Trailer Sway...

[rbell14]

I went from a 10ft. Triton 2 place to an inline ATC 18+6 v nose with 7 ft walls. I tow with a F150 crew cab 4x4 6.5 ft bed and a V8.

First thing I notice is how much the wind moves these trailes around. I have towed it twice now, once with a side by side and the other with two sleds.

I maintain positive tongue weight with how I load, always make sure sled/SxS weight is forward of the rear axles.

Truck doesn't squat much with the trailer and load so I don't think leveling bars are required, although may help a bit, but I really don't think thats my problem.

Generally speaking, do I just need to get used to the fact that I'm towing a 22ft billboard with 7 ft walls and realize that wind will push me around on occasion or is there a solution to this? Sure a F250 may help but my truck is very capable of towing the trailer based on weight and specs.

My old Triton 2 place never moved in the wind like this...

Suggestions?

 

[maim]

check the tires on your truck. p (passenger) series tire will sway a lot compared to lt (light truck) tires. torsion bars help with it as well as i had to run them with my old trailer when i bought my 2010 silverado 1500 and that was only a 6'x20'+5' v-nose enclosed trailer. with the newer one (8'x25' v nose) it sways more as it is a taller trailer but the bars are still needed unless one of my brothers pulls it with their 2500's.

they do make a sway control to go with the torsion bar set-up for travel trailers but i have never seen it without the torsion bar set-up. i do not have that but am considering it.

in high winds though, yup it is a beeping big sail going down the road.

 

[Viper_Dave]

Simple solution, air bags. My partners F150 Harley Davidson Platinum Edition , whew, swayed all OVER the road pulling his 20 ft Triton Car/Sled hauler. Pulled it with my 02 Escalade with self leveling air suspension, no sway. He added air bags to his and with moderate air pressure it tows like a dream. Relatively cheap, he got just the basic bags with remote fill by the trailer hitch. 10-15 psi and we were good to go.

 

[yamadoo]

My 150 came with Goodyear tires that let my 26 x 7 7 ft tall 4 place always squirmed side to side - felt like I was on ice moving around. Also crew cab short box 4x4 mines an eco boost- love it 201, ooo miles and going strong.
I changed tires to LT as Maim said and it became a good tow vehicle with same trailer. I previously towed with a 3/4 ton duramax and this is nearly as nice.

 

[rbell14]

Simple solution, air bags. My partners F150 Harley Davidson Platinum Edition , whew, swayed all OVER the road pulling his 20 ft Triton Car/Sled hauler. Pulled it with my 02 Escalade with self leveling air suspension, no sway. He added air bags to his and with moderate air pressure it tows like a dream. Relatively cheap, he got just the basic bags with remote fill by the trailer hitch. 10-15 psi and we were good to go.

Very interesting, I’ve heard a bit about this too. Is there a specific manufacturer you recommend? Where would one find these?

 

[Viper_Dave]

His are Firestone brand. Airlift is another brand I've heard of. Try a Google search. Likely have thousands of hits.

 

[maim]

i have the firestone kit on mine, witch still was not enough. be careful witch kit you get as there are 2 from them that work. there is a ride rite, witch is meant for a sporty/comfort ride kit. the other kit (the one i use) is called a load rite and is meant for carrying weight. the sport rite will carry some weight but no where near as much as the load rite and the bags do not last on them. i do suspension for a living and have never seen a sport rite kit air bag last over a year on average.

 

[Ronsgarage]

15%of total trailer weight including cargo minimum on the tongue 18-20 is even better if your truck can handle it

 

[rbell14]

I’ve got good positive tongue weight as both sleds are in front of the trailers first axle. I just ordered a new lease and went with 20 inch wheels I’ll 18 inch to se e if a shorter tire sidewall will help a bit.

 

[apexhank]

You need to center the load over the axles not have it all in front of it, that will cause your swing problem. Proper load distribution is critical to hauling a trailer. Most trailer tongue weight will tell you no more than 500 pounds on the ball. I haul with an 18 Denali 6.2 L never had an issue. Trailer is 22 foot long V-nose, usually carrying two sleds. You should also note that most manufacturers will tell you to load a 6 foot wide trailer from the front to back.

 

[farmerschiferl]

You need to center the load over the axles not have it all in front of it, that will cause your swing problem. Proper load distribution is critical to hauling a trailer. Most trailer tongue weight will tell you no more than 500 pounds on the ball. I haul with an 18 Denali 6.2 L never had an issue. Trailer is 22 foot long V-nose, usually carrying two sleds. You should also note that most manufacturers will tell you to load a 6 foot wide trailer from the front to back.

definitely agree with this need to balance it just right i have a 8.5 by 28 ft trailer and with 2 sleds in it they need to right in front of the axles otherwise with too much weight to the front it likes to sway, thats with a 3/4 ton truck even

 

[canadianhunter]

No one has mentioned trail tire wheel alignment. Tires should be towed in approx. 1/8" to 3/8" and also closer together at bottom than at top ( cant remember if that is camber or caster ). If tires are not aligned properly it will sway no matter what else you do.

 

[rbell14]

How would you even adjust trailer wheel alignment???
These are on fixed axles. Assumed good from manufacturer. ATC trailer co.

 

[maim]

they arch the axle to correct it. on transports it is done quite often.

 

[DennyTuna]

I went from a 10ft. Triton 2 place to an inline ATC 18+6 v nose with 7 ft walls. I tow with a F150 crew cab 4x4 6.5 ft bed and a V8.

First thing I notice is how much the wind moves these trailes around. I have towed it twice now, once with a side by side and the other with two sleds.

I maintain positive tongue weight with how I load, always make sure sled/SxS weight is forward of the rear axles.

Truck doesn't squat much with the trailer and load so I don't think leveling bars are required, although may help a bit, but I really don't think thats my problem.

Generally speaking, do I just need to get used to the fact that I'm towing a 22ft billboard with 7 ft walls and realize that wind will push me around on occasion or is there a solution to this? Sure a F250 may help but my truck is very capable of towing the trailer based on weight and specs.

My old Triton 2 place never moved in the wind like this...

Suggestions?

I feel your pain rbell. My buddies and I picked up an ATC 20' with 6' v-nose inline trailer 2 years ago. It's a nice trailer but the sway from this thing drives me nuts and my tow vehicle is a 2017 F-250 diesel. In comparison my brother and I have the first year (02) Triton prestige inline 22' with a 4 'v-nose and it has never swayed one bit and still doesn't to this day. The axles are different, the Triton has the torsion axle system and the ATC has leaf springs, the axle placement is also more forward on the Triton than the ATC is. We have loaded the ATC trailer every way possible to see if there are any differences and have come up with one thing that had some impact. We load from the front, if hauling 3 sleds the spot closest to the rear door is open keeping as much of the sled weight as forward as possible of the rear axles. I've thought about installing sway bars from the hitch to the trailer as well. The air bags are interesting but I shouldn't need them with my truck. I think its in the trailer design, I'm ready to unload this thing and get another Triton. That's my solution...lol!