Wiggley trailer woes...

[Jonz]

I have a 26ft weekend Warrior and the thing is always moving side to side. Most of the time it is mild but when passing it gets a little harry. Was wondering what the the recommended weight displacement infront of and behind the axles should be? For those not familiar with that trailer it is a toy hauler. You load all your toys in the back the unload and fold down all the beds and such. Forward of the axles has all the cabinets and water tanks. I have load levelers and and anti sway bar.



Thanks...



Troy

 

[tgbol]

A general rule is the tongue weight should be 10% of the trailer weight. If you have 900 lbs on the hitch you might need a equalizer hitch with a anti-sway device attached to the hitch. Besides the sway how do like the trailer? I am looking for one soon.

 

[DarrellB]

Man thats strange, My brotherinlaw has one that he pulls with a Suburban and he has no problems with it now that he put the stabalizer and equalizer on it. If you have the stabalizer and equalizer hitch I don't know what it could be. You might want to check the air pressure in the tires and maybe even put a heavier ply tire on it.



Just thought of something, do you have 1 stabilizer or 2 on it? My brotherinlaw runs 2 on his.



Big D

 

[Jonz]

As far as the trailer goes, I am very happy. They are simply awesome trailers. The newer models are even better.



I am looking at new tires already due to the fact that I have had 2 tires develope bubbles in the sidewall. I know the pressure is ok.



I have the one swaybar.



When loading the trailer should the bikes go over the axle or behind the axle?





Thanks for the input...



Troy

 

[Gonzo 1066]

Trailer sway

The most common mistake is a light hitch, as mentioned before. About 10% of trailer MUST be hitch weight. Also make sure the trailer towes flat. That is mesure the frame height front and back. There should be very little differnce. +- 1" to 1 1/2". If you have heavy toys the balancing may be problematic. Some trailers seem to like more hitch weight than others. Good luck!!

 

[PHaller]

Double check that anti sway bar. I had the same problem with a 27 foot Terry until I tightened the bar down.

-Paul R. Haller-

 

[RJOL]

Troy,



If your load leveler (equalizer hitch) and anti-sway bar are set right, and it still sways (no side wind) constantly, this doesn't sound normal. You may have a trailer axle alignment problem, or bad trailer tires.

 

[Jonz]

I looked at the tires. They are load range D. Max load is just over 2500lbs per tire. With the trailer fully loaded I run about 9000lbs. Does'nt that seem a little close to max load on the tires?



Troy

 

[RJOL]

Troy,



You didn't say if your trailer was a single axle or dual. If it is a single, you are overloaded. I'm assuming it is a dual axle. Even then, you are close to max but still inside the limit. When it's time to change the tires, you might consider going to a load range E.



I'm not an expert on this subject, just a long time trailer owner. If everything else looks right, I'd have the trailer looked at for a misaligned/bent axle. It seems you should be seeing some non-normal tire wear if you have an alignment/axle problem, if the tires have been on and used for any significant time.



Good luck... .

 

[GSchlegel]

Troy,



Just a guess but I think your first post is on target. It sounds like with all your "toys" in back (over or behind the axels), you just don't have enough weight on the hitch. I used to pull up to 9,000# with a bumper hitch on an old Chevy 1/2 ton. When the balance was right, no problem. When it was off, the trailer tried to control the truck. With the CTD, you shouldn't have any problems with 10% + tongue weight.

Gene

 

[Jonz]

Thanks for all the input. I'm looking into the bent axles and tires wear. Not sure what else it is. Will try loading different for the next time.



Thanks

Troy

 

[rpatterson]

I also pull a toy hualer tahoe 28', i get the sway i don't use a sway bar but i do have the load bars 12k.

trailer comes in at 10200k load with 4 4 wheelers, 100 ga water

and all the stuff the wife need to bring i run 75lb in the trailer tires and 65 in the truck 265x16, with 4 people and the dogs in the truck total wt 20,300 axle wt is ok.









2001. 9 24v 4 disc auto with all the goodies, great truck truck,

was think to up grade to a 2002 3500 dualy

 

[Double 6]

Look at this site, www.pullrite.com they have a hitch system for wiggly trailer syndrome.

 

[BK]

I'm coming into this a little late... .

but all that I've read is good advice.



My only additional input is that 10% tongue weight should be a min. Not more than 20%. 15% should be a good max and target.

The bikes I'm sure weight a lot. I would try and move them foward of the axle and try and tow it. I've seen the toy haulers and I know they put the head and kitchen in the front to offset the door weight and such..... but with bikes weighing in at 400lbs average... .



Abnormal tire wear could be a sign as others have said of an alignment problem... but also could just be an effect from too much side movement during the wiggle and pulling apart the belts.



Also look for bad wheel bearings and hanging brakes.



A sway bar is a must for an enclosed wall trailer. I've seen even my friends little pop up with new tires, bearings and tongue weight get a lot of sway untill he put a sway bar on. After re-reading your post I see that you have one... . my Reese has a lever to tighten it as much as I want... to the point that it I have to loosen it when doing tight turns to park the trailer or it moans bad. When I forget to tighten it, I can feel the trailer a bit..... when I have it tight enough I dont even feel my trailer. It's a 26ft TT, 6Klbs dry.

 

[Mingoglia]

His trailer tongue weight should be perfect. I have the same trailer (2002 FS2600). The dry tongue weight of this trailer is approximately 840lb. If you have the Onan generator it weighs 282lbs (the generator is about halfway between the axle and the hitch... you have to add the weight of the propane as well as the (almost unbelievable in the RV world) 126gal fresh water tank. The fresh water tank starts approximately in front of the entry door and continues all the way back to where the axles begin (if my memory serves me). It's a huge flat tank and when filled increases the tongue weight drastically. I figure my Warrior has about a 1100-1200lb tongue weight. My trailer will make a 3/4-ton sag considerably before hooking up the weight distribution.



Typically I have found that the "toys" don't make that much of a difference in the handling of the trailer. The "garage" portion of the trailer is directly over the axles. 2 weekends ago I went to the dunes and had my Raptor sideways in first (right where the kitchen starts) and had 2 banshees side by side loaded in last (this would put them behind the axles) and it still pulled good. I was loaded full of water (1,046lbs of water). It pulled a little different than normal (I normally travel with 1 banshee and 1 Raptor side by side over the axles) but I didn't have any problems. Maybe you should try adjusting your sway controller. The only problem with adjusting your sway controller too much is that I'm a firm believer that a properly loaded trailer will pull fine without a sway controller. I feel the sway controller is just there "in case" and would hate to rely on it to mask a loading problem. Like I said, you shouldn't have a loading problem because of the inherent design of the trailer (the axles are very far to the back of the trailer to increase tongue weight when carrying toys).



Now that I've drawn this out so long, you may want to check on thing. Many people will go down the road with their tanks partially filled. Remember, the Weekend Warrior has a huge tank... if you fill it halfway for when you're going down the road you have 500lbs of sloshing water. Sloshing water can affect the way it pulls drastically!! I always travel with either my tank full or just about empty (we're talking about 5 gallons or so incase I need a "pit-stop"). This is also something to consider.



Mike

 

[WCrovo]

rpattersen I have a Tahoe 28tb also. How do you like it? I dumped my WWarrior, I had nothing but problems. In response to the thread/ If all your equipment is set up correctly you have too much weight in the rear of the trailer.