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  • Trailer sway

    I bought a 2018 2150RB and had a F250 and now have a F150. With either truck I get a lot of sway when going over 60 mph. Have had much longer and heavier trailers and never had a problem. Also using a WDH. Any Ideas?

  • #2
    gartgro Welcome to the family and the forum!

    Others will stop by shortly and have specific information to guide you.

    When you have time, the moderators have created a welcome letter to help new members navigate the forum and complete their profile to make it easier to get the help that they seek. The welcome letter can be found at https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members
    Jerry and Kelly Powell, with Halo, Nash, Reid, Cleo, Rosie, and the two newest additions Shaggy and Bella..
    Nash County, NC
    2020 Solitude 390RK-R​

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    • #3
      Originally posted by gartgro View Post
      I bought a 2018 2150RB and had a F250 and now have a F150. With either truck I get a lot of sway when going over 60 mph. Have had much longer and heavier trailers and never had a problem. Also using a WDH. Any Ideas?
      Welcome to the forum!

      I have done a little research on the 2150RB and looked at the drawings.

      Cargo and Tongue Weight

      A light hitch weigh is a significant contributor to trailer say The data I show on the 2150RB is that it has a Gross Vehicle Weigh of 6,695 pounds. If you were loaded to the max GVWR, you should load your cargo so that you have a minimum of 10-12% of the weight on the hitch. This means that your hitch weight should be around 700 to 800 pounds. But this may take quite a bit of planning on your part due to the layout of the trailer. With three of the four holding tanks behind the axles, you'll need to put a lot of cargo forward to get the proper tongue weight. How do you know when you have 700-800 pounds on the tongue? Several of us use a Sherline scale to actually measure our tongue weight every time we load our trailers. Here's a link to a Sherline scale on Amazon:

      https://smile.amazon.com/Sherline-LM...s%2C237&sr=8-2

      Summary of this section:

      1. Weigh your trailer at a truck stop and determine it's loaded weight. There are several websites and videos that show your how to do this.
      2. Use the Sherline scale to manage your cargo loading to get 10-12% of the weight measured in step one onto the tongue. Remember that water, propane, sewage can vary each time, and you'll need to check these numbers each time you load up.

      Anti Sway Hitch

      What brand of hitch are you using? Does it match the weights you recorded in step #1?

      Tow Vehicle Tires

      If the trailer cargo is properly loaded and the anti sway hitch is properly set up and matched to the load, the next problematic area may be the tires on the F150. If it's equipped with passenger style tires, you may want to invest in a truck tire instead. I've known several owners who have made the change and had significant improvement.

      Jim



      Jim and Ginnie
      2024 Solitude 310GK
      GDRV Technical Forum Moderator
      GDRV Rally Support Coordinator

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      • #4
        TucsonJim Always great information Jim.

        Since the sway was on the F250 and well as the F150, that may indicate the issue is solely with the loading as you have suggested. I'm at 14% load on the tongue of my rig (full water) so to go up to 15% would be fine for a rig considering the tank locations IMO.

        Jim

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        • #5
          gartgro I've had my 2020 Imagine 2150rb for 14 months now and have taken it on more than a dozen trips. I started with a 2016 GMC Canyon, which had a handful of mods, and the trailer tracked fine with a little bit sway when a breeze hit it from the side. Now I have the 2020 F-250 (Godzilla) and sometimes forget that it's back there. I say that just to say this, I did have issues with what I felt was excess sway on my first few trips...turns out the dealer didn't get the install of my WD hitch right. After many videos and lots of reading about my WD hitch (FastWay e2 10,000 lbs) I took the prescribed measures, adjusted the ball angle, and bingo, problems were solved.

          I've used CAT scales to make sure my weights are distributed in the proper range, 10%-15%, as TucsonJim and Guest have pointed out.
          Charlie, Allie and Clyde (5 y/o Black Lab)
          2020 Imagine 2150rb and
          2020 Ford F250 w/ 7.3L (Godzila) Engine
          --- Previous ---
          2016 GMC Canyon with K&N Cold Air Intake, Corsa Cat-back exhaust, Diablo Sport Octane 87 tune, and Roadmaster Active Suspension

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          • #6
            After reading the above responses, I'll add. There is a big difference between a WDH and a properly adjusted WDH. The dealer set up the WDH with an empty trailer using the "best guess method". Get your truck and trailer fully loaded (including occupants) the follow the WDH instructions to get a properly adjusted hitch. I bet you'll notice a big improvement.
            Charles and Susan
            2021 Ram 3500 6.4 Hemi, 4x4 CCSB
            Andersen Hitch
            2021 Reflection 337rls

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