Bumpy ride/mild rocking with TT

**marlowefamily** · 01-04-2021, 01:56 PM

30-33ft travel trailers hooked up via geny torsion shank/ball and reese straightline wdh to tow vehicle.

Above 40-50mph, getting much bumpier rides than desired with occasional mild rocking forward/back.

Other than road, what might be cause?

- not long enough tv wheelbase?
- not firm enough tires?
- wdh not tuned perfectly?
- need to install summo springs?

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**marlowefamily** · 01-04-2021, 01:58 PM

Just to note, rocking is forward/back and not side to side and very mild...but definitely undesired.

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**Calbar** · 01-04-2021, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by marlowefamily

30-33ft travel trailers hooked up via geny torsion shank/ball and reese straightline wdh to tow vehicle.

Above 40-50mph, getting much bumpier rides than desired with occasional mild rocking forward/back.

Other than road, what might be cause?

- not long enough tv wheelbase?
- not firm enough tires?
- wdh not tuned perfectly?
- need to install summo springs?

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You will likely get some minor porpoising when going over dips and bumps. I also have the Reese Straightline hitch and get a bit over dips in the road but not regularily. I suspect that your WDH needs to be setup properly. If you had the dealer set it up it probably needs to be tweaked or fine tuned. Go through the instructions on setup and verify what the dealer did and fine tune it to meet the requirements of the instructions in regards to tension on the spring bars as well as fender heights which is very important.

Please list your trailer and tow vehicle as well so we can provide more detailed information.

Rob

**ckreef** · 01-04-2021, 04:16 PM

I agree with Rob. If setup by the dealer when first purchased they did a best guess since your truck and trailer were not loaded for camping. Once I got my trailer home and everything setup for camping I readjusted my WDH. Big improvement.

That would be the first and easiest place to start.

**marlowefamily** · 01-04-2021, 05:30 PM

Current trailers:
GD transcend 265bh, 33ft, 7k lbs, TT
GD imaginexls 24mpr, 30ft 7k lbs, TT

Hitches-
Gen-y torsion shanks/ball rated for 10k lbs (supposed to separate ride of trailer and tv)
Reese straight line wdh, believe 1200lb bars as gvwr with 3k cargo in 24mpr is 9300lbs

Tow Vehicle(s):
2020 ford expedition maxed config (primary now, secondary in future)
2021 f450 superduty long bed dually custom ordered (future primary tv)

So, two trailers and two tv but same hitch setups permantly on both.

Testing so far is with expedition. I'm sure f450 will be much better, but I'd like best towing I can get on both.

Yes, the dealer installed both hitches. I haven't done any fine tuning yet.

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**Chad1383** · 01-08-2021, 11:02 AM

That little trailer will tow like a dream behind the 450. That thing is a good size trailer but nothing for a 450 to tow.

**SolarPoweredRV** · 01-08-2021, 01:45 PM

You might also consider adding air bags to the Tow Vehicle. The air can soften and absorb some of the smaller road bumps that are causing your issue. Also, this is very common on Concrete highways, sometimes you get a resonance going between the road and your rig that is quite unpleasant for the occupants.

**goducks14** · 01-10-2021, 10:51 AM

Simply too much trailer for your Expedition. Not enough vehicle weight to counter the TT's weight. Anytime you start exceeding the TV's weight you start a battle for control.
The best ever smoothest tow experience I had was with a 21' 4050 lb TT towed by a 2008 F150 145" WB.

The worst ever tow was a 2008 F150 145" WB and a 31' 7200 lb TT.

Your 131"? WB is not doing you any favors with that long of a TT.

**NB Canada** · 01-10-2021, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by goducks14

Simply too much trailer for your Expedition. Not enough vehicle weight to counter the TT's weight. Anytime you start exceeding the TV's weight you start a battle for control.
The best ever smoothest tow experience I had was with a 21' 4050 lb TT towed by a 2008 F150 145" WB.

The worst ever tow was a 2008 F150 145" WB and a 31' 7200 lb TT.

Your 131"? WB is not doing you any favors with that long of a TT.

Lol. When does the TT ever NOT exceed the TV?

That expy likely weighs more than most trucks

2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew 1840 payload

**goducks14** · 01-11-2021, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by NB Canada

Lol. When does the TT ever NOT exceed the TV?

That expy likely weighs more than most trucks

2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew 1840 payload

My Ram 3500 CTD has a base weight of a little over 8,000 lbs.
Certainly over most TT's on the road.

FYI the max tongue weight for the Expedition Max is 900 lbs. Way to low for the 24mpr
Yes an EX weighs more than a comparable F150 Super Crew 145" WB by about 750 lbs. Which doesn't prove anything.
Thing is you're missing my point. Regardless of the tow vehicle, hitching up something that weighs several 1000 lbs more behind it is going to cause the tow vehicle to have less control.
Thats why you never see a tow vehicle get out of control towing a utility trailer vs towing a trailer thats much longer and 1000's of pounds heavier.
Every tow vehicle has a certain point where it starts to lose it's battle.