New Member-Weight Dist. & Sway Control

[BSU Blue]

Hello:

We have recently upgraded our equipment, and had a wild ride home from the RV Dealer when we picked up our new trailer. We have a new Chevy 3/4 ton truck, and just bought a Wildwood 27RLSS. The ride home was harrowing, to say the least due to excessive & unsafe sway over 55 mph.

Our former trailer, a smaller Zepplin 18' had a Reese weight dist. system (friction bar missing), and towed like a skateboard (perfectly). I kept the Reese 61481, but after much reading on the subject, it seems like we need much more than a single friction bar to control the wild swaying of the new 27TT at freeway speeds around Los Angeles. The spring bars are only rated for 550 lbs.

Also, the specs on the 27' trailer say dry weight of 6700 pounds, hitch weight 650, which does not get us to 10%. To further complicate the matter, the fresh water tank-which was full, is BEHIND the second axle, which seems like a design flaw to me, as this greatly reduces the hitch weight when it is filled.

Our Chevy 2500HD comes equipped with a 2.5" shank receiver (we sleeve down to 2"), and all the aftermarket weight distribution choices seem to be 2". Does the play from the reducer sleeve add to sway?

So, at this point I am a bit baffled. It seems that right out of the gate we have to install some unproven sway control technology, dry camp, and add a couple of hundred pounds of lead or bricks to our front storage compartment to get the trailer to a campground less than an hour away. This is somewhat vexing as we thought we were buying enough truck to handle this size trailer (specs say we can handle 13000#).

Finally, the dealer totally dismissed the idea of them touching any weight dist. & sway control when we bought the trailer. Is this normal? If RV dealers will not touch these, who does? Camping world, Big Tex?

Any suggestions on this matter would be helpful. Otherwise our choices seem to be driveway camping or trade in for a fifth wheel.

Thanks!

[lynnmor]

Usually a trailer with enough hitch weight will not sway unless there is abnormal changes in wind or road conditions. If you really want this trailer you may have to have it rebalanced by moving axles, loads and water tanks. Sway controls are Band-Aids covering the real problem.

[yohop]

I just sold 33 Cardinal 5er and reverted back to tt. Got a 32 ft Holiday Rambler Savoy. Had tt in the past but was bothered some with sway, only had the friction bar type of control which didnt seem like it did much for swy control. After much checking I came up with the Reese straight line equalizer hitch with sway control . Found it on line at amazon for 416.00. Altogether different than the friction type . Looks kike it should do the job. Had many good reviews from other tt towers. I have only had it out once but seems secure, stable and trailer stays in line nicely despite wind. Mabe something you could check out.

[yohop]

Originally Posted by BSU Blue

Hello:

We have recently upgraded our equipment, and had a wild ride home from the RV Dealer when we picked up our new trailer. We have a new Chevy 3/4 ton truck, and just bought a Wildwood 27RLSS. The ride home was harrowing, to say the least due to excessive & unsafe sway over 55 mph.

Our former trailer, a smaller Zepplin 18' had a Reese weight dist. system (friction bar missing), and towed like a skateboard (perfectly). I kept the Reese 61481, but after much reading on the subject, it seems like we need much more than a single friction bar to control the wild swaying of the new 27TT at freeway speeds around Los Angeles. The spring bars are only rated for 550 lbs.

Also, the specs on the 27' trailer say dry weight of 6700 pounds, hitch weight 650, which does not get us to 10%. To further complicate the matter, the fresh water tank-which was full, is BEHIND the second axle, which seems like a design flaw to me, as this greatly reduces the hitch weight when it is filled.

Our Chevy 2500HD comes equipped with a 2.5" shank receiver (we sleeve down to 2"), and all the aftermarket weight distribution choices seem to be 2". Does the play from the reducer sleeve add to sway?

So, at this point I am a bit baffled. It seems that right out of the gate we have to install some unproven sway control technology, dry camp, and add a couple of hundred pounds of lead or bricks to our front storage compartment to get the trailer to a campground less than an hour away. This is somewhat vexing as we thought we were buying enough truck to handle this size trailer (specs say we can handle 13000#).

Finally, the dealer totally dismissed the idea of them touching any weight dist. & sway control when we bought the trailer. Is this normal? If RV dealers will not touch these, who does? Camping world, Big Tex?

Any suggestions on this matter would be helpful. Otherwise our choices seem to be driveway camping or trade in for a fifth wheel.

Thanks!

[myredracer]

If you only have 550 lb bars, you will not be able to transfer weight between the TV steer and drive axles and the TT axles. You simply cannot "wind up" the bars tight enough to transfer enough weight to the steer axle resulting in light steering and reduced steering control. Had this problem on our current TT because I went by the factory dry tongue weight and unknowingly bought undersized bars. When I weighed the TT at a scale, the tongue weight ended up being nearly double what the factory figure was. Bought larger rated bars (1200) and was able to set it all up properly and no issues with sway (using a Reese DC) or TV handling.

I would go load your trailer up with all your camping gear and go to a scale and find out what your actual tongue wt. and GVW is. You may be surprised. I would try filling the fresh water tank up for another pass and see what that really does to the tongue weight. It may not be as bad as you think with all your camping gear packed in there, esp. with stuff in the pass-through compartment.

Did anyone set up the WDH and weight transfer at all before you drove off? Someone should have measured the TV fender heights before and after the spring bars were hooked up. You should also consult the manual for your WDH as each make has somewhat different setup specs. But with a 3/4 ton, you wouldn't expect sway or handling problems even without a WDH hooked up with that kind of tongue wt..

If you having sway issues on the way home without even having the fresh water tank filled, something doesn't sound right. Are all your tire pressures correct?

[BFlinn181]

Your story is like someone else who posted this summer, bought a trailer and on their first trip it was unstable and flipped his TV and trailer -- both totaled! Load it up like you're going camping and SLOWLY take it to a set of scales. It's critical to get the tongue weight correct so you don't sway. A WDH is nice, but you can't rely on it to correct an out of balance rig. Good luck!!

[CD]

IMO you got some good answers. If it was me, I think I would take the empty TT (no water) to a scales and get dry weights. Get the tongue weight while unhooked from TV. If you have less than 12% ( at least 10%) I would take it back to the dealer and tell them to fix it or take it back. If you don't have enough tongue weight before you hook up, you can't do anything with a WDH after you hook it up. I have a 28" flat bed trailer and the axles are WAY back. I have NO sign of sway and I don't use sway bars. Because of where the axles are it is almost imposible to overload the rear of the trailer. I have a 1T dually so I can handle the tongue weight.

[myredracer]

One other thing I realized in researching something else is that LP weighs about 4 lbs per gallon. So two full 30 lb tanks will add about 240 lbs to your trailer. That's 240 lbs right up front in the tongue area so that will definitely make a difference in the tongue wt. That could theoretically upset the balance/loading of the trailer.

Food for thought...

[gggplaya]

First make sure you have enough tongue weight, when you put the TT on the TV, you should see the suspension squat at least a little. If it looks like you only have 250lbs on there, you have some balance issues.

[BSU Blue]

All:

Thanks for the advise.

To be clear, when we hooked up & drove home, the water tank (50 gals=400 lbs) was full. I went under after we got home & drained it, noticed the FW tank is behind the second axle. This undoubtedly reduces tongue weight. However, there might be times when one might want to leave home with a full fresh water load-just thinking. Propane tanks are full.

We drove home 50 freeway miles, without any WDH on it. I scavenged the old one off the trade-in. I have not installed it-research tells me it is overmatched.

I agree that the rig should be test drove "loaded". We live in So Cal. Loaded is two beach chairs & a couple towels. Sometimes a rod & reel.

My 3/4 ton definitely squatted upon hookup. At least 500+ lbs. TW.

Finally, the dealer was conspicuously absent when we hooked up & left. During negotiations they commented that they do not deal with WDH type issues-I ask again, is this customary behavior from dealers??? I would think they want us to survive the trip home!!! Plus they could make a few $ on the install of an upgraded hitch.

Hope this helps with the diagnosis. I was hoping someone had similar make/model experience.

Regards,

[BSU Blue]

Thanks, I would think both loaded with fresh water, then without. Then I'll know if we can carry water or not.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by myredracer

One other thing I realized in researching something else is that LP weighs about 4 lbs per gallon. So two full 30 lb tanks will add about 240 lbs to your trailer. That's 240 lbs right up front in the tongue area so that will definitely make a difference in the tongue wt. That could theoretically upset the balance/loading of the trailer.

Food for thought...

Sorry, that's the wrong food. A 30# propane tank holds 7 gallons of gas (30 pounds) and the full tank weighs 55 pounds. That's 640,500 BTU of energy when full. Double these figures for two tanks.

[myredracer]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Sorry, that's the wrong food. A 30# propane tank holds 7 gallons of gas (30 pounds) and the full tank weighs 55 pounds. That's 640,500 BTU of energy when full. Double these figures for two tanks.

Doh! That makes more sense for sure.

[mhbell]

We have a Rear Kitchen 29ft TT and found out that the hitch no mater what brand has to be set up properly. Also you need to find out what your tongue weight is. I had to adjust our WD hitch 3 times before I got it right. I have a friction sway bar, but find it is not needed since setting up the hitch and putting more weight in the pass through. I drive between 50 and 60 MPH. ST tires are rated for 65 MPH Max.
Mel