2022 RAM 1500 sways when towing

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

I am pretty simple but I typed it in yesterday and it wouldn't come up.
The concept of this hitch is fine but what bothers me, and I'll say it again, is this trailer handled fine behind my 1/2 ton Chevrolet. It seems like changing over to this hitch is like putting a band aid on a broken arm and who knows if it will really work anyway.
I'm more inclined to do what is needed to the truck in the way of modifications because in my opinion the problem is somewhere in the design of the truck.
Referring back to an earlier post I said when we changed from Marc's truck to my truck we did nothing to the hitch or anything else. No adjustments or anything. Marc drove his truck during the testing and also drove mine to keep those parameters the same. I was just along for the ride. IIf there had been just a small amount of difference between the two pull vehicles I could question a lot of things but the difference was clearly like night and day. Sitting in the passenger's seat I could feel the difference as well as see Marc's hands moving all the time driving his Ram and his hand(s) were steady on the wheel while driving my truck.
I could get one more truck (my son in law's) to pull the trailer but I don't think it'd tell us anything we don't already know. His truck is a 2019 Chevrolet 1/2 ton.
I'm not going to do anything before we put the parts in he has ordered. That will be at the end of this week.
Stay tuned.

I am with you on changing out the WD hitch - it seems like there must be something else going on.

I have heard people complain about 1/2 ton Dodge/Ram trucks towing and hauling. I don't have any experience with any heavy towing except GM products. I find it hard to believe that after let's say a 100 years of competition between Ford, GM and Dodge/Ram, there would be a significant deficit in one design.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

That is a pretty good description of what we don't want to happen. That's why we are trying to come up with a solution before it does.

If you replied to the question I missed it. What are the tires on the Ram, P-rated is passenger car tires, LT-rated is light truck tires.
P-rated tires have a very flexible sidewall to give a soft coushy ride, Lt tires have stiffer sidewalls to reduce body roll when hauling a load.


An aside to the sway issue is how to stop sway.
To stop trailer sway, keep your speed constant while gently manually applying the trailer brakes just enough that you feel the pull on the truck. This pulls the truck and trailer back into a straight line.
Try the procedure when you don't need to employ it so you know what will happen when it is needed.

[Mich F]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

If you replied to the question I missed it. What are the tires on the Ram, P-rated is passenger car tires, LT-rated is light truck tires.
P-rated tires have a very flexible sidewall to give a soft coushy ride, Lt tires have stiffer sidewalls to reduce body roll when hauling a load.

In post #32 he wrote that the truck has LT tires.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by Mich F

In post #32 he wrote that the truck has LT tires.

Yes, the specs for all the tires are in post # 32.
I do have some information to pass along. My son talked with the owner of the local Ram dealership about this problem. The owner said he had the same problem with his Ram 1500 pulling his enclosed car trailer with his son's DIRT sportsman race car and all their gear inside. He had the Timbrens installed and it handles just fine now. One of the mechanics in the same dealership has also installed the Timbrens so he can haul his enclosed trailer with his show car inside. Same results. Much better ride and handling.
It seems to make sense to me as I think about the bouncing. When the bouncing began it seemed like the same time the sway began.
Trust me on this. If the Timbrens work for us I will let everyone here know. The same holds true if they don't work. I'm not afraid to say I'm wrong or made a mistake. I wouldn't want a mistake I made cost someone else. I don't play that way.
Heck. If they don't work I'll have a few drinks and take the trailer for a ride. Then I'll know why it sways. LOL

[darrellr]

It sounds like you are already set on the Timbrens, and they are good kit. You might also consider air bags to maintain some adjustability to keep a good unladen ride while also being able to stiffen up when towing. My experience is only with the air bags and I do not have any with the Timbrens, only what I have heard or read.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by darrellr

It sounds like you are already set on the Timbrens, and they are good kit. You might also consider air bags to maintain some adjustability to keep a good unladen ride while also being able to stiffen up when towing. My experience is only with the air bags and I do not have any with the Timbrens, only what I have heard or read.

That has crossed my mind. I'm interested to see how it affects the unladen ride if any at all. This is another thing I will report on. FYI. From what I've been told the install only takes about 20 minutes. There may be periods of time where Marc doesn't drive his truck opting to drive his car back and forth to work. If he was unhappy with the ride and he was going to make a long trip he could remove the Timbrens. "Hey Dad, got a minute"?
BTW, they are on the way and should be here tomorrow.

[spike james]

Dave,

You are on the right path with the trunnions, but i have a 2017 ram 4x4 quad cab 1500 Laramie. I regularly tow 10000 lbs with no issues at all. Its is the coil springs causing the issue. I had a 2014 Ram with the air ride, I towed the same equipment with no spring bars, just hooked up and gone. I had now have to use long spring bars with a weight distribution hitch while towing with this new truck. It works fine with a 28 ft trailer but I have added a load leveling system from Firestone to help with high wind sway. For your piece of mind, please, put an adjustable load leveling system on. It not hard to do and believe me, it will make a world of difference. The coil spring are just too soft, even though the are progressive, they were made for ride comfort, not towing heavy and long trailers. Good luck.

[wjijr]

Andersen No-Sway WDH

I use the above with a F-150 and have no sway problems.

[Don Hediger]

Have you wieghed your truck with and without your trailer? If there is too much weight in the rear of the trailer and not enough on the hitch you will have lots of problem with sway. 15-20% of the total trailer weight should be in our hitch (or fifth wheel). Google or search around on forums to see more on this issue. There are also articles on how to weigh your truck and truck with trailer on CAT scales available at most major truck stop chains.

[thearcher01]

I have a 2019 Ram 1500 Bighorn Crew Cab with 5.5' bed. I have towed a 6000 lb 25' trailer from WV to Western Colorado and back as well around Tennessee and Ohio. I just have a cheapo ez-lift round bar WDH. I usually don't tow over 60 mph to save on gas and take it easy on the trailer tires but sometimes do run 65 or a little more. I have never had any trouble with sway.

I do have Airlift inserts in the rear coils for hauling loads in the bed, but never noticed any sway problems before I had them. Just a suggestion, (although it doesn't sound to be your case) if you're hauling any packable weight in your trailer, make sure it is in the front. Tail heavy trailers will cause sway with any tow vehicle.

[LETMGROW]

This comes right back to the original testing we did. As I said, when we hooked the trailer to my Chevy the truck and trailer hauled flawlessly. Yet, pull it with the Ram and it's game on. We have the Timbrens in hand but need time to install them before we do anything else. Between his work schedule and my planting crops, play time has been in short supply. Hopefully soon.
I would never put 20% of the weight of a trailer as heavy as his on a 1/2 ton truck. I can't even imagine the torsional stress you would be putting on the frame and suspension parts. With that much stress on the frame you could bend the truck in half. You have to jack the truck and trailer up after hooking to the ball almost to the moon now to hook up the torsion/anti-sway bars and they are adjusted precisely to the manufacturers instructions.
With the trailer level and sitting on level ground and the truck sitting on level ground the top of the hitch is 1/4 " higher than the top of the trailer ball.
Here is an interior shot of the front interior of his camper plus other pictures of the layout.
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/201...RKS-5022444571
As you can see the majority of weight is in the front. The bed room is in the very rear. The slide is more forward than rearward. Fill the fridge, cupboards etc. and I don't think you need scales to tell you the front has plenty of weight.

[Carbi]

Hi. I have a 2017 Ram 1500 and had a sway problem with my own trailer of similar size but also a sway problem with my sons trailer also a similar size. I have rear air bags and tried several different pressures. I found installing an anti sway control bar on the trailer tongue was very helpful or maybe two would be better. I think the issue comes from the fact that Dodge has gone back to a coil spring rear axle. Which is less stable side to side than a rigid leaf spring. In my opinion. Hope this helps.

[wandering1]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

Before I start I'm asking everyone responding here to stay on the RAM 1500 subject and we don't need a 2500 either.
The truck in question here is a 2022 "Bighorn", "Off Road Edition" with load range 'C' tires, Hemi powered 4 WD. owned by my son. There is no switch we can see for "Sway Control".
My son recently bought a 2017 Coachmen Catalina 28RKS Legacy Edition TT GVW 6200#.
Aside from bringing it home he has only had it out twice due to work schedules etc. Bringing it home and the first trip he took were both on State highways and secondary roads with 55 mph speed limits. While he did notice some sway on the State highway it was nothing like what he experienced at 65 mph on the interstate when he traveled last weekend.
His tire pressures are all set at the recommended pressure both on the truck and the trailer.
His weight distributing hitch came with the trailer which he bought from an individual we know and trust. The WDH is a "Fastway E2" Trunnion sway control/weight distributing hitch. This hitch was installed on the trailer when my son bought it. The previous owner hauled this trailer with a Chevrolet 1500 4WD pickup around a 2017 or 2018 model year.
We have gone all through the set up instructions and procedures and made a couple small changes to the adjustments to make the hitch work properly with my son's truck.
Last evening we went through the entire set up procedure again to be absolutely sure everything is set and adjusted correctly and we are sure it is.
We took his truck and trailer for a 10 mile test drive after checking the adjustments. Up to 55 mph you could feel a little sway and the truck seemed to bounce a bit from front to rear but when he pushed the speed up to 65 this combination became a real handful. I mean if you weren't up on top of the wheel you'd be covering the whole lane in the road and probably more.
We returned home and we rechecked all the adjustments one more time. Then I came up with an idea. I suggested we hook the trailer up to my truck. My truck is a 2002 Chevrolet 1500 Silverado Z-71 4 WD. I have owned it since 2004, don't drive it in the winter time and it has just over 100,000 miles on it with all original springs and shocks. The tires are standard load Cooper M&S set at 35 psi. Not the ideal tires for hauling a large trailer. I measured the receiver hitch height on both my son's truck and my truck. My hitch is 1/4" higher than his which should make no difference. We put his hitch into my receiver, hooked up the trailer and the WDH and took it for a test drive. My son was driving to keep things the same for our test drive. We live on a secondary road (my son lives next door to me) and even at the lower speed my son said he could feel a difference in the handling. When we got to the State highway to take the same route as we did with his truck we got up to speed and my son said, "What a difference". Then we pushed the speed up to 60 then 65 mph. This combination went down the highway as straight as a tightly drawn string. No sway what so ever and no front to rear bouncing (I call it porposing). The ride was smooth and comfortable and he could drive with one hand on the wheel relaxed.
We have eliminated the trailer and the hitch being the culprit here. If my truck can haul this trailer fine his truck should be able to. There is no question the issue is in the Ram's suspension somewhere. The rear suspension is coil springs and it seems to have a pretty beefy track bar and sway bar in the rear. Ram offers an air bag rear suspension option but I'm not convinced it would help in this case. My son isn't anxious to start spending money on a lot of aftermarket parts etc. and find out they don't help. The factory air bag option is around $1000 which seems ridiculous to me. That is a hefty price to pay only to find out it didn't help in this situation.
What I would like to find is someone who has either had this same experience and has or hasn't corrected it or can honestly say they have hauled a 6200# trailer with their Ram 1500 and it worked fine.

Forget about the cute truck and get one that will control the trailer.

[Paradise_RV]

Without getting all high and mighty on "only accepting RAM comments"; let me drop this into the pool.

With my F150 that has sway control, the RV dealer recommended that when I'm towing and using a sway control/Weight Distro hitch, that I turn OFF the Ford sway control as it counter-acts the WDH and Sway apparatus, and makes the sway worse. Take from that what you will. I dont know the RAM layout.