rough ride towing

[vc]

I have a 25' power boat I pull that weighs in at 8800 lbs plus or minus depending on the junk in it. I have had from as little as 430 lbs to as much as 630 lbs tongue weight. I have an adjustable hitch set up to have the trailer as close to level as possible. When I am on any bumpy roads or especially the old concrete freeways with expansion joints the ride in the truck is very bad. Gets those jaring bumps going and its tough on my neck area - never mind the misses. The last boat I had road much better. It was about 2000 lbs lighter. Differences since- the Ranchos, the adjustable ball mount. Ofcourse this is a different trailer and it's a little longer than last. I've tried different sttings on ranchos from 3 - 5 on the rears and 2 - 4 on the front to no avail. this adjustable ball mount juts back about 7 inches further than the last ball mount used in prior boat - could that make any difference? I'm lost here guys - don't know what else to do short os a new trailer. Any help would be great.

vc

 

[Whitmore]

I have read some on velvet ride shackuls, I would check on them... ... ..... Kevin



also look at Kelderman here http://www.dieselram.com/reviews/keldermanairride.htm

 

[Bluhaven]

Tongue weight should be more like 800 lbs. around 10% of trailer weight.

 

[Bhale]

2 things come to mind, tongue weight, as Bluhaven said, should be 10-15% of trailer weight and those adjustable hitches have a lot of play in them. I have one for my boat that i have to use when i pull it with the camper on the truck and it slams around a bunch more than the standard hitch i use without the camper. Before you buy a new trailer, try a regular non-adjustable hitch with the correct drop for your setup and see if that helps.

 

[Deezul1]

I hope you can find an answer here as i have the same problem with a Travel Trailer. My old trailer was 17' and towed like a dream and the new one is 32" and also tows like a dream except on rough roads where it porpoises a lot. Both trailers weigh about the same so I am wondering if the added leverage from the extra length is what the problem is and if so what to do about it.

 

[MikeBeggy]

I chased a similar problem with my Airstream, changed spring bars, played with shocks etc and my solution was to add more hitch weight by moving spare tire, loading heavy up front and so on. Problem was quite frustrating until I figured it out.

 

[vc]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

As far as the percent tongue weight, most of the boat trailer companies recommend about 7% which is approx where I started at. When I weighed the boat at the local truck stop, the slip weighed 8840 lbs. 7% of that is 618. 8 lbs. I was at approx 620 lbs. That being said, does every one feel I should still go for the 10% - 880 or so pounds?

BHale, I was thinking about trying one of the non-adjustables. I have to wait till tuesday to get one at the store. The only non adjust I have is only rated for 6000 lbs and is wrong offset anyway.



One other thing on this trailer maybe you all can shed light on. I installed disk brakes on all four wheel. I located the calipers at the 2 o'clock position as you look at the right side wheels and the 10 o'clock on left side. I just noticed the manufacturer said they must be at the 12 o'clock. What difference will this make?



Thanks.

vc

 

[Eric_77]

The brake position I would bet has to do with draining of the calipers since these are regularly submerged in water.

 

[SOLER]

Tongue weight is a serious issue. I once towed a car with some old tires thrown in the back of it. It swayed like heck wouldn't have it!! I put the tires in the back of the tow vehicle, and problem solved. 10-15 % is correct.

 

[Extreme1]

Set your rear shocks on 0 or 1 (trust me) and the fronts on 3 or 4. Best tongue weight is 10-15% of the trailer gross. Less and you get sway. Since you don't have sway, leave the tongue weight alone.



A note about the blessed Rancho 9000 shocks. If you are still using the knobs to adjust them and they are more than a year or 2 old, they might not be adjusting anymore. The knob pushes against a tapered pin which varied the damping force the shock has. There is a small spring pushing against it to return it to the lower settings as you unscrew the knob to a lower number. The problem arises when moisture wicks past the seal (it does) and corrodes the pin. Now it is stuck in the higher position but the knob still turns fine.



To ensure that the adjusters work, get the remote kit or remove the adjuster, clean it out and pack it with grease avery year or so. Note: this affects snowbelt vehicles more so than southern vehicles due to the incredible wicking forces of ionized (road salt flavored) water.

 

[vc]

Extreme,

I thought about that and checked it out when I was empty (not towing) and adjusted the shocks up and down and I could definitely feel the difference. When I did the changes while towing I started at 3 and tried it up to 5 and I would say it felt better at 3 - 5 was quite harsh.

vc

 

[Steve Campbell]

Is part of this problem...

not fully "engaging" the overload springs? If they are just barely touching or not, every small bump will give you the instantaneous loading/unloading of an extra set of springs. Makes for a real "choppy" ride.

 

[vc]

Steve,

good question! when the tongue weight was at its heavier tow, i know thw overloads were on their brackets, but i don't know how much. when i lightened up the tongue the overloads were about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from touching and certainly could have been doing what you said on the bumps. when i redo the tongue and then move the boat up to get more weight on it i'll check how much deflection i get on the overloads and their brackets.

vc

 

[dmurdock]

7% on boat trailer

The 7% rule on boat trailers is due to the fact that many of them are setup so that the majority of weight is on the axles because the tongue assembly isn't that strong... . the tongue is built to "drag" the weight vs supporting it. Hopefully the trailer has a max tongue weight listed somewhere, if so, i'd load up to that or 12-15% of gross trailer weight, whichever is less.

 

[vc]

update

Progress report...

I replaced damaged center tongue beam, added reinforcements between winch post and bow stop. Test drove. Helped some. Moved boat forward to increase tongue weight, twice. Each time helped a little. Changed the ball mount to a shorter fixed height one that has almost zero slop compared to other one. Again help a little. I think I might change my rear shocks next and see if that makes any difference. Will keep you posted.

vc

 

[Turbo Horseman]

I installed air bags and kept the overweight springs. As long as I have enough air in the bags the ride with my 28ft gooseneck horse combo trailer is smooth. Not enough air and my bones get jarred.



Looked at installing shocks rather than bags. Opted for the bags and haven't looked back. For heavy towing loads... bags all the way for me.

 

[vc]

turbo horseman,

what kind of bags did you get, and are they always working even when not loaded?

thanks.

vc

 

[keimmmo]

Just want to verify if you are using a weight distributing hitch with torsion bars? I do a lot of cross country towing. Even with a light load that the truck could easily handle, they really help smooth the ride!



I agree that you need plenty of tongue weight! It really helps a trailer tow straight! Also, torsion bars that are too stiff don't seem to hurt the ride like bars that are too light.



I have occasionally had the problem of having the overloads almost touching. It DOES make for a choppy ride!!! In my case though that is so seldom that I am not looking for a fix. I just live with it since I usually haul PLENTY of weight!



Steve

___________________

 

[vc]

after some reweighing i figured i am at 7. 8% tongue weight and by having increased it a little it did help some. I cannot move the boat any further forward as doing so will cause the outboards to hit the trailer. so with this in mind, what are everyones thought of moving the axles back and relocating the boat accordingly? the trailer is predrilled for relocating the axles rearward 18 inches, which in my mind seems to be quite a bit when i think about how it will affect maneuvering in tight quarters. I think if i relocate the axles and slide the boat back it may improve the ride, but it's just a guess.

vc

 

[Jack in Alaska]

My boat trailer started swaying back and forth last year. I put up with it as distances were 40 miles and seldom. This summer I pulled it more and it got to be a giant PITA.

The cause was new outboard. It weighed about 100 lbs. more than the old one causing the tongue weight to decrease.

I moved the winch frame ahead 8", cranked the boat up tight and... ... yahoo, it trails straight as an arrow now.



I also realized that my trailer was 19 yrs. old including the TIRES.

Off they came and replaced with new LR "D" radial trailer tires.

Actually the old tires looked great, no cracks and lots of tread. Into the dumpster they went.