Towing experts?

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My Moms husband has had a lot of problems with his air bag suspension on his new Ram pickup. One thing he has failed dot do is use the “jack” feature, which I believe sets the air bag pressure according to the weight of the trailer, instead of setting the tongue weight on the air bag at the ride pressure of not towing. He’s blown out a couple sets of air bags already by not doing the “jack” method outlined in the owners manual.

That said, by all means get the sway bar weight distribution hitch, not the chain binder style, it incorporates the sway bars into the weight distribution system, the chain binder style has the separate slider sway thing that I just don’t like.
 
The jack mode is for when your jacking up the truck to work on it or, change a tire. The system is constantly trying to self level so if you get it jacked up on one side it's going to be running the pump trying to level it out.
 
mopar56 said:
I'll check the trailer tires but there new and installed by the trailer manufacturer so I suspect and hope they are correct.
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Are they probably rated at just enough for the trailer? Yes, I'm sure they are. However, campers are notorious for not using a quality tire. They might meet the manufacturer specs, but won't last more than a year or two.

Learned that with our 1st camper. Bought new in 2006 and in the 3rd year, while camped at the beach for 2 weeks, noticed one of the 4 was developing a bulge. After reading reviews on that tire brand, I fell lucky to have not had at least 2 blowouts by then. Had all 4 replaced on the spot.
Fast forward 10 years - Another new camper. Same China bomb tires. Replaced them at the beginning of year 2, before any issues "popped" up.
I replace the camper tires every 5 to 6 years depending how far we have gone in that timeframe.
Fastforward another 10 years to this week.... Sold camper number 2. Told the guy tires are 5 years old, and that he should probably replace them.
Camper number 3 comes home on March 16. Not the same China bombs now days. Reviews are better on the tires than they use to be. Regardless, I'll be putting new tires on it before our 2026 season begins, if not in early 2025.

I also get a trailer tire one weight class rating higher than the weight of the camper says I need.
 
i think the china bomb (trailer king) thing is a bit exagerated myself. there are tons of them out on the road with no issues.. if the tires are properly inflated,not over loaded (so many people overload without realizing it) and taken proper care of then they are fine. i do agree though, no matter what tire is on a travel trailer it should be changed at 5 years old. i've been on many different travel trailer sites for years and no matter what brand tire is on th etrailer can blow out or fail.. even the holy grail good year endurance that its cult member swear by.
 
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Ok, got it, I've been doing lots of research this week and have read ALL these replys at least twice and I'm convinced now, I will order one, I will look at the tires, and rating, these are a bit of a off road tire as this unit has some extra ground clearance so I suspect they will be fine but no point in " assuming " . There have been lots of suggestions as to the type of WD hitch to use as far as brands. As mentioned before I can buy my stuff wholesale through my supplier in my business I've been looking at the Reese brand, it uses bars instead of chains like the Anderton one mentioned earlier here, has anyone used it? Honestly they all look very similar and are designed to do the same job.

Screenshot_20240307_071918_Chrome.jpg
 
mopar56 said:
Ok, got it, I've been doing lots of research this week and have read ALL these replys at least twice and I'm convinced now, I will order one, I will look at the tires, and rating, these are a bit of a off road tire as this unit has some extra ground clearance so I suspect they will be fine but no point in " assuming " . There have been lots of suggestions as to the type of WD hitch to use as far as brands. As mentioned before I can buy my stuff wholesale through my supplier in my business I've been looking at the Reese brand, it uses bars instead of chains like the Anderton one mentioned earlier here, has anyone used it? Honestly they all look very similar and are designed to do the same job.

View attachment 1716217821
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This is very similar to the one I had and it was great.
 
the anderson gets its sway control through the ball itself. not the chains.. the chains are the load distribution..

when i had my trailer i used the husky WDH. same idea of what you have pictured.. if done again i'd go anderson.. so much lighter and simple.. and everyone i've seen that uses one loves it.

if you go with a bar one like yo have pictured don't get alarmed when it creeks and pops.. they just do that.. not a problem..
 
mopar56 said:
Ok, got it, I've been doing lots of research this week and have read ALL these replys at least twice and I'm convinced now, I will order one, I will look at the tires, and rating, these are a bit of a off road tire as this unit has some extra ground clearance so I suspect they will be fine but no point in " assuming " . There have been lots of suggestions as to the type of WD hitch to use as far as brands. As mentioned before I can buy my stuff wholesale through my supplier in my business I've been looking at the Reese brand, it uses bars instead of chains like the Anderton one mentioned earlier here, has anyone used it? Honestly they all look very similar and are designed to do the same job.

View attachment 1716217821
Click to expand...
I have the Reese setup. I cannot say it is better or worse than the others as I have no comparison. I can tell you it works just fine on pulling my 24' enclosed trailer. The bars essentially put a load on "friction shoes" where they go through those brackets. These can/do make some noise as you make low speed tight turns. But any heavily-loaded friction device (which is required to dampen out the sway!) will be similar.

This is what I pull.
20240307_105455.jpg
 
abodyjoe said:
the anderson gets its sway control through the ball itself. not the chains.. the chains are the load distribution..

when i had my trailer i used the husky WDH. same idea of what you have pictured.. if done again i'd go anderson.. so much lighter and simple.. and everyone i've seen that uses one loves it.

if you go with a bar one like yo have pictured don't get alarmed when it creeks and pops.. they just do that.. not a problem..
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If you grease the bars and the sockets where the bars attach it makes a big difference.
 
plymouth67 said:
If you grease the bars and the sockets where the bars attach it makes a big difference.
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You are correct - greasing where they enter the receiver head helps quite a bit. But you also have to deal with greasy bars and receiver when you remove them. Ask me how I know!!
 
Demonx2 said:
You are correct - greasing where they enter the receiver head helps quite a bit. But you also have to deal with greasy bars and receiver when you remove them. Ask me how I know!!
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my inlaws came down with the bars greased. what a mess when i helped them unhook. its not like the noise is that bad. i really only ever heard it when maneuvering around the campground. out on the open road i never really noticed.
 
They do sound painful at times, but really are not. Even my 5th wheel hitch creeks a little sometimes.
 
abodyjoe said:
my inlaws came down with the bars greased. what a mess when i helped them unhook. its not like the noise is that bad. i really only ever heard it when maneuvering around the campground. out on the open road i never really noticed.
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Yes, I never hear them once rolling. The only time is backing the trailer up in the drive or when maneuvering at a fuel stop. Just part of the deal IMHO!!
 
72Duster440 said:
I honestly, the first thing I would do with a single axle trailer is ditch the factory tires and get some decent ones on it. Some Carlisle or Goodyear Endurance. Camper tires are paper thin and not the best. The ones that came on mine, weren't even rated to hold GVW of my camper.
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X2 on the tires, the tires on my new camper lasted ~1.5 years and about 1,000 miles before one blew, and tore the crap out of the side of the camper.
Put on the Goodyears and no problem since.
 
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