Troubleshooting 5th Wheel Trailer that Sways

Updated 03/26/2019 | Published 03/24/2019

Question:

I have a 32foot Eclipse 5th wheel being pulled by a 2015 Dodge Ram 2500 via an Anderson Hitch. Ive been traveling with this for 4 seasons and everything was solid until past 2 trips. Both climbing hills and even in flat terrain the trailer is now swaying. Downhill is un-affected. I noticed that front end of Truck rocks side to side first and then notice trailer swaying in rear-view mirrors. The axles were flipped when I first bought trailer and trailer rides perfectly level. I havent changed loading whatsoever in past 4 years and even tried filling forward black/grey water tanks and emptying fresh water tank to increase tongue weight and this seemed to make condition even worse. Although I havent been able to measure amount of tongue weight, my truck s 2.5inch at rear axle after hitching up and this was always the case so I cant figure out why suddenly Im having this problem. I checked suspension of truck and trailer and everything seems fine. My air pressure is good on both vehicles, wheel bearings were all repacked, hitch connection is solid. Any ideas on what else to look for would be greatly appreciated! Should I consider adding airbags to truck?

asked by: Thomas E

Expert Reply:

5th wheel towing sway is much more uncommon than bumper trailer towing sway as it's much harder to not have enough pin weight to prevent sway unlike bumper pull trailer towing. It almost always ends up being a suspension problem even though I know you said you checked that already. Air bags are not going to be the answer either.

Best option would be to find a local shop to you who can take a look at the trailer suspension and alignment to see if they can find the issue. Extra play created as suspension wears out can easily be the problem.

expert reply by: Jameson C