Heavy TT with a 2500HD ?

[campingn.c.]

Who's towing with an old body style 2500HD and what hitch are you running? I'm using the Reese DC and haven't been able to get it dialed in right all summer.
I finally got it to the scales and saw I was only transferring 200lbs to the front axle, went up a link to solve that issue but now it rides like a wooden wagon. Trailer TW is 1,320 lbs with low propane and a fairly unloaded camper.

Basically, I thought I had it good until our long trip to Disney, had my hands full most of the trip with semi's. Front tire pressure increase helped that on the return home, still had a little sway in light winds. Going up one link added more pressure to the cams for sway control but the ride is horrible now, as if there's no weight on the rear of the truck at all.

Hate to drop crazy $$$ on a Hensley or Propride but that's where I heading if I can't get it right.
Thoughts?

[SkyBound]

The objective is to transfer the exact same amount of weight to the front axle that you lost when the trailer was hitched up. FALR (front axle load return) is the term, and you're aiming to return 100% of what was lost. You can get close by measuring your front fender height when unloaded, and then again with your weight distribution hooked up. They should be equal, or very close. Your specific hitch instructions will tell you roughly where it should be.

Of course a scale would tell you exactly how your hitch is set up - you should be seeing very similar numbers for front axle weights. Too much FALR is a bad thing, and potentially dangerous too in slippery conditions with a heavy trailer.

Your set up should work just great - just need to keep working on dialing it in better.

[Rustic Eagle]

I have a 2002 2500HD, tow a 8,400b loaded TT with a 1,300lb loaded tongue weight. I have the Reese Dual Cam WDH rated at 1,500lbs and my combination tows very well, no "wooden wagon" ride.

One thing about the GM front suspensions...., they have rubber suspensions stops and if the WDH returns to much weight (exceeds unhitched weight) it will compress the front suspensions stops resulting in a real rough ride (been there, done that).

Also, if the shocks are OEM originals, IMO replace them with some Bilstein HD's.

"If" your WDH spring bar rating is 1,200lbs, upgrade to a pair of 1,500lbs, will help greatly in maintaining weight transfer while in-tow with your 1,320b loaded tongue weight. The Reese spring bars are interchangeable with the Reese ball mount.

I assume when you went to the scales you did the following: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3871

Bob

[davidki]

I have a 2007 New Body 2500hd GMC siera with trailer package... I tow a JF 26rks its GVWR is 8500 lbs I think loaded but we don't put much in it ...Dry weight is about 6800. The truck GVWR is 9200... so Im not sure what your GVWR is but I"d go back and look at your truck specs...your camper dry is almost 7500lbs. I think the 2007 new body has a higher tow capacity than the older ones.. but that is just a guess.

I use a load distributing hitch.. don't know what kind but when I put the trailer on the truck is level... Good Luck.

[eldermike]

Pictures would help here. You can do any and everything and still have negative results if you are pulling the trailer high in the front. Setup needs to end up with proper weight transfer to the front end and still be slightly low in the front of trailer.
When you change one thing and it affects the other thing. You added weight to the TV front end which raised the back of the TV and the front of the trailer. You need to add weight to the front while keeping the trailer slightly low in the front.

It's all a guess without seeing it.

[campingn.c.]

Thanks for the replies,
One thing I've noticed with these trucks is that the front end stays almost the same regardless of hitch setup or payload. When I initially set it up it was by measuring the front fender wells, and returning it to unloaded height like I've done in the past. And with that everything was perfect, at least on paper. However, with everything completely level I was only transferring 200 lbs. up front with the bars engaged at the scale. That was at six links. Running that setup the trailer did not feel stable, at least not by my standards. Semis would pull me in enough I was steering away from them quite a bit. Per door sticker I was running 55/80 psi. I ran the fronts up to 65 and that helped with the semis some. Running new Cooper AT3's 265"s, Bilstien shocks. 85K miles on truck.
Got home went up a link and reset cams to center. Trailer feels more stable, likely due to the added pressure to sway control cams. But now I'm fighting the ride issue. If I run over a penny I'd feel it. My theory is I need to back down the tire psi now and maybe the front too. I don't think I need 80 in the rear and almost 70 up front. Tire rating is 3400 per tire. Rear axle weight without WD bars is only 4680. Truck empty.
My other theory is our trips vary with truck cargo. One trip bed may be empty, the next could have a load of firewood etc. I've never checked the cams for center before each trip but wondering if I should.
Anyway, here are the weights before the link adjustment. 5 links, head slightly tilted.

With bars up:
Steer: 3380
Drive: 4380
Trailer: 7500
Gross: 15260

Bars down:
Steer: 3180
Drive: 4680
Trailer: 7400

Camper only:
Tongue: 1320 (empty propane)
Trailer axle: 7320

Sorry for the long post, trying to get all the info in. No pics for now, but the trailer isn't nose high, it's dead level.
Oh and yes I have 1,200 lb bars.

[NHcamper]

I've run AT ( Yoko Geolanders ) tires with alot of siping before and Hated how it felt towing.
I truck would feel squirrely regardless of the tire pressure.

[eldermike]

It's good to measure everything on the TV but don't forget to measure the trailer.
Tongue weight is not static, it's dynamic based upon road surfaces, bumps, uphill or down hill, it's not a constant. Slightly low in the front keeps the dynamic nature of weight and weight transfer positive to the TV.

Imagine a method to weigh your tongue weight with 65mph wind blowing right on the front cap of your rig and a big hole in the air right behind your trailer.
Since you can't do that, set it low and load it from the center of the axles to the front.

[ctbailey]

I just pulled a medium-loaded 32 foot Jayflight 32BHDS up into the mountains this weekend with my 2007 2500HD Crew. Trailer empty/dry 8600, with 600lbs of crap, 9200. Pulled like a champ. Reese WD hitch with dual cam sway control. 1,200 bars.

other than the time the rig was going sideways due to the freak snowstorm and 30 mph cross winds... the pull was fine. Lesson learned: if the rear wheels break free, expect massive sway, there fore 4WD is the answer, and knock it down from 55 to 45.

[tjpolsin]

I had difficulties too trying to dial in my reese dual-cam.
- find a level parking lot
- unhook trailer, level front/rear, measure and record trailer height at all four corners.
- adjust ball height to match hitch height +1 to +1.5"
- measure and record TV wheel well height at all four corners.
- lower hitch onto ball until contact is made.
- take slack out of hitch bars (with hands) and refer to reese hookup guide for proper distance to ground.
- adjust hitch head angle to get correct distance to ground, AND to get bars parallel to trailer tongue.
- lower snap up brackets to a 90deg angle, lift up WD bar and hook closest link to snap up bracket
- snap up both WD brackets and finish lowering tongue jack.
- measure all four corners of trailer and all four wheel wells.

- re-adjust ball height if trailer is not level (or slightly down in front)
- change WD bar chain links if bars are not parallel to tongue.
- Change hitch head angle if truck wheel wells are not returned to un-hitched height.

Here is where I had issues. I could not return the front to pre-load height w/o bending snapup brackets and dual-cam parts. (which I did first time out). my front sits 1/2" higher and my rear sits 1.25" lower than unhitched. BUT my ride is neither squirrly or jarring. And I am not towing a light weight TT on a small TV either.

Good luck.

Tim
2010 Dodge Ram 2500 CCLB 4x4 (12,500 tow rating)
2008 26BHS (9300 GVWR)
reese 2nd gen dual cam w/1000# WD bars.

[campingn.c.]

Originally Posted by eldermike

Pictures would help here. You can do any and everything and still have negative results if you are pulling the trailer high in the front. Setup needs to end up with proper weight transfer to the front end and still be slightly low in the front of trailer.
When you change one thing and it affects the other thing. You added weight to the TV front end which raised the back of the TV and the front of the trailer. You need to add weight to the front while keeping the trailer slightly low in the front.

It's all a guess without seeing it.

I see your point, makes sense. Trailer was level before the
link change, but may be nose high now. Truck is definitely
higher in the rear. You might have hit the nail on the head!

[jwstewar]

I'm towing a 2009 32BHDS with our '99 Chevy 1500 EXSB 4x4. I'm using the Reese 1200 WD. No dual cam or sway control of any kind. The first several times I pulled it I had issues with sway - not to be unexpected given the truck. After a couple of pulls I swapped out the rear springs for a set off a 2500HD. That helped, but still a bit. I kept working with the bars and hitch head and finally got it pulling pretty good now. I can pull it at 65 MPH and barely know it is back there until I hit a hill and have to give it more gas. I'm now going through the same process with a Coachmen camper that mom bought this summer. Empty it pulled great with my 750 lb bars. Loaded they didn't work at all. So the next time I pulled it I used my 1000 lb bars. Pulled better, but still not great. Yesterday I readjusted the hitch and made it better, but it still isn't as stable as our Jayco with my 1200 lb bars. Yes, I have 3 different WD setups - 4 WD hitch heads.