Towing tire side wall suggestions
#2322687
06/17/17 05:32 PM
06/17/17 05:32 PM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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I am chasing sway. Two years ago I bought a 2014 Ram 1500 4x4. Later we bought our first travel trailer which is 23 feet long. I upgraded shocks, bought Toyo Open Country ATs (replaced the factory Wanglers) and installed air springs. This weekend we went out and the truck feels stable but I feel too much tire sidewall flex. I like the truck and not likely to upgrade to 3/4 ton so I am looking for suggestions for tires that won't flex. I like the looks of the Toyos on the truck but comfort when towing is more important. A stiffer sidewall road tire is what I am thinking but not sure what.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2322696
06/17/17 05:54 PM
06/17/17 05:54 PM
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,228 Colleyville
3hundred
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I Live Here
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What you're looking for is a commercial grade "all steel" tire. Michelin XPS RIB is my favorite, many others in this class. You WILL notice a degradation in ride quality, not too bad though.
'68 Fury Convertible '69 300 Convertible '15 Durango 5.7 Hemi '16 300 S Hemi
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2322827
06/17/17 11:11 PM
06/17/17 11:11 PM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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I do have a WDH. It does help to level the truck and transfer the weight back on the front "axle". I use the WDH to put the truck back to normal ride height then add 15 psi to the air springs to minimize the bounce. The tires on it now are E rated and are rated for a maximum of 80 psi. Today I ran 60 psi in the rear ones. Will another 20 psi significantly stiffen the side wall? I see people towing bigger campers than mine with 1500s.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2322831
06/17/17 11:14 PM
06/17/17 11:14 PM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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This how it looked when I thought I had a good set up.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: 79powerwagon]
#2322851
06/18/17 12:12 AM
06/18/17 12:12 AM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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Does your trailer have the proper tongue weight? If it's too light, you'll never solve any of your problems with tires! The more I think about this the more I think, could this be what's happening? Just the opposite of the tire side wall rolling around is there just not enough load on them? Everything I read says get the front bumper within 1/2" of normal ride height with the WDH. The tongue weight of the trailer is theoretically around 450 to 500 pounds. The trailer is somewhere around 4000 pounds.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2322856
06/18/17 12:24 AM
06/18/17 12:24 AM
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 993 Mid Michigan
Mr. Smurf
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super stock
Joined: Mar 2007
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Mid Michigan
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Did you try it without the wdh? Looks to me like you are taking off to much tongue weight, the front of the trailer is higher than the back. Try it without inflating the airbags......
Don't worry about the front bumper height, doesn't matter as long as it handles well.
Ed
Last edited by Mr. Smurf; 06/18/17 12:24 AM.
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2322931
06/18/17 09:24 AM
06/18/17 09:24 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,728 places
79powerwagon
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A trailer tongue weight should be 8-12% of the whole weight to tow properly and safely. I was a trailer engineer for 5 years. Our biggest challenge was to get the tongue weight right, and it is up to teh user to have the adequate hitch for it. Your camper appears to be light-fronted, meaning the axles are too far forward. The manufacture probably did that on purpose so CUV's can tow it with their small hitches. If you own a set, or have a friend who has some wheel scales for racing, run that loaded camper onto the scales and see what teh numbers are. Have one under the tongue coupler too. Just a guess, but I'd think each of the 4 wheels would be like 1200 pounds, and the coupler should be around 430 to 520 lbs. If not, repack/load the trailer to get that, and I'd bet it'll tow like a dream!
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2322933
06/18/17 09:26 AM
06/18/17 09:26 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,728 places
79powerwagon
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The proportions of the numbers, not those exact numbers... The other thing we'd tell customers is to make sure you tow your trailer level, meaning the trailer should be level, not teh tow vehicle. If your headlights point too high up when towing, then correct your tow vehicle, but always have teh trailer frame level. That's why "they" make all those hitch drop options.
Last edited by 79powerwagon; 06/18/17 09:29 AM.
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2323050
06/18/17 01:57 PM
06/18/17 01:57 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio
Challenger 1
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I do have a WDH. It does help to level the truck and transfer the weight back on the front "axle". I use the WDH to put the truck back to normal ride height then add 15 psi to the air springs to minimize the bounce. The tires on it now are E rated and are rated for a maximum of 80 psi. Today I ran 60 psi in the rear ones. Will another 20 psi significantly stiffen the side wall? I see people towing bigger campers than mine with 1500s. Heck yes ! 20 pounds more air pressure will make a big difference for the better in your truck tires. You should run your tires at max air pressure when towing on both the truck and trailer. Actually it's better to be over filled on the trailer tires by 10 PSI. I think the front of the trailer needs to be lowered by a couple inches and add more tongue weight and I bet you will be good then without buying new tires. A friction sway control is nice too and should be considered with a short WB truck.
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2323108
06/18/17 03:19 PM
06/18/17 03:19 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 16,133 Mesa, Arizona
dart4forte
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I Live Here
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Mesa, Arizona
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I am chasing sway. Two years ago I bought a 2014 Ram 1500 4x4. Later we bought our first travel trailer which is 23 feet long. I upgraded shocks, bought Toyo Open Country ATs (replaced the factory Wanglers) and installed air springs. This weekend we went out and the truck feels stable but I feel too much tire sidewall flex. I like the truck and not likely to upgrade to 3/4 ton so I am looking for suggestions for tires that won't flex. I like the looks of the Toyos on the truck but comfort when towing is more important. A stiffer sidewall road tire is what I am thinking but not sure what. Something I learned about aftermarket trailer manufacturers is that they eyeball the placement of the axles. From the time I bought my 2008 trailer I would have excessive tire wear. It also seemed that the trailer swayed quite a bit. Took it into a shop that specialized in trailer alignments. As expected the axles were way off. Had the axles properly aligned. We also found the spring perches were not fully welded. Now, with the axles aligned, the spring perches fully welded, new greaseable pins and running good quality 10 ply tires installed I haven't had one issue with the handling of the trailer.
“So if it’s on the internet it must be true”
Abe Lincoln
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: mopars4ever]
#2323205
06/18/17 06:51 PM
06/18/17 06:51 PM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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The hitch should be adjustable to lower it so you can put more weight on the tongue and level out the trailer. It does look a little light on the front from the pic. You could take it to a trailer shop on have them set the tonque weight for you. The hitch came with the trailer when I bought everything from the previous owner. I have adjusted the the height of the hitch as low as it is designed to go. I also leaned the centerline of the ball back back a few degrees. I did not know trailer axles could just be hap hazardly installed. I realize travel trailers aren't assembled with much craftsmanship but the axles seems like a good place to be a little more careful. I'll have to look into letting a trailer place look at it. What I can do is not load the leveling bars quite as much for sure. I do have a Curt friction sway bar that I use. dart4forte what kind of tire wear? Mine are wearing on the edges some. I just figured it was the nature of the beast with the grinding from having dual axles.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2340006
07/19/17 09:47 PM
07/19/17 09:47 PM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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Does this make sense? If a 10 ply rated tire has has high pressure does it cause the tire to have less contact with the road? This weekend I I lowered the pressure in the tires from 65 psi to 50 psi and the truck became more stable. I'm thinking perhaps the center of the tread pattern was bowed out without enough force on it to flatten it out.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2342083
07/23/17 07:26 PM
07/23/17 07:26 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,163 Plymouth, MI
Blusmbl
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Plymouth, MI
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I agree with Challenger- you want the tires at the max air pressure while towing. Running them underinflated can lead to the tire overheating and failing. I would not go over the rated pressure cold though.
From the picture it looks like you need to lower the tongue of the trailer. You should have no problems towing a trailer like that with a 1500 provided it has adequate tongue weight. Get more weight on the tongue by moving stuff around in the trailer and/or go with a bigger drop on the ball mount/WD hitch.
I've towed enclosed trailers similar to that with my 05 1500 without a weight distributing hitch or airbags added to the truck with no issues at all.
'18 Ford Raptor, random motorcycles, 1968 Plymouth Fury III - 11.37 @ 118
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Re: Towing tire side wall suggestions
[Re: dfsmopars]
#2342206
07/23/17 11:54 PM
07/23/17 11:54 PM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,356 Kentucky
dfsmopars
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Ordered a longer drop hitch and removed a carrying deck off the rear bumper that came with it that I never used.
‘72 Charger, 5.9 Magnum, Tremec 5 spd., Pro-Touring ‘14 Big Horn, Quad Cab, 4x4, 1500
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