Mechanik

Looking for some thoughts on whether I have this set up correctly. No serious problems to date, but the hookup and results aren't what I expected.

Bought my truck to replace a 1998 Suburban 1500 to tow a 23' ultralight TT. I towed the Jayco for several years without issues, so I'm fairly certain everything was OK before switching to the F150. Before switching the WD hitch over, I measured the hitch height on the Suburban. Then mounted the hitch on the Ford. Same height above ground within .5". Measured the Ford height at all 4 wheel wells.

Hitched up the trailer and found a full 1" sag at the rear wheelwell. Hooked up the the WD chains and found that there wasn't enough ground clearance for the levers to pull and latch the same "4 links" that the Suburban used. Went with 3 links instead, which is all I can get without putting the tongue wheel back on and cranking the truck and trailer up. "3 links" lowers the front and rear wheelwells .5" To my eye, truck and trailer are level with each other. i.e. not shaped like the letter "V".

Sooo..... When I tow, I have more bounce than with the GMC and the whole ride seems mushier. The truck feels mushier and bouncier than the SUV anyway, so not sure if this is from the setup, or just the difference in vehicles.

I've read several posts about setup, but please feel free to point out any I might have missed. I can live with the mush and bounce. but I want to make sure I'm not screwing up my truck by driving it this way. I should probably mentino that the truck has 23,000 miles on it.

Thanks in advance,

brulaz

Difference in vehicle suspension is my guess.

Same thing happened to me coming from a Tacoma 4x4. That little truck was a real neck-breaker when unloaded, but nice and solid when towing. The F150 was much smoother unloaded, but the ride turned to mush when loaded anywhere close to its 2050# payload.

I should have got the HD Payload option for the suspension bits, even if I didn't need the extra payload.

So instead I got Ford to put on the HD shocks (others have put on Ranchos or Bilstein), and went aftermarket to bolster the rear springs (Roadmaster Active Suspension, but there are other options like Superspring and Timbren).

Finally I ditched the P-metric tires and got LT-metric.

The ride's much better now when towing, and only a bit crisper when not towing. I like it. Cause my hitch weight is only 500# I've got rid of the WDH.

If I had to do it again, I might try the adjustable Rancho shocks rather than Ford's as I still notice a bit of rock'n'roll.

jcain

sounds like you unloaded the rear axle of the truck. drive with no chains. then decide what "sensation" you feel. if you agree that you've unloaded the rear axle of the tv, then tilt the hitch head up a bump.

smokeywren

You probably don't have the spring bars tight enough.

If your spring bar "levers" are simply short pieces of pipe, then get a shorter piece of pipe that will clear the ground while you pull up to tighten the spring bars. If the shorter pipe results in not enough leverage for your muscles to finish the job, then leave the trailer connected but jack up the tongue with the tongue jack enough that the old levers will clear.

I never use the tongue jack wheel. Instead, I put a few thicknesses of 2x6 boards under the jack base. It's much faster to place a few pieces of lumber under the jack base than trying to install the tongue jack wheel.

Depending on the terrain around the trailer, I sometimes have to jack up the tongue before the lever (piece of 3/4' pipe) will clear the ground to tighten the spring bars. But those 2x6 boards are always handy, either in the "basement" of the trailer or in the back of the pickup bed when towing.

The 4th chain length may not be the one you want to use. To double-check, first weigh the trailer tongue to see how much weight is on the ball. Then weigh the rig on a CAT scale twice, once with the spring bars disconnected, and again with them tight. You'll know you have it properly adjusted when about 25 percent of the tongue weight is moved from the rear axle to the front axle of the truck, and another 25 percent of the tongue weight is moved from the rear axle to the trailer axles. That leaves about 50% of the tongue weight on the rear axle of the pickup.

Mine is not "right" yet, but here's the CAT scale numbers before a recent trip:

Spring bars disconnected, 650 pounds tongue weight:
3040 Steer axle
3880 drive axle
----------
6920 GVW
3480 trailer axles
-----------
10,400 GCW
============

Spring bars tightened:
3280 front axle = 240 pounds heavier = 37% of tongue weight (goal 25%)
3520 rear axle = 360 pounds lighter = 55% (goal 50%)
-------
6800 GVW
3620 trailer axles = 140 pounds moved to trailer axles = 21% of tongue weight (goal 25%)
------------
10,420 GCW = 20# scale error = two tenths of one percent = reasonable
===========

So although mine still needs some fine tuning, we made a 4,500 mile towing trip across the plains, and another 700 mile towing trip though the Texas Hill Country, and the rig ran and drove great, with no sway or other problems.

On the big trip, the CAT scale said my weights were:
3360 front axle
3840 rear axle
----------
7,200 GVW
4220 trailer axles
--------
11,420 GC

We didn't weigh the loaded rig without the spring bars connected, so I don't know how close to the unloaded percentages we had on the trip.
========

Mechanik

Awesome advice. Thanks to each of you. You three seem to have covered the three most likely fixes.

Hadn't thought that I might have unloaded the rear, jcain. That's the easiest to test. So I think I'll try, in order of ease and cost:

1. Take it up on the freeway without the spring bars and see if it's better or worse. If better, problem solved!

2. If worse, then take up an extra link per smokeywren. Hadn't thought about using my stack of shims instead of the wheel. Must have brain damage. A piece of irrigation iron pipe might fit as a lever. Nearest public scales are 1-2 hours away and in the wrong direction, but I printed your reply and put it in the glove box. I can double check the numbers sometime when I'm travelling. I can hear it now: "You're kidding, Dad! We're stopping so you can weigh the truck?"

3. If everything checks out setup-wise, but the ride is still not to my liking, look at suspension mods, per brulag.

Thanks again!

humblerb

Just some general information, you may already know this.
The tilt gets the front of your tow vehicle down. It should be the first thing you adjust when setting up.
Then you adjust the height of your ball to get the trailer level (slightly down in the front).

acadianbob

A 1" sag isn't much. When you load your WD hitch, your rear wheelwell measurement should increase (rear end up) and your front wheelwell measurement should decrease (front end down). Measure the front when no load. Measure the front loaded with trailer but no WD hitch bars. Then put on the bars and adjust until the front end measurement is halfway between unloaded and loaded without WD bar measurements. Then you are good to go. Your trailer should be dead level to slightly nose down. If not, you may have to adjust your ball height. When the truck is unloaded, the ball height should be 1/2 to 1" higher than the measurement from the street to the to of the coupler when the trailer is sitting level on the street (not hooked to the truck). Give that a try and go from there.

Did you have LT tires on the GM? P-metrics are definitely squirmier for towing. Our last F150 bounced more than I liked; it had p metrics. The new F150 has LT LR C. The ride is WAY better when towing. Same exact trailer and WD setup.

Mechanik

Just wanted to post a follow up for anyone interested. Thanks to everyone for their assistance.

I took the camper out for a drive, fully loaded with gear and water, without the spring bars. It was not very different from the ride WITH spring bars.

Next, used the tongue jack so that I could grab an extra chain link on the spring bars. This caused a rise at the rear wheel well, but I neglected to measure the numbers. You could see the bed move up an inch or so when I levered the chain up. I then drove almost 400 miles, in high wind conditions, and I have to say that when the brown stuff hit the fan, the control was FANTASTIC. I watched a semi get blown onto the dirt shoulder while I tracked within the white lines. There was some bobbing on the 2-lane highways, but the truck and trailer rode very much as a unit instead of independent.

Overall then, in my first post, there was not enought tension on the bars. There are still some remaining issues with "feel" and I'd like to fix those, too, but it's not urgent since control has improved dramatically. I'll look into LT tires when the time comes and suspension components when they begin to wear out.

I also notice from this and other posts that I probaby shoud have dropped more $$ on a a WD hitch with more adjustments. I bought the one the dealer was pushing and I can see that those with more adjustments could be very helpful.

Hope this helps someone!

brulaz

Good to hear.
Also, try to correct the front end lift (more than rear end sag).
Too much front end lift is what causes the loss of control.

AcadianBob gives good advice in the post above. Reducing front end lift by half is Ford's recommendation. Some go further, trying to completely eliminate front end lift, but you may take too much weight off the rear end that way. I would aim for somewhere in between. More than half, less than full front end lift reduction.

You do want properly sized WDH tension bars. They will make the adjustments easier.