New Owner with a Herky Jerky Ride! Help!

[AlibyOK]

Hello "camp in pa". I also experience serious stomach churning - speech hindering jerking when traveling on the concrete Highway 285 out of Denver. Seems like we have similar setups. I have a Toyota Sienna with a TM 2619. I was even wondering about putting shocks onto the trailer?

Have you been able to resolve this issue?

Originally Posted by AlibyOK

Hello "camp in pa". I also experience serious stomach churning - speech hindering jerking when traveling on the concrete Highway 285 out of Denver. Seems like we have similar setups. I have a Toyota Sienna with a TM 2619. I was even wondering about putting shocks onto the trailer?

Have you been able to resolve this issue?

FYI. The thread you posted to is about 8 years old, and the last time the member you questioned posted was over 3 years ago. Other members may offer input but you may not hear from this member.

[LoveToCamp]

Aliby, I have towed my pop-up, and a utility trailer along there. They both do the same thing. I have not traveled that section with my TM, yet. I don't think it is the trailer/TV setup. It is just a bad concrete contractor. Highlands Ranch Parkway does it, also.

I contacted CDOT about new concrete at C-470 & Quebec about a year ago, and they milled it. I let them know I thought they used shoddy contractors, as 285 and HRP do the same thing (HRP is not them, but I bet it was the same contractor). You may want to notify CDOT, and see if they do anything.

[thewayneo]

Recently, I traveled that same stretch of 285, not with my TM but with my 5X8 utility trailer. I actually pulled over thinking I was getting a flat tire.

Ok, I feel better now. I don't get near the jerky ride you guys are talking about, but I do get a lot of bucking at times.....

Now I see why... I had a long discussion about tires once with the guy who replaced mine. About how you should run less than the number stamped on the tire, to allow for pressure changes when the tire got hot while driving. So I've always inflated to what it says on the door...

So the same is true for the TM? I should have both the camper and the TM aired up to the max?

I agree with the above posts about tire pressures and harmonic waves. There should also be mention of balancing loads on the TM, front and back, as much as possible.

Picture a seesaw. If one puts a 100 pound child on the far side and a 50 pound child on the near side, then you know what happens. But now picture a wagon of confetti hitched to the near side. The 100 pound child climbs on and the near side still crashes but more slowly. Fill that wagon with manure and the light weight child hardly moves at all. Every bump in the highway moves the TM hitch first as the TV goes over the bump, and then again as the TM goes over the bump. Reducing the weight imbalance in the TM lessons the excess force that rocks the hitch up and down.

Lesson. Put 50 pounds of all that unbalanced "manure" you carry either in the trunk of the TV or spread the "manure" out in the TM more evenly.

Do an Internet search for RV chucking, which is an effect caused by the hard connection between a fifth wheel trailer and the tow vehicle. It is caused by the length of wheelbase between the vehicle and trailer, and can be both harrowing and damaging to trailers. After a few hour stretch in North Carolina on the first trip with our toy hauler, we were sore from banging around and an interior wall literally pulled away from the studs (which was partly OEM quality control, but still not fun to find at the end of the day).

Trailers with tongues are less likely to experience the amount of chucking found in fifth wheels, but some roads will cause it for all trailers. Small wheelbase trailers will actually jump around, which can be disturbing if you are following one.

As much as we might not like to, the best answer if it happens is to slow down. I personally think reducing tire pressures is a mistake, because the small gain in tire flex is far outweighed by the long-term effects of reduced tire pressures at road speeds.

Originally Posted by TravlinOn

I agree with the above posts about tire pressures and harmonic waves. There should also be mention of balancing loads on the TM, front and back, as much as possible.

Picture a seesaw. If one puts a 100 pound child on the far side and a 50 pound child on the near side, then you know what happens. But now picture a wagon of confetti hitched to the near side. The 100 pound child climbs on and the near side still crashes but more slowly. Fill that wagon with manure and the light weight child hardly moves at all. Every bump in the highway moves the TM hitch first as the TV goes over the bump, and then again as the TM goes over the bump. Reducing the weight imbalance in the TM lessons the excess force that rocks the hitch up and down.

Lesson. Put 50 pounds of all that unbalanced "manure" you carry either in the trunk of the TV or spread the "manure" out in the TM more evenly.

This is true to a point, but the jarring effect of uneven roads is caused by the trailer moving forward and back at a different time as the tow vehicle, not up and down. As the front and back of the towing combo is hitting uneven road surfaces, they are quickly shifting their center of gravity forward and back, while the other half is not. This is the typical stomach churning motion we all dread.

Weight balancing is good if the tow vehicle is rear-low, but our toy hauler/F350 DRW combo was 25,000 lbs. and the chucking was extreme. Weight was not the factor, wheelbase length was.