Travel trailer hard to handle 2019 Ford F150

[morris lipham]

My SIL has a fully loaded 2019 Ford F150 with tow package. He has a 38' bumper pull camper that weighs 8900lbs dry. 2.5 liter engine, but he says has plenty of power pulling camper. Has a new type Reese hitch set up and tow limit I believe is around 11,500 lbs. He added air shocks that helped but still has trouble handling in a wind on highway. I suggested heavier springs maybe but he believes he should move up to an F250 Ford. Any suggestions?

 

[Steppenwolfe]

SWAY BARS... They will make all the difference in the world.

 

[MF2604h]

I had the same problem with my camper. It痴 38 bumper pull and weighs 8900 lbs empty. I had a Ram 2500 gas. Plenty of power to pull, but the camper was all over the road. The camper dealer had a sway bar on one side. I added another to the other side. It was a little better, but not much. I ended up getting a Ram 3500 dually. No more sway the truck doesn稚 know it痴 back there.

I致e never had anything pull as bad as the camper I have now. Not sure what camper he has. Mine is a palomino puma. The only reason I still have this camper is because my wife loves the layout.

Good luck

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Tail's wagging the dog. His TT weighs significantly more than his truck, and in a bumper pull type hitch, your hitch setup and anti-sway devices have to be set up exactly right to eliminate most of the sway.

I would have him take his TT down to the RV dealer when it's fully loaded down with everything he travels with, and have them check and set up his hitch correctly.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I have a $74,000 2019 Ford F150 King Ranch, max tow, 3.5L with every added option possible and a 13,800 tow capacity.

I also have a 28' Coachmen Apex 289TBSS camper.

And I have a 2019 Ram 2500 6.4L.

The Ford with all of the HD engine and towing options is not even remotely comparable to my RAM 3/4 ton. The Ford was special ordered by me, line by line, to be the absolute highest tow rated F150 I could get made since I got rid of a F350 diesel and bought the F150.

Your son has a back assward towing setup, to make it sort of work.... he will need an absolute top of the line weight distribution with integrated sway control system.

Starting at the Equal-Izer 4 point at the lowest end I would recommend and going up to the ProPride or Hensley.

Anything with the add on sway controls is a useless joke comparatively, I've used them in the past. The only advantage of those add on brake pad type sway control bars have that they are dirt cheap.... But they barely work at best. Consider them worthless junk in this particular case because this situation is way upside down.

He really needs a much more serious truck, but since he has the baby Ford, he will need to crutch the severity under built and under equiped truck with a high end sway control system. Don't save money, but the very biggest, baddest and best WDH/SC he can possibly muster. Maybe it will work out. It's not going to change that fact that his truck has no business at all ever being attached to that size trailer.

Tail wagging the dog is an understatement here. Surface area is massive on that trailer.

 

[dodge man]

The most often overlooked spec is payload. What is his payload? I have an XLT with 1940 lbs of payload, a lot of F150s are less. He also most likely has the 2.7 engine, not a 2.5.

Lets assume his payload 1600 lbs. Throw a couple of people, some kids, the hitch and some other stuff in the truck. The payload in now 1000lbs or less. The trailer as used is probably 10,000 lbs. If he hits the perfect balance of 10% of tongue weight he is good. It’s most likely more like 13% though. The 2.7 has a lower tow rating also usually 8500 lbs or less. Maybe a max payload F150 and max tow would handle that trailer. You just do not see max payloads on the lot though.

In other words he does not have enough truck. His door jamb sticker will list the payload.

 

[4570Man]

Get rid of the bumper pull camper that IMO should be banned and get a 5th wheel. They put the axels in the middle of a camper to lighten the tongue weight and combined with the wind profile they pull awful.

 

[dodge man]

A fifth wheel is going to need a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton, to much hitch weight for a half ton. They do pull better though.

 

[4570Man]

A fifth wheel is going to need a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton, to much hitch weight for a half ton. They do pull better though.

Which is what he needs anyway. A 38 foot bumper pull camper is way too big to pull with a half ton.

 

[310-510]

Possibly a Hensley Hitch or a ProPride Hitch. I have the propride and it stopped all sway on my 30' 12,600 GWR toyhauler.
Disclaimer: It worked for me, your results may vary.