Off road trailer - sways down the freeway

[chrislloyd]

I got a new trailer about 3 months ago. When i towed it home (completely empty) it towed like a dream - 75MPH no problem. I had it modified by adding a metal lid and then put on the RTT. I towed it about 800 miles fully loaded (tent and camping gear) and it towed perfectly.

Next trip out, i took off the tent and put on a roof basket. I also put on the trailer hitch bike rack. head down the street... the thing was swaying back and forth so much i had to turn around. I took off the trailer mount bike rack (it does have some wiggle in it) and put the bikes in the bed of the truck. it towed fairly well... the sway was mostly manageable. if the road was smoothly paved, it was fine... when it transitioned to a rougher road, it swayed quite a bit.

during that trip we looked on the web for "swaying trailer" and read about tongue weight... basically put more weight in the front of the trailer. we pulled over for gas, reorganized the trailer and the sway was more or less gone.

the next trip out, tent back on and was more or less considering weight as i loaded the camping gear. There was still some sway so i had to stop and reorganize again.

The trailer seems very picky to the subtle front to back weight changes. the trailer is pretty small... its difficult to always pack the heavier gear in the front. Is there anything i can do to the trailer setup to help remedy this?

I was thinking of moving the tent forward a bit… but then it would overhang the front.

I thought about adding a water tank to the front, but that seems to be adding unnecessary weight.

The trailer sits kind of close to the truck… I have thought about adding some length there.

it mounts into the lock and roll hitch in pretty level position… im wondering if lowering that point some will put some weight on the tongue?

Any suggestions?
67349

[Titanpat57]

Increase the tongue weight permanantly...either gas/water cans, cooler, whatever. Always better have too much than too little.....the results will always be much friendlier..

Install a front jack to make moving it around or hooking it up easier.

[GSRON]

Move the tent forward....
If the axle is mounted off center on the springs turn it so the axle is as far back as possible....
From the pic it looks like the axle is centered under the trailer. This is not a good thing.

You pretty much answered your own question when you said the problem went away with a more forward weight bias....

YMMV RON

[java]

More tongue weight!

[Jnich77]

67349

My suggestion... a build thread on your truck.... then add tongue weight, or at least remove weight from the rear.

[chrislloyd]

lol a build thread and THEN add more tongue weight??!?! i didnt think the weight would be that sensitive... wondering if there is a way to move the axel back a bit, wouldnt that increase the tongue weight? Gsron said "If the axle is mounted off center on the springs turn it so the axle is as far back as possible." i dont quite follow. The wheels are slight behind the center of the trailer bed.

[Jnich77]

lol a build thread and THEN add more tongue weight??!?! i didnt think the weight would be that sensitive... wondering if there is a way to move the axel back a bit, wouldnt that increase the tongue weight? Gsron said "If the axle is mounted off center on the springs turn it so the axle is as far back as possible." i dont quite follow. The wheels are slight behind the center of the trailer bed.

Priorities man..priorities....lol. But, yes your trailer is just that sensitive, due in part to its short length. You can move the axle back, or the free solution is to pack all the heaviest items in the front of the trailer.

[kai38]

A few years ago on a road trip, I was following a friend with a truck bed trailer, it was swaying like crazy, we reloaded it at a rest stop in the dark but it still was swaying. We camped for 3 days and when hooking the trailers back up noticed the ball on the hitch was about to fall off. The nut had worked its way loose.
Check to see if the ball on the hitch is tight, hasn't worn the hole bigger.

[Dendy Jarrett]

It may be the tire size as well! The tire size on your trailer is fairly large compared to your truck. I am not saying this will solve the problem, but my guess is ... it is adding too it.
D

[orangeTJ]

Longer tongue would likely help too, and make it easier to back up as well.

[loren85022]

For what it's worth, I'm on my 2nd trip with the RTT and bikes on the rear. Thus far, no sway. I'd definitely think a longer tongue would help. I've heard it said around here that you want the distance from tongue to trailer axle to be similar to your distance between front and rear axle. I personally made the distance betwee all 3 axels appx the same.

My RTT is forward of the axle a bit. And I do have a 16 gal water tank right above the axle. Eventually a dual-batt box will sit up front as well.


For grins, get the longest trailer draw bar (http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Ball_Mounts-sf-Fixed_Ball_Mount.aspx) out there and see if its even slightly better.
http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/8/0/80232_tn.jpg

67421

[98roamer]

Longer tongue would likely help too, and make it easier to back up as well.

This solved my similar issue with my first trailer but I also added a tongue box to the tongue.

[elcoyote]

The rule of thumb used by trailer manufacturers is that the tongue weight should be 10-15% of the total weight of trailer and cargo

Sent from my SCH-ng Tapatalk

[85CUCV]

I've got a 5x10' utility tilt bed utility trailer. I did a spring over on it. Being a tilt trailer the axle is futher forward allowing the bed to tilt for loading. I always have to be aware of weight distribution. It I get too much weight on the rear of the trailer it sways horribly. In my case the spring over probably makes the problem worse. It is a pain when I'm hauling lumber over 10'. Then I got to throw ballast up front.

Dan

[TacoDell]

was already stated...

but... I too think the tires are too tall...
and the tongue is too short.

and the combination of those is exaggerating the problem.

correct one or the other... or both...
and you find that works better

[chrislloyd]

thanks for all the info. I had wanted to matching tires on the trailer anyway... so glad to hear it might help with the issue as well. I ordered matching hubs and wheels this week. I will have to go from spring under to spring over though. my receiver is built in to the bumper. the lock and roll hitch slides directly in to there... if i left it spring under, the trailer would angle back quite a bit.

I will do some measurements, but when i bought the trailer, i remember that the rear wheels were about as far back from the tongue as some of the other trailers i have read about. i wouldnt mid a little more space between the truck and triler, but is there such a thing as too much?

[Lucky j]

My trailer ad 34"x11.5" and one of my rig ad 29"x7" and my trailer never sway if loaded correctly!

You need at least the equivalent of 50 lbs of weight. Also, could the wind picking on the load forcong the wheigt back?

Move the axle a couple on inch back or extend the thong and put a spare tire on it, or some thing esle to put gear in it.

[Metternacht]

[Q... extend the thong and put a spare tire on it,...[/QUOTE]

I'M Sorry but that is too Funny :P

[TRegasaurus]

Yep, I was going to suggest a longer tongue. I heard, but can't confirm something like tongue length should be twice the tire width. +/-

[LandCruiserPhil]

Can a trailer's tongue be too long?

[Lucky j]

Sorry! I phone and translation from french to english.

Je peux vous la faire en francais si vous voulez! Lol ;0)

[JCMatthews]

similar trailer similar problem. I loaded it up once and then put bikes on the back and almost lost the trailer a few miles from my house. I was lucky and was able to get it stopped. I would recommend lengthening the tongue. There is a trailer build on here by dieselcruiserhead that shows a great way to do it. Then like stated in other posts, put some water or gas cans out front permanently so you don't have to worry any more. I would not worry about the tire height at all.

Edit: I found the link to his buildhttp://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/20925-M416-Build?highlight= Look at posts 39-44

[Brazos609]

thanks for all the info. I had wanted to matching tires on the trailer anyway... so glad to hear it might help with the issue as well. I ordered matching hubs and wheels this week. I will have to go from spring under to spring over though. my receiver is built in to the bumper. the lock and roll hitch slides directly in to there... if i left it spring under, the trailer would angle back quite a bit.

Sell the #301 fixed Lock N' Roll hitch and buy the #303 that will fit on the drop hitch/ball mount of your choice. Mount up your matching wheel and tire combo with the spring under set-up and measure how much of a drop hitch you will need. Swapping the Lock N' Roll will be close to a wash price wise and a drop hitch will cost you about $50 for a good one. It will be alot simpler and cheaper than doing a SOA conversion.
http://www.locknroll.com/image.html?images/products/bigger/303-with-mount.jpg