2013 SCAB Towing Sway

[AZEngineer]

Bought my SCAB new May 2013. I have RPG front and RPG rear springs with stock shocks. The rear springs were the standard Deaver not the HD option. 56,000 miles. I recently towed a drop deck 10,000 rated dual axle trailer from Arizona to LA and back. It's a pretty stout trailer, 10 ft long bed plus the tongue. Towed empty to LA and it swayed any time I went over 62 MPH. Loaded it with a 2,000 machine and it towed pretty well home. The machine was 9 ft tall and valuable so I didn't go over 65 on the way home but it was much more stable. The trailer was level both empty and loaded. The rear of the truck just felt so soft. That empty trailer just tossed the rear of my truck around.

Could it be that the shocks need a rebuild? They don't seem bad. I rented the trailer and new it's like $10,000 so I'd assume they built them to be properly weighted on the tongue. The trailer empty is about 3,000 lbs and loaded maybe 5,000.

Help, I'd like to be comfortable towing again.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

my first thought would be tongue weight. second, where the tires and axle are located on the trailer. third, would be if the trailer axle was straight. it felt like the back end was being pushed around because it was. the trailer sway will do that.

 

[AZEngineer]

On tongue weight, that's the first thought. One would think on an expensive trailer they would design for sufficient tongue weight when empty, but who knows. I could not lift the tongue when it was empty. Could it be shocks, I don't notice any bounce when driving.

 

[B E N]

Shocks wouldn't hurt, 56k is over the service interval.

Were you using a WD hitch? Was the Raptor nose up? Was the trailer nose down or flat when hooked up?

If it didn't do it once you had a load on it that sounds like a trailer balance issue.

 

[AZEngineer]

No on the WD hitch. This was my first time towing on a longer trip. The trailer was a rental drop deck trailer with no WD setup. Towed well loaded but terrible empty. Odd that a large trailer maker would build a trailer that would have insufficient tongue weight empty. Other than an oil leaks on the shocks, what signs would there be? I don't have suspension bounce like when shocks are gone and I've noticed no ride quirks.

 

[Dane]

How heavy was the trailer itself? I can't see it being very heavy. My 7K flatbed weighs about 1,800 and I don't even notice it back there if I'm towing it empty. It tows fine empty (little bouncy) or with my 4,000 lbs jeep on it. It's sounding like some sort of trailer issue to me (versus truck issue).

 

[AZEngineer]

The trailer was a JLG dual axel drop deck trailer where the deck hydraulically drops flush to the ground. Weight about 3,000 lbs empty and rated for gross weight 10,000 lbs. I carried a 2,000 lb load home.

It is really short, the bed was like 10 ft long and the tongue maybe 4 ft. Seems like being so short was part of the problem as I was towing.

 

[II Sevv]

Weight distribution hitch, and rebuilt rear shocks. They don’t have to be leaking oil to be performing at a lesser level than they should be. I’ve been in 50k mile raptors with stock shocks that had never been rebuilt and the ride was horrendous compared to my 120K mile truck that I bought with new shocks. I’d start there. Trailer sway is a function of trailer leverage on the hitch of your truck, whether that be incorrect trailer weight distribution, short vehicle wheelbase, or old rear shocks that can’t properly respond to trailer movements. I also have a SCAB and have towed my 8 foot landscape trailer with close to 2 tons of rock in it multiple times at 80 mph with no sway at all and I couldn’t even feel it.

 

[AZEngineer]

I'll definitely do shocks. I live 5 miles from SDHQ so I'll have them rebuild. Can't believe the trailer maker, JLG, built it with insufficient tongue weight when empty.

 

[84 Sheepdog]

This is the best weight distribution hitch on the market and it has built in sway control that works:
https://shop.andersenhitches.com/collections/wd-hitch/products/4-drop-rise-weight-distribution-hitch

^ This will solve the problem. I've towed heavier than that with my Gen 2 in heavy wind and there was no sway at all. The relatively short trailer you had didn't help either.