Sway control

[Aggiedad]

Looking for suggestions. Recently purchased a 2020 Jayco 284BHOK and I am experiencing sway issues when traveling with it. My tow vehicle is a 2017 Ford F-250 with air bags. Tires on my truck are factory 20 Michelin A/T load range E. I run 80 psi. I have a Husky hitch with equalizer bars and 2 anti sway bars.
Still, when a vehicle passes me I get significant bow wave push. Also cross winds really cause sway.
I have owned many TT and have never had this much sway issues.
Looking for some ideas.

[RogerR]

Are you sure you have returned enough weight to the front axle?? If it is light then that accentuates sway. Several posts on how to weight before and after and what the return amount should be at a minimum.

[Aggiedad]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Are you sure you have returned enough weight to the front axle?? If it is light then that accentuates sway. Several posts on how to weight before and after and what the return amount should be at a minimum.

I will weigh the axles, check the distribution. What do you think the weight distribution should be?

[Midnightmoon]

I will be interested to see what your CAT scale visit shows. It sounds like you may not have enough tongue weight or your trailer is loaded too heavy to the rear. When I first purchased my 22BHM, which is a light little 5500# trailer, it would toss my Ram 2500 Cummins all over the road, especially with the black and grey tanks full.

After a couple of trips across the scale, I found that I was under 10% tongue weight (500#) when the black and grey were full (both tanks are mounted behind the trailer axles). Loading the trailer heavy to the front with supplies in the front compartments, the fresh water tank full, and the black and grey tanks empty gives me right on the button 800# of tongue weight (15%). It tows like a dream now, both with my Cummins and my 1/2 ton. It is like two different trailers with the weight distributed correctly.

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I will be interested to see what your CAT scale visit shows. It sounds like you may not have enough tongue weight or your trailer is loaded too heavy to the rear. When I first purchased my 22BHM, which is a light little 5500# trailer, it would toss my Ram 2500 Cummins all over the road, especially with the black and grey tanks full.

After a couple of trips across the scale, I found that I was under 10% tongue weight (500#) when the black and grey were full (both tanks are mounted behind the trailer axles). Loading the trailer heavy to the front with supplies in the front compartments, the fresh water tank full, and the black and grey tanks empty gives me right on the button 800# of tongue weight (15%). It tows like a dream now, both with my Cummins and my 1/2 ton. It is like two different trailers with the weight distributed correctly.

I too recommend a visit to a CAT Scale. You need three readings; Fully loaded people, gear, fuel, etc.

First reading; only the TV.
Second reading; TV and TT, with WDH connected.
last reading; TV & TT, with the WDH out the bars, connected.

I am wondering if your tongue weight is either way too low or to great. You loose stability in both situations.

One last thing, do you check your TT tire pressure before each trip? I did not one spring first trip out after pulling the TT out of storage 2 weeks earlier. It was pure white knuckle driving. I found the TT tire pressures down about 5-10 psi when I got home.

[RogerR]

I agree with Midnightmoon. It can be either way with to little weight on the front axle due to a WDH not moving it forward or it can be the "tail wagging the dog" with too little weight on the hitch and to much behind the axels.

Rule of thumb on the tongue weight is 12 to 15 % with some leaning one way vs the other. Also, trailer needs to be level if double axle and a good idea even if single axle. Lots of threads in the search bar can explain it better.

[Spower]

Are you loaded with water? Where is the water tank? My BIL filled his water tank which happened to be in the back of the trailer! He had to stop and dump water to stop the sway. BTW it wasn't a Jayco trailer, engineer should be fired for that design!

[Aggiedad]

Not sure where the water tank is located on my Jayco 284BHOK, but as a habit I don’t carry much water and I always dump and clear my black/grey tanks.
I did however purchase a a Hensley Arrow hitch and will be installing it tomorrow.

More to come. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Jetsam]

I have 284BHOK but have a new 2019 Ram 2500. I was experiencing a lot of sway too. I was using the 12k Equalizer hitch from my previous rig, dealer tech setup it up during our delivery and I did a lot tweaking to try to make it work and could not get the sway out. I was at the point of regretting our purchase because I did feel safe driving and was completely exhausted by the time we reached our destination after three trips.

I ended up biting the bullet and purchased the ProPride and it made a ton of difference. Did not like the price but right after getting it setup (which was a process), there was a huge difference, almost unbelievably so. The price is hard to swallow but the results so far have been remarkable.