Explorer v8 2006 towing issue

[ferly27]

Hi everyone! I,m a newbie....
Here is my prolem, I have a 06 eddie bauer v8 .
I recently purchased a 25ft tt weighing 4000lbs
When towing it my truck sways alot I white Knukle drive all the time and do not understand what is wrong!
It is supposed to tow over 7000lbs!
I have anti sway bar and weight distribution.
Maybe the tires???
Any help would be appreciated
Thx

 

[MountaineerGreen]

It's often not the weight that gets you, its the high profile of the camper and cross winds. I pulled a 24' with my 01 Mountaineer, it had adequate power, but the camper's high profile caused wind resistance and in high winds or busy highways with semi trucks, it was difficult to handle. I often chose secondary roads to avoid heavy traffic.

You can try to adjust your weight distribution bars, tightening the pre-load may help. Ultimately, a bigger, heavier vehicle makes the best tow vehicle.

 

[my pos mounty]

You have a weight distribution hitch with anti-sway and it still sways??
You sure you have both of those? (link to design here)
http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Draw-Tite/26002.html
I would check my sway bars on the truck, front and rear and I would check the ball joints and tierods for excessive wear. I don't know much about how the rears are setup on that truck, but I would definately double check all the links in the drivetrain. If you have the weight distribution hitch and anti-sway, you should be towing that like straight as an arrow.
Check your trailer setup as well. It should have some tounge weight, and tow rather level at the same time with that hitch.

 

[ferly27]

Just in case I was not clear it is the truck that sways and not the rv.
Thx for the info i will have everything under the truck checked!
What do you guys think about getting LT tires?

 

[my pos mounty]

Proper tires for the application, as well as proper inflation is definately a key in safe towing.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Upgrade those brakes man!

I towed a 5000lbs trailer with my mounty, i was actually surprised that it DIDN'T sway at all, unless I have O/D turned on. And there were pretty high winds that day too.
I was riding on 31" M/T's, so im sure I have better grip than normal.

Acceleration and handling wasn't that bad, but Braking really had me going "oh ****!!!" a few times. I had to make several hauls, so I realized it would be a better idea to travel late at night when noone was on the highways.

I had a large ladder attached to my roof, and it was Howling like CRAZY thru-out the frame of my truck, and almost made me piss my pants, because I thought the rear-end was about to Go on the truck!
(called up a buddy and he said Ladders do that unless you plug them,lol.....biggest relief in my life!)

 

[gijoecam]

A few things come to mind... First of all, how much tongue weight do you have on it? If the camper was empty, it'll likely haul a whole lot different when you load it up and tow it. Being too tongue-light to start with, combined with using a weight distributing hitch to further lessen the load on the tongue can certainly cause that.

Are you running a separate friction sway control, or are you running a WDH with built-in sway control? The latter is FAR, FAR more effective than the former on a travel trailer that size.

You really need to take the vehicle to a scale and see what your weights are. Any truck stop will have one you can use, and it'll cost you about $11. Load the camper and truck up with all your gear, fluids, kids, coolers, etc you would normally take for a weekend. Take it to the CAT scale (that's the certified scales here in the states... I'm sure CA has something equivalent), hit the button, tell them it's a 'personal' vehicle, and get the weight. Pull around and pay the $9 to get your first weight.

Next, release the tension from the weight distributing bars and roll across the scale for your second weight. Tell them it's a re-weight of (last 4 digits of your first ticket) Go back in and pay your $1 and get that ticket.

Finally, drop the trailer in the parking lot and roll back across the scale with just the truck, tell them it's a second re-weigh of (last 4 digits of your first ticket) and pay the other $1 to get those numbers.

Bring all three numbers back and post them here.

IMPORTANT: Make sure that when you stop on the scale, the front axle is on one scale pad, the rear axle is on a second pad, and the trailer axles are both on a third pad. You want to get all three weights.

From your numbers, you can calculate the ACTUAL tongue weight of the trailer, the ACTUAL gross weight of the trailer as loaded for a trip, and the ACTUAL effect the weight distribution bars have on the axle weights of all three axles. It'll also tell you if you're tongue-light, tongue-heavy, or over on either of your tow vehicle axles, all of which can affect the handling.

As for the tires, upgrading to stiffer-side-wall tires or a higher load range can sometimes help, but I wouldn't count on that to prevent or combat the trailer sway.

 

[ferly27]

thanks for all the input!!
I'lll do all of what you wroyte as soon as rhe snow is gone ,which means not before the end of april!
The sway system is the one with the friction bar and when I install the wdh my truck only sags 1 inch.

 

[elchat37]

Very important. I suppose that your TT has 2 axles. I'm not certain what it is, but they must be well distributed or something. A friend of mine almost killed himself. It was something with the spacing of the trailer wheels that wasn't right.