Blue Ox adjustment advice/trouble shooting

[Black Feather]

I have a blue ox swaypro 1500. I set it up as directed. Dead level trailer and truck. Top of ball level with top of coupler. I started with recommended 9th link from loose end of chain. This works ok but I think there is more adjustment needed. My main problem with that setup is sag. I’m getting about 3” in the rear. About 1/2-1” lift in the front. But it rides pretty well other than 2 issues. Blinding other drivers with my headlights at night from the sag and some excess porpoising. So I move it to link number 10 from the loose end to make it one link tighter. The porpoising and sag are now fixed but it feels like my side to side movement greatly increases. Especially with crosswinds. So I have to move it back to link 9 to stay in the road.

So now I’m wondering if maybe raising the ball up one notch would help. This would put the ball level about 1” above the coupler at rest. I’ve heard this might help. I’ve also heard to put a bolt through link 9 so when you hook it up it’s like a 9.5 link.

I’m running about 12% tongue weight on an 8000 pound fully loaded TT. I am using a 1/2 ton so I understand I won’t get the control of a 3/4 ton but this is more about adjusting the hitch. To me it doesn’t make sense that when I correct sag to only 1” vs 3” it wanders all over the road. It’s not sway but it moving the TV and TT way more. Mainly with crosswind.

Anyone have any suggestions on further adjustment?


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[huntr70]

Dead level trailer and truck. Blinding other drivers with my headlights at night from the sag and some excess porpoising.

OK, so how can you be dead level but sagging and blinding drivers?

What are you towing with? The newer F150's have a built in electronic sway control that tends to wreak havoc on the Blue Ox system.

I would try dropping the ball height and pulling more links. You would rather be nose low on the trailer than nose high.

[Black Feather]

OK, so how can you be dead level but sagging and blinding drivers?

What are you towing with? The newer F150's have a built in electronic sway control that tends to wreak havoc on the Blue Ox system.

I would try dropping the ball height and pulling more links. You would rather be nose low on the trailer than nose high.

I mean dead level for initial measurements and set up. Before hooking up.


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[Redapple63]

If you are getting that much sag, your wdh is not doing its job of weight distribution, or, you have exceeded the capacity of the hitch.

Before you do anything drastic, first verify the hitch and frame brackets are installed correctly.

Once you determine that, do 10 links or even 11 to see if that helps.

Another way to help offset is to redistribute the weight in your trailer yo move some weight more towards the back.

If there is a cat scale nearby, maybe get some weights to see where you are.

Good Luck,
Bill

[xrated]

I mean dead level for initial measurements and set up. Before hooking up.


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Setting up a WDH is somewhat of a trial and error exercise, but I will tell you that being level before hooking the trailer to the truck is pretty much useless info. The ideal scenario is to be hooked up to the truck, with the trailer loaded just as it would be when ready to go camping....with whatever stuff that you would normally take along...food, supplies, water, grill, firewood, etc, etc. Before hooking up to the truck, take some measurements on the truck at the highest part of the arc of the fender wells, both front and rear. Ideal is to put the truck back very close to those same measurements once the trailer is hooked up to the truck and your WDH is adjusted. Having said that, most folks will not get it exactly the same height as before hitching up, but you are trying for as close as you can get. A properly setup WDH will transfer weight not only to the front of the tow vehicle, but also to the axle(s) of the trailer. Using a CAT or other similar scale can help with this also, by having baseline numbers on the truck before hitching (the truck by itself), then again with the trailer hooked up but NO WDH engaged, then one more time with the WDH engaged as you think it should be. If the WDH is not pulled up tight enough, you will see less weight on the front axle of the tow vehicle than when you weighed the truck by itself. Another indicator of not enough WDH tension will manifest itself in a "squirrely" front end feel....the front tires simply do not have enough weight of them and the steering feels loose and the vehicle wants to drift easily. Between measuring the front and rear fenders of the tow vehicle after hooking up and tensioning the WDH bars....AND...doing CAT scale measurements and going through the calculations, you should be able to fine tune the truck/trailer combination as long as there are not other factors being introduced into the scenario.....like P metric tires, under inflated tires, not enough tongue weight on the trailer, etc.

Before I bought my 5ver, I towed a 13,000 lb GVWR Tow Behind Toy Hauler. It was quite the job getting it setup correctly with the Blue Ox Sway Pro. And part of the reason was that the tongue weight of the trailer got a lot lighter when there were toys in the back garage, which meant that I needed to add some weight to the front. Then maybe the next time I towed and didn't take any toys in the back, I had a lot of tongue weight....or at least a lot less than when loading toys in the back. After towing it enough (experience) I finally got to the point that I pretty much new exactly where to tension the bars when I was loaded up with toys.....or not loaded up with toys.

So the bottom line is that you may have to play with the hitch height AND the tension bars until you get it correct. And correct is.....towing level or slightly nose down...but not much, good steering feel from the tow vehicle, tow vehicle at approx. the same height at the front and rear fenders as it was before you hitched up. Hope this helps and good luck in your endeavors.

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I have a blue ox swaypro 1500. I set it up as directed. Dead level trailer and truck. Top of ball level with top of coupler. I started with recommended 9th link from loose end of chain. This works ok but I think there is more adjustment needed. My main problem with that setup is sag. I’m getting about 3” in the rear. About 1/2-1” lift in the front. But it rides pretty well other than 2 issues. Blinding other drivers with my headlights at night from the sag and some excess porpoising. So I move it to link number 10 from the loose end to make it one link tighter. The porpoising and sag are now fixed but it feels like my side to side movement greatly increases. Especially with crosswinds. So I have to move it back to link 9 to stay in the road.

So now I’m wondering if maybe raising the ball up one notch would help. This would put the ball level about 1” above the coupler at rest. I’ve heard this might help. I’ve also heard to put a bolt through link 9 so when you hook it up it’s like a 9.5 link.

I’m running about 12% tongue weight on an 8000 pound fully loaded TT. I am using a 1/2 ton so I understand I won’t get the control of a 3/4 ton but this is more about adjusting the hitch. To me it doesn’t make sense that when I correct sag to only 1” vs 3” it wanders all over the road. It’s not sway but it moving the TV and TT way more. Mainly with crosswind.

Anyone have any suggestions on further adjustment?


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Air bag the truck, problem solved. Get the on board compressor and gage setup, or readout on the remote. I've got the remote model. I can stand along side the truck and inflate to where I like it. And it has almost completely eliminated bucking and alot of people, I hear, have stopped using the equalizer bars.

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[goducks14]

How does Fords anti sway work? When I had a 2010 F150 the sway control only kicked in when the TT was really out of line with the truck. I find it hard to beleive that Ford has it designed to engage all the time. It's my understanding that it works the brakes to counter sway.
How much sway would be needed to engage. If you're just cruising down the hwy and only slight TT movement cause the Ford sway control to engage then that would be irritating and mpg's would seem to drop as well.
If it is engaged all the time then why waste money on a built in sway control WDH? Just get a simple EAZ-Lift and save $100's.

[Black Feather]

I guess my biggest question is why would going 1 link tighter, resulting in what appears to be correct by measurements and sag, cause it to ride so much worse? You’d think it would better


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[xrated]

I guess my biggest question is why would going 1 link tighter, resulting in what appears to be correct by measurements and sag, cause it to ride so much worse? You’d think it would better


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One of my questions would be.....what is the length of the trailer? Next question.....P metric tires or LT tires on the truck? Also, getting to the correct amount of sag and measurement doesn't necessarily mean that you have enough tongue weight on the trailer. You may have...but unless you have weighed the setup on a CAT scale or similar, you are just guessing. I can tell you from experience, with the trailer I described above in my previous post, at 11.5% tongue weight, I still had some movement in crosswinds and tractor/trailer trucks passing me. When I finally got it slightly over 12% on the tongue, the problem was almost completely gone. I actually had to add weight to the front of my trailer to get to that point because of carrying toys in the garage....and I realize that you situation isn't because it's a toy hauler....BUT....not enough tongue weight will certainly cause movement.....just like P metric tires.....a trailer that is too long (it acts as a giant sail in the cross winds).....thus the questions about trailer length and truck tires.

[tamrick]

So I used to tow a 34' tongue to tail bumper pull with a 2013 f150 using a Blue-Ox and it worked great. I was always at max tongue weight for the hitch of the truck (1100lbs). Some might disagree but you only need to measure the front fender height before and after. Reason being is you want to be within within about 1/2" higher with the trailer than without. Example; if empty you are at 32" then bring it down to 32 and a half or quarter. I kept it within 1/4". The closer you get back to the unloaded height using the WD bars, the heavier you front end gets and too much is not good for handling because you then start to unload the rear end. Don't worry about the rear; its about keeping enough weight on the front to maintain proper control.

Just guessing but after you tightened up by one link and you experienced sway, that tends to indicate your trailer tongue was now high and it will wag the truck. That is why you MAY be needing to lower your ball one hole to bring the trailer tongue back down. This will not affect your truck front end height. Regarding ball height on the hitch; this is how you adjust the trailer's tongue height AFTER you find your proper link setting for the truck front end height. So if you have your bars connected, your truck front end is within half or quarter inch, and your trailer tongue is higher than level, lower the ball. You definitely want to be slightly lower than level but never slightly high. Also, the height of the ball "at rest" I am guessing you mean when not hitched? The action of measuring ball height and coupler height before hitching is to give you a starting point. Its not set in stone as to how high either needs to be before or after hitching. So, when your trailer is level or slightly lower, your truck may still be sagging a bit and that's OK.

You mention your sagging was solved by tightening the chains, so it sounds like you have found the correct link setting. If you find that you require more links to maintain a proper front end height, then you would need to add more tilt angle to you ball mount. Its trial and error but once you find the right settings for your setup, you'll only have to change the link settings for your changing trailer weight.

So I would remeasure the front end before and after and get it within 1/2 to 1/4" of unloaded height when hitched. When you get it there, if your trailer tongue is higher than level, lower the ball height. If its lower than 1" below level, raise the ball to make it level. If using too much more than 9 links on the chain, add more tilt to the ball. If your bars are too low after hitching, the chains will be long so you will have more sway. If they are too short, the will hit the frame. If I remember correctly, BlueOx instructions tell you what the ideal number of exposed links between the bar and anchor should be, maybe 2 or 3. That is really your key number for reducing sway. Once I got there, it was great. Hope this helps