billt357

2014 supercab 3.5 EB, XLT. IM TOWING A 8200# TT using a Reese. WDH. EB tows the trailer fine. I'd like to get more stability when being passed by high speed tractor trailers and when in the mountains. Do air bags on the rear suspension help to counter roll? Thanks for the advice

Roger Dowling

Have you looked into the road master active suspension (RAS)? I am curious on how they compare

Ricktwuhk

Possibly over payload...

acadianbob

If you are having trouble with "roll", I don't think air bags will do much for you. What you need is a rear anti-roll bar like the Hellwig unit. I added one to my truck to control roll and it made a HUGE difference. I've seen numerous posts from people who did LT tires, then air bags to no avail. Then they did the anti-roll bar and that took care of the issue.

mark waller

First welcome. There are several threads on this but first
What is the payload of your truck?
Is the trailer weight loaded or unloaded?
Tongue weight? Length?
Which Reese hitch? Does it have a friction sway bar?
Stock tires?
Start here and this will help sort out some of your questions.

billt357

No. I haven't looked at RAS. The only change so far is switching from a Husky 600# wdh to a Reese 1200# w/proactive anti -sway system which helps. The truck antisway would kick-in routinely before switching to the Reese. There is still a minor sway especially if I'm passed by 2 or 3 high speed trucks generating a big bow-wave. I get what I call a roll when I crest a hill and start down and the angle of road bank increases.

smokeywren

If it's a Reese dual-cam sway control system with trunnion bars,


and if the hitch, receiver, and tow vehicle are not overloaded with the tongue weight of the wet and loaded trailer,


and if you have the spring bars properly adjusted for your tongue weight,


then the hitch should not be your problem.

If your wet and loaded TT weighs 8,200 pounds, then the tongue weight should be about 1,066 pounds. Add another 100 pounds for the WD hitch and that's getting close to the 1,200 pounds max tongue weight (TW) the hitch is designed to handle. So the trunnion bars need to be tighter than a fiddle string to properly handle that much TW. And that assumes your wet and loaded TW is the average of 13% for a TT. If you load the trailer to have 15% TW, which is common, then the overloading is exaccebated by total hitch weight over 1,300 pounds.

If that 8,200 pounds is the dry trailer weight, then your TW is more than 1,200 pounds, so your hitch is overloaded over the TW capacity of the hitch, and probably your receiver is overloaded over the TW weight rating of the receiver, and the F-150 is probably overloaded over the GVWR of the F-150. So check your TW and be sure you're not overloaded over the weight rating of any of the components used to tow that trailer.

For dragging that heavy a trailer, you need two things:

1] A tongue weight scale to verify your actual wet and loaded tongue weight. Compare that actual TW to the max TW of your receiver and WD hitch.
http://www.etrailer.com/Tools/Sherline/5780.html

2] In the middle of an RV trip, a CAT scale report that shows the actual wet and loaded weight on all the axles of the rig.
---a. Compare the gross weight to the GCWR of the tow vehicle.
---b. Compare the trailer axle weight to the combined GAWR of the trailer.
---c. Add the weights on the steer and drive rear axles of the tow vehicle to get GVW, and compare that GVW to the GVWR of the tow vehicle.


If you're overloaded, take appropriate corrective action to reduce the weight so you're not overloaded.

billt357

First of all, thanks for your assistance!
GVWR: 7200#
loaded Trailer weight is approx at 8300#
I'be assumed an 830# tongue wt
trailer length is 35' with hitch
Reese hitch is a proactive anti-sway unit with 1200# distribution bars
truck has P235/75R17 stock tires
3.31 electronic lock RR axle
max loaded trailer wt is 9400#

smokeywren

If it's a Reese dual-cam sway control system with trunnion bars, and provided you have the spring bars properly adjusted for your tongue weight, then the hitch should not be a problem.


If your wet and loaded TT weighs 8,200 pounds, then the tongue weight should be about 1,066 pounds. Add another 100 pounds for the WD hitch and that's getting close to the 1,200 pounds max tongue weight (TW) the hitch is designed to handle. So the trunnion bars need to be tighter than a fiddle string to properly handle that much TW. And that assumes your wet and loaded TW is the average of 13% for a TT. If you load the trailer to have 15% TW, which is common, then the overloading is exaccebated by total hitch weight over 1,300 pounds.


If that 8,200 pounds is the dry trailer weight, then your TW is more than 1,200 pounds, so your hitch is overloaded over the TW capacity of the hitch, and probably your receiver is overloaded over the TW weight rating of the receiver, and the F-150 is probably overloaded over the GVWR of the F-150.So check your TW and be sure you're not overloaded over the weight rating of any of the components used to tow that trailer.


For dragging that heavy a trailer, you need two things:


1] A tongue weight scale to verify your actual wet and loaded tongue weight. Compare that actual TW to the max TW of your receiver and WD hitch.
www.etrailer.com


2] A CAT scale report that shows the actual wet and loaded weight on all the axles of the rig in the middle of an RV trip.
a. Compare the gross weight to the GCWR of the tow vehicle.
b. Compare the trailer axle weight to the combined GAWR of the trailer.
c. Add the weights on the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle, and compare that total to the GVWR of the tow vehicle.


If the above verbage is not clear, then in a nutshell I agree with Ricktwuhk. You're probably overloaded. My 2012 SuperCrew 3.5L EcoBoost with only 3.15 axle could pull that trailer over hill and dale withut a sweat. But I'm slightly overloaded over the GVWR (and payload capacity) of my tow vehicle when towing my itty bitty TT that grosses only 4,870 pounds with 650 pounds hitch weight when on the road.

billt357

Thanks I'll take your advice and take those measurements.