I took my new travel trailer out for a test drive yesterday for the first time.

My setup:
2009 4x4 SCREW
20" wheels (came with extra leaf spring in 2009 - 4 leaf springs)
2" AS leveling kit (lifted ~2.5")
Firestone air springs - inflated to 30 PSI
Reese straight-line WD hitch with sway control

Trailer: Keystone Laredo 30LT - 32', ~7000 lbs (6750 dry), ~700 lb tongue (585 dry + battery + 60 lbs propane + very heavy hitch)

No sway issues, but the rear bounced like the shocks were shot. I am assuming that this is because of the extra weight and spring rate being incompatible with my stock shocks.

My plan: Replace stock rear shocks with Bilstein 5100s. As near as I can tell, the 5100s are nearly identical to the HD shocks, except that they can work with 1" lift (no value to me here) and are nickel plated instead of yellow (which I prefer). Does this sound like a good plan?

 

Before buying anything I would play around a little.

Bounce the loaded and hitched truck and see what's happening.

Is the trailer out of balance?
Try different WD tension settings
Is the truck tires squishing causing the bounce?
Is there too little or too much air in the air bags?
Is the bounce originating from the front shocks being worn?
Are the rear shock worn?

 

Is the trailer new as well? Have u towed in the past without issue? Too much weight towards the rear of trailer? How do u load your weight distributing hitch? Sounds like it didn't have enough tongue weight after adjustments if it was bouncing that bad. I am relatively new to towing, but loaded mine up by releasing all of weight onto hitch and then latching it in, then raise about 2 inches or so and crank the wd bars up to match and once they are latched release trailer back down. That seemed to give enough tongue weight. Does that sound right?

 

You want more like 900 pounds of tongue weight. You should weight it.

 

The trailer is also new. Its factor claim on weight is 6750 dry with a 585 lb tongue. I had a deep cycle battery and 60 lbs of LP in the front, and 50 lbs of stuff or so in the front compartment, so the tongue weight should have been close to 700 lbs. The rest of the trailer was empty.

I installed a set of Bilstein 5100s this afternoon. I will report back when I take the trailer out again on how they worked. My initial observations is that they are trivial to install (~5 minutes / side), have various opinions on whether to install boot-up or boot-down (I installed boot-down) and ride nearly identical to my stock shocks when empty. Also, the claim to handle a 0" - 1" rear lift, yet they are identical in length to my stock shocks.

I plan to weigh the truck with the trailer installed and the trailer as well soon. I know that my truck weighs 6370 with me in it with a full tank of gas.

 

You want more like 13% tongue weight, not less than 10%. Dry weight was probably not shipping weight; I bet you're more like 7800 pounds ready to travel. You're probably over GVWR of the truck by 500 pounds with a 2009 King Ranch. Shocks will help, but they are designed for the weight/GVWR/payload for your truck along with the shocks. I think you really need a bigger truck. Until then, find out what your actual weights are and adjust accordingly.

 

Are you running "p" metric tires? They will give a squishy ride. You need some LT's with stiffer sidewalls

 

Answering several helpful comments here:

I do have the OEM Pereli ATR P275/55r20 tires. I have them inflated to 42 PSI. I will consider the Michelin LT285/55r20 LTX AT tires when I replace them, but they are really expensive and I am concerned how a Load Range E tire will affect my ride.

My GVWR is technically 7200 lbs. In 2009 and 2010, you could upgrade the SCREW to 7625, which as near as I can tell, only added a leaf to the back. Oddly enough, in 2009 (and only in 2009) you also got the extra leaf with the 20" wheels. Given that I have the extra leaf (plus air springs), I am comfortable with up to 7625 lbs on my truck wheels. That said, I went to the scales yesterday. My truck without the trailer, with me in it and 1/2 tank of gas weighs about 6260 lbs (I have weighed it with a full tank at 6370 lbs, gas is 6 lbs / gallon).

Note: The fresh water tank had about 40 gallons of water (320 lbs) in it and I had ~200 lbs of other gear in the camper.

Total Rig weight: 13680 (much less than the 15,100 lb GCWR for my truck)
Trailer + rear axle: 10380 lbs (drove the front axle off of the scale)
Trailer only (less tongue w/ WD hitch): 6600 (drove the truck off of the scale)

By my calculations, the trailer weighs 13680 - 6260 = 7420 lbs
Tongue wt (w/ WD hitch): 820 lbs
Total weight on truck: 13680 - 6600 = 7080 (with me in it)
Front Axle weight = 13680 - 10380 = 3300 lbs (rated for 3750 lbs per door sticker)
Rear Axle weight = 10380 - 6600 = 3780 lbs (rated for 4000 lbs per door sticker)

I am within my limits (per 7200 lb door sticker) without my family in the truck, and will be well within 7625 GVWR with my family included. Adding family + gear will likely add less than 1000 more lbs to the rig, so I should still be OK. I could use more horsepower for climbing hills on the highway though. Next year, I will consider the Edlebrock E-Force supercharger if this is a big problem.

As far as the bouncing sensation, it is better with the Bilstein 5100s, but still there. I think that the length of the cams on my Reese straight-line hitch may not be adjusted quite right; this might be causing an oscillation. I will adjust them the next time I go out.

 

What weight WD bars do you have? I have a similar setup but am using 1200lb bars. 1000lb'ers still created bounce, the stiffer the better. Also have you measured your truck front and back empty then compared the #'s hitched up? You should'nt have anymore than 1" sag in the rear and the front should be within 1/2" of the unloaded hieght. Preferebly the front should be the same or slightly lower when hitched. That way you are are transfering some hitch weight to the front, rear and to the TT.

 

What is the max pressure stamped on the sidewall? DO NOT EXCEED that.

You don't need a load range E. A load range C will be plenty, as long as the max load stamped on the sidewall is at least as much as the factory tires.

 

I have the Reese "Straight-Line" hitch, which is just their standard trunion WD hitch with anti-sway cams. I have the 800 lb bars, which is Reese's recommendation. My understanding is that if the trunion bars are too stiff, it hurts the anti-sway capability.

My sidewalls say that the tire is rated to 44 PSI. I agree, and wouldn't exceed that. There are almost no LT tires in a 275/55r20. The only couple close are Load range E. If you know of a Load range C or D LT tire in that size, please let me know.

 

Tire Rack doesn't list *ANY* "LT" rated tires in that size, but they have several "XL" (extra load) models in "S", "H", and "V" speed ratings. It looks like they are rated for 2830# at 50 psi. They are a mixture of various use tires.

 

In 285/55r20 (almost the same size), I can get the BFG in a load range D or the Michelin LTX AT in a load range E. I am not sure that either would be ideal for my situation. Most of the time, I am not towing. I will look into the XL tires when I replace my ATR's.

 

I'm assuming the XL's would have stronger sidewalls than the standard "P".

 

Tongue wt (w/ WD hitch): 820 lbs
800lb bars are to lite. With your TT weighing 7420 you should have between 10-15% tongue weight which is 742 to 1113lbs. the optimum tongue weight would be 13% or 964lbs. Your 800lb bars are just to weak to lift your 820+whatever you have in your truck. I would get 1200lb bars. Also you really need to go to some scales and weight the TT. Just guessing at weights is like chasing your tail. Reese's 1200lb bars are rated @600-1200 so you would be in the middle range with the bars.