Trailer Sway

[radioman]

Your tractor is less then 4klbs so you have nearly 2k of working room for more weight. I agree you need to try to back on first and get the heavier weight towards the front. Also just judging from the first pic, I am not sure if it a optical illusion or what but the back is much lower then the front. Is that the same with the tractor off ? Perhaps your hitch is a tad too high in front causing some weight to transfer to the back axle? The front and back of the trailer should be nearly level with tractor off. when loading, you should be pretty level too. If you have exhausted these checks, then adding WD bars will help alot with the swaying feel but its not to eliminate the swaying. It just put more weight on the front of the truck from trailer to balance better. Adding a sway bar will definitely help but I believe you can make several tweaks of the way you load and adjusting the trailer levelness will help alot in short/long run.

 

[Smokin Diesel]

I am afraid it may be to light weight of a trailer. It is only rated for 5875#s of actual weight it can haul.

I have that same trailer. Keep in mind, that 5875# limit is the cargo+trailer. I don't remember the exact # off hand, but I think it's good for 4100# of payload or so. You've gotta be really close to that.

Nonetheless, an overweight trailer will only blow tires and wear the running gear faster. Like the others have said, sway is from having the weight too far back.

 

[Duffster]

Backing it on may work but might be to heavy on the tongue then.

 

[RWolf]

When I load a trailer with any cargo one rule I use is when I can back off to the side and the trailer and vehicle sit level traveling seems to be alot easier. One thing can happen is if the tongue is to high when brakes are applied the trailer will try and lift the back end of the truck. If the tongue is to low it will try and push down on the backend which in some cases will make your frontend raise which again you lose braking power.

I've had the experience with a load that was too far back of the axles. Unfortunately I couldn't rearrange the load as it was round bales. I almost lost the whole load/truck/trailer as it got real squirrely on me. A friend was pulling another load of hay behind me and told me that at one point he say the FRONT end of my truck. Lady luck was with me that day.

 

[taborekle]

When I load a trailer with any cargo one rule I use is when I can back off to the side and the trailer and vehicle sit level traveling seems to be alot easier. One thing can happen is if the tongue is to high when brakes are applied the trailer will try and lift the back end of the truck. If the tongue is to low it will try and push down on the backend which in some cases will make your frontend raise which again you lose braking power.

I've had the experience with a load that was too far back of the axles. Unfortunately I couldn't rearrange the load as it was round bales. I almost lost the whole load/truck/trailer as it got real squirrely on me. A friend was pulling another load of hay behind me and told me that at one point he say the FRONT end of my truck. Lady luck was with me that day.

I do a lot more RVing, (towing a camper), then I do towing my flatbed trailer and tractor, but in the RVing world, the primary tool for dealing with sway is a weight distribution system. You're weight is getting up there to the point where it might be better to invest in one. Simply shifting more and more of the weight onto the hitch has problems too, as you can easily exceed the hitch rating of the hitch. To much weight on the rear axle can also induce sway by lifting the front wheels, leading to loss of traction for the wheels that do the steering and help the vehicle track straight.

If you were to go with a WDH, you would have to be very consistent in how the load was parked on the trailer, as WDH's are tuned to the load and the tongue weight.

In the RV world, between 12% to 15% of the trailer weight should be on the hitch, if you're already there and it hasn't helped, then the next thing to look at is a WDH.

IMHO

Larry

 

[tractorsanmore]

Since your truck has a flat bed on it , does it have a gooseneck hookup , if it does I would go buy a gooseneck trailer , longer of course ....end of problems .

 

[Duffster]

I really can't pull it forward too much due to the FEL.

You easily pull tha tractor forward a good 1' to 1.5' by resting the bucket on the tongue.

That is how I haul mine.

 

[AndyMA]

Almost always when I haul I center the tractor rear wheel between the trailer tires. This puts most of the tractor weight on the 2 axles where it belongs. That picture shows the tractor way too far back. I don't think backing it on will work as the weight on the tongue will be way too high. Simple physics, my dear Watson...

Andy

 

[RickB]

Almost always when I haul I center the tractor rear wheel between the trailer tires. This puts most of the tractor weight on the 2 axles where it belongs. That picture shows the tractor way too far back. I don't think backing it on will work as the weight on the tongue will be way too high. Simple physics, my dear Watson...

Andy

Exactly correct. He doesn't need a heavier trailer so much as he needs a longer trailer so as to put the load where it needs to be. This is the perfect answer to all the posts from guys who measure their tractor and want to jam it on a trailer 6 inches (or less) longer.

My humble opinion is that weight distributing hitches are a crutch for those that can't or won't load their trailer with the proper percentage of tongue weight.

 

[flusher]

Since your truck has a flat bed on it , does it have a gooseneck hookup , if it does I would go buy a gooseneck trailer , longer of course ....end of problems .

Amen.