2017 Ford F250 and trailer sway ???

[AVDESIGN]

I pull a 2006 30' Classic with a 2012 F-150. The classic loaded up is around 9,000 lbs. Previously I had a 1989 30' Excella. The Excella trailered great at any speed and NEVER had any sway to speak of. Though I don't know the actual weight differences between the Excella and the Classic they felt about the same, weight-wise. The Classic has a lot more storage and cabinets in the back bedroom and at first we loaded everything back there. When we did this it felt very susceptible to sway, and did so often. Once I started loading the majority of the weight just ahead of the axels, everything settled down and then the classic trailered like the Excella.

My point in all this is: there are all kinds of hitches and anti-sway devices to reduce or remedy problems of sway but I think it's better to first eliminate the tendency of trailer sway by loading your trailer correctly. I can feel the difference between loading a few cases of water and our clothing duffle bags in the rear vs. in the front by the dinette. Our classic has a huge "trunk" or storage area in the back. At first I was loading everything in there (tools, 50amp extension cords, chairs, small compressor, firewood, etc, etc) Now I carry the heavy cords in a side compartment tools in the closet over the wheels, firewood in truck bed and only load lightweight items in the rear trunk--HUGE difference.

Now I seldom if ever experience sway under 70mph. I use an inexpensive equalize WD hitch and very seldom tighten the friction sway device. No Sway!

IMHO... I think people put too much attention on size/power of truck and advanced technology of hitch before simply loading their trailer correctly. I don't know if this is the case with the original poster, but it's worth looking into.

[gecko]

Well said. Loading your trailer correctly makes a huge difference in how it tows.

Ironically, we had a different challenge with our 28' International Ocean Breeze. Because we added two batteries forward to a configuration already notorious for having a very high tongue weight, we were not well balanced in a different way than the OP. We also carried our water and wine forward under the gaucho, which certainly didn't help. After a season of this, a visit to the CAT scales revealed the problem. We're now in line to replace the four AGM's weighing in at about 300 lbs with a lithium bank weighing about 84 lbs. In addition, we transferred our heavy storage objects rearward, keeping them over the axles where the limited storage in that area permits, but moving the rest to the inside storage at the front of the bed, which is as close to over the axles as we could get. This transferred about 100 lbs from front to over the axles or a bit farther aft, and made for a noticeable difference in handling. I'm sure that the lithium/AGM exchange, removing another 200 lbs from the front of the trailer (and the overall payload) will make for even better handling. Our TV is a one-ton Sprinter, and can certainly take the load (we have something like 3000 lbs of spare payload remaining with our 11,500 Maxvehiclegross weight rating), especially with an antisway/WD Equalizr, but over-trucking is no substitute for proper trailer balanced loads.

[graysailor]

I tow my 30' Classic with a 2016 F-250 diesel using the Equalizer system. No problems that I can detect or feel. I do have a 2017 on order so I will report if there is any difference.

[Davis]

I am going to jot down all the recommendations from each person and start checking them off as I get time.
I sure do appreciate all the responses. It's great to be apart of a great forum as this with all the knowledge you have to offer and know I will find a solution .

[Moflash]

We have pulled our 28ft International with a 2012 F350 ,2015 F350 and now a 2017 F350 with a Airsafe Hitch and a Equilizer 4 point Wd.I have pulled in all conditions and would not change any of these components.Had to readjust the wd for the 2017 as the height of the truck was increased approx 4 inches.
The 2017 is a far better improved truck in all respects.

[Cousin Eddie]

The F250 has awesome power to tow anything. However, comparing the stability of a single rear wheel to a dually is apples to oranges. I have the same truck with the tow package and granted, only tow a 23fb. But, I have to look in the mirrors to make sure the trailer is still there as I don't feel it as I did with my previous T/V.

[hhendrix]

Originally Posted by carlose

Hello, I live in Sandy, Or and would love some help on checking my set up. If you have time, I would love advise, I use an Anderson WD hitch.
Thanks, Carlos

Can't help you now as we are leaving for the Wally cult grand poobah festival in Escanoba MI in 2 days. There is not a lot to choose from in your area, but the one I like to use is on HWY 26 just a little east of the 26/6 junction near North Plains, OR. Lots of space to disconnect your trailer and it's usually low volume except during harvest season. You can take your time and weigh as I said in the earlier posting. If a big rig comes in, you have plenty of room to move out of the way. Take your time and experiment.

This will probably get me a lot of grief and many would consider blasphemous by the hitch gurus here, but I'm not a fan of compicated hitches like Anderson and Propride if your tow vehicle is adequate. That being said, most hitches can be adjusted to provide better weight distribution and control. My brother just bought a 25, FC to tow with his 1/2 ton 2009 Suburban. The dealer sold him a Blue Ox hitch and used "this looks right" set up method. Even the youtube video from Etrailer for this hitch explains nothing about axle weights. We met at his first rally and he complained about the tail wagging the dog. We went to a weigh station and the front axle was way out of balance with the rear axle. A few adjustments with the ball height and chain tension and the difference was dramatic. More than once, I was able to remove the look of terror from a newbie to a happy camper with usually simple but sometimes time consuming adjustments.

Another poster here mentioned trailer loading as a important factor. I agree. Keep in mind that axle weights are dynamic, not static. Meaning, empty tanks, full tanks, trailer loading, tow vehicle loading change every time you leave a campground. The best you can do is take your measurements with the trailer and vehicle loaded as you normally travel. Usually that means a full water tank, and empty black and grey tanks. If your significant other likes to collect boulders and heavy pottery along the way (I hope you have watched the "Long, Long Trailer" with Lucell Ball and Dezi Arnez to get the picture), how you load all that weight can make a huge difference.

Case in point: We were hosting a rally with about 35 trailers and had brought all the food and equipment. The truck was full so she loaded about 300 pounds of food and equipment in the trailer. I often check the trailer when I see an empty weigh station and I've been able to keep the trailer axles fairly balanced. To my surprise, the front axle was suddenly 300 pounds heavier than the rear. Didn't know why until we got the the campground and discovered she had loaded everything in the front of the trailer.

I tow with a 2011 Ford F250 4WD. Before that was a 2001 F350. I've towed to Alaska, half of Canada, and every state west of the Mississippi River with a simple Equalizer hitch without that silly sway control add on thing. The Ford has a built in automatic yaw control and I have never felt the need to purchase a $2000 fussy complicated hitch set. Those that have them either love em or hate em.
Sorry I can't help you, but you have nothing to loose and everything to gain buy spending an hour or two at a weigh station. Good luck

[rbs]

We have basically the same 2017 as you, our's a SRW F350. We use the Pro Pride hitch, and thought at first we were experiencing a little sway, but currently can say it pulls the same as our past F250, and just went past 4000 miles of pulling a 30' Classic. The only thing that we do is run less tire pressure in the trailer's tires, which greatly improved ride and reduced the beating the trailer was taking. Also slightly reduced truck's rear tire pressure and run the front tires at the recommend 60 psi, which also made a difference. Our first trip we had put 80 psi, all the way around, and felt the sensation of a "little" sway, but after the pressure adjustment, pulls like it is on rails. There is some slop in the hitch setup, but we had the same thing in our 2015 and never felt it being an issue. Good luck.
A couple of side notes: We just left the factory where we had the running gear checked, bearing runout and brakes. They did find that one of the brakes had not been working, wiring had pulled apart, but apparently hadn't been that way very long. The Rancho shocks that come on the FX4 are not that great of a shock, and we will be replacing them very shortly. We changed the "Ranchos" on our 2015 for the same reason.

[paiceman]

Check carefully on the hitch stabilizers as the ones I've seen are specified for 2"x2" and unless you have an unusual F250 your receiver is 2-1/2".

We had no sway with our Equalizer for our 30' FC, then switched to a 30' 2017 Classic and I've picked up some sway. I am adjusting the hitch head as well as moving items from the rear compartment(s) to the truck to get some of the weight out of the rear of the trailer as I know I've overloaded it back there, way too much room to "hide" stuff.

[xrvr]

Originally Posted by Davis

Hi All, I just made the first tow with a new F 250 this past weekend and the stability was not good so I am inquiring to see if other 2017 F250 owners have had this type of experience and if so have you been able to correct it.

I have a 2017 Ford F250 Crew Cab 4X4 diesel short bed and I am towing a 96 34ft trailer with the Reese dual cam and one eazlift friction bar.

I have towed this trailer with this hitch setup with my 94 chevy crew cab dually and never had any issues with sway at all just a pleasure to drive .

What I have done thus far to prepare for the F250 is:
New drop bar to lower hitch head so trailer will ride level
add 7 way wiring extension to reach the truck end plug
set up Reese dual cam WD hitch

The sway was bad enough that drawers came open, microwave dish would push the door open and come out, closet doors came open, illuminated the trailer sway light on the instrument cluster, and of course very dangerous on the road.

The truck has a good ride but wonder if its to soft ? Also it sits up very high and wonder if that has anything to do with it ? I still have my 94 chev and like the versatility of this hitch set because I have two different heads and can use one for the ford and have one setup for the chevy.

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.Thanks

Your set up requires two friction bar anti sway devices, not one. Anything over 25 feet needs two. Also weight in the bed helps to set up the WD correctly. Best and safest ride for your truck is with weight in the bed, so WD should be set up with weight in the truck, payload. Remember these trucks are designed for a substantial payload to handle and ride safest. Totally different than setting up a half ton or a suv.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by carlose

Hello, I live in Sandy, Or and would love some help on checking my set up. If you have time, I would love advise, I use an Anderson WD hitch.
Thanks, Carlos

The Andersen WD hitch may not be compatible with your Airstream. Here is the link the specifies which Atwood couplers aren't compatible.

[polarlyse]

I've been using the Andersen hitch for 5 years now on my 30' Excella Classic. I've read all the comments on the AH and the atwood coupler used on the Airstreams. I even went to the trouble of purchasing a different ( recommended) coupler but have never installed it. I keep a close eye on the atwood and so far see no problem developing. We travel a lot and have put about 40k miles on it in the past 2 years alone. The AH has sway control built in but even prior to using it on more traditional hitches I never used or felt I needed extra sway control. For years we towed with a Ram 3500 and now have a F-350 (2015). So we do have what sway control the Andersen provides because it's designed into the hitch. I find no sway issues when towing even out west in the more windy parts of the country. I don't know how the new F-350's are different from mine but I guess they could have made significant changes that have changed the towing dynamics. My truck weighs in at about 9200# the way it sits ( full cap / sliding bed insert and stuff) and my AS comes in at 8000# loaded for travel w/ water tank full.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by polarlyse

I've been using the Andersen hitch for 5 years now on my 30' Excella Classic. ... The AH has sway control built in but even prior to using it on more traditional hitches I never used or felt I needed extra sway control. ... My truck weighs in at about 9200# the way it sits ( full cap / sliding bed insert and stuff) and my AS comes in at 8000# loaded for travel w/ water tank full.

Have you had a chance to find out from a CAT weigh scale how much weight was transferred from the TV rear axle to the front axle and to the trailer axles with the Andersen WD hitch?

[polarlyse]

Hi Ray. No I have never gone through that process. My truck / trailer rides level and with no sway ever. For several years when we first got it we had a different hitch with the WD bars and I used them all the time without any dedicated sway controls. I just never felt I needed it. Now with the AH the sway control is built into the design. Sorry I can't offer any insight into the specific weights transferred.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One interesting "factoid" on the F-250: The tow capacity is the same with or without a WD hitch. Yes, that's a bit odd, but that's the way Ford specs it out. I'd still go with WD and anti-sway.

Bob

[NOAZRK2690]

In April I started towing my 34' Classic Slideout with a 2017 F250 6.7 L Diesel with 3.55 rear, using a Hensley. After 250 miles interstate driving, I noticed excessive brake dust on the chrome wheels. I disabled the Ford stability control, drove another 1,200 miles without the black dust reappearing. There was no noticeable change in control. I custom ordered this TV in cooperation with the Ford Super Duty Program Manager. My suggestion is this. If you are not going to use your TV for OFF ROAD driving in mud & rocks, do not get the off road package. Get the CAMPER PACKAGE instead. (Not to be confused with the towing package. ) For about $160.00 you get an absolutely essential rear axle stability bar, one step higher front coil springs, the auxiliary rear leaf spring plus Ford's written camper certification. In my AirForum member info, I've listed other options. I think we built the perfect tow vehicle f a 30 or 34 foot AS without going overboard at the expense of fuel economy. I have no stability issues at all with the F250. I found the new electric steering to be right on once I stopped over steering.

[gypsydad]

I picked up my new King Ranch 4x4 F250 short bed little over a month ago, and picked up my new 28' FC a week later in Oregon. The 28' has one of the heaviest tongue weights at 970lbs. I still need to get to a scale, but I would venture to say it is around 1100lbs from what I have read from other 28' owners. I also carry around 200 lbs in the bed with generator and camp gear.

I am convinced the Blue Ox was not set up properly when set up; the AS service guys tried to put on 1000 lb bars, even though I had specified I wanted the 1500 lb bars recommended by Blue Ox. They put on the heavier spring bars and I had 5 1/2 links showing., which they said was correct. I had been used to seeing 3 1/2 links showing with my 25' so I was not convinced they were right.

When I left for MT, I experienced a little "porposing" and some "sway" while driving along the Dalles in Oregon with heavy winds. Did not seem right, so I called Blue Ox and they said I should tighten to 4.5 links and see if that corrected. It did seem to correct the problem. I now think all is well after 2 more trips camping. I will weigh this set up in coming weeks on trip to Canada.

[gototwright]

Here is what happened to me.
F150 Ecoboost/25 International/Equilizer....no sway
F150 Ecoboost/30 Classic/Equilizer....scary sway
( 2nd AC on rear unweights tongue weight,
which I could overcome by packing
what usually goes in bed of truck in front floor of AS instead.)
RAM 2500/Propride/30 Classic....back to no sway.
(learned a lot installing Propride)

[NOAZRK2690]

Everyone needs to do whatever makes them happy but here's my two cents. My 34' S/O is the "Mother of Heavy Airstreams" I fultime so it's fairly heavily loaded too. It has a 1,125 lbs tongue weight. I've towed it about using a Reese Tuition and Hensley hitches using 1,000lb. bars witbout any issues. The rig sits level and the tire temperatures are approximately the same. I've haven't popped any rivits on the interior or exterior in about 35,000 miles. I've got a soft floating kind of ride without hard jolts at bridges or whatever. I just don't understand why anyone would use heaver then 700 to 1,000 lb. bars on an Airstream and put that much tension on the AS & TV. If two 1,000 lb "SPRING Bars" lift 1000lbs of my tongue weight the remaining 125lbs is nothing to let on the rear of the TV.

[gypsydad]

I've got a soft floating kind of ride without hard jolts at bridges or whatever. I just don't understand why anyone would use heaver then 700 to 1,000 lb. bars on an Airstream and put that much tension on the AS & TV. If two 1,000 lb "SPRING Bars" lift 1000lbs of my tongue weight the remaining 125lbs is nothing to let on the rear of the TV.[/QUOTE]

The 1500 lb bars are recommended by Blue Ox for anything over 1000 lbs tongue weight. When I asked about the 1000lb bars, the "experts" at Blue Ox told me to go with the heavier bars for more stable ride and safety.
I know my tongue weight is over 1000lbs, since the AS dealer had a scale they used...unfortunately, it only went to 1000lbs; they were surprised also that the 28' was so heavy.