2012 ecoboost

[summit rookie]

Hey guys, My brother just bought a 2012 eco and I just bought a new stealth 7x27 enclosed. We were having trouble with the trailer swaying really bad so we put air lift bags in the rear but with the trailer loaded or empty it is still white knuckle sway at 55+mph. Has anyone had any issues with this. The truck has awesome power and no issues there just cant seem to get it to not sway. Any help would be great.

 

[Chubbydog]

Make sure the trailer is sitting level, and the weight is balanced proportionally through out the trailer. Other than that, I'm not really sure.

 

[locknload]

From my experience you need more weight in the front of the trailer, (in front of your most forward trailer axle) put your heavier sleds to the front and lighter to the rear. If your having issues empty (like above post says) make sure trailer is level if not a little lower in front, maybe even throw some weight in front of trailer and see if that helps any.

 

[meathooker]

From my experience you need more weight in the front of the trailer, (in front of your most forward trailer axle) put your heavier sleds to the front and lighter to the rear. If your having issues empty (like above post says) make sure trailer is level if not a little lower in front, maybe even throw some weight in front of trailer and see if that helps any.

+1. we had 2 sleds in the front of my trailer (28' enclosed) and it was stable towing at 80-85 from utah to idaho. then i put 2 sleds in the front (facing backwards) and a rzr in the back and it had a bit of swap. if we have the sleds loaded forward it feels more stable than if we have them in backwards (unless there is 5 backwards and the front most sled does a give extra tongue weight).

imo get as much weight in the front of your trailer as you can

 

[agalen]

If moving the weight around doesn't fix the issue I would run some quick calcs to see if the trailer is overloaded....they tend to sway alot if they are loaded past the gvw.

 

[meathooker]

just noticed that it sways unloaded. it may be an issue with the trailer. my dad built an enclosed back in the 90's and he's ridiculous about making sure everything is square and aligned. that trailer pulls steady no matter what. if your trailer was made on a friday afternoon it may be out of square somewhere causing it to be unstable. have you tried to power through the sways to 65 and see if it goes away? or does it get progressively worse?

 

[summit rookie]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I did just llok at the tires and they are not a load range E tire. I didn't relize some eco's came with a passenger rated tire.It might sound dumb but It may be a crappy tire issue.

 

[MORSNO]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I did just llok at the tires and they are not a load range E tire. I didn't relize some eco's came with a passenger rated tire.It might sound dumb but It may be a crappy tire issue.

It's a half ton truck, of course it came with P metric tires, they all do unless special ordered with an LT tire (which will be a C range).

Your problem is probably with the weight distribution on the trailer.

 

[Coldfinger]

Anti-sway shock?

Maybe this is only an option with a weight-distributing hitch, I don't know. I have the Blue-Ox setup on my camper and it has built-in anti-sway using the spring bar mounts.

On another note, you shouldn't need E rated tires. I used D rated tires which had the same load rating as my OEM E rated tires and it seemed to do just fine. The D rated tire was a little larger.

 

[Old Scud-doo]

I loaded sleds facing backwards once....once.

Swayed like crazy. Way too much weight towards the back. Also, try setting the front of the trailer down an inch or two on the hitch. That would add more weight to the front also. Good luck. Go even or low in the front. That's pretty sound advice.

 

[Nytroty]

If moving the weight around doesn't fix the issue I would run some quick calcs to see if the trailer is overloaded....they tend to sway alot if they are loaded past the gvw.

It's not overloaded. It sways when it's empty... and it has only had 2 or 3 sleds loaded in it so far so it has never even been close to the max GVW of the trailer.

 

[Nytroty]

It's a half ton truck, of course it came with P metric tires, they all do unless special ordered with an LT tire (which will be a C range).

Your problem is probably with the weight distribution on the trailer.

This makes sense except his half ton extended cab tows it fine... And the new ecoboost crew cab sways. Seems like it's something with the truck not the trailer. But it could just be the setup with hitch height and stuff...

 

[skywagon]

I've been towing two different two axle sled trailers since 1996. First pu was a 94 F-150 extended cab pulled the trailer good but always had a little sway. Went with a Charmac in 2002 and the 04 F-150 felt about the same. Bought a new 2006 F-150 crew cab and it was worse on swaying. It aways let me know I had a trailer behind it, and it had poor power with the 5.4 on a mountain pass here in the Colorado Rockies. Bought a new 2009 Dodge Laramie Hemi crew cab and what a difference. Pulls the sled trailer and you never know it's there. Hooked up my sons 4 place open trailer with four sleds on it and it towed it just as well as the two place enclosed. Also pull a two axle with a TJ rockcrawler on it to Moab, UT and at 80 you never know it's back there. I'm very impressed with the Dodge handling and the power, (70 up a mountain pass with the trailer behind it). Love the Dodge and I'v been a Ford man forever.

In late 2010 the tech doing some warrenty work caught the door on a lift backing it up and did $5,000 damage to it and fender. Dealership rented me a 2011 Chevy 4 door crew cab 1/2 ton, to use while the Dodge was repaired. Had it a month or so and towed my sled trailer several times and it was worse than my 2006 F-150. I was not at all impressed with the Chevy, didn't like anything about it.

The Dodge has a Lifetime drive train warrenty and I bought the lifetime that covers everthing but the brakes, shocks and exhaust. I hope no one ever hits the truck and totally ruins it, as you can't get that lifetime warrenty stuff anymore. Got 72,000 on it. Bear in mind we are talking only 1/2 ton truck line up.
Go Dodge, Ron

 

[Nytroty]

Last night we towed the trailer(Empty) with the 2012 crew ecoboost and it still swayed. Then towed it with Rookie's 07 f-150 extended cab with no sway. Then hooked it up to my 05 crew cab Chevy 1500 and towed it with no sway. It just seems weird... They are taking the truck and trailer into the dealer tommorow and the dealer said they would make it right. We will see. Keep any and all ideas coming in guys!

 

[summit rookie]

Just got back from the dealer. The truck has passenger tires. It was not suppose to have those so we are switching to LT tires the dealer is supplying.

Thanks yall

 

[LeviD]

Just got back from the dealer. The truck has passenger tires. It was not suppose to have those so we are switching to LT tires the dealer is supplying.

Thanks yall

Hope it helps that would be annoying to deal with. Why I bought a big heavy crew cab diesel and can't tell anything is ever behind me.

 

[AZ800]

Just got back from the dealer. The truck has passenger tires. It was not suppose to have those so we are switching to LT tires the dealer is supplying.

Thanks yall

If the dealer's covering the cost, then that's cool, but I've towed plenty of 14klb trailers with my '11 F150 with Timbrens in the rear to keep the back of the truck up and stock P metric tires. SOft tires will accentaute the swaying but IMO are not the cause of it.
Also FWIW I had those P car tires pumped up to about 55lbs in the back, no problem for about 20k mi until I got new skins (E rated). Never tried towing heavy with only 35psi in them because they looked half flat!
Seems stange that the truck is the issue. Every trailer sway problem I've had was due to not enough tongue weight or waaaaaaaaaay too much tongue weight. Never had sway bars or weight dist hitch either. Better to have a little too much tongue weight than too little.
Strange that the other trucks don't act the same. Try airing up the rear tires on the truck and see if it still happens.

 

[snokaw]

In my case, I feel it is the tires. I worked for a Ford dealer for a spell and had the chance to drive many truck and tire combos. I used a brand new F150 off the lot with stock tires to pull the white 28 foot trailer in the pictures it did the sway thing at 65-70 mph.

I swapped tires the day I bought my F150 Eco and put E rated BFGs. No sway pulling any of these trailers at any speed. I run about 53-55 pounds of air front and rear. It helps to have a bit of weight in the back of your truck. Even a few hundred pounds. It also helps to throw a few sand bags in the front of the trailer if it is empty.

I drove about 200,000 miles over the past 2 years, with about 140,000 miles pulling trailers behind pick-ups. Sometimes just moving the weight forward or back a foot will make a difference.

 

[niles]

I have had a brand new set of tires feel like its on banana peels. After a few hundred miles they hardened up and drove much better. Just a thought.

 

[Nytroty]

The E rated tires and the airbags haven't seemed to help it so far... Swayed like crazy yesterday coming home. Anymore ideas?