I have a 2012 f150 with the 5.0 litre and I just towed my trailer on a 3000 mile trip. the whole way it swayed side to side in 10 to 15 mph winds. Any one have any ideas on what to do to make it tow smoother?

 

It would be helpful if you could give us a little more information. What kind of trailer did you tow? How was it hooked up? Weight distribution? Sway control? What is the weight of the trailer? Stuff like that.

 

1] Be sure your wet and loaded tongue weight is around 13% of the total weight of the trailer. That requires you to either use a tongue weight scale plus weigh the rig on a CAT scale that will give you trailer axle weight, or weigh the rig twice - once without the trailer and once with the trailer but without the spring bars connected. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded tow vehicle (TV) from the weight on the two TV axles wih the trailer tied on to determine tongue weight.


Add tongue weight to trailer axle weight to get total trailer weight. Divide tongue weight by total trailer weight to get tongue weight percent. If your tongue weight is not 12% to 15% of total trailer weight, then you need to move the weight in the trailer to get closer to 13% tongue weight.

2. Be sure you have a good weight-distributing hitch with built in sway control. Cheap hitches without sway control, or with friction "sway bars" are not good enough. You need a minimum of one of these hitches:
Reese Strait-Line dual cam
Equal-I-Zer
Husky Centerline
Blue Ox SwayPro
All of those list for around $1000 and cost over $500 from discount online sellers such as ETrailer.com and Amazon.com. Here's mine:
http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distr...e/RP66083.html

My Strait-Line hitch does a good job when towing my cargo trailer with 7,000 pounds GVWR. For my travel trailer, I have the expensive ProPride that guarantees absolutely no sway, but it costs over $2,000. I love that hitch!
http://www.propridehitch.com/product...ol-Hitch-.html

3] Trailer tires should be pumped up to the max on the sidewall of the tire, and the rear tires on the TV should be pumped up to high enough PSI to handle the weight on the tire. For P-Series tires, pump them up to 44 PSI. For LT load range C tires, pump them up to 50 PSI. For LT load range E tires, pump them up to at least 50 PSI, and more if the TRA load/inflation table for your tires indicates you need higher PSI for your load on the tires,

Summary: Proper weight distribution in the trailer plus a good properly-adjusted sway-control hitch plus the correct PSI in the tires. That should do it for you. It does for me.


What does "properly-adjusted" hitch mean? Total tongue weight should be distributed about 20% to 25% to the trailer axles, 20% to 25% to the front axle of the TV, and that leaves 50% to 60% of the tongue weight on the rear axle of the TV. It required me several trips across the CAT scales after adjustments to get mine dialed in, and it's still not perfect.

 

One critical piece is your ball height on the truck hitch. If it is too high, it will be difficult to get the trailer level when towing. If the rear of the trailer is down vs the front, it will have an inherent tendency to sway.

There are good instructions for hitch adjustment etc on etrailer.com.

 

I'm guessing this is not a fifth wheel trailer? If so you may want to consider one for your next trailer. The hitch point is much further forward and the trailer overlaps the truck reducing overall length of the combined units. Much more resistant to sway.

 

Old Smokey up there covered it very well. Proper set up is key. If all else fails try a radical hitch like a Pull-Rite, Hensley or ProPride, though I think that's unlikely to be needed; scads of people are doing very well with properly set up conventional hitches.

 

As Smokey and Acadianbob stated:
To minimize sway;
1- properly load trailer so that tongue weight is at least 10%. General rule of thumb 60% of cargo weight between tongue and axle.
2- properly and evenly (right to left) inflated tires
3- level to slightly nose down on the tongue when hitch to the truck.
This 3rd one can undo everything else, if your trailer is load any were near a 50/50 distribution front to back then tongue high will leverage the weight to the rear. Like a seesaw once the tongue shifts past level in an upward direction the weight load on the tongue decreases and the more likely you are have the trailer sway.
PS: crosswinds will always play hell with you. the taller and longer you are the more wind it catches and gets pushed around.

 

I saw a thread on here awhile back, guy had the same issue, it turned out to be he had the stock tires on, changed them to the 10-ply tires and the sway was gone.

 

I just finished setting up my hitch last week with the new F150. No more towing the 4000# camper with an Escape. I was limited in weight and the distance I was willing to haul it.

I used David's RV Tips that worked out good for me.

http://www.davidsrvtips.blogspot.com..._2781.html?m=1

 

I did that with to help when towing my TT, and it helped significantly. Air bags helped even more, and the ProPride 3P I added cures it altogether.