Posted 2015-12-20 9:00 AM (#165633) Subject: Bad towing trailer?
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
My father bought a gooseneck flatbed trailer less than 5 years ago and when I went to pick it up (new) it towed poorly. I was writing this off to the road, empty trailer with stiff axles and the shortbed on my fathers truck for the first tow. (I had been told that shortbeds tend to buck more.) Fast forward to within the last month and I have now had the "pleasure" of towing this trailer with my new truck that's a long bed and the trailer still bucks like cold-backed mare. I've tried changing speeds, nothing. I've tried different settings with the brake controller, nada. I can drop the flatbed hook-up to my other GN trailers and drive the same road at the same speeds and it's so smooth you could drink coffee in a white shirt. I've now isolated the problem as the trailer. My parents were going to add a shocker hitch to try and see if that works but the major problem is that with my flatbed style (permanent ball with a flip open recessed box that the ball sits in, so the bed deck is higher) I can't use these style hitches. We must be able to use both trucks under the trailer without major adjustments. I might understand if the trailer had started great and turned bad but it's been horrible from the word go. Anyone have any suggestions beside selling this dog and getting a better trailer? Any ideas what's wrong? It does pull straight behind the truck during towing but it jolts and jerks the entire time.
Posted 2015-12-20 10:26 AM (#165636 - in reply to #165633) Subject: RE: Bad towing trailer?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 350 Location: Penrose, Colorado
from my experience empty trailers and heavy springs do not pull all that good sometimes, it may be a combination of alot of things also could be that the axels are too far to the rear.
Posted 2015-12-20 7:33 PM (#165638 - in reply to #165633) Subject: RE: Bad towing trailer?
Expert
Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
Axle location..... Got a 25' trailer that pulls kinda rough, several 30' trailers with same axles and wheels that pull good. The 25 has the axles more to the center where as the 30's have alot more distance from the axles to the hitch. The 25 has less weight on the hitch when empty, causes the trailer to see-saw or rock/bounce front to rear when empty, teeter-totter if you will. All the trailers were built at the same Mfg. by the same folks.
Posted 2015-12-23 6:54 AM (#165658 - in reply to #165633) Subject: RE: Bad towing trailer?
Regular
Posts: 87 Location: Williamsburg VA
The pin weight on my flatbed isn't a lot when empty. If the trailer is not level, it will buck more. The weight is more balanced over the axels than a horse trailer. Put a load on our flatbed and it tows a lot different.
Bad towing trailer?
