I have a 2003 dodge quad cab 1500 and I picked up a new camper travel trailer. Dealer installed a reese weight distribution hitch that i already had and even though i expressed my concern that the front didn't drop that much compared to the rear and they said it was fine and the bars were tight. I thought the front and rear were supposed to drop the same amount, but whatever the truck is a little lower in the rear, but it seamed ok.

The trailer is about 5,500 lbs with 700lbs on the tounge. Was pullin no problem down the freeway until some distance down the road the truck began to bounce at 55mph. backed off to 50 and it settled down but was still there. down to 45 and it went away. so back up to 55 i went and the bounce came back, i tried to accelerate to 60 and oddly enough i thought i felt it back off.

went back to 55mph and it rode smooth. continued another 5 miles and there it came back again. it feels like someone is jumping up and down in the bed of the truck. then it went away again and i never felt that again.

not a clue to what's going on. now there is snow everywhere and the trailer is parked for the winter. my next trip will be a 12 hour drive in may and i was hoping someone had an idea to what is going on. I'm hoping to gather as much information as i can so i can fix this quickly a week or 2 prior to my trip.

looking up online someone mentioned tire pressure. i keep the dodge at 35psi all the time. anyone change the psi when you are pulling?

any advice on the weight distribution hitch? the rear is quite higher than the front WITHOUT THE TRAILER and with the trailer hooked up the truck's rear is slightly lower than the front. did a quick pull with just a regular hitch and it didn't sag that much different that with the weight distribution hitch except it did like to sway on the highway. The weight distribution hitch is definitely helping out with the sway, but i don' think it's putting enough weight on the front end. i'm afraid if i tinker with this unit i would do damage to the truck, unfortunately that dealer is a good tankful of gas away.

 

Welcome to DF! Not sure I can help you but your thread is sinking to the bottom so I'll bump it up for you. I'm sure someone will come across this thread with valuable info.

 

Well when towing you need to have those tires filled to manafactures (truck or tires) specifications. If they are the stock tires the PSI will be listed on the drivers door/sill. If they are different tires I would inflate them to the maximum PSI listed on the sidewall when towing. If you have a lot of weight in the back or a good amount of tongue weight a set of good shocks ant rear airbags keep the trucks weight balance distributed evenly and keeps the up/down motions controlled. All of these combined will make a huge difference but try them in stages until you are happy.

 

Bag your truck. A good set of Air Lift or Firestone bags will make a night and day difference towing.
You can start as low as about $200 for a set of air bags that you manually fill from any air source or can opt for more expensive setups with on-board air compressors and automatic leveling systems.

 

^^^^^ I got airbags. Luv'em. Your front of your truck won't sag like the rear because there is no weight up front. Actually, more weight on the hitch will actually lift the front up slightly.
The bouce is prob from the wind hitting the trailer and lifting it off the hitch. Or I should say creates less weight on the hitch. Then inevitably, the weight settles back down and then you have a reocurring problem. Bounce. Bags will stop this. Your rear suspension is very cushiony with 700lbs pushing down out as far as the bumper.

My bags took 1 hour for install and required no drilling. HERE Super easy, but you cannot install these on a lifted truck. They sit right over the axle and wedge between the frame and axle. Very solid contact point which is why i bought them plus no drill means easy removal too.
For lifted trucks you need THESE
The AIRlift brand can go on lifted or stock height trucks as the mount attaches to the leaf spring. The top part will need to be either drilled for bolting it or simply welding the upper bracket to the outside of your frame.

The Arnott bags are NOT visible at all unless you crawl under the truck where as the Airide brand you can see them through the wheel well.

 

He has a weight distributing hitch. The whole point of that type of hitch is to redistribute weight from the back to the front and spread the load around. They normally make for a smoother, sway free ride.

5500 lbs isn't so much that you should need bags to deal with. I tow that much with just a regular receiver and I don't bounce. It sounds like two things are happening here. First, the hitch isn't set up right. Second, you have too much weight on the hitch. You should only have about 10% of the trailer weight on the hitch to make a smooth ride. Try adjusting your trailer axle forward a bit.

 

Get Ladder bars.

 

Let's not have the guy unnecessarily moddng his truck with bags and bars when the problem is in the hitch. All that stuff is expensive bandaids for a problem based on improper trailer/hitch setup.

 

Well I don't have a weight distributing hitch and tow a 7700 lbs. Kubota tractor plus dual axle trailer. I don't bounce either. I DO have air bags. Among other positive attributes, the bags keep the rear of the vehicle up, moving the center mass of the weight rearward and off the tongue.
I'm not saying your wrong, but my $200 "band aide" works just fine, thank you...

 

Let me get this out of the way- I don't want to sound too cocky here, but I KNOW I am right. A weight distributing hitch is superior to a set of bags any day. Bags do not move weight onto the forward axle and they don't actively combat sway. They simply mask the problems of improper trailer setup and/or too heavy of a load for the stock springs.

Now, there is nothing wrong with a set of bags, BUT the guy ALREADY HAS a weight distributing hitch. The only solution you guys are throwing at him is to go buy more parts. And THAT is why I am calling them bandaids. He doesn't need new parts, he needs his trailer and hitch setup properly.

Obviously my point was missed that I tow the same weight without any bouncing. Why is that? Because my trailer is setup properly for my tow vehicle.