Jerky towing a trailer? (V8/2WD)

[bitkahuna]

Today I towed a borrowed long (15ft?) heavy duty flat trailer without and then with my 1200lb mower on it. The towing specs of my 06 Explorer mean it should have NO trouble pulling the trailer or trailer/mower combo.

But when I got going it was JERKY - I thought it was due to the trailer bouncing but when I looked back I couldn't quite make that connection. I tried turning off the traction control. I tried turning off overdrive. One thing that sort of helped was downshifting - I drove for a while in 3rd and even 2nd at higher rpms and it was somewhat smoother.

What's the deal? Is my Explorer defective? Is it the way it is? Is it something I did or didn't do?

Tomorrow I plan to take the trailer back to my friend's place, but will probably use the F-150 and see if that's any better.

 

[section525]

Jerky.. up and down? Side to side? Front to back?

 

[bitkahuna]

Thanks for asking. I'd guess front to back? Almost like the Explorer itself was struggling. But I have a possible new theory. I think the trailer has brakes and since my Explorer has no brake controller, maybe the trailer brakes were engaging by themselves??

We towed it with the F-150 which has a brake controller and when we set the controller to 0 it seemed pretty smooth with the F-150.

 

[bojans]

Could also be how the weight was balanced on the trailer.