2015 Ford F-150 Sags When Connected to a 2020 Heartland 24BHS Travel Trailer With Curt TruTrack

Updated 04/24/2023 | Published 04/21/2023

Question:

hello, I have a 2015 Ford F150 4x4 lariat. It still has stock suspension front and back. The truck handles beautifully despite 200k miles. We purchased a 2020 heartland 24bhs travel trailer with dry weight 5400, tongue weight 550. Probably add 500 lbs of stuff to that on a normal trip. It is the ford 2.7l eco engine. My problem is I bought a Curt Tru Track 17500 weight distributing hitch and I am having trouble getting the truck and camper level after fully setup. the camper when perfectly level has a height of 20.5 in at top of coupler. I set up the curt hitch so the ball at the very top is 21 in. Very even overall. When I couple the trailer to the hitch the ball and coupler sag like 3-4 inches. I then raise it using jack up 3 inches as instructed to put on bars. When doing this I have to use quite a bit of force to get bars to snap onto seats. I use the tool that came with the hitch. Then I lower the jack and take all pressure off jack and when I do measurements the trailer in back is about 2-3 inches higher than front. The rear bunper of truck is like 2,5 inches lower now. The bars are absolutely level and super tight cant budge them. How do I get the truck and camper to stay level? Could I need new rear shocks ? should I raise ball to compensate for sag? please any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I did drive it and it was pretty stable overall but Im worried this expensive a hitch should get everything level. thanks

asked by: Doug S

Expert Reply:

I have included a review/installation video below where the Curt TruTrack Weight Distribution System # C17500 was installed on a similar truck. You can see when he first set up the hitch it sagged a lot like you are experiencing. He then readjusted the hitch and was able to get it within the desired range. One thing that will help if you are having trouble installing the bars with the additional tension would be to use the power tongue jack to raise the trailer a little higher. Remember the jack is more than capable of supporting the tongue weight of the trailer and will allow you to lift the suspension back up to the normal ride height if not an inch or 2 higher. By no means try to raise your truck off the ground but if your truck sags 4 inches when you connect the trailer you should be able to easily raise it back up 5 inches with the tongue jack.

expert reply by: Bud M