Front of Truck Sways Once Reese Strait-Line Weight Distribution System is Installed

Question:

I have the Reese Strait-line system on my truck and trailer combo. I had a professional set up the combo. While coming home with it, the front end of the truck swayed a few times. It was a bit nerve racking as it seemed to sway about 3-5 inches each time it did it. It was fairly windy and this is the first time I towed anything in the 6000 lb range, but I have never felt that sensation when in the passenger seat of my buddies combos. Any suggestions?

asked by: Steve

Helpful Expert Reply:

With a properly set-up and adjusted system, the occurrence you described should not have happened.

My suspicion is that the system is not distributing enough of the trailer tongue weight from the rear axle of the truck to the front axle. You can confirm this by measuring the distance from the highest point of the arch in the wheel well to the ground at both the front and rear wheels (make sure the trailer is hitched up and fully loaded as it would typically be loaded when you travel when you do this). On a properly adjusted system, these measurements should be fairly close. Due to the front-end sway you are experiencing, I am guessing that the wheel well arch at the front axle is two or more inches higher than the one at the rear axle.

When not enough weight is transferred to the front axle, other than the hair-raising instability you referred to, steering and braking response can also suffer. I would recommend you return the trailer to your installer and have them re-evaluate how they have your system set up. Adjusting the trailer ball on the weight distribution head so that it tilts back further toward the trailer will apply more force and distribute more trailer tongue weight to the front vehicle axle. If the ball is already tilted back as far as it will go, the weight distributing head can be raised one level of holes on the shank.

I ran my suspicions about your system being incorrectly installed or set-up past my friend in the Tech Services department at Reese. He agreed with me that your system needs to be adjusted so that more weight is applied to the front axle of the tow vehicle.

You should also make sure that the system you are using is appropriate for the fully loaded and ready to tow tongue weight of your trailer, and that the weight of anything stowed in the cargo area or bed of the tow vehicle behind the rear axle needs to be included in the tongue weight figure. Your fully loaded and ready to tow trailer tongue weight ideally will fall near the center of the effective range of the W/D system you use.

If you would care to respond with the part # of the Strait-Line system you are using, I would be happy to check that is is the correct system for you.

expert reply by: Mike L