trailer sway with new tires

[DNunemacher]

I have 2001 ram cummins of coarse 4x4 extended cab 8ft box. 5sp manual 4. 10 locking rear tow package. I tow a 2002 32'Sportsman travel trailer and an 18' utility trailer with a 6800lb tractor. With the travel trailer I use a reese weight distributing hitch rated10,000lbs. I have just repalced my original truck tires,Michellen ltx all season LT265/75R16 10ply with Cooper ST with a mud and snow rating same size and ply. While towing the travel trailer I was being pushed all over the road never before encountered such sway while towing anything . I also towed wehicles for 2yrs for AAA. I stopped at the trailer dealer he ssaid the tires were to blame soft sidewall?They had same problem with a new truck changed the tires end of problem. I was running same air pressure as the old tires65psi. Was wondering if going to max. rateing of 80psi and adding Dual cam sway would eliminate the problem. I lowered the hitch as recommended by dealer as the tires added about1/2" to the truck didn't help much any thoughts on this and experience with the sway control. Dealer is very helpful and not a crook, he felt truck was more than heavy enough to go without the sway only change was the tires.

 

[RustyJC]

I would certainly try increasing air pressure to stiffen up the sidewalls. However, if these are true mud and snow tires with a very deep tread, you could be experiencing a phenomenon known as tread squirm. That is, the tire carcass may indeed be stiff enough, but you are feeling the tread blocks distorting. If that's the case, short of shaving the brand new tires ( ), there's not much you can do.



Rusty

 

[Turbo Trucker]

Yeah I get tread squirm when I put on new rear tires. It feels real wierd when you turn. That's with dual rears at 80 psi. The tread needs to wear down a bit before it starts to feel normal.

 

[DNunemacher]

Thanks for the input will try the air pressure and hope for the best will also get the sway control. How many miles for this tire squirm to fade? The tires are at www.coopertires.com They are the Discover ST they show a picture of the tread.

 

[Matt42]

Based on my experience, I'd say it's the new tires on your truck. If the only thing that you changed was the truck tires, then it can't be the trailer tires. Honest as the dealer may be, I think he was blowing smoke at you.



I've used Michelin tires by choice for more than 25 years. I even go so far as to change out the tires on a new car with Michelin soon after I buy it. The road "feel" and overall controllability improves. Compared to other brands, I have found that Michelin tires do not wander, they don't follow "grooved" pavement, or cracks in the road.



Since my first set of Michelin tires in 1973, I only once tried to save a buck by buying a so-called brand name that was cheaper. It was a bonehead mistake I never made again.



I did not immediately change out the really dreadful Goodyear Wrangler AT tires that came on my truck. I wish I had because they were squirmy junk. Three of five had ply separations, and one of them separated at (no joke) 89 miles in the driveway. When they weren't separating, they had the road feel of chopped, greased rubber gloves. Trailer sway was noticeable as well.



I predict that you will have this problem as long as you have the non-Michelin tires on your truck. Hitch and tire pressure adjustments will just be band-aids and really accomplish nothing.



Please forgive my bluntness because I'm pretty tired. I just returned late today from a 3,000 mile freeway speed round trip towing a 26 foot travel trailer. No sway. Not even in Oklahoma and Kansas crosswinds.

 

[merryman]

Like Matt, I really like Michelins, (I too first bought them in the early 70's and they were a tremendous improvement over the tires that came on the '68 Buick I put them on) and like him I replaced the Goodyear Wrangler ATs that came on my last RAM with them, but unlike him, I did not find the Wranglers to warrant bad press; before I replaced them, they gave me 42K miles of entirely satisfactory service. Approximately one third of those miles were running with a 12K fiver on back; no sway, no wiggle. They just ran down the road as they should. When they wore out and I put on the michelins, I could note no difference. When they wore out I put on a pair of Les Schwab tires and again, I could note no difference with or without the fiver on; all three brands were indistingishable in performance and while I did not keep the truck long enough to replace the Schwab tires, the Wranglers and the Michelins were worn out at about the same miles. I have bought several sets of Michelins and numerous sets from Les Schwab. I have never observed a noticable difference other than when I replaced the tires that came on the 68 buick.

On the other hand goodyear marathons on the trailer drove me nuts with failures till I replaced them with Les Schwab (Kelly made) tires.



Vaughn

 

[Mundgyver]

Try looking at one of these to reduce your sway and get better mileage.



http://www.streamlining.com/page24.html



or



http://www.airtab.com/



I think you will like what you find

 

[Casey Balvert]

Look at the easy stuff first

Before you do anything, take your trailer to a scale. Weight the total trailer off the hitch. Then weigh the trailer wheels while hitched but don't tighten the equalizer bars. Subtract the two to get your tongue weight. The tongue weight needs to be at LEAST 12% of the total trailer weight. If not, you WILL have sway. Also a good idea to weight the left and right side of your trailer to make sure you are loaded reasonably equal side to side. Trailer loading changes quickly. My wife is an expert at it. I am constantly amazed at what she can pack in there. So I check the weight of my rig every couple of years.



Sway is not fun and can be deadly. Been there done that. While your tires may contribute to the problem that an improperly loaded trailer causes, making sure the weight distribution is correct is a good place to start and will cost you less than ten dollars. I may have missed it but I presume your truck is fine when not towing. Cheers.



Casey

 

[John Berger]

I agree wholeheartedly with the last post. I too, recently learned the hard way about sway. It ended up being not enough tongue weight. In my case, I had drained my galley tank and used up about half of my propane, which made the tongue weight of my trailer somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-180 pounds lighter. It was the difference between making it home, which I didn't, and my trailer on it's side and tore up in a median on I-26. Check your weight first, before you spend any more money. Be safe.

 

[DNunemacher]

Thanks

Thanks for all the idea's will check into everything mentioned. I have no problem with truck without trailer. Yesterday I filled tires to 75 psi Haven't been able to test it yet also rechecked the camper tires found them all at 50psi checked them before I left they were at 60psi. Ichecked them with 2 gauges yesterday and topped off at 62psi allowing 3psi difference between max pressure of 65psi. Has anyone used the sway control I mentioned? Sorry to here about the last post misfortune hope everyone was ok. Please keep the info coming I will update after I get a chance to test drive.

 

[Casey Balvert]

Sway control

There are a number of sway devices on the market, the cam type being just one of them. Some people even use double sway bars but they are not intended to correct sway due to a poorly loaded rig. Start there and then start spending money on the sway controls. I personally preferred the fricition style sway bars when I towed a tag along.



Do you have an anti-sway device now? If not you should definitely have one. But confirm those weights first. Let us know what you find at the scales. Also make sure your trailer brake control is within easy reach of the driving position. When sway does get out of control, unilateral application of the trailer brakes is the only thing that will save your rig.



Your safety, that of your family and those that you share the road with depends on your towing a safe rig. That said, I know for a fact there are a lot of overloaded rigs out there. I hope I never meet one when the driver has a bad day. Again, good luck.



Casey

 

[John Berger]

Originally posted by CBalvert

... . Also make sure your trailer brake control is within easy reach of the driving position. When sway does get out of control, unilateral application of the trailer brakes is the only thing that will save your rig... .

I wish I would have known this prior to my wreck. I had about two seconds to think, but I can remember going through everything I knew to try and save the trailer and the truck, i. e. , don't hit the brakes, turn into the spin, let off the throttle. Unilateral application of the trailer brake makes so much sense when you think about it. Live and learn. So far I haven't experienced any sway with the 5'er. Which is nice. Real nice.

 

[GBall]

Evil GBall here (not really GBall) I had/have the same problem. Trailer towed just fin with the smaller stiffer stock tires. Whent to taller and man, it don't get crazy but you can feel that slight tail waggin the dog feeling! Not good! So when im going to pull I take her down to Les Jobs and air up to just under max. I also got a friction antisway device and that has helped a ton. Good luck Evil GB (insert evil laugh here)

P. S. My truck is a 97 F350 psd:--)

 

[clem]

You have a tire problem adding air should help, but your new tires have soft side walls. I would go back to what your truck came with . Been there, done that, got the T shirt . Don't need more shirts . Time to cut your losses and go on . :{ :-{} sorry,but we win some and loss some