When I trailer my 21' boat on the highway, the trailer wants to sway from side to side when I go downhill. At one point last year it swayed so bad I thought I was going to lose it. I was told that it could be that there is too much weight behind the axle of the trailer. Any ideas? I'm leaving for a 4 hour drive this weekend. Should I move the winch frame of the trailer forward a little?
Trailer sway
- Thread starter ruffian31
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Coolbreeze767
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+1 on the additional tongue weight plus a small add-on sway bar will help to.
If dual flip your hitch and raise the height of the tounge. I tow heavy boats and campers and if you have too much weight on the front axel it will sway. Raise the angle of your trailer so that it's higher than level at the hitch by about 1-3 inches.
This will instantly stop the sway . If you can't pick up the tounge of your trailer at all you have plenty of weight on it.
By adding weight as suggested by others you will increase your problem as you will be pressing down more on the car/truck rear and increasing the wrong downward angle.
More weight on rear tires than front if a dual axel trailer.
If it's a single axel .......... Never mind
This will instantly stop the sway . If you can't pick up the tounge of your trailer at all you have plenty of weight on it.
By adding weight as suggested by others you will increase your problem as you will be pressing down more on the car/truck rear and increasing the wrong downward angle.
More weight on rear tires than front if a dual axel trailer.
If it's a single axel .......... Never mind
The old rule of thumb is that the tongue weight should be approximately 10% of the total boat and trailer weight, ie, if the total is 3000lbs the tongue should be about 300lbs.
You will have to have it weighed then move it forward enough to get the proper tongue weight.
A bathroom scale will suffice if it has sufficient capacity. On a level surface.
You will have to have it weighed then move it forward enough to get the proper tongue weight.
A bathroom scale will suffice if it has sufficient capacity. On a level surface.
Well he still could have to much weight behind the axles, I'm assuming its a roller trailer and professionally built vs a homemade trailer.
Then he should kinda center the boats weight over both axles and can achieve that by checking each tires weight.
And yes you can do that with a bathroom scale using the plank / blocks and scale method.
You will be comparing the front axles weight to the rear axles weight with boat on trailer, hooked to truck ands on a level surface.
Also if the trailer is proper for the boat you know you want your rear rollers somewhere near the transom. If your boat looks out of place on your trailer then it provably is.
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Best way is to weigh the boat on the trailer at at truck stop that way you know what you're starting with. To increase tongue weight you can either move the axles back, or the boat foward (you have 4" from the rollers to the transom so you can move it fwd a bit). Most boat trailer companies recommend 5- 7% on the trailer tongue. What kind of tires do you have on that trailer, if you have car radials that can definitely cause sway. Trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls to combat sway....
On my single axle I moved the axle back, the boat foward a bit and I have about 300 on the tongue, boat weighs about 3700 total so that's about right. I use Air Lift air bags in the rear coils on the Jeep to keep it from sagging....
On my single axle I moved the axle back, the boat foward a bit and I have about 300 on the tongue, boat weighs about 3700 total so that's about right. I use Air Lift air bags in the rear coils on the Jeep to keep it from sagging....
Your trailer is not tracking correctly.
Another reason is that you maybe having a trailer break problem . One side or one tire may be getting more juice than the other side. This would start that condition you stated. Then what you do after that either stops it or it gets worst.
Don't tell me that your front axel has the brakes and your rears have none.
Your to light on your rear axel and the cheap cure and test is to raise your ball and try it again.
Another reason is that you maybe having a trailer break problem . One side or one tire may be getting more juice than the other side. This would start that condition you stated. Then what you do after that either stops it or it gets worst.
Don't tell me that your front axel has the brakes and your rears have none.
Your to light on your rear axel and the cheap cure and test is to raise your ball and try it again.