rustcrust Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 84 f150 lwb 2wd 300 six 4 speed 355 gears .the issue I'm having is massive unsafe trailer sway . the trailer is a tilt deck flat bed 24 foot deck above 45 it's all over the road empty or loaded in the past year new rear leaf springs new front coils all new bushings recently installed 9" the 8.8 died . my friend 07 dodge v6 long bed can pull it 75 mph . I'm wondering why this truck is so worthless and dangerous. Is it the truck being to light ? A f250 would be considerably heavier as far as weight is concerned my crew cab f350 single wheel can pull trailer but can't pull a boat up a dock just spins are the bullnose and obs just to light ? Would adding weight to trucks help the 84 f150 gets stuck on wet grass the f350 also spins easily . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Sounds like you don't have enough tongue weight. Did the sway happen when you had a load on the trailer? How does the truck drive w/o the trailer? I've pulled my car hauler trailer with Big Blue many miles with no problem, both with and without loads - usually Chevys. So the Bullnose trucks can certainly do it. And while your F150 may not be rated to pull the trailer when loaded, that's not a sway issue. More a lack of braking issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustcrust Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 Sounds like you don't have enough tongue weight. Did the sway happen when you had a load on the trailer? How does the truck drive w/o the trailer? I've pulled my car hauler trailer with Big Blue many miles with no problem, both with and without loads - usually Chevys. So the Bullnose trucks can certainly do it. And while your F150 may not be rated to pull the trailer when loaded, that's not a sway issue. More a lack of braking issue. It does it empty or loaded the trailer is definitely long but a 07 dodge 1500 can pull it but online says that 07 is around 700 pounds heavier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 It does it empty or loaded the trailer is definitely long but a 07 dodge 1500 can pull it but online says that 07 is around 700 pounds heavier As Gary was hinting at, sway is usually related to trailer balance. You should have at least 10% of the trailer weight on the hitch. So a 1000 lb trailer should have at least 100 lbs of tongue weight, a 5000 lb trailer should have at least 500 lbs and so on. You can see how a lighter-duty truck can get in trouble pretty quick with having to much weight on the tongue, but moving the weight back on the trailer gets you in trouble. So how does the trailer balance seem? That sounds like a pretty heavy trailer. Does the tongue weight seem like it's correspondingly high? Otherwise I think a heavier, stiffer truck might handle sway better, but the truck generally doesn't cause sway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gsmblue Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 As Gary was hinting at, sway is usually related to trailer balance. You should have at least 10% of the trailer weight on the hitch. So a 1000 lb trailer should have at least 100 lbs of tongue weight, a 5000 lb trailer should have at least 500 lbs and so on. You can see how a lighter-duty truck can get in trouble pretty quick with having to much weight on the tongue, but moving the weight back on the trailer gets you in trouble. So how does the trailer balance seem? That sounds like a pretty heavy trailer. Does the tongue weight seem like it's correspondingly high? Otherwise I think a heavier, stiffer truck might handle sway better, but the truck generally doesn't cause sway. Sway is a hot topic on camping trailer forums. Impossible to give advice without knowing EVERYTHING about your set up. I’ll leave 2 thoughts here for you. 1. What are the hitch heights for all these vehicles? Is the trailer level with all of then? 2. Anti sway with a friction bar can help, but without know everything of your set up with good pictures it is hard to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustcrust Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 So yes this is a heavy trailer it was built by my wife's cousin who at the time had been professionally building trailers for years I've compared the axle placement to different company trailers and the axle is correctly placed empty this trailer squats my truck 1/2 a inch so I figure this trailer is 2500 pounds so I'm 220 pounds and me standing on bumper doesn't squat that much. I am a professional steering wheel holder and been pulling personal size trailers since I was 16 so I know how to handle a trailer and it takes a lot of skill to pull this trailer with this p.o.s truck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustcrust Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 So yes this is a heavy trailer it was built by my wife's cousin who at the time had been professionally building trailers for years I've compared the axle placement to different company trailers and the axle is correctly placed empty this trailer squats my truck 1/2 a inch so I figure this trailer is 2500 pounds so I'm 220 pounds and me standing on bumper doesn't squat that much. I am a professional steering wheel holder and been pulling personal size trailers since I was 16 so I know how to handle a trailer and it takes a lot of skill to pull this trailer with this p.o.s truck If this truck has thought me anything it was to never buy a f150 ever again. And stay away from 80-96 truck they are just to light the f350 which should be more than heavy enough can't even pull a boat out of water we had to drag my f350 up the boat ramp with a dodge 1500 because the f350 just spun tried a less steep ramp and almost the same result but with 5 adults at front of boat the truck barely pulled up the ramp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 If this truck has thought me anything it was to never buy a f150 ever again. And stay away from 80-96 truck they are just to light the f350 which should be more than heavy enough can't even pull a boat out of water we had to drag my f350 up the boat ramp with a dodge 1500 because the f350 just spun tried a less steep ramp and almost the same result but with 5 adults at front of boat the truck barely pulled up the ramp I think the F150 is a bit light for towing, but it shouldn't sway like you say it does. So there's something wrong. You don't have the F350 in your sig so I don't know what it is, but if it is a 460 or IDI and you don't have at least a locker in the rear, better yet 4wd, you can have traction problems. The massive engine causes there to be little weight on the rear wheels so there's not much traction if you are trying to drive with one wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81f100custom Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 I think the F150 is a bit light for towing, but it shouldn't sway like you say it does. So there's something wrong. You don't have the F350 in your sig so I don't know what it is, but if it is a 460 or IDI and you don't have at least a locker in the rear, better yet 4wd, you can have traction problems. The massive engine causes there to be little weight on the rear wheels so there's not much traction if you are trying to drive with one wheel. Like has been stated above usually not enough tongue weight will cause this. Everything I have read says no less than 10% and no more than 15% tongue weight and you want it level also hence the need for the raise and lower type ball mounts they sell. WeighSafe sales one with a built in scale to see just what the tongue weight is on the truck. https://www.weigh-safe.com/ I do not have one of these by the way. Here's a video for reference as to what is being stated here. Safe_Trailering_Demonstrator.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 I think the F150 is a bit light for towing, but it shouldn't sway like you say it does. So there's something wrong. You don't have the F350 in your sig so I don't know what it is, but if it is a 460 or IDI and you don't have at least a locker in the rear, better yet 4wd, you can have traction problems. The massive engine causes there to be little weight on the rear wheels so there's not much traction if you are trying to drive with one wheel. I can only speak from personal experience. tail loaded trailers always sway for me. i get picky when loading and place a car or truck on a trailer. I watch how the truck loads as I drive one on the trailer. i often have the other experience from having too much tongue load. it unloads the front axle on my shortbed and steering gets light and braking is hazardous. there is a real reason why trucks have a duty weight rating!!! i build trucks that can pull almost whatever you need them too but that does NOT mean they can control it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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