2015 Towing Help!
06-07-2016, 09:35 PM
#1
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2015 Towing Help!
I'm hoping someone out there has experienced a similar problem and can help my father out with both of our trucks.
My dad and I have almost identical trailers (16ft long, flat front, torsion axles, electric brakes, weigh around 3k lbs empty and tend to be 5500-6k lbs when we load them). We've both towed our respective trailers with previous generation F-150's (Dad: '05, '09 and '11 Me: '10 and a '13). Our previous trucks have had a mix of aftermarket brake controllers or Ford installed and drive train combinations but we've never had any issue towing these trailers. We do use weight distributing hitches, but no anti-sway bars.
Now onto our '15's. We both ordered our trucks and they were built within a few days of each other last April. They're both 4x2 SCREW with 3.5 EcoBoost engines. Dad's is a Lariat with 3.55 rears and mine is an XLT with a 3.15 rear. With our latest F-150's, both of us have experienced our trailers getting "squirrely" on multiple occasions, and more often than not, they'll seem to get out of control multiple times during a single trip. We have adjusted our hitches, adjusted the position of the spring bars on the hitch, adjusted how we load our trailers (in fact in doesn't matter if the trailers are loaded or empty), pulled with the tow mode on and off, traction control on and off and the sway control under trailer settings on and off. We've tried everything that we can think of and nothing seems to make a difference.
I know that we could add anti-sway bars to our hitch setups, but I have a hard time believing that it's our hitch and trailer set up when we've used them with multiple previous generation F-150's with no issues. Has anyone either had or heard of a similar problem and know of a solution? Thanks for the help!
My dad and I have almost identical trailers (16ft long, flat front, torsion axles, electric brakes, weigh around 3k lbs empty and tend to be 5500-6k lbs when we load them). We've both towed our respective trailers with previous generation F-150's (Dad: '05, '09 and '11 Me: '10 and a '13). Our previous trucks have had a mix of aftermarket brake controllers or Ford installed and drive train combinations but we've never had any issue towing these trailers. We do use weight distributing hitches, but no anti-sway bars.
Now onto our '15's. We both ordered our trucks and they were built within a few days of each other last April. They're both 4x2 SCREW with 3.5 EcoBoost engines. Dad's is a Lariat with 3.55 rears and mine is an XLT with a 3.15 rear. With our latest F-150's, both of us have experienced our trailers getting "squirrely" on multiple occasions, and more often than not, they'll seem to get out of control multiple times during a single trip. We have adjusted our hitches, adjusted the position of the spring bars on the hitch, adjusted how we load our trailers (in fact in doesn't matter if the trailers are loaded or empty), pulled with the tow mode on and off, traction control on and off and the sway control under trailer settings on and off. We've tried everything that we can think of and nothing seems to make a difference.
I know that we could add anti-sway bars to our hitch setups, but I have a hard time believing that it's our hitch and trailer set up when we've used them with multiple previous generation F-150's with no issues. Has anyone either had or heard of a similar problem and know of a solution? Thanks for the help!
06-07-2016, 10:53 PM
#2
Senior Member
There has been a few issues concerning this. But a couple questions:
Did you reset and adjust the height of your WDH? What type of WDH are you using?
What tires are on your trucks?
I went to E load tires and a rear sway bar........so far so good.............
Did you reset and adjust the height of your WDH? What type of WDH are you using?
What tires are on your trucks?
I went to E load tires and a rear sway bar........so far so good.............
Last edited by mark waller; 06-07-2016 at 10:59 PM.
06-08-2016, 11:33 AM
#4
Grumpy Old Man
Towing a 5k trailer without excellent sway control is not a good idea. You need not only sway control, but much better sway control than adding sway bars to your current cheap hitch.
So I would replace your WD hitch with a good one, including one of these as a minimum:
Reese Strait-Line Trunnion Bar
Equal-I-Zer
Blue Ox SwayPro
Husky Centerline
Curt TruTrack
Reese, Husky and Curt all make cheap hitches, so pay attention if you buy one of those brands. Be sure it is a Strait-Line or CenterLine or TruTrack and not one of their cheap hitches. Equal-I-Zer and Blue Ox don't make cheap hitches, so no worry if you buy one of those brands.
Those 5 are the minimum for decent sway control. If you have ever experienced uncontrollable trailer sway, then you'll pay a lot to be sure it never happens again. That's why I tow my TT with a ProPride hitch.
So I would replace your WD hitch with a good one, including one of these as a minimum:
Reese Strait-Line Trunnion Bar
Equal-I-Zer
Blue Ox SwayPro
Husky Centerline
Curt TruTrack
Reese, Husky and Curt all make cheap hitches, so pay attention if you buy one of those brands. Be sure it is a Strait-Line or CenterLine or TruTrack and not one of their cheap hitches. Equal-I-Zer and Blue Ox don't make cheap hitches, so no worry if you buy one of those brands.
Those 5 are the minimum for decent sway control. If you have ever experienced uncontrollable trailer sway, then you'll pay a lot to be sure it never happens again. That's why I tow my TT with a ProPride hitch.
