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I had this problem while towing my 6,000lb boat. I added airbags and while it reduced the movement it stiffened up the right quite a bit. I didn't prefer either to be honest, and if I still had the truck I would likely have removed the airbags and tried something else. Just my .02 about airbags.
What about removing a washer to tilt the head up a bit. Does that work the same? I'd prefer if my bars stayed more parrelel to the toungue.
You could try adding a washer (unless you're already at max) as it would tilt the head down. Then when you snap the bars up they would be under more tension and your bars when snapped up would be in the same position they are now. It might not be enough though.
Pretty sure that will lighten my my rear too much and be more susceptible to sway. I had it with an extra washer before and it was too uncomfortable. I feel like the more toungue weight the better the truck tows. I have it dialed in pretty good now. Here's my pics
Not to sound dumb but adding a washer is only half way there. In doing so, you're putting a little more tension on the bars creating a lighter rear end on the truck. That being said, I wonder if the porpoising would be lessened if you did add a washer, put more tension on the bars and then added more tongue weight to the trailer. This could even come in the form of adding water to the fresh tank to add some ballast in front of the trailer axles. I'm no physics major, but I wonder if this might help.
BTW, it looks like you have a great set up. I'm looking at a 28' trailer (32' overall) to tow with my '11 Screw 5.5' bed and any information I find helps confirm my decision.
Stop guessing and just make the bar adjustment. It is a common issue with a simple fix. Tighten the bars and go for a drive. This will cost you nothing but a little time.
Listen to the guys saying your bars are not tight enough, they are correct. The loose bars are the cause of the porpoising as there is not enough tension on them and when you hit a bump they are springing on you as the bump increases tension then reduces tension and causes the nose on the trailer to pitch up and down. This then transfers to the front axle.
When I first brought my trailer home I have awful porpoising, and thought of great, this trailer is too much for the truck, then once I got it home and went over the setup I discovered the hitch was totally incorrectly setup and once I set it up correctly, the trailer pulls very nicely.
Porpoising is what you are referring to, more commonly used when describing boat actions.
Porpoising is common towing terminology, has nothing to do with boats. It's when the back of the truck, where coupled to the trailer, starts bouncing up and down, and is hard to stop.
The problem may be that your WDH (weight distribution hitch) is adjusted wrong, having the hitch to high, causing the trailer tongue to be above level when towing.
I've experienced this very same thing when using my old hitch that was on my 2012 F150, with my 2016 F150, before getting my new hitch installed and adjusted with the trailer.
On flats, it may tow fine, but imperfections in the roads, pots holes, dividers, etc., will cause that porpoising.
Readjusting your hitch may help, good luck in getting the issue resolved.
It helped a bit. Still bounces though...maybe it's normal?
Looking at your photo, your truck's rear end is down a bit, but your trailer is level.
If you tightened up your bars, pulling the rear end up, now your trailer tongue maybe above level, causing porpoising.
Putting the tongue above level, now shifts weight off of the tongue and back to the rear of the trailer. Not only will it cause porpoising as I have experienced, but now you may have sway issues also. You may need to also drop the hitch on the shank to compensate for the added height you added by tightening up the spring bars.
You'll have minor porpoising when going over really bad road imperfections but it shouldn't ever be a problem.
Here's my camper, this was the initial setup from the dealer and the initial camping trip. Later, I added another 50 lbs in the front cargo area and the truck was already a bit down in the rear and the front of the trailer, so I tightened the spring bars by 1 link and the handling improved.
I doubt that tightening bars is going to help much. I had this problem with my previous travel trailer and I was well below spec with it. If I put more bar pressure on, the truck just got squirrelly. Shocks, LT tires. That pivot point is well in back of your rear axle and it has a lot of leverage back there.
10-26-2016, 09:22 PM
