Hitch questions

[HappyWanderer]

Thanks, oldmanAZ and Brownie. I don't have answers to all of your questions, but I'll try to find out.

My truck felt like it was being rocked front to back, not side to side. It didn't do it all the time. It was mostly over uneven roads, but not always. I couldn't tell if it was when the truck or trailer was over the uneven part. It was mostly highway driving. Not perfectly smooth, but not off road either.

Also, to make it more complicated, my TV is a 2014 Ram 1500 with the air suspension, which also does it's own correction when a load is put on it.

When the tech was hooking up the e2, he didn't seem to know how to attach the anti-sway bars. When he finally put them on, they were not under much tension. He didn't use the curvy "wrench" to hoist the bars onto the L-bracket.

After hooking up the trailer to the truck, the truck and trailer seemed to be level.

Question: if the anti-sway is not tensioned correctly, wouldn't it cause the truck or trailer to sway side to side, not front to back?

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by HappyWanderer

Thanks, oldmanAZ and Brownie. I don't have answers to all of your questions, but I'll try to find out.

My truck felt like it was being rocked front to back, not side to side. It didn't do it all the time. It was mostly over uneven roads, but not always. I couldn't tell if it was when the truck or trailer was over the uneven part. It was mostly highway driving. Not perfectly smooth, but not off road either.

Also, to make it more complicated, my TV is a 2014 Ram 1500 with the air suspension, which also does it's own correction when a load is put on it.

When the tech was hooking up the e2, he didn't seem to know how to attach the anti-sway bars. When he finally put them on, they were not under much tension. He didn't use the curvy "wrench" to hoist the bars onto the L-bracket.

After hooking up the trailer to the truck, the truck and trailer seemed to be level.

Question: if the anti-sway is not tensioned correctly, wouldn't it cause the truck or trailer to sway side to side, not front to back?

First, in answer to your question: Anti-sway mechanisms with a lack of tension would not cause sway, but lower tension would be not be as effective in damping sway (side to side motion where the trailer connects to the truck). You are right: Side to side is sway; front to back rocking is not called sway by anyone as far as I know.

OK, Rocking... Going out on a limb here: I suspect the motion you are describing might be normal for the kind of suspension your truck has. Hopefully, there are others in this forum that confirm that.

Hoisting bars onto the L-brackets: The anti-sway properties of the hitch are from the friction of the bars on the L-brackets plus whatever friction is generated where those bars pivot in the hitch head. If the tech used the front trailer jack to raise the front of the trailer, the lever (wrench) should not be necessary. If he didn't use the front jack when putting the bars on the L-brackets, then there may not be enough force on the L-brackets for sway control.

I'm not sure of the proper way to setup your hitch with the air suspension you describe. Usually the process involves measuring the change in height of the front of the truck, but your suspension changes that height. You may need to call the manufacturer of your hitch to see what they say (Fastway Trailer Products – Progress Mfg. Inc.)

Hopefully, some of this helps.

[Camper_bob]

IIRC, it is necessary to disable the automatic leveling system when you set up the WDH with integrated sway control. Re-enable the auto leveling after you're all set up.

Based on my experience (I'm no expert): The front to back "rocking" you feel is often called "chucking" and is caused by the rear suspension bouncing and oscillating under rough road conditions. This condition is particularly pronounced if you are traveling over a bridge with expansion joints placed at regular intervals. The bounce of the truck begins to harmonize with the spacing of the joints and your bounce just gets worse and worse.

The other cause is the rear suspension being a bit overloaded (this is the problem I had). My rear suspension wasn't "stiff" enough to handle the max load, so I got an extra bounce or two going over bumps and it seemed excessive. I installed Roadmaster Active Suspension springs to combat this effect, and they have served me well, but you don't have that option with coil springs in the rear.

I'm wondering if anyone has installed Timbren SES on a RAM with the air suspension? I'm betting that would help. Under fully loaded conditions, it would ride on the Timbrens and you should have virtually no chucking after that. Of course, I would think the air suspension should be able to handle it, but it might not be "heavy duty" enough?

[HappyWanderer]

I just had my first long trip with the camper. I tried turning off the air suspension on my truck before hooking up the camper, then turning it back on after everything was hooked up. Still same issue. After driving it for two hours, I'm thinking that this front-to-back rocking may be normal. I may have a friend of mine drive my truck the next time I'm towing. He has a toy hauler and is more experienced than I am.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by HappyWanderer

I just had my first long trip with the camper. I tried turning off the air suspension on my truck before hooking up the camper, then turning it back on after everything was hooked up. Still same issue. After driving it for two hours, I'm thinking that this front-to-back rocking may be normal. I may have a friend of mine drive my truck the next time I'm towing. He has a toy hauler and is more experienced than I am.

It sounds like you are becoming accustomed to the ride and no longer worried about it. You didn't mention any sway or other problems. Your air suspension is probably softer (less harsh) than coil or leaf springs so the rocking may be part of towing with your suspension. I checked Ram 1500 air suspension issues online, but didn't find anything helpful.

I wonder if stiffer shock absorbers or adjustable Rancho RS9000XL shock absorbers would help. You could look into one of those if all else is OK, but the rocking bothers you.

Good luck.

[HappyWanderer]

oldmanAZ,
On this trip, my knuckles were a shade less white than my initial trip home from the dealer. I'm getting more used to towing this monster, but I would still like to know if the front-to-back pitching is normal, especially since I paid a lot for this hitch.

HW

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by HappyWanderer

oldmanAZ,
On this trip, my knuckles were a shade less white than my initial trip home from the dealer. I'm getting more used to towing this monster, but I would still like to know if the front-to-back pitching is normal, especially since I paid a lot for this hitch.

HW

WD hitches transfer part of the trailer weight to the front axle. Some WD hitches have features for resistance (friction) to dampen side-to-side sway where the trailer and truck connect. None of the WD hitches I've ever seen make any claims about reducing any front-to-back pitching.

I don't know if new/different shock absorbers for your truck are on the right track or not, but there's nothing else I know of that might help the pitching.

There is a certain amount of pitching that is normal. Hopefully your friend can help you sort all this out.

[Camper_bob]

It's a good idea to have a friend drive the rig to determine if it's a normal feeling you're having.

Good luck getting it sorted, and keep us up to date on what you find out and how you get it fixed.