Trailering Random Question

[Pfu]

Many camping rigs use anti sway bar hitches. Why not boat trailers?

 

[DennisG01]

It's hard to get them to work (well) with surge brakes.

 

[Doc Stressor]

Yep. They prevent surge brakes from working. Also, most anti-sway bars need to be detached in order to maneuver when backing up.

 

[Andrew93]

I feel like any trailer that sways is due to poor load balancing and wrong lounge weight. The load can be adjusted front and back with moving axels and winch post on a boat trailer to achieve this. A camper is more restricted on interior layout and design requiring load levelers on light duty trucks.

One of my favorite sights on the highway is a truck/car squatting low due to tongue weight and they have the right equipment, just no idea how to use it.

 

[luckydude]

I'll just add that I'm pretty impressed with how well my Pacific Trailer rides. I was on 280 coming back from Half Moon Bay and some very, very drunk woman passed me on the right, at about 100mph, on an exit ramp, and then swerved in front of me to get back on the highway, causing me to swerve out of her way so she didn't hit me. My thought at the time was "if ever the trailer is going to tip over, now is the time". It rode it out like a champ, I think all 4 wheels stayed on the ground, I was stunned. Hard swerve at 60mph and no problems. Hats off to Pacific, they make a good trailer and sit the boat on it where belongs.

Oh, how did I know she was drunk? She hit the center guard rail so hard that a wheel came off her car about a mile or two ahead of me. I stopped, because I had witnessed the whole thing, and waited for the CHP to show up so I could give a statement. After he sorted the woman out, he came back to talk to me, I asked if she was drunk and he said "I can't tell you that but lets just say she is going straight to jail". Oh, and we saw her throw a bottle of booze into the bushes, so there is that too.

Crazy day.

 

[Renegade_Master]

I feel like any trailer that sways is due to poor load balancing and wrong lounge weight. The load can be adjusted front and back with moving axels and winch post on a boat trailer to achieve this. A camper is more restricted on interior layout and design requiring load levelers on light duty trucks.

One of my favorite sights on the highway is a truck/car squatting low due to tongue weight and they have the right equipment, just no idea how to use it.

I bought a used seafarer from a private party several months ago, and have noticed that it will sway. I’m towing with a Ford F250, in very good condition, and the trailer has just passed its safety inspection. I suspect the trailer is not balanced for the boat. Would a trailer retailer be able to balance this for me?

 

[Hookup1]

I bought a used seafarer from a private party several months ago, and have noticed that it will sway. I’m towing with a Ford F250, in very good condition, and the trailer has just passed its safety inspection. I suspect the trailer is not balanced for the boat. Would a trailer retailer be able to balance this for me?

First question I would ask is if the trailer is level when attached to the truck. If not you have more or less weight on the front/rear axel and it will affect sway. May need a different hitch drop. Beyond that it's tongue weight. Move the boat forward/back, axels forward/back. Trailer dealers can do this but it's hard to find anyone to do small jobs anymore. Need a trailer scale.

 

[Chuck_NJ]

When I bought my 87 offshore the first time I took it out with my F150 anything over 50MPH was pure suicidal it swayed so bad. Turns out just had to move the boat forward on trailer to get the weight over axles. Now I can do 70mph no problem.

 

[Andrew93]

I bought a used seafarer from a private party several months ago, and have noticed that it will sway. I’m towing with a Ford F250, in very good condition, and the trailer has just passed its safety inspection. I suspect the trailer is not balanced for the boat. Would a trailer retailer be able to balance this for me?

My old 272 Sailfish would sway behind my 2500HD at 40mph if I did not get the boat far enough forward. If the boat was just 4-6" off front winch stop it would barely have any tongue weight. The boat was so heavy if it wasn't all the way forward when floating that was it, and before the ramp I use was redone it was a challenge. I only went a short distance with that boat so it wasn't a big deal.

General rule of thumb is 10% total weight should be on the tongue. I am sure a shop can do it, but its not hard to do yourself. Depending the the setup this can be done moving winch stand or the axles.

We are putting the trailer under the new to us 305 Express tomorrow. I am gear to see how thats going to tow. We got a Load Rite 18,000gvw trailer for it, if I can maintain 65mph without sway on the highway I'll call that a win!

 

[DennisG01]

My old 272 Sailfish would sway behind my 2500HD at 40mph if I did not get the boat far enough forward. If the boat was just 4-6" off front winch stop it would barely have any tongue weight. The boat was so heavy if it wasn't all the way forward when floating that was it, and before the ramp I use was redone it was a challenge. I only went a short distance with that boat so it wasn't a big deal.

General rule of thumb is 10% total weight should be on the tongue. I am sure a shop can do it, but its not hard to do yourself. Depending the the setup this can be done moving winch stand or the axles.

We are putting the trailer under the new to us 305 Express tomorrow. I am gear to see how thats going to tow. We got a Load Rite 18,000gvw trailer for it, if I can maintain 65mph without sway on the highway I'll call that a win!

Just a side note... that 10% is more about travel trailers/5th wheels. For boat trailers, the manufacturers recommend 5% to 7%.

 

[seasick]

I bought a used seafarer from a private party several months ago, and have noticed that it will sway. I’m towing with a Ford F250, in very good condition, and the trailer has just passed its safety inspection. I suspect the trailer is not balanced for the boat. Would a trailer retailer be able to balance this for me?

If the trailer is sized correctly, Yes. If the trailer is either oversized or undersized, maybe no.
By size, I don't mean weight capacity alone but also that the trailer can be adjusted to match the bow eye to transom distance of the hull.

 

[Hookup1]

A dealer was towing a 43' Invicible with tripps on it up to my storage place a few years back. The trailer was short but they used it anyway. A few miles up the Parkway on a clear dry day they went off the road and into the trees. No one was hurt but boat was totaled. Believed to be caused by too little tongue weight.

 

[Doc Stressor]

Too little tongue weight causes the trailer to sway as described above. It's the most common cause of trailer instability. You hear some suggestions that the tongue weight should be "a minimum of 7% of the total load". In my experience, that is incorrect. It needs to be between 10% to 15% of the total load. If that causes too much squatting, you need to beef up the rear suspension using any of the many after-market solutions. If you have too much tongue weight, the front end of the vehicle will tend to wander rather than track straight.

 

[DennisG01]

Too little tongue weight causes the trailer to sway as described above. It's the most common cause of trailer instability. You hear some suggestions that the tongue weight should be "a minimum of 7% of the total load". In my experience, that is incorrect. It needs to be between 10% to 15% of the total load. If that causes too much squatting, you need to beef up the rear suspension using any of the many after-market solutions. If you have too much tongue weight, the front end of the vehicle will tend to wander rather than track straight.

For a very light/small boat I agree - it's a good idea to go to a higher percentage. But the 5% -7% comes direct from the manufacturers that I deal with and is also coming from not only personal experience but also the hundreds of trailers we've set up for decades.

You can imagine that if you had a 10,000lb rig like the OP and put 15% on the tongue... that's WAY overkill. Even 10% would be.

The 10% to 15% recommendation is for 5-wheels because of the design of the trailer and that weight is carried in the middle of the truck bed, not on the tongue.

Not meant to be argumentative, Doc!

 

[Doc Stressor]

My experience was mostly with lighter boats and trailers when I lived out west. Mostly no more than 5000 total weight. So you may well be right.

I've only pulled my Grady with a 3/4 ton diesel tricked out to haul a 3000+ lb slide-in camper (airbags, adjustable shock, Bigwig anti-sway bar). I have a short trailer and the tongue weight is 12% with the airbags trimmed out level.

 

[DennisG01]

My experience was mostly with lighter boats and trailers when I lived out west. Mostly no more than 5000 total weight. So you may well be right.

I've only pulled my Grady with a 3/4 ton diesel tricked out to haul a 3000+ lb slide-in camper (airbags, adjustable shock, Bigwig anti-sway bar). I have a short trailer and the tongue weight is 12% with the airbags trimmed out level.

It's quite possible there was another variable at play with your setup that was unique, as well. In the end, all that matters is you got it dialed in for YOUR rig

 

[Doc Stressor]

Yeah, it's really a matter of tuning each rig. That's why I mentioned the handling characteristics of too much or too little tongue weight.

I just got a new 1/2 ton truck and I need to go through the process all over again.

 

[Andrew93]

Got the 305 Express on the trailer today, I am happy with how it sits, truck didn't seem as low in the rear in person as the picture shows. Also uneven surface. The boat was placed by a hauler and was a little low for this trailer, once we got the boat a little higher on the blocks it went pretty smooth.

 

[Hookup1]

Truck looks too low in back. Also looks like its still on the tongue jack. Get it out on some level road. check the trailer for level and see what the truck does.

Trailer looks capable. What's the truck capacity - payload and towing? I would get a tongue weight too.

 

[Andrew93]

Truck looks too low in back. Also looks like its still on the tongue jack. Get it out on some level road. check the trailer for level and see what the truck does.

Trailer looks capable. What's the truck capacity - payload and towing? I would get a tongue weight too.

Jack was off the ground, barely. Truck is capable, 2500HD Duramax. Truck is about 1” lower in rear compared to front when I measured tires to fenders, I can live with that. I have a new receiver hitch that will bring the trailer tongue up another 2”, won’t effect truck height but it will level the trailer some.

I’ll see how it tows in a few weeks before I change too much. Todays goal was getting the trailer under it.