19' Travel Trailer - Wag/Tire Wear

Hey guys/gals/etc..

Got a question, I'm looking for some input on it..

I've got a 19' 4200lb Hideout Travel trailer I tow behind my '06 3500. I've always struggled with what I call wag going down the highway. I've improved the travel lately by some personal training to simply drive the truck and not the trailer but I know its still kicking around back there a bit..

Looking at the tires it seems the outer edge of all 4 tires (2 per side) is wearing significantly faster than the inside. I don't have any pics as I'm in town and its out at a campsite but I'll add pics when I get back in the same spot as it. I'm wondering, should I be rotating the tires? On what frequency? Is the wag causing the wear, or is the wear causing the wag? My father in law has a device on his travel trailer to reduce/eliminate the sway.. its a brake that connects to the outer ball on the WD hitch. Is that a fix for the problem or does that mask a larger issue? My tire pressures are correct and uniform on the trailer.

We've been looking at 5th wheels lately as our 19' is getting a little small with our family now being 4 large... Would I see the issue go away with the 5th wheel?

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Is it the right ply rating tire? Sounds like not enough tire for the weight.

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I'll check what they are (I think they are D) when I am on location with the trailer. They are the OEM tires that the trailer came with.

What's the tongue weight and the tongue height when attached to the truck, the trailer and truck should be level and tongue weight is 6-10% of the total loaded weight of the trailer, tires should be labeled [FOR TRAILER USE ONLY] never use car tires on trailers the sidewalls are designed differently and tire pressure should be on the sidewall. Tires wearing on the outside is a camber issue [tires tilted out at the top] tires are not riding flat [trailer not heavy enough for tire rating]under inflation tires wear on both the outside/inside edges, over inflation tires wear in the center. What type of axles are on the trailer [torsion axles or spring axles] both types of axles are cambered [bent slightly upward in the middle] so once weight is put on the axle the tires ride level. The device your in law uses is called an ANTI SWAY UNIT basicly a device that reduces sway from passing trucks and winds used in conjunction with a tongue load leveling bar setup. With a fifth wheel you get the sway by passing semi trucks but no wag [providing the trailer is loaded properly] as your experiencing. Without physically seeing the trailer i'm guessing your problem is tongue weight or the trailer not riding level or trailer tire pressures or a combination of those things. I have been in the trailer manufacturing/repair industry for 20 years [RV and Marine].

fla crkr 1 ton said:

What's the tongue weight and the tongue height when attached to the truck, the trailer and truck should be level and

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Trailer is setup to travel level using the WD hitch adjustment. Last time I checked the bubble is between the lines.

tongue weight is 6-10% of the total loaded weight of the trailer,

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I believe the tongue weight is ~350lbs on the 4200lb trailer (8.3%). It appears to travel better when more fresh water is in the tank.

tires should be labeled [FOR TRAILER USE ONLY] never use car tires on trailers the sidewalls are designed differently and tire pressure should be on the sidewall.

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The tires are trailer tires, OEM from the factory. They do say trailer use only on them. The last tow out to the mountains I checked the pressures to ensure they were correct, they were aired up at the end of last trip. It did follow a lot better but there was still sway. I used to get it to the point where the rear of the trailer was tagging both lines in my lane regularly... The tire pressure correction fixed much of that but it still seems to wag going down the road.

Tires wearing on the outside is a camber issue [tires tilted out at the top] tires are not riding flat [trailer not heavy enough for tire rating]under inflation tires wear on both the outside/inside edges, over inflation tires wear in the center.

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Its definitely wearing on the outside on both sides, both front and rear.

What type of axles are on the trailer [torsion axles or spring axles] both types of axles are cambered [bent slightly upward in the middle] so once weight is put on the axle the tires ride level.

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The axels are solid, they look similar to the top image

The tires do tend to travel level from what I could see...

The device your in law uses is called an ANTI SWAY UNIT basicly a device that reduces sway from passing trucks and winds used in conjunction with a tongue load leveling bar setup. With a fifth wheel you get the sway by passing semi trucks but no wag [providing the trailer is loaded properly] as your experiencing. Without physically seeing the trailer i'm guessing your problem is tongue weight or the trailer not riding level or trailer tire pressures or a combination of those things. I have been in the trailer manufacturing/repair industry for 20 years [RV and Marine].

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So, would you recomend more tongue weight given or should I just accept a little bit of wag? Also the tire wear.. is that typical or a cause or symptom of the historical wag?

Also.. would I decrease tongue related wag by increasing or decreasing pressure on the stabilizer bars?

Sounds like not enough tongue weight. You want at least 10-15% tongue weight.


My 22 footer has the waste tanks in the back and travels amazingly when they are empty and fresh water is full (fresh water is you front) on way h III e after emptying fresh water and waste tanks get full it would tend to want to fish tail or sway a bit.

I ditched the friction sway control and bought an equalizer brand weight distributing hitch with built in 4 point sway and it has been amazing to tow since

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Cthulhu said:

Also.. would I decrease tongue related wag by increasing or decreasing pressure on the stabilizer bars?

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Pressure on the weight distributing bars is to adjust the weight transferred from front axle

Example: you hook up trailer and it drips back of truck 2 inches. This takes weight off of front axle so by hooking up the distributing bars and tightening them you you transfer that weight back onto the front axle and off the rear axle.

If you are talking about the friction sway control bar you should adjust the handle on it until it is tight

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I understand how the WD hitch mechanism works, I didn't know if it affected sway at all.

My truck doesn't dip hardly at all, maybe 1/4".. I've got a 3500 with a light trailer on behind... I'm really leaning towards the tongue weight.. it seems to be a common concern through this thread.. Maybe that's why it towed so well on the last trip out.. Black/Grey were empty, fresh was full...

I really appreciate everyone's feedback on this.. I'm heading out today to bring back the trailer tomorrow.. I'll take some pics of the tires for you guys to look at while I'm there.

Sounds like a sway control issue to me also. I had this same problem with an 18" travel trailer I own. I bought an active sway control system and reloaded my stuff to redistribute the weight a bit better and now the trailer tows like a dream.

Cthulhu

Why did you change the axle/spring from stock??

By you changing the axle from on top of the spring to the bottom you changed the CG (center of gravity) of the trailer.

By doing this you raised the cg by 4" by doing this you completely changed how the oem designed the trailer to be loaded for balance, IE you said it tows better with full tanks.

This could be the reason you are getting uneven tire wear,the axles are not aligned correctly.

Here in the USA there is a brand of radial trailer tire called "Duro" they are D and E load rating and I have them on my 3 trailers and they wear well.

As far as sway control my Wd has built in friction control, most have a place to add 1-2 gas struts that act as sway control.

Since having my WD hitch with built sway control I will not tow any trailer any distance with out a wd with sway control, this takes away those white knuckle moments either passing or being passed and high winds.

My .02

Ummm... I haven't changed the axel... everything is original, tires included.

I forgot to report in on my findings after our last trip. I filled the water tank and ensured tire pressures were correct. The trailer travelled 100% better. My WD hitch was on the second links making the pressure minimal. There was no sway, no control issues at all. Amazing what a little bit of weight in front of the axel will do... I've always tried to travel empty (water) for better fuel economy. I lost about. .5mpg but gained a ton of control.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. This is exactly why I come to the forums with queries. The amount of input you can get is awesome.

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Cthulhu

Sorry I thought I had read/saw the drawing you posted where you changed the axle. Sorry I misread that.

The whole purpose of the wd is to transfer weight to the front of the truck, the best way to make sure your setup is correct is by measuring.

See link here: http://www.etrailer.com/instructions.aspx?pn=RP66155