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Sway when towing TT

DJ Underwood

DJ Underwood

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Hey Everyone, New Ram owner here (upgraded from a Nissan Titan) and have a towing question.
I have a 34ft Forest River Travel trailer with a WD hitch (12k rated I believe, its the model with the bars not chains) and I also have a front leveling kit and it sits on 35's.
I find that on freeways / highways travelling over 65 I do get some sway especially when passing big rigs. I am not sure if it is related to towing setup or due to the leveling of the truck (which point up when weight of the TT is on it).
Trailer itself sits nearly perfectly level when on truck (see pic) and weighs in about 7400lbs dry.
Any ideas, tips would greatly be appreciated. I only tow it about 4 times per year, as one trip it goes up north to our camp and stays setup for the entire summer, so I don't have to pull it too much.
Thanks in advance!
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The truck should not squat at all if the hitch is properly adjusted. One inch is ok, but no more. Double check your equalizer instructions and readjust.

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I know what people think of opinions...but this is exactly why I dislike leveled trucks.

You got a large trailer there...even for a HeftyDuty.

Have you been to a CAT scale. You may find you have alot more weight on That hitch than you think

I have to agree you need to adjust the WDH. The level makes it a bit harder to judge.

Good luck
 
Sway (yaw) has many interesting aspects and not all are apparent. Most think it’s ball weight which is not entirely true. The most common cause is weight behind the centre of the wheels and could be solved by moving weight closer to the wheels or adjustment of tyre pressure.

My van is 9k, sits lower on the front (2inches) and is 20 foot plus extended draw bar.

Rule of thumb is 10% of trailer mass on the ball. Never towed 34ft so can’t really help.
 
You need a sway control hitch with a bumper pull of that size. Anything at 28' or larger will pretty much require a sway control. You can often find them used on FB market or Craigslist for half price, I paid $350 for a Equalizer 4 point 10K LB WDH with sway control from FB.
 
Just buy an sway control setup they are usually 50$ and are great at eliminating sway
 

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Lary0071 said:
You need a sway control hitch with a bumper pull of that size. Anything at 28' or larger will pretty much require a sway control. You can often find them used on FB market or Craigslist for half price, I paid $350 for a Equalizer 4 point 10K LB WDH with sway control from FB.
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Really depends on the trailer not just the length i pull many 40ft park models never any sway and i only use a standard hitch its more these new ultra light trailers they just dont seem to have a good balance point
 
The trailer brake control is your friend. A little sway is fine, that’s a giant wind sail you have behind you...but if it starts to feel uncomfortable or get out of hand, just lightly squeeze the manual brake control. It will put the trailer straight back behind you and in control again.
 
Need to make sure your trailer is not tail heavy. You need at least 10% of its weight on the tong. Get it ready to go camping (including water if you use it and all) and go measure it on a scale to be 100% sure. Basically, make sure you don't overload the rear storage.

If you don't have that minimum 10%, it will basically sway at anything.

Once weight distribution checked, and if no sway attenuators can fix it, you will need to go nuclear and use a Hensley Arrow Hitch or similar. That would take care of it permanently.
 
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MikeXM said:
Need to make sure your trailer is not tail heavy. You need at least 10% of its weight on the tong. Get it ready to go camping (including water if you use it and all) and go measure it on a scale to be 100% sure. Basically, make sure you don't overload the rear storage.

If you don't have that minimum 10%, it will basically sway at anything.

Once weight distribution checked, and if no sway attenuators can fix it, you will need to go nuclear and use a Hensley Arrow Hitch or similar. That would take care of it permanently.
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Im not a rocket scientist but with that much squat he has over the minimum 10% lol
 
He needs to find out how much weight he removed from the front axle. With the level...it makes it worse.

He needs to then get the weight back to the front axle using the WDH.

10% is the MINIMUM tongue weight.

Campers...i mean travel trailer...should have about 13 to 15%.

He has alot more weight than he thinks he does.

The level makes it worse.

Once he gets the weight back to the front axle then he can start searching down the sway. He may even fix it.

So 7400lbs he says is the dry weight. So my guess is 940lbs tongue weight at the dry weight.

Looks like propane tanks and batteries and front storage. Looks like he is up over 1100lbs minimum TW.

Which doesnt seem like much...but it is. And that level.
 
If its a trunnion bar WDH the sway control is built in to the bars likely.

I would lean towards the level kit and maybe not enough tongue/front axle distribution. I have a very similar trailer, 33ft (28ft box), 7,600lb GVWR with an E2 Trunnion 10k WDH (bars, not chains). I get zero sway at 65mph passing a semi on a two lane road. I'm probably a bit tail heavy with the bunkhouse and try to load everything in front of the trailer to compensate. My trailer is pitched up a bit on the hitch as I need a lower drop shank and still no sway.
 
If you look at the picture, he does have sway control bars. Like everyone is saying, he needs to weigh the trailer, find out what he really has, and redo the setup. That should fix the issue.

For me, I understand it is for looks, but a stock truck is not level so that when you put a trailer on the back, it levels it. Now you have to overcome what you did to level it, and transfer the weight forward.

Also, anyone who is saying they never feel a semi that is passing them, are not being honest, the semi is pushing a lot of air in front and around it. Just with a proper setup, it will be minor, most likely not requiring you to do anything.
 
First, thanks to everyone for your advice and replies, I do appreciate all your time. I do believe that a couple people were correct that the WDH is also sway control, to a point. Its a straight bar style hitch, worked great on my last truck / trailer.
2nd, yes I do need to weigh the trailer loaded (or as I tow it with gear but rarely any water), I need to find a scale but the nearest one to me is about an hour away or so.
3rd, Yes I know the leveling kit kinda causes the issue, dealer installed as well, but it does look good IMO :cool:.
4th, This is a Rear Kitchen trailer, so based on the axel placement it should be pretty much 10-12% tongue weight if I were to guess.
I think I answered everyone...
 
CallMeChris said:
The trailer brake control is your friend. A little sway is fine, that’s a giant wind sail you have behind you...but if it starts to feel uncomfortable or get out of hand, just lightly squeeze the manual brake control. It will put the trailer straight back behind you and in control again.
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Yes we have a good relationship...
 
Couple more notes, as I stated in my last post, I have added a taller shank to the receiver, so I can raise or lower the ball more then stock, I am in about the middle one now in a 4in taller bar.
Also, this truck does have the multilink coil suspension so my understanding (And please correct me if I am wrong) is that vs. leaf springs, the coils will have more squat at just the beginning point of adding weight to help give them a better ride.
 
I rented a nearly identical TT to that one earlier this year for a hunting trip. That included the use of the same E2 WD hitch.

At the time, I still had my 2016 with 6" lift, 37s.

When I picked up the trailer using the rental place's hitch setup, it was ridiculously squirrely on my way home. But when I moved their ball setup over to my drop hitch and shank, then readjusted everything, it was a night and day difference.

Assuming you've already readjusted your hitch setup...
And also assuming your rear suspension is all stock...

If it really bothers you enough, I'd suggest looking into airbags. But for the handful of trips per year, if it is just a minor inconvenience, I'd probably just roll with it.
 
DJ Underwood said:
Ok, this is the exact model I have for my hitch, except I have put a taller shank on it to compensate for the height of the truck.
View attachment 9819
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So you do have a friction sway control hitch. By the look of your truck picture and how low the rear is, you might have pretty much maxed the leveling capacity of this hitch. So the friction is also at the maximum it can provide.
Maybe your tong weight is actually higher than what you think. And your hitch is actually at its limit. A beefier one would increase friction too. So less likely to sway.

Please note that a friction sway hitch has its limits in controlling sway. Some will keep it perfectly under control, some will still experience sway regardless.

Question: Please define the sway you are experiencing: Are you just feeling the trailer move a bit left and right and you feel the truck being pulled a few seconds then goes away or does it actually sway like a full "S" or more (oscillating several cycles)?
 
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