2022 RAM 1500 sways when towing

[JIMNLIN]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

I will reiterate. The trailer behaves nicely behind my 1500 Chevrolet equipped with standard load (pasenger vehicle) mud and snow tires which have significantly less rubber to road contact and softer sidewalls than the tires on the ram.

Its been my experience when using D or a E tire to replace a P tire on a std duty 1/2 ton truck when higher pressures above 50 psi are added the tire doesn't have enough weight from a TT hitch to make the tire tread have full contact across the tread on the road (riding the center of the tread) and can add to sway issues.
On the 1/2 tons I've owned I tried E tires I always went back to the P or even the LT C for a better ride and better handling with a load. Bigger as in load ranges ain't always better.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by randomledder

I have been following along this topic simply due to morbid curiosity on what some of the replies will be. I have my own opinion on trailer lengths/weights that a half ton truck are capable of towing but they are irrelevant to this topic. That being said I keep wondering over and over how the timbrens or air bags will help the sway. I have used both airbags and Timbrens in the past and they do have there place I am just not understanding how firming up the back end will help sway. Maybe there is something in the front suspension geometry that changes when the suspension cycles and the soft rear suspension is compounding the problem while pulling a trailer?

Glad to have you and everyone else aboard. What we discovered the night we were testing the trucks / trailer was the truck didn't handle too badly until a bump in the road or a gust of wind upset the truck's ride and the truck began to bounce from back to front. What you are saying about the front suspension is exactly what I'm suspicious of myself. Every alignment angle in the front suspension and steering is changing rapidly as the truck is rocking to and fro.
We got the Timbrens installed last night which was all of a 15 minute job but time was limited as we both had other commitments and things to do. We did not hook up and pull the trailer. We did take a quick ride in the Ram after installing the Timbrens and you could feel a firmer ride which is still quite comfortable.
As I said before this truck is a "Bighorn" "Off Road" optioned 2022 Ram 1500. I learned last evening the "Off Road" option includes heavier rate springs, heavier duty shocks and the truck rides on 18" tires as opposed to 20" tires on the other model Rams.
Probably the soonest either of us will be able to do much more with the truck and trailer is this coming weekend.

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

Out of curiosity did you ever change over to heavier duty front or rear shocks?

No sir. Sold it and bought an F250. Sorry

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by boogiejack75

No sir. Sold it and bought an F250. Sorry

Well darn, That answers that question. LOL
After I asked you I did find out the Off Road option comes with heavier duty shocks so I'm going to shelve that idea for the time being.

[TimtheToolGy]

This is an interesting post on the E2 WDH (what OP is using) and not reducing sway as much as a higher end WDH. I do not have experience with either hitch. If you could borrow a different bolt on WDH that has plenty of load shifting capacity it should show if it helps. https://www.rvforum.net/threads/equa...e%20Eq.%20does.

I am a big believer (also from experience) in using CAT scale and ensuring that 100% of weight is returned to front wheels. Also the actual weights will be known and especially ensure that 10-15% of weight is on hitch. Using 15% (if possible) will clearly help with stability. 100% return is the consensus with many high quality forums but does not agree with some manufactures. There was an early post about concern with oversteer that I acknowledge but this has not been a concern on very knowledgeable towing sites.

The OP did set unit up and check that TV was level.

[move on]

Originally Posted by TimtheToolGy

This is an interesting post on the E2 WDH (what OP is using) and not reducing sway as much as a higher end WDH. I do not have experience with either hitch. If you could borrow a different bolt on WDH that has plenty of load shifting capacity it should show if it helps. https://www.rvforum.net/threads/equa...e%20Eq.%20does.

I am a big believer (also from experience) in using CAT scale and ensuring that 100% of weight is returned to front wheels. Also the actual weights will be known and especially ensure that 10-15% of weight is on hitch. Using 15% (if possible) will clearly help with stability. 100% return is the consensus with many high quality forums but does not agree with some manufactures. There was an early post about concern with oversteer that I acknowledge but this has not been a concern on very knowledgeable towing sites.

The OP did set unit up and check that TV was level.

The RAM manual recommends returning only 1/3 of the weight to the front wheels. Returning 100% is too much and this will diminish the truck's stability. Remember, an empty truck already has too much weight on the front wheels due to the placement of the engine. Manufacturers of pickup trucks generally design their suspensions so that an empty truck is higher in the rear than in the front. Then, when the truck bed is partially loaded it rides level. The idea of a WD hitch is to get truck to ride level with equal load on the front and rear axles, not to have more load on the front than on the back.

[TimtheToolGy]

Originally Posted by move on

The RAM manual recommends returning only 1/3 of the weight to the front wheels. Returning 100% is too much and this will diminish the truck's stability. Remember, an empty truck already has too much weight on the front wheels due to the placement of the engine. Manufacturers of pickup trucks generally design their suspensions so that an empty truck is higher in the rear than in the front. Then, when the truck bed is partially loaded it rides level. The idea of a WD hitch is to get truck to ride level with equal load on the front and rear axles, not to have more load on the front than on the back.

Good points. When I setup 2019 F350 diesel (very heavy front end) and 7500 pound (measured) TT and have 100% weight returned to front wheels the weight on front and rear axles ended up being the same. The rear was still a bit higher than the front. There still was a lot of weight added to rear axles. Stability/steering was much improved over what 50% return that Ford recommends that I initially tried. I was very skeptical until I tried it.

If rear sags much underload after doing above then air bags, stiffer springs or spring assist devices can be useful for leveling.

I wish that I had gone to a CAT scale much earlier to work with real numbers and not perceptions.

[move on]

Originally Posted by TimtheToolGy

Good points. When I setup 2019 F350 and 7500 pound (measured) TT and have 100% weight returned to front wheels the weight on front and rear axles ended up being the same. The rear was still a bit higher than the front. There still was a lot of weight added to rear axles. Stability/steering was much improved over what 50% return that Ford recommends that I initially tried. I was very skeptical until I tried it.

If rear sags much underload after doing above air bags, stiffer springs or spring assist devices can be useful.

I agree, the goal is to have equal front/rear axle loading. It just seems strange that you achieve that with 100% FALR. My Ram 2500 with its heavy diesel engine, for example, has a 60/40 front/rear weight distribution when empty. The rear is up about +2". When I drop 800 lbs on the hitch ball I get a perfect 50/50, and the truck is perfectly level.

[TimtheToolGy]

Originally Posted by move on

I agree, the goal is to have equal front/rear axle loading. It just seems strange that you achieve that with 100% FALR. My Ram 2500 with its heavy diesel engine, for example, has a 60/40 front/rear weight distribution when empty. The rear is up about +2". When I drop 800 lbs on the hitch ball I get a perfect 50/50, and the truck is perfectly level.

I just checked actual CAT numbers, since I have quite a number of them and you bring up a valid point. Currently with 1500 bars on BlueOx set in normal range 9 links, 60 pounds is removed from front axle with no passenger or dog/stuff and rear axle has 160 pounds less than front with less stuff than normal in truck bed. Unloaded truck is 57/37.

Weight on ball is not much less than 1000 pounds (did not just verify).

[LETMGROW]

I wish I had nearby access to CAT Scales. There used to be but about five years ago the truck stop where they were located closed and went out of business. The scales were taken up and away. The closest scale to us is now 60 miles away.
When we go on our planned trip in the middle of this month we'll be going right by where the sales are. If we can, I'd like to stop and take some readings with the trailer and truck loaded in travel trim. At the same time I'd like to scale my coach while I'm right there. It will be loaded as heavy as I will ever load it but I'm pretty careful of how I spread the weight out. This trip will be for a week as opposed to the two and three day jaunts we normally take and we will have more passengers to provide for.

[DKSig]

Originally Posted by Bill Nourse

After market 400.00 AirLift or Firestone air bags will likely take care of your problem and you can install them yourself in about 2 hours if you are a bit handy.

I have heard that Dodge 1500 suspension is not very robust.

This is what I was thinking. Especially since your getting the front to back porpoising. This will help drastically. If the rear is sagging to much your not getting front end weight for good steering traction. This can also happen while porpoising.

Airlift has very good systems from inexpensive (fill with a bicycle tire pump) to very expensive (remote control/auto leveling). They are very easy to install. I have the basic system on my truck and just fill it up with a bicycle tire pump, very simple. When you unhook the trailer, just let the air out.

https://www.airliftcompany.com/

[varmonter]

I cant help the difference between trucks..
I may have missed it but what is load range letter
Of your truck...your sons is C. At 6500 lbs the
Soft sidewall and coil spring may be the combination that's putting him over..A ram can have vary payload between models and options
. I would go to a truck stop and weigh it..
This being a 1/2 ton..with coil springs and c tires.
Could just be a case of the tail wagging the dog.

[DR60]

My experience has been that all tires are not equal!
I bought a used truck with Cooper tires on it. They pulled great, lasted a long time,etc...When it came time for replacements I said put on new ones like these. I checked that they were the same model, same load range, etc... I did not even make it home before returning to the tire store. I could tell right away there was something wrong. With it sitting, I could push and pull the bed side and get the truck swaying. the suspension was not giving, it was all in the side wall. The store found another brand with the same load range, and they were fine.
A few years later, our son bought a Suburban, with taller tires, that had the same issue. If I pushed on the side of the truck I could get the sidewalls swaying. And it drove like a boat! He swapped the tires from his pickup [ same load range] and both drove fine. His PU is a 1/2 ton single cab. The weight of the Suburban needed that extra sidewall stiffness. His light weight PU did not.
Before I made a lot of changes , I'd look closely at the tires. Put some weight on, and see if you can make it sway. DR

[kdauto]

This is not complicated. Most RAM 1500s are poor tow vehicles when exceeding much over 5000lbs.

Any offroad package, knobby, fat and soft tire will add to the problems. Lifted trucks (stock or not) add to the problems. Offroad package suspensions tend to be tuned to absorb large dips and bumps, not heavy loads.

You can spend thousands to get it to tow better, but you will lose most of the attributes the truck was purchased for.

Patch solutions that will help: LT load range E tires at 60-70 psi towing, and NOT the aggressive A/T tires either. A smoother H/T tread is better. Stiffer suspension, lowering back to a reasonable stock height of necessary. A better hitch setup can help, but may be a PITA to use.