2015 F150 Supercab, reg box - sway issues with towing trailer

New 2015 f150 (no ecoboost), towing Puma 29 foot tavel trailer. Have 800 series equilizer hitch, but still when we hit about 100km the trailer sways quite a lot (and this is not due to the wind) - same if a large semi pass us on the highway. More like the trailer pushes the back end of the truck. We installed the AirLift bags 5000lbs, and it helped level out the truck quite a lot.....but wondering what else we can do? The Trailer is 6920lbs and we never max load it - max load is 9220GVWR, 836lbs is dry weight for the hitch. Tires on the truck are P rated and from dealership were over inflated for ratings, so we lowered that. Truck is level when we hitch up. We have been told that the new ford springs are not enough about 1650 and need to be over 1900, so considering adding another spring... would that help with Sway? And the RV place is suggesting a sway control bar? from looking on this site I think the extra spring and sway control bar would help a lot. But I want to spend money the right way, so that the truck doesnt sway as much when towing. Any advice please?

Get the Sway Control bar.  It will make a lot of difference.  Just remember it is best to remove it if backing or turning too tight.

Thanks BigDfromNT

your TV tires are P rated, but what are the trailer tires rated for?
I'll bet you're hitting close to the high end on that.

What sort of hitch are you using?

Things I can think of
1) verify your loading.... what is the tongue weight, and how does it compare to the total TT weight?
2) Look into a better WDH hitch with built in sway control. (equalizer, Hensley, or?)
3) don't go any faster / or slow down

thanks for the advice. I have ordered the Reese Dual Cam Sway controls

Trailer sway is nearly always a matter of poor trailer balance, i.e. inadequate tongue weight (less than 10% of actual trailer weight). The trailer will follow its nose if the nose is heavy enough, somewhere in the 10-12% range. Without getting actual scaled weights of truck & trailer, when loaded as normal for travel, it's hard to know what you have. Dry weight numbers are meaningless - the trailer was heavier than that when you picked it up at the dealer. And the 836 lb dry tongue weight is equally meaningless - it corresponds to that empty trailer at the factory. Get it to a scale and do the weights, with and without the trailer hitched up. That allows you to calculate tongue weight and loading on the truck.

P- rated tires on the truck aren't the greatest for towing - they are fairly soft-sided and engineered for a plush ride.

I doubt if you need more springs in the truck, unless you are also carry a lot of passengers and gear. If the truck rides level with the trailer hitched, it's probably ok.

A good weight distributing hitch with built in sway control is a plus too - the Dual Cam you ordered is one of the best.

You say the tires were overinflated, but what pressure are you towing at?  Most inflate the tires to the max, or near the max, pressure on the tirewall to stiffen the tire and increase the load capacity.

Overall though, I would bet that you don't have enough tongue weight.

Gary RV Roamer said:

Trailer sway is nearly always a matter of poor trailer balance, i.e. inadequate tongue weight (less than 10% of actual trailer weight). The trailer will follow its nose if the nose is heavy enough, somewhere in the 10-12% range. Without getting actual scaled weights of truck & trailer, when loaded as normal for travel, it's hard to know what you have. Dry weight numbers are meaningless - the trailer was heavier than that when you picked it up at the dealer. And the 836 lb dry tongue weight is equally meaningless - it corresponds to that empty trailer at the factory. Get it to a scale and do the weights, with and without the trailer hitched up. That allows you to calculate tongue weight and loading on the truck.

P- rated tires on the truck aren't the greatest for towing - they are fairly soft-sided and engineered for a plush ride.

I doubt if you need more springs in the truck, unless you are also carry a lot of passengers and gear. If the truck rides level with the trailer hitched, it's probably ok.

A good weight distributing hitch with built in sway control is a plus too - the Dual Cam you ordered is one of the best.

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Like Gary pointed out get real numbers by scaling the truck and trailer actually loaded and with your passengers and check your weights. Way to may people buy a truck with high capacity numbers without check to see how much their cargo and passenger consume so then buy a trailer that might be too heavy for the truck using a set of number that are for only 150 pound drive full tank of fuel and no passenger or cargo.

drewtk said:

You say the tires were overinflated, but what pressure are you towing at?  Most inflate the tires to the max, or near the max, pressure on the tirewall to stiffen the tire and increase the load capacity.

Overall though, I would bet that you don't have enough tongue weight.

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I suggest finding out what inflation you need to carry your weight. So now that you have the scale weight you can check and see if the tire will carry the weight. But I will even agree with all here that P tire are not rated for towing. Calculating out my axle weights to tire pressure even at 8,800 GVWR of the truck I'm only 57 and 59 PSI out of 80 PSI. So max inflation isn't required depending on the capacity of the tire.

It's been done for many years.............you can safely tow a properly loaded 29 foot travel trailer with full size car.
( my Grandfather did it for years with a big ol' 4 door Dodge Polara ) 

contrary to what you may hear from all the militant weight watchers on this forum,

you don't need to go out buy a bigger truck,... and you don't need a diesel engine.

experiment with different loading of trailer, and tire pressures and then maybe a load leveling hitch or sway bars.

and whenever the trailer starts to sway out on the road, reach down and tap the trailer brakes switch and it will snap back in line.

A few days ago I read a post about P-rated tires for towing. I checked my factory tires on my Ford 150 w/max tow package and can't believe Ford puts a P-rated tire on a truck designed to pull up to an 11,200lb TT or the weight listed in the bed. I will be changing to LT's very soon.
You learn something everyday on this site

Like the others have said, hitch setup and loading are critical, but speed is one easily controllable factor in reducing sway.  Does it sway at 55 MPH?  100 KPH is about 62 MPH....which shouldn't really be a huge issue, but it's one free thing that's controllable.

Second....is your water tank up front?  If so, are you running with it full or empty?  A front mounted water tank is an easy and (literally) free way to add tongue weight, which is a good thing to do (up to a point).  Do you have anything heavy in the rear of the trailer (generator etc)? 

And at the risk of being Lt. Friz of the dreaded weight police, your trailer grosses at over 9K lbs.  That's a lot to ask of most (not all) half ton pickups.  What is the tow rating of your vehicle?  Engine, transmission, rear gear, tow package, etc?  Do you tow primarily on flat lands or in the mountains?  As mentioned above, it's a good idea to get both the truck and the trailer (loaded, ready to camp) to a commercial scale and find out what your real numbers are. 

There is no reason a properly matched and properly set up truck/trailer combo should sway in the least in normal driving.  Something is amiss.

TonyDtorch said:

you don't need to go out buy a bigger truck,... and you don't need a diesel engine.

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Tony...everybody needs a Cummins    ;D

Is it just me, or is the fact that the OP has had to install airbags to level out the truck - even though he's using a WD hitch - suggest that the hitch may not be properly set up?

Old Blevins said:

Is it just me, or is the fact that the OP has had to install airbags to level out the truck - even though he's using a WD hitch - suggest that the hitch may not be properly set up?

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Yep.  Possibly the dealer just slapped it together to get him out the door.  Wouldn't be the first time.