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How to Reduce Porpoising Effects When Towing Travel Trailer with 2020 Ford F-150  

Published 11/21/2019



Question:

When towing my trailer with my 2020 F-150 I'm having an issue with trailer control. From what I was able to research it looks like this is called porpoising? How does porpoising happen and what can I do to eliminate it? I'm not too fond of the back and forth movement....

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Expert Reply:

Great question! Proposing, or the back and forth movement, typically occurs when the trailer isn't loaded properly so you have either too much or too little tongue weight, or your trailer simply isn't level. This doesn't allow the trailer to tow naturally so you get some weird movement. We do have some things that can help in addition to this but the first thing you need to do is make sure that your loaded trailer tongue weight (TW) is within the 10-15% range of the weight of your trailer. If you aren't sure what your tongue weight is I recommend using a scale like part # e99044, that can easily be stored inside the trailer or F-150, to make sure your trailer is loaded properly.

If you are still experiencing porpoising even with your trailer loaded properly then you need to make sure your ball mount sits at roughly the same height as your trailer coupler when level. I have attached a helpful article that goes into a little more detail about this.

The next best thing after that is to add a weight distribution (WD) system to the mix. For your application I recommend the Reese Strait-Line which for you I recommend either part # RP66083 which has a TW range of 400 lbs - 800 lbs or part # RP66084 which has a TW range of 600 lbs - 1,200 lbs. Just be sure that the loaded TW of your trailer sits in about the middle of the TW range for the system you choose. To complete this setup you either need a 2" ball # A-90 or a 2-5/16" ball # 19286.

If you are still experiencing some issues then the last piece of the puzzle that would help is an air bag suspension enhancement kit. For a 2WD you need part # AL57268 but for a 4WD you need part # AL88268. These will work in tandem with your OEM suspension system and help level out your towing rig. If you'd like to use the air bag kit frequently then I do recommend also installing a compressor system like the WirelessONE # AL25980 so you can monitor and control your air bags from the comfort of your cab.

Attached are some useful links for you to check out.

expert reply by:
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Jon G

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