weight was over what I was thinking and maxing the truck out.

Fast forward a couple days and we ended up trading the wife's Buick enclave for a low mileage 2006 f350. Thinking this should fulfill our towing needs just fine.

[Spdracr39]

Weight police can't complain about that one. Nice truck #overkill #upgradeready

[Jshopes81]

Now theres a good looking truck! Im sure someone will be along to tell you what a pile of trash our 6.0s are. Is this your first 6.0 truck?