Trailer sway

[Jerkyguy]

Has anyone experienced sway in their 40’ Montana trailers ours is the 3402RL 2015 model. I’ve had some sway in it that I didn’t in our old trailer that was 35’ 15,500 gvwr Montana is 16,635 gvwr pulling with 2015 dodge 2500. I just installed air bags for easier ride don’t know that will help sway though. Any thoughts?

[richfaa]

We have the 13 3402 and before that the 06 3400.No sway at all solid as a rock. Our previous TT's did sway. There may be a issue with the truck

[dieselguy]

Assuming your fresh water tank is in the rear ... fill it about half full and see if it gets worse or better. If it gets worse, drain it and put something heavy in the front storage compartment and check the results. Is your tire pressure correct? Is there a slight bow upward in both axles? Should be to have positive camber. Sighting down both tires ... they should be fairly inline with one another ... or get the trailer alignment professionally checked.

[Jerkyguy]

Water tank is in center trailer,new 14 ply tires, axle?, will check!

[dieselguy]

You still might experiment with loading of your fiver. How ever you do it ... add some weight to either end and take it for a drive. If it worsens, you'll know which end needs more weight. The reason I mentioned axles and alignment is I had a fiver that was toed out instead of in ... it wanted to follow all the crowns in the roads.

[rohrmann]

Definitely need to make sure all tires are properly inflated, including the truck. Another thing to check is the ubolts on the trailer, that they are torqued properly, I think 50 to 70 ft lbs, while the weight of the trailer is on the axles. The center of the pin box pin should be directly over the rear axle or slightly forward of center. It would also be a good idea to make sure the front suspension on the truck is tight and aligned.

[BiggarView]

All of the trailer recommmendations made so far are good, but remember you have a 16,600+ lb tail wagging a dog that weighs roughly half that. More weight (and possibly length depending on trailer axle and/or load placement) means you'll typically notice sway more for given tow vehicle. A dually will seriously help your situation whether you do the other things or not. (You should definitely check those things too.) There's a reason semi's have dual rear wheels and tandem rear wheels... and its not just for load carrying capacity. Towing stability is critical.

You mentioned adding airbags. Air bags do not mitigate sway issues, they only dampen acceleration shocks in the existing suspension by acting in concert with the existing springs and shocks. They also do not raise your axle ratings or tow ratings either. Whatever weight was on you axles before is still there plus the weight of the new airbag hardware.

JMHO

[1retired06]

Significant sway with our tagalongs. We have experienced no sway with any of our fifthwheels, even with 80MPH 18 wheelers. I would be looking for something out of the norm either with the trailer or your tow vehicle, as described above. No sway is one of the plus factors in towing a fiver instead of a tagalong.

[The Bone]

I would get the trailer aligned for sure. I opnly have a 13,000# trailer and my trailer is rock solid. Check the tires and see how they are wearing. That may tell you something

[Jerkyguy]

Ok so I tightened the ubolts to 50lbs I’m now in Colorado with no sway! Thanks everyone for your input!

[beeje]

If you are towing a 16k+ fifth wheel with any 2500 (3/4 ton) truck you are more than likely over the load capacity of the truck. IMHO you are clearly in 3500 1 ton dually territory.

[Theunz]

Originally Posted by beeje

If you are towing a 16k+ fifth wheel with any 2500 (3/4 ton) truck you are more than likely over the load capacity of the truck. IMHO you are clearly in 3500 1 ton dually territory.

He said that the GVWR was 16,635, not that he was towing that much weight. Unless you are full time or long time RVrs I bet most people carry less than 2,000lbs of cargo.

[speedster100]

If your trailer is swaying you have either a load placement issue (weight distribution issue in trailer) or you have a suspension issue on your trailer. Never had a sway issue with a 5er.... Have had lots of issues with conventional ball hitch/pinto hitch trailers which was fixed by a redistribution of weight on the trailer. Generally putting more weight on the hitch (front of trailer).... One other cause is crap P or car rated tires or none ST tires which don't have the sidewall support required. Whether it is a 2500 or 3500 or 4500 Tow Vehicle has nothing to do with it. Its the trailer where the problem lies and it is 98% of the time weight distribution....

[beeje]

Theunz, I do not agree. We are not full or long timers and have weighed our rig many times (which most people never do )loaded and have come very close and sometimes over the GVWR or our 2011 3455 sa. We travel with a full tank of water/ several large coolers full of ice (I get it free) 4 batteries/ food for 2 weeks etc etc etc. Most towing a unit like ours with a 3/4 ton truck ARE OVER THE TRUCKS WEIGHT CAPASITY.... without even adding anything.

[rmthelen]

Originally Posted by beeje

Theunz, I do not agree. We are not full or long timers and have weighed our rig many times (which most people never do )loaded and have come very close and sometimes over the GVWR or our 2011 3455 sa. We travel with a full tank of water/ several large coolers full of ice (I get it free) 4 batteries/ food for 2 weeks etc etc etc. Most towing a unit like ours with a 3/4 ton truck ARE OVER THE TRUCKS WEIGHT CAPASITY.... without even adding anything.

Suggest you try towing without the full tank of water, normally a sway condition is created by too little pin weight and the fresh water tank is probably at the rear of your unit.

[BiggarView]

Originally Posted by speedster100

If your trailer is swaying you have either a load placement issue (weight distribution issue in trailer) or you have a suspension issue on your trailer. Never had a sway issue with a 5er.... Have had lots of issues with conventional ball hitch/pinto hitch trailers which was fixed by a redistribution of weight on the trailer. Generally putting more weight on the hitch (front of trailer).... One other cause is crap P or car rated tires or none ST tires which don't have the sidewall support required. Whether it is a 2500 or 3500 or 4500 Tow Vehicle has nothing to do with it. Its the trailer where the problem lies and it is 98% of the time weight distribution....

True enough, but sway is also a product of an overloaded tow vehicle as well as poor load distribution in the trailer. When the TV tires strain under overloaded conditions they become squirrely as the side walls of the tires are no longer doing their job correctly which then amplifies trailer sway conditions. So yes, it matters what TV you have as much as your trailer weights and how it is loaded.

[beeje]

Exactly BiggarView, I towed the same camper with a 3500 SRW truck and I could really feel the rear tires squirming around a lot. That's one reason I traded for the dually.

To the OP, I looked up your trucks payload capacity. You did not mention all the details of your truck. This makes a HUGH difference.

Just for example a Regular cab long box 4x2 Diesel has a max of 3170# payload.
A crew cab short box 4x4 Diesel has a max of 2360# (which I would bet is closer to what you have)

The payload includes ANYTHING you put in your truck, such as fuel/ hitch/ driver/ any passengers/ firewood etc.

So if you have 4 normal size people at say 175# ea. + all the other stuff in your truck you could easily have 1000#-1500# payload without your trailer's pin weight.

I trailer weighing in at 16500# could easily have a pin weight of 4000# alone.

Having said all this, you can see how certain configuration's of trucks could be grossly over weight.

I see it every time I go down the road. People towing something that they should not be towing just because they think their truck can handle it.

Think 18000# triple axel toyhauler being towed by any 2500 3/4 ton truck.

[phillyg]

I can make my trailer sway if I twitch the steering wheel a bit, but otherwise, no. I'm near the top of my limits with a SRW 350 with a 2016 3711FL. I definitely think you're over your limits regardless of loading.