I just purchased a trailer (last thursday) The TV is a 2004 Ford Expedition. The Trailer is well within the TV's limits. The TV seamed to have plenty of power when accelerating. I liked how the trailer tracked. When I went on the interstate and began accelerating (50-65mph) the rear end of the tow vehicle began to shiver and vibrate. My father in-law was riding with me. He thought the tires were the problem. I put a reese straightline hitch on with daul cam sway etc.. My question is what can I do to improve my tow vehicle's performance?
Tow vehicle shivering
- Thread starter crozb
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Gary RV_Wizard
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Assuming it does not do this without the trailer, I'm thinking the hitch is reacting to a bad vibration in the trailer that occurs at speed. Perhaps an out of balance trailer tire, or maybe incipient tread separation on a trailer tire, or even an out of line trailer axle.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
crozb said:
It occurs to me that on such a new trailer tow, it might well be that improper weight distribution resulting in an over-steer condition is exaggerating a tire imbalance or front end misalignment on the truck . Do two things. First check out the hitch adjustment. Reese has the method in their literature. We also have it in our library HERE. In deciding between two chain links, favor putting more load on the front wheels -- you want a bit of understeer.
Then take the truck to a good alignment shop and have the alignment and tire balance checked out.
Tom
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I had something similar with a prior Suburban that only happened when I towed a small concrete trailer. It happened several times, each with a random concrete trailer. Didn't happen when I pulled a much heavier boat. I never did figure it out, but now I'm wondering if this might have been a tongue weight issue (too light maybe?) I'll defer to our trailer/towing experts, but this discusson reminded me of the concrete trailer events.
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
Since the anomaly occurs only when the trailer is connected I would suspect either improper weight distribution or something with the trailer as being the cause.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Tom said:
That may well have been too heavy in the hitch which would unload the truck's front causing oversteer. Boat trailers tend to lower weights iirc.
Tom
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Carl,
This was definitely not a light front end issue. Been there, done that, and knew right away that I had poor control of the front end. with a too-heavy tongue weight of a boat trailer.
This was definitely not a light front end issue. Been there, done that, and knew right away that I had poor control of the front end. with a too-heavy tongue weight of a boat trailer.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Tom said:
Well, too light a tongue weight would have destabilized the tow leading to uncontrolled yaw. U Haul wound up with lawsuits over its cargo trailers being loaded tail heavy and encountering disasterous sway. Looking at concrete trailers, I can see how they could be tail heavy.
Tom
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It was really weird Carl. I had "full control" of the Suburban, but the rear end was kinda shivering, which is what crozb described, and is what reminded me of towing the concrete trailers.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Tom said:
Whoops. Read end implies unstable towed vehicle. Well ok then the trailer may be too heavy in the tail which would lightening the tongue weight. To check this Crozb should weigh the trailer and get a tongue weight. He could use the instructions in the Libary. CLICK HERE. The tongue weight should be no less than 10% of the trailer weight and up to 15% would be better.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
I wouldn't think so. What is the recommended tire pressure for a full load on your car? Should be on a sticker on the driver door post. 35-38 psi would be typical for that size vehicle.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
crozb said:
Reading this thread over again, another possibilty occurs to me: Could this shimmy be due to trailer wheel issues? Issues like an out of balance wheel, a bent wheel, or a defective tire. One way to check that is to have someone follow you on the freeway at the speeds the shimmy occurs and observe the behavior of the trailer and its wheels. A spin balance check of the trailer wheels might also be in order
carson
Well-known member
Sounds like a winner to me, Carl. Ever heard of the tail waging the dog?
carson FL
carson FL
Tom
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Next time I rent a concrete trailer, I must remember to take along a sledge hammer to straighten out the bent wheel(s).
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Tom said:
With contractor rental equipment all you can hope for is the bent wheels and axles cancel each other out long enough for you to return it to the yard.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Hmm. Where have I heard that before???
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=20586.msg196832#msg196832
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
OK Gary, you get the gold star. ;D
Tom --
Thanks for introducing my educational item of the day. I try to learn something new everyday and today you provided the impetus.
I had to Google "concrete trailer" because I'd never heard of one. Now that I've seen a picture, I realize I've never seen one either!
For anyone else in my boat, here's a link: http://www.concretetrailer.com/
Still learning, and this is a great site for furthering one's education.
Don
Thanks for introducing my educational item of the day. I try to learn something new everyday and today you provided the impetus.
I had to Google "concrete trailer" because I'd never heard of one. Now that I've seen a picture, I realize I've never seen one either!
For anyone else in my boat, here's a link: http://www.concretetrailer.com/
Still learning, and this is a great site for furthering one's education.
Don
