11Series

I have a 2016 XLT SCREW w/ the 2.7EB and tow package. I bought this truck to tow a small travel trailer last summer and the experience has sucked. My trailer is only 19’, about 3200 lbs dry and has a tongue weight of 360lbs.

I expected that the truck should pull it like it’s not even there but that has not been the case. My first trip scared the crap out of me. It was about 200 miles and anything over 50 or so MPH, there was a lot of sway. I honestly wasn’t sure I would make it home OK. After that experience I got an Anderson WDH and that helped quite a bit. Now pulling the thing at up to 55MPH is great, 60MPH is OK, but 65 it’s getting squirrely again. When a truck passes me, I still get quite a bit of sway at 60 or above and it just doesn't feel safe. I'm not liking it with my wife and 3 kids riding along.

I was considering adding a sway bar, some LT tires (I’m still running my stock P rated tires that came with the truck), and maybe a Roadmaster RAS. However, after having poured over a number of forums, it looks like a number of people with similar issues have concluded that this generation of F150 just can’t tow safely. Yet, it looks like some guys are happy with their rigs.

So I’m happy to buy the mods mentioned above, but I don’t want to do that if it’s not going to solve my problem. Any thoughts on this? Other mods I should consider? Could my truck be fine but my trailer just be flawed somehow? Something wrong with my truck?

I’m planning a cross country road trip that might be happening in a few months and I want it to be enjoyable, not something that causes me cardiac issues every minute I am behind the wheel, and I'd rather not kill off my family in the process either. Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan_2020

I have a 19' but probably a bit heavier than that:
1) If you stick with stock tires, make sure you air them up a bit. I ran around 40psi (max cold pressure of 44).
2) Make sure your WDH is dialed in, takes a bit of work and test drives. 360lbs if that is true hitch weight is pretty light for these trucks. "I" would try to have quite a bit of that on the hitch unless you load your truck box heavy.
3) RAS / Timbren / SumoSprings at that weight likely not required but could be useful. I will likely put SumoSprings on mine this summer (more for hauling than towing though).
4) As a side note, how level is your trailer? Nose up / Nose down / level? You could try playing with that a bit as well.

I ran bone stock with just the WDH and had no issues up to 70mph.

11Series

Thanks for the reply. The Anderson WDH is pretty configurable - I have it set up so when connected, the trailer is perfectly level and the truck isn't sagging either.
Just so I understand your reply, you think throwing some weight in the bed might help? (I'm new at this towing stuff and have to admit I don't fully understand it yet)

chimmike

"tongue weight" as provided by trailer manufacturers is worthless. That puts tongue weight, even with a WDH, at like 11% of dry trailer weight. With a dialed in WDH at 13% or 15%, assuming loaded trailer weight of 4,000lbs, your actual tongue weight should be between 520-600lbs.
The WDH needs to be dialed in correctly first and foremost.

dodgeman1

Are you sure the hitch weight is 360 lbs? Do you load the trailer heavy at the back of the trailer. Just guessing here because I agree, it should tow it easy. I'm thinking maybe a little light in the tongue might be the problem. Not enough tongue weight is just as bad as too much.

11Series

I got the 360 lb hitch weight from the manufacturer's web site so I'm guessing it's right. We don't load too much in the trailer, but what is loaded gets loaded in the front.

Edit: I didn't see Chimmike's comment before I typed this. I'll take some measurements and use one of those online calculators and see if I come up with something different than the manufacturer did.

massspike

That is a pretty light trailer for an F150 so I don't think LT tires, Timbrens etc. are justified. I think you may have not enough tongue weight so try putting as much stuff in your TT's front storage as you can...tow nose heavy

I'd also play with your Andersen setup a bit. Even a quarter turn of those chain bolts makes a difference. Rather than maximize the WD, I'd test tow starting out with the slack taken out of the chains (basically just anti-sway) and then tightening 1/2 turns at a time till it feels right.

Also 65mph is pretty fast for towing a 4000lb or so GVWR TT. Your TT's tires may not even be rated for more.

RetiredAFGunner

Stu Cazzo

I tow my boats all the time with the heaviest being about 5200# and Ive never used a WDH and I rip at 70+ mph
I have P tires with 3.5 eco regular F150 Lariat (FX4)

3200# is nothing...although Ive never had a 2.7 eco...the swaying around shouldn't be because of that.
Check tires on trailer? Radials or Bias? or worse are they mixed? One Radial one bias? Theres still a lot of bias trailer tires out there.

11Series

I'm sure the 2.7 isn't my issue - it pulls hard, even with the trailer attached.

Both are bias ply tires - same size & brand, and very little wear on either of them.