Buffeting/ swaying feeling?

[Blue46garage]

I am very experienced towing things and building and adjusting hitches. I have towed large campers to small campers,car trailers and such. I have towed with cars ,vans ,1/2ton,3/4ton and 1 ton trucks. I have an issue towing with my 2021 Ram 1500 that I have been not been able to solve with hitch adjustments. My camper seems to be towing straight when I look in the mirror, I have had people follow me and they say it’s towing straight. I can let go of steering wheel and truck stays in the road fairly well. I feel like I am constantly correcting the truck. It has an uneasy feel when towing camper or enclosed car trailer. I have a Reece dual cam sway bars and added a friction type sway control. If I tighten it down extra tight it will feel stable.other than that it doesn’t feel as stable as it should. I can pull 75 mph and do fine,it just has an unsettling feeling that I never had in 40 plus years of towing setups. My camper pulled fine behind my last truck.2018 Ram 2500 which set higher and I am thinking the air went around it differently. this camper is only 3800 lbs dry weight. I also thought it might be squishy sidewalls on the tires and replaced with 8 ply. I am thinking a bed cover or topper might help if it’s air flow management I need. Has anyone else dealt with this and figured it out?

 

[pkman]

I have only towed u-haul trailers with this truck, but I have been towing my whole life with all types of tow vehicles. First time with this truck it felt very loose like you describe. Furthermore, on freeway off ramps, it would feel like the truck was steering on its own. After 25 miles or so, the sensation went away. I'm convinced the trailer sway programming in the truck had to learn how to act with the trailer

 

[silver billet]

My truck tows much more stable after swapping out the husky centerline WDH to the Anderson No Sway system. Probably the reason it works better is because there is a static force on the hitch (it uses chains), I found the suspension in the truck would bounce along with the suspension in the sway bars leading to more bounce than I liked. Since the Anderson uses chains, the only bounce left in the system is now the truck suspension. It tows like a dream, and no need to use friction sway bar either since it has it built in.

Not saying its the only way to fix it, but it fixed it for me

 

[Trooper4]

I have only towed u-haul trailers with this truck, but I have been towing my whole life with all types of tow vehicles. First time with this truck it felt very loose like you describe. Furthermore, on freeway off ramps, it would feel like the truck was steering on its own. After 25 miles or so, the sensation went away. I'm convinced the trailer sway programming in the truck had to learn how to act with the trailer

I tow a fiver at all speeds, and it is solid, even in some wind. I tow a box trailer, a 21' boat, and a dump trailer, and the mechanics of this truck just don't like it. I lay it to the coil springs. It tows the box trailer better because of the load leveler hitch, but the others can get uneasy in any wind. I changed to the Hollweg years ago and it cured body roll, and helped that squirrely feeling some. Because the pivot point is behind the truck, for some reason it likes lower speeds, so I stay pretty much in the 60mph range an it likes it a LOT better.

 

[Blue46garage]

Thanks for the response. It is good to know that others have experienced this or similar feeling when towing, and what you have done to improve it.

 

[silver billet]

Thanks for the response. It is good to know that others have experienced this or similar feeling when towing, and what you have done to improve it.

The Ram is the most comfortable ride in the half ton, but I guess we pay for that a little bit when towing. Win some, lose some. Some on here (@Gren71 ) have experimented with stiffer aftermarket springs. And as @Trooper4 mentioned the hellwig swaybar is quite popular as well. The swaybar is more for side to side and cornering control vs up and down porpoising but still a great buy.

 

[Blue46garage]

The up and down is controlled with the Reese equalizer bars with the dual cam sway control attached to them. The dual cam is outdated but has always worked well for me in the past. On this 21 Ram 1500 I had to add the friction type sway control to the set up,and it has to be very tight . I have thought for a long while that it is the way the air goes around the truck and hits the camper and trailer that is giving it this feel. Maybe it’s the multi link suspension. The 2018 Ram 2500 had the same suspension design but I guess was heavier,pulled this camper fine and I just set it on the ball and went. No bars or sway control. I had a much larger toy hauler and downsized the camper and then down sized the truck. The 2500 Cummins was a great truck,but I like the 1500 much better for every day driving.

 

[Mr.Grid]

I’m towing #7k 24’ enclosed car hauler 10k miles yearly with a 2022 Ram 1500. Prior was the 2011 Ram. My trucks tow best with front of trailer up to 1” lower than rear of trailer, Never level. I use a standard equalizer (no sway control) to lower front of truck by 1/2” minimum.

What you describe could possibly be improved by lowering front of trailer towing. I tow 65-70 mph.

 

[NorskieRider]

The 2018 Ram 2500 had the same suspension design but I guess was heavier,pulled this camper fine and I just set it on the ball and went. No bars or sway control. I had a much larger toy hauler and downsized the camper and then down sized the truck. The 2500 Cummins was a great truck,but I like the 1500 much better for every day driving.

I think the HD's all have a solid front axle and the 1500's are independent - maybe that's another part of the difference?
In addition to weight, there's vehicle length and spring rates to consider too.

 

[Gren71]

After selling the 1500 I have a set of tow springs and front/rear sway bars for sale… Just saying, Low hanging fruit for an inexpensive towing upgrade I also have a rollup and quad fold bed cover for the 1500 with the short bed. Some of it is already listed in the for sale thread but the rest I have to get posted up… With the ice/snow we just got here in Delaware I’ve got to wait until some of this crap melts

All that being said the best upgrades I did to help with trailer sway and truck squat were the cargo Max Springs, front+rear sway bars, and E rated tires. I had XL tires for a while but the E rated tires pumped up to 70 psi where a night and day improvement over the xl rated ones

 

[Blue46garage]

I think the HD's all have a solid front axle and the 1500's are independent - maybe that's another part of the difference?
In addition to weight, there's vehicle length and spring rates to consider too.

Yes the front axle was a straight axle on the 2500. I have had Chevy and ford trucks with independent front axles and never experienced this,but they had leaf springs for rear suspension.there is a slight difference in length because I have a quad cab instead of crew cab ,both trucks have the 6’4” bed.