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Old 07-12-2011, 04:40 AM   #1
Silverman22
 
2008 34' Classic
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Angry Rough pulling with HA!

Our Hensley is driving us nuts! We have a 1999 34' Excella, and tow it with a 2001 F-250 using the HA. Before that we used the same truck on our 1987 34' Excella using a Reese hitch and never knew it was there while towing. Now that we have the "great" HA, properly setup according to Hensley, it seems to randomly "porpoise", and when riding on a rough section of interstate, really bounces to the extent of shaking the mattress half off the bed! I'm trying to figure out if it's because the new airstream is 1000lbs heavier, and a widebody, or if something else could be at play. I've adjusted the tension bars from extremely tight to loose, with no marked improvement, and using a 2” drop, the trailer and truck are close to level. Do you have any advice or thoughts? Please, help me save my marriage! I love my wife, but she feels so unsafe when we’re pulling our rig, it’s driving us both nuts! Thanks for your time, silverman22
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Old 07-12-2011, 05:46 AM   #2
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Is this a front kitchen Excella?

Check the tongue weight. Those trailers for whatever reason had a very low tongue weight, and the front kitchen model was the worst.
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Old 07-12-2011, 06:18 AM   #3
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Are your struts tight? If they are loose at all, it will give you a thrill ride.
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Old 07-12-2011, 06:59 AM   #4
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You need to know the tongue weight, it does sound like your light.

A trip to the CAT scales for a baseline may be in order

Sherline Trailer Tongue Weight Scales This has been very helpful loading our AS for trips.

Sometimes close is not enough, try to get that puppy as level as possible.

We tow with 2500 Burb and never have had that concern.

Bob
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Old 07-12-2011, 08:11 AM   #5
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Welcome to the Forums, Silverman. I suspect there is something about your setup that is causing problems. I also have one (I tow a 31') and it tows very well. Do you have any friends down there with Hensleys?

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Old 07-12-2011, 08:39 AM   #6
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Silverman,
I'm confident someone here will be able to help. We, too, have a 1999 Excella. It's a 30' and pulls like a dream with the HA. We have also felt the harsh ride on portions of I-70, I-77 (toll in WV), and most everywhere in the Midwest with Concrete Roads. On the most recent trip of 8,000 miles we have settled on a "softer" setting for the Weight Distribution cranks, i.e., less tension rather than more.

We have a heavy Tempur-Pedic Queen on the bed in the back, which changes weight ratios a bit, I'm sure. I find pulling with empty tanks helps a bit. As AirHeadRus says, be sure, sure, sure your struts are both tight and align the head with the unit, i.e., not pulled too far to the left or right off perpendicular.

I grease the zercs every morning when we're on the road for 500 miles or more, and carry the BAR crank in the back of the truck for experimental adjustments along the way. Some days it's just the road.
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Old 07-12-2011, 11:46 AM   #7
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Thanks for all the suggestions! I will check my tongue weight to be sure, but I always make sure the struts are tight, and tanks are empty. Plus, I try to put as much weight forward as possible to help, but this is the first HA, so I have no previous HA experiences to relate to.
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Old 07-12-2011, 11:56 AM   #8
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Quote:
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Plus, I try to put as much weight forward as possible to help....
Hmm . . . I will be interested to hear AS veterans comment on "weight forward" issues. It seems I've been advised NOT to do that, but I can't remember the exact scenario. We tend to balance the heavy stuff over the wheels. We just store shoes in the big drawer under the couch, and my laptop bag rides next to the bigger flip table.

Pots, pans, canned goods are all under the microwave or in the back drawer under the dinette. Closet is full of hanging clothes, of course. (We always take more than we actually need/wear, it seems.)
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Old 07-12-2011, 12:01 PM   #9
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To be honest, there's not a lot of things we can move around to even out the weight! In the 34', the closet is over the axles, so besides all the clothes, I do
put some of the extra things there, but other than a light TV and some small things, all the extras all in the kitchen, and over the front of the axles. I would think that is OK. By the way, does anyone out there know what a recommended tongue weight for a 34' with a HA would be? Thanks so much for all your help!!
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Old 07-12-2011, 12:48 PM   #10
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I would suggest on your next outing when your all loaded up to stop at a truck scale. Find out what the weight difference is between the front and rear axles on your pickup.
For curiosity I stopped at a scale back in June and differed by only 150 lbs between the front and rear axle. I get a slight bit of porpoising on the really bad bridge abutments otherwise it is a smooth ride.
The HAHA puts a lot of leverage on the rear of the truck so I think there will always be some porpoising evident.
I have done a bit of experimenting between fuel stops and the seat of the pants feeling and steering input got me to this close number. If I crank up the spring bars too much = harsh ride, too little = excessive porpoising.

Do you have the 1000 or 1200 lb bars?
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Old 07-12-2011, 12:58 PM   #11
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I found a local truck place with scales, and I'm going to get there ASAP to get a handle on this. And I've got the 1200 bars. Thanks!
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Old 07-12-2011, 04:32 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverman22 View Post
I found a local truck place with scales, and I'm going to get there ASAP to get a handle on this. And I've got the 1200 bars. Thanks!
POI...We boondock almost exclusively, and even on our cross country trip last year we traveled with full fresh tank and LPG.

On a two week trip at the lake we had a combined weight of 15960lbs, with a tongue weight of 1170lbs. I use 1000lb WD bars @ 3/4+ tension.

TV only
str axle 3740
dr axle 3600

Loaded for trip WD adjusted.
str axle 3640
dr axle 4680
trlr axles 7640



Loaded for trip no WD bars
str axle 2980
dr axle 5520
trlr axles 7480


Notice that even with the trailer loaded I'm only 100lb "light" on the str axle,
TV and trailer level, (stress again how important level is).
The WD bars have transferred 160lbs to the trailer axles.

You would most likely experience a better ride with your 250 by going to the 1000lb. bars.



Hope this helps, good luck at the scales.
If it's not too busy get several different weights. Maybe even the trailer alone, set the tongue on a separate scale.
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Old 07-12-2011, 04:51 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverman22 View Post
Our Hensley is driving us nuts! We have a 1999 34' Excella, and tow it with a 2001 F-250 using the HA. Before that we used the same truck on our 1987 34' Excella using a Reese hitch and never knew it was there while towing. Now that we have the "great" HA, properly setup according to Hensley, it seems to randomly "porpoise", and when riding on a rough section of interstate, really bounces to the extent of shaking the mattress half off the bed! I'm trying to figure out if it's because the new airstream is 1000lbs heavier, and a widebody, or if something else could be at play. I've adjusted the tension bars from extremely tight to loose, with no marked improvement, and using a 2” drop, the trailer and truck are close to level. Do you have any advice or thoughts? Please, help me save my marriage! I love my wife, but she feels so unsafe when we’re pulling our rig, it’s driving us both nuts! Thanks for your time, silverman22
Silverman

Welcome to the forums.

I have the ProPride and used to run into fairly serious problems with porpoising when towing with a pickup on certain roads. I now usually tow with a Suburban which does much better, whether because of the difference in weight distribution or the autoride suspension I do not know.

I did replace the shocks in my pickup at one point, which did help somewhat.

I do not believe that the problem is specific to any particular hitch.

The wide body and heavier weight may be part of the problem in your case.
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Old 07-13-2011, 06:58 AM   #14
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These truck scales we all need to visit, are they commercial concerns? State supplied for free?

Just curious. Does it cost anything to weigh the trailer and tow vehicle at truck scales?
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Old 07-13-2011, 07:46 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gringo
These truck scales we all need to visit, are they commercial concerns? State supplied for free?

Just curious. Does it cost anything to weigh the trailer and tow vehicle at truck scales?
Loves, Pilot, and others have them and charge about 10$ for the first time. Then if you un hook or go over for another configuration it 's another buck or two. Just pull up on the scale and talk to them on the speaker when they talk to you.
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Old 07-13-2011, 07:55 AM   #16
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Also, just as a point of etiquette, at the CAT (truck scales) the trucks have priority over us since they are trying to make a living and have to get in and out.

When I weighed our trailer, I think I made 4 or 5 passes through the scales. The first weigh was $12 and each additional was $1 (or maybe $2). After each trip through the scale, I made adjustments to the ProPride jacks to move more weight forward on the truck. After I was done, I sat down and looked at what looked like the best combination. My experience is posted in the ProPride Users thread, but eh short answer is that for my trailer, truck, and loading combination; 6 1/2" of vertical travel on the jacks works best.
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Old 07-13-2011, 08:24 AM   #17
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As everyone here has posted... it is a weight distribution issue. Most customers do not jack the weight distribution jacks high enough to distribute enough weight to the front axle. This will give you the porpoising. The nice thing about a jack system is you can fine tune it for the specifics at any given time. More load with more tongue weight - jack them up more. Less load with less tongue weight - not as much. If you get on a road that is giving you problems you can get out and fine tune the jacks rather easily.

The scale trip will give you the baseline and you can adjust, as needed, from there.

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Old 07-13-2011, 10:55 AM   #18
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Also, just as a point of etiquette, at the CAT (truck scales) the trucks have priority over us since they are trying to make a living and have to get in and out.
I see. So, if I am making a living from my trailer do I also get priority?

I've never entirely understood why truckers should get special privileges given that travel is a vital component of many people's employment. Like truckers, many of us do not get paid for time spent waiting for scales, restaurants, and so on.
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:03 AM   #19
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I'm not running one of these hitches, but have found that adjusting the Ride-Rite air lifts I added to the truck allows me to tune things so we get a smooth ride w/o porpoising, even over bad concrete roads. My guess is that as we typically tow at about 60 mph; the air springs let us change the resonant frequency of the truck far enough away from the 60 mph/length-of-concrete-slab to escape most of this.

- Bart
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:05 AM   #20
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I've never entirely understood why truckers should get special privileges given that travel is a vital component of many people's employment. Like truckers, many of us do not get paid for time spent waiting for scales, restaurants, and so on.
Likely because the truckers are frequent customers. If you weigh your rig before every trip at the same scale, I'm sure you'll get the same kinds of attention as the truckers.

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