Trailer Sway

[Reg]

Ooops, I guess I only glanced at the pic and ASSUMED that it WAS backed on, e.g. truck at left of picture.
Now I'm ASSUMING that your rear tires are loaded, that could make a 1,000 lb or more difference.
The way you have it, the box blade probably makes it worse too.
Yeah, get the C of G slightly ahead of the front axle, by backing it on or by folding the bucket differently.
CHECK the tongue load AT THE ACTUAL RIDING HEIGHT, as I said "where the truck squats to".

 

[aczlan]

you might try backing it on (as has been said) and/or putting the boxblade in the bucket, that will move some of the weight to the other end of the trailer and may be enough to even the load on the trailer. Just make certain you have it well tied down.

Aaron Z

 

[Highbeam]

I tow bumper pull, tandem axle trailers a lot both equipment and RV.

1) A W/D system is almost always required for tractor towing since the standard receiver hitch on our pickups is only rated for 500 tongue/5000 trailer without one. The W/D system allows you to legally tow your trailer. If you had a better hitch, such as a mobile home hauler, then you could skip it.

2) A W/D hitch is not sway control. It is not intended to reduce sway and is not a crutch for sway. The W/D hitch simply distributes tongue weight to both axles of the tow vehicle. This is greatly helpful for steering, breaking, and comfort issues.

2a) They make a bandaid device that is a frcition sway control device that is intended to limit sway. The folks that use these devices are admitting defeat at not being able to properly set up their load.

3) A standard tandem axle trailer has a funky linkage between the two axles that compensates for the trailer being unlevel. Meaning it doesn't really matter if the tongue is high or low since each of the trailer axles will have the same weight on them. Of course, this is only within a reasonable range.

4) The OP's trailer has 5 lug wheels so is at most a 7000# trailer. The tractor looks heavy, my 30 HP tractor with loader and BB weighs 4500#. I can't imagine the OP's load being within the ratings of that trailer but maybe it is. Worth checking.

5) GN trailers suck at making tight corners. The trailer tires track way inside the truck's path. They are slow to react when backing as well. Can't haul big loads in the bed either. I hear that they are super smooth when cruising down the road though.

I recommend trying the load backed on. GO to a scale and verify that you can get 10-15% tongue weight. Also verify that the trailer is not overloaded. If that fails then get a longer trailer with two 5200# braking axles. If you are doing hauling this machine to side jobs and are underinsured then it would be wise to be conservative with your ratings.

 

[Reg]

I tow bumper pull, tandem axle trailers a lot both equipment and RV.

1) A W/D system is almost always required for tractor towing since the standard receiver hitch on our pickups is only rated for 500 tongue/5000 trailer without one. The W/D system allows you to legally tow your trailer. If you had a better hitch, such as a mobile home hauler, then you could skip it.

2) A W/D hitch is not sway control. It is not intended to reduce sway and is not a crutch for sway. The W/D hitch simply distributes tongue weight to both axles of the tow vehicle. This is greatly helpful for steering, breaking, and comfort issues.

2a) They make a bandaid device that is a frcition sway control device that is intended to limit sway. The folks that use these devices are admitting defeat at not being able to properly set up their load.

3) A standard tandem axle trailer has a funky linkage between the two axles that compensates for the trailer being unlevel. Meaning it doesn't really matter if the tongue is high or low since each of the trailer axles will have the same weight on them. Of course, this is only within a reasonable range.

4) The OP's trailer has 5 lug wheels so is at most a 7000# trailer. The tractor looks heavy, my 30 HP tractor with loader and BB weighs 4500#. I can't imagine the OP's load being within the ratings of that trailer but maybe it is. Worth checking.

5) GN trailers suck at making tight corners. The trailer tires track way inside the truck's path. They are slow to react when backing as well. Can't haul big loads in the bed either. I hear that they are super smooth when cruising down the road though.

I recommend trying the load backed on. GO to a scale and verify that you can get 10-15% tongue weight. Also verify that the trailer is not overloaded. If that fails then get a longer trailer with two 5200# braking axles. If you are doing hauling this machine to side jobs and are underinsured then it would be wise to be conservative with your ratings.

Kinda/sorta;
WDH (More correctly a LOAD distributing hitch) does have some effect on sway;
As I said in my first post, a higher ball increases hitch load and trailer rear axle load.
The funky thing is called an equalizer.
Gooseneck trailers; Ahh, worth a chapter or two alone.
They're easier to back, ride better, can REALLY turn around tight - ultimately in the length of the trailer plus half the width of the truck, on and on.
If I can U turn the truck on a 2 lane highway the trailer will follow, can't do that with a tag-along.
To the subject of THIS thread, they just don't sway - well, it would take a LOT to provoke anything resembling sway.

 

[Duffster]

Gooseneck trailers.....
They're easier to back, ride better, can REALLY turn around tight .

Ditto

Once your past the initial learning curve a gooseneck is much easier to handle

1) A W/D system is almost always required for tractor towing .

Hardly

since the standard receiver hitch on our pickups is only rated for 500 tongue/5000 trailer without one. The W/D system allows you to legally tow your trailer. If you had a better hitch, such as a mobile home hauler, then you could skip it.

Why can't you just upgrade hitches? Why would you have to upgrade to a WDH? The OP said he is towing with a F250 IIRC so hopefully the hitch is rated for a little more than 5000#

Everyone doesn't need a gooseneck.

Did I say everyone did?

If you are that reliant on a WDH then a GN would be much better suited for the job, unless your towing with a SUV of course

 

[zzvyb6]

The fundamental cause of sway (assuming 10 - 15% tongue weight), is insufficient tire lateral (cornering stiffness). However, if you increase tire size, wheel width, or air pressure to increase cornering stiffness, you risk bending (cambering) the axle. AND, adding air pressure to carry the load DECREASES cornering stiffness after a certain pressure is reached (usually about 45 -50 psi) There can be substantial side forces developed when cornering at speed. These forces are in play even while driving straight, as perturbations in tow angle required tire force reactions to reduce it. If the forces aren't big enough or fast enough, sway or even jacknife occurs.

As a matter of fact, I am a rocket scientist, so I happen to know of these thangs. And was paid very well to splain it to MBA's. (Which I bought a lot of tractoring stuff with).

 

[Duffster]

The fundamental cause of sway (assuming 10 - 15% tongue weight), is insufficient tire lateral (cornering stiffness). However, if you increase tire size, wheel width, or air pressure to increase cornering stiffness, you risk bending (cambering) the axle. AND, adding air pressure to carry the load DECREASES cornering stiffness after a certain pressure is reached (usually about 45 -50 psi) There can be substantial side forces developed when cornering at speed. These forces are in play even while driving straight, as perturbations in tow angle required tire force reactions to reduce it. If the forces aren't big enough or fast enough, sway or even jacknife occurs.

As a matter of fact, I am a rocket scientist, so I happen to know of these thangs. And was paid very well to splain it to MBA's. (Which I bought a lot of tractoring stuff with).

But did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express?

 

[Highbeam]

Check your hitches of you plan to tow without a Weight Distributing Hitch. No, this is not a "load distributing hitch" or some other name, the correct term is a Weight distributing hitch. You will notice on your OEM trailer hitch receiver that you are not allowed to tow very much weight at all without using one. My F350 requires a WDH to tow my little 30HP tractor.

One way to solve this is to use a WDH another is to upgrade to a heavier hitch which is possible only to a certain extent. If you do the hitch upgrade then you miss out on all of the other benefits of WDH such as weight on the front end of your truck.

This is just using proper equipment and following the rating of your hitch.

Duffster: You're wrong about WDHs. Obviously don't know what you're talking about in regards to bumper pull trailers.

 

[Duffster]

Duffster: You're wrong about WDHs. Obviously don't know what you're talking about in regards to bumper pull trailers.

Obviously

You guys sure make a big deal out of towing little trractors, it is very entertaining

 

[Highbeam]

I'm sorry duffster, that was rude. What I meant to say was that anyone who cares to actually know and respect their ratings will find that most trucks will require a WDH to tow even a medium weight bumper pull trailer. This is the case with full sized trucks too, even my one ton Ford. Nobody should dismiss this fact unless you are aware of the requirement and accept the liability of violating it. This is no different than overloading your tires.