i got a f-150 for the express purpose of towing a car trailer to the race track once a week.
last week i had it out for the first time and was rather disappointed with the amout of swaying. i found if i went over 60 or so the trailer began swaying uncontrollably and i had to back off to about 40mph to gather it back up. i dont believe i am exceeding the weight reccommendations with my car and trailer... so what can i do to improve towing manageability?

 

I've towed a bit and in my experience, too LITTLE tounge weight is worse than too much. If the truck isn't squatting much as it is, try moving the car forward on the trailer a bit. Also I am a big fan of weight distributing bars. They help more than anything I know of, especially when you are using a 1/2 ton truck. My .02 Hope it helps.

 

What he said about tongue weight is right on, also the f-150s are greatly improved with a rear sway bar

 

Another vote for increasing your tongue weight.

A tail-heavy trailer will sway uncontrollably at higher speeds, enough to throw the whole rig off the road. It is VERY dangerous. You never want to put the car on the trailer backwards either. I always watch my truck's rear end when positioning the car on the trailer and have learned how much "squat" will give me a good tow without overloading the rear springs.

I agree with expyusaf, too much squat isn't ideal, but its better than not enough squat.

 

thanks for the input fellas...

when i first had the problem swaying, i pulled over and moved the car as far forward as i could (it was back about 8"-12"). it helped but did not solve the problem. the only way i can think of to increase toungue weight is to add weight to the front of the trailer in the form of cinder blocks or something. (the trailer has a parts box on the front that is currently empty).

where can i grab myself a sway bar and weight distributing bars? common aftermarket items?

 

Sway Bar is a realllly easy install, took all of about an hour. Worst part was getting the undercoating off my hands/arms. Best upgrade I have done yet for trailer towing. Cost around $170 with shipping unless you can find a shop with one in stock.

http://www.hellwigproducts.com/


The hitch is a little harder. Not to install but harder in choosing. It seems that everyone has their personal favorite. I like the Equalizer since there are no chains and no guessing. Once it's set up then it's the same every time. Not putting down others, I just prefer this one. Don't know the cost as it came with as part of the deal on my TT.

http://www.equalizerhitch.com/

 

If none of those things help you could apply the novel concept of going the speed limit. Vehicles with trailers are limited to 55mph in most of CT.
Save your lead foot for the track, and tow safe.

 

Wah??? Maybe someone should tell all those tractor trailers and others out on the highways blasting down the roads at 70-75.

Where did you hear of such a thing?

 

yeah, towing on 1-95 at 55mph is WAY scarier than any swaying trailer.

thank you all for the input... i'm going to look into the sway bar and probably some type of stabilizer for the hitch...

 

You mentioned that you have a tool box on your trailer. I had the same problem with my trailer when I bought it (used). My box is 3 1/2 ft wide and about the same high. The box was an after thought. And the original owner towed a sprint car, so there wasn't any problem with weight distrubution. When I bought the trailer and put my Mustang on it, it did the same thing of running all over the place. I noticed that the back axle was loaded up because of the Center of Gravitiy being moved back.
I started out by putting lower and lower receivers in. I finally had to move the axles back 1 foot on the trailer. Once we did that, it changed every thing. It towes great. I have even gone up to 85 mph just to see if I could do it, but just to let everyone know, I usually drive the speed limit or 5 mph above.
I hope that you don't have to go to these extremes, but you may want to look at it. Good luck.

 

Most Camping stores sell a sway control. It's a damper that attaches from the trailer frame about a foot behind the coupling to the right side of the truck mounted hitch. You will need to weld-on a small coupling ball typically included with the sway bar. The bar has adjustments for more or less damping. The difference is night and day. Prior to having the sway control, I could not drive over 60 without the trailer swaying and either passing or being passed by semi's was a nightmare. Now at 70 the trailer does not move.

 

The friction sway control will give the most bang. They are usually in e-bay for around $50 ea. Stiff sidewall 6 or 8 ply tires can also help a lot. I installed a Helwig anti sway bar (not the friction type) on my F-250 and I could tell little difference in sway tendencies when pulling my travel trailer.
Earl

 

Sway bars are a good idea, but I would still address the tail heavy loading on your trailer. Its the center of gravity behind the trailer axles that's causing the problem. A tail heavy trailer can also actually lift the back of the truck up and take weight off of the rear wheels, decreasing traction and braking power. Even if it doesn't lift up on the truck, it won't be adding any or enough weight to it.

Equalizing bars are intended to distribute some of the tongue weight to the front axles, I don't think they'll do much to move the center of gravity forward on the trailer.

Sway bars are intended for camping trailers that have a large surface area and catch a lot of wind. They might help some on a car trailer, but its masking the problem, not solving it, and it still won't do any thing to move the center of gravity, or add weight to the drive axles of the truck.

Just a few thoughts before you spend a lot of money on towing accessories.