Restoring or just fixin' up but...

[renos96]

Been in the weeds fer awhile...Need some advise while updating my 03 SRW 4 door short bed @ 160k w/ auto and HO motor. She's a daily driver (bought her new) and never pulled more than a pop-up. Now have a 10k lb. travel trailer and its feeling pretty heavy. Pumping money into everything that suspends the chassis and it still gets pushed around even in little to no wind. I'm committed to keep going but any ideas what I can do to stabilize the tow? Reese torsion bar hitch setup and anti-sway bar dealer installed for the RV. Buddy in the biz says lets put a panhard bar on it. New Michelins (stock) and everything obvious been done.

 

[jgillott]

First things first, take your truck and trailer to a CAT scale and get your real weight numbers. It could be something as simple as making some hitch adjustments or moving weight around in your trailer that will make your combination pull well.


If you have never weighed on a CAT scale before, here is a good quick guide that I found.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f37/how-to-weigh-your-tv-tt-3871.html

 

[renos96]

Thanks for the link jgillott. I have not seen that process in 1. 2. 3. statements before and I'm going to take your advise and do just that. Perhaps the dealership should see this because they used a few measurements on a level surface but couldn't know the true weight distribution. Always thinking my truck is just capable by the "stickers" on both units will be proven out. Thanks again!

 

[Prairie Dog]

I have pretty much the same setup - my TT weighs in at 9300#.
I've used a few different brand hitches over the years but I like the Reese Dual Cam the best. Adjustment is critical but after getting it right the trailer is very planted in all conditions.
I also recommend Bilstein shocks. They have tremendous rebound dampening and stop any looseness or porpoising at the back end of the truck.
Finally, if you trailer doesn't have shocks they make a nice difference in stability of the trailer and make things like expansion joints on the highway disappear.

Happy camping!
Scott