New camper - Sag issue

[JasonH]

I also have a 2017 EL and a 31' trailer. The dry weight is likely a fiction, I wouldn't rely on it for anything. Also, if your family is anything like mine, you're loading hundreds of pounds of gear into the trailer. I also use a Husky Centerline WDH.

The best way to get everything set up correctly is to go to a truck stop and weigh the vehicles when you're loaded up for a trip. The first time I pulled the trailer, I traveled solo from CA back home to TX. My bars had to be adjusted when I loaded up for a trip with the family. I have a tongue weight scale, but the problem is that it doesn't tell you how much weight you have taken off the rear axle when the springs bars are adjusted. I would weigh the loaded trailer, adjust bars to equalize drop between the front and rear, then take it to a truck scale for verification of weight distribution.

 

[mactlc]

I have the same setup, a 2015 EL, 2017 2920BH with a Husky Center line TS WDH. Because we are close on weight I purchased a tongue scale with very little in the front storage compartment, battery and Propane the TW is 750 to 800 plus pounds. I have the WDH set so there is one and a half inches sag in the rear and no rise in the front. I have 4,000 miles towing through Colorado, UTAH and Wyoming and have never experienced sway or any issues while towing. It did take me three times running through the setup to get the WDH to how I like it. Due to the high TW I do not put anything in back of the Expy except passengers and I am very careful to load the trailer with the bulk of the weigh over the axles or in the rear (I use the tongue scale to keep at least 10% TW)

 

[Ellie Pierce]

I am a new Expy owner 2018 Limited with HD tow package and a lot of other bells and whistles as it turn out. We tow a 25’ Airstream and I recently hooked up our Expy to set up the trailer with the car’s system and ran into a few unexpected features.
Sag in the rear axle being a big one. I followed the owners manual when setting up our weight distribution hitch and had to go online with Ford to find out IF I had a suspension leveling system with our Expy. Turns out we DO. I still don’t know what package option this falls under....
There is a completely different set up needed when the Expy has this self leveling system. I needed to drive the Expy around without the distribution hitch on for 2 miles @ 25mph so the car’s computer brain adjusts to the weight of the trailer w/o WDH attached. Measure front tire well distance after the 2 mile set up and THEN attach the WDH to level the front wheel well. After completing the steps and inputting numbers for trailer blind spot detection, etc the car should remember the trailer. You can input up to 10 different trailers to this car.
The result is that the ball sits much better in the coupler and the trailer is riding evenly.
This set up was NOT EASY and remains a bit of a mystery. I used tow with a Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel that also self leveled but the back end never sagged like this and it had less GVWR than the Expy.
I would feel a lot better if there was less sag in the back end. I wish the wheel well difference was more even in the two axles.
If you are tired reading this, imagine trying to do it!

 

[chuck s]

I'll be curious how this procedure works out. I have specifically avoided this type of suspension on both Expeditions.

All we ever did with the suspension leveling systems on any vehicles was to turn it Off, then set the WDH as if this feature didn't exist, and finally turn the suspension back on when all set to take the last 1/4" out of the system. That worked. No doubt this will as well.

-- Chuck

 

[Ellie Pierce]

Thanks Chuck. Now all I have to do is find out how to shut off the suspension leveling in the settings. I found neutral tow in the settings, pushed it and then got a message to the effect of this is not available. I was NOT hooked up to the trailer so maybe it makes a difference when it senses the trailer??
TBC

 

[chuck s]

Neutral tow is for towing your Expedition behind your Prevost H3-45 VIP motorhome, not towing a trailer.

It may not be possible to turn off the self leveling suspension on our trucks. It's hydraulic not air as some earlier suspensions were years ago.

-- Chuck

 

[Ellie Pierce]

Re: above neutral tow...I now know what that means
Need to call dealer (argh) to find out if I can disable the suspension leveling system...

 

[chuck s]

After completing the steps and inputting numbers for trailer blind spot detection, etc

?? Never seen a reference to this anywhere.

-- Chuck

 

[RustyOval]

I agree with many other that your issue is simply a set up tweak needed. My camper is about the same size as yours and it took me four times to get the WDH set up correctly. Most likely you will need to tilt your hitch head back some more. The more your bars angle to the ground, the more weight you will transfer to the front axle.

Imagine the distribution bars as handles on a wheel barrow, as you lift them up, weight transfers to the wheel. A WDH works the same way, if there is not enough tension on them they will not transfer the weight to the front. A tape measure on a level surface will tell you all you need to know.

BTW, I never tow with full tanks.

 

[LokiWolf]

15-17’s Load Leveling is mechanical. No “System”. It is a set of NivoMat shocks. They are an option, and do not come as part of the HD Tow Setup. You have to drive around for them to compensate some, then set your WDH up.



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[LokiWolf]

Also, as far as I have ever seen on spec sheets or window stickers, there is NO load leveling on the 18+. The CCD might factor rear load in, but I haven’t seen any write up on it.


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[Ellie Pierce]

After completing the steps and inputting numbers for trailer blind spot detection, etc
?...
Some part of our 2018 tow package options include a self parking knob for the trailer as well as the car (separated from trailer). It kind of cool to turn a knob to back up the trailer with your hands off the wheel. Just using gas & brake. The sensors (mainly reverse camera) find a sticker that is placed on the trailer neck and once it has a few measurements inputted in the set up it will also have a blind spot indicator for the entire trailer if activated in menu. Pretty cool actually.

 

[Ellie Pierce]

Thanks for your help with this! Will have plenary of time to tweak the WDH setting as we drive from WA to UT and back in the coming months. When it stops snowing in WA that is...

 

[TX_Trails]

DELETE

 

[TX_Trails]

DELETE

 

[TX_Trails]

Hello everyone and thank you very much for all of your replies. I took the trailer to a moderately level location and went through the motions on the hitch setup. I do not have a motorized lift so there was a lot of cranking involved... I am mostly happy with the outcome and have a half inch drop on the rear and a half inch rise on the front. This is a vast improvement from before and looks much better. I had not adjusted the hitch after buying the trailer and hitch from the previous owner. I did not really know much about it as this is my first travel trailer.

With the new adjustments the trailer and expy sit better but the cradles for the sway arms are at their highest points. For any of you Husky CenterLine TS owners you will understand my frustration when the L shaped locks would not fit into place as they should. I have them in backwards but this bothers me to no end. I think it is safe but I do dwell on it.

I pulled it up into Oklahoma last Friday and had a 20+ mph wind hitting me at an angle across the driver's front. Sway was a nightmare and I told the wife I'd be buying an F250 soon. I felt like I kept hitting patches of ice. The drive home was simple with no sway though I sometimes felt that the expy didn't have a ton of power as I went up hills and cars started passing me. I could floor it but didn't feel that it would be great for the engine to constantly be going through that. Gas mileage was 8.5 going back home.

I was having some problems with this site and posted multiple responses. If someone knows how to delete them, please let me know.

View media item 6742

 

[JerEazy]

check your set-up again or call husky - based on the picture it looks like you're a little nose high on the trailer

 

[Fasttimes]

A 20mph cross wind will never be fun that is for sure. But I would definitely call Husky. I think you are still too light in the front. There needs to be more adjustments that can be done to correct that.

 

[chuck s]

Are these before and after photos? Look the same to me. Yep nose high on the trailer and weight taken off the front, steering axle since it lifted. That makes steering light. Sometimes dangerously light.

To lower the nose of the trailer will require lowering the ball a hole at a time. Then adjusting the weight bars to get some weight back on the truck front axle (it's unloaded now since it's higher than stock) which will, of course, raise the back of the truck again....

Sometimes requires an afternoon. And an electric tongue jack is vital for this size trailer.

A 20mph cross wind should not be any bother if setup right.

-- Chuck

 

[TX_Trails]

Are these before and after photos? Look the same to me. Yep nose high on the trailer and weight taken off the front, steering axle since it lifted. That makes steering light. Sometimes dangerously light.

To lower the nose of the trailer will require lowering the ball a hole at a time. Then adjusting the weight bars to get some weight back on the truck front axle (it's unloaded now since it's higher than stock) which will, of course, raise the back of the truck again....

Sometimes requires an afternoon. And an electric tongue jack is vital for this size trailer.

A 20mph cross wind should not be any bother if setup right.

-- Chuck

Chuck, all of these last posts are after photos. The before photo is in the very first post of this thread. I can't figure out how to delete the above posts - the website was running very slowly while I was trying to post my recent response. After hitching up the trailer, my expy front comes up 1/2 inch and the back goes down 1/2 inch. You are the second person to say that the front of the trailer looks high. I don't see it and from measuring the frame, front and back, they are the same distance from the ground. Not sure what I'm missing here.. Also not sure about that cross wind statement. You are saying that I should not have felt that sway at all? Also, I think I am at the bottom of the holes for that hitch so not sure how I'd get the ball lower except through the washers to recline the ball some more.