Rear wheel drive truck wheels losing traction sometimes when starting movement

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Lonestar Guy

Lonestar Guy

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Jun 13, 2018
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Picked up our Coachmen Freedom Express 246RKS (28 ft). The dealer set up the hitch, a Husky WDH with sway control, of course. I have an F150 2.7L w/EcoBoost RWD, with towing capability (but not the max tow package). As I was towing right from the start, on occasion the rear wheels would lose traction and squeal a bit when taking off. I'm wondering if somehow the way it's set up is somehow lifting the rear of the truck a little bit? The only other trailer I've towed I didn't have this problem and the weight of the trailer on the hitch was much more noticeable than this one. On the new trailer, it doesn't look like the rear of the truck even sags in the least. I don't know squat really about towing. LOL So, if anyone can shed some light on what the issue might be and how to correct it, it would be great.
Thanks!
 
Do you know how much tongue weight you have.  If your TT is not putting at least 12-15% of the TT weight on the tongue, you are too light.  I suppose if the TT is then loaded heavy to the rear, starting momentum would make TT rock back lifting the tongue weight a bit.  It doesn't sound too safe.  The other consideration is how much tread do you have on the rear tires.  Worn tires may slip.
 
It sounds like the dealer set the WD with too much weight transfer. If this hppened right from the dealer lot, they may have figured you would load it enough more to make it OK. However, it is equally likely that any gear you loaded into the trailer shifted the balance in a way that made the problem worse.

To get a perfect answer, get to some scales and weigh the rig axle by axle, with and without the trailer. In the meantime, back off on the WD spring bar tension one link (or one bolt hoe) to reduce the weight transfer from rear to front. That should stop the wheel spin.
 
Thanks Lowell and Gary. Yea, the trailer is totally unloaded. We will start loading it soon and certainly put stuff up front in the storage compartment. Kitchen is in back so with nothing else in there and the weight of all that makes it a kitchen probably makes it a bit rear-heavy, but I'm guessing. I'll see how it goes once we get it loaded then make the adjustment that Gary suggests.

Thanks! Will try to remember to write back later.
 
Your truck owners manual will explain the adjustment of a weight distributing hitch, basically it is adjusted so that the front is returned to half way between empty and the rise from the trailer on the ball.  Dealers rarely get them right, you need to go over the adjustments.
 
Also: the dealer should have given you the WD hitch manual with the adjustment instructions, but too often they just throw them away. If you don't have them, get it from the dealer or find them online.  You will need to tune in the WD once your basic load is in place, and probably from time to time thereafter as the loading changes in either truck or trailer.  The basic adjustment is simple enough.
 
NOTE:  The purpose of the weight distributing hitch is so that the rear axle of the truck doesn't get all the weight.  It is supposed to put a significant amount of the tongue weight of the trailer on the front axle.  It is normal for the rear of the truck to only go down an inch or two and the front of the truck to go down some when the weight distributing hitch is properly adjusted. 

That is not to say that the weight distributing hitch wasn't adjusted to put too much of the weight on the front axle of the truck, thereby taking weight off of the rear axle. 

Here is a method to measure the tongue weight of the trailer with a bathroom scale:  https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-determine-trailer-tongue-weight.aspx
 
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