Trailer bounce empty

L

Larry Patrick

New member
Drove the trailer 2.5 hrs to pull boat out. Seems to vibrate some and feel jumpy guess word to describe it. After weight of boat its fine. Wondering if I should try different ball heights for empty trailer? ,want to get it to drive empty and handle better. Is it common for empty trailers to feel like that? Next season will be driving it empty for 5 hrs from Lake Erie.
 
Bounce sounds normal. It's designed to haul the boat, not be empty The spring rate is high for the boat, not the empty weight. The other thing is to make sure the brakes are broken loose and the wheels are turning.

The trip isn't going to hurt it. It'll bounce no matter what you do.

Boris
 
As we leap frogged the boat and trailer cruising up the East Coast last year, several times we towed the trailer empty to the next location. This meant driving several hours. Yep, it bounced often but generally rode fine. I did, however, notice that eventually one of the long bunks broke lose from several of the bolts that had been holding it down. As a result, we had to replace the bunk since it was old and had started to decay where the screws were located. So be sure to check the bunks periodically. They may look properly positioned but physically try to lift and move each bunk to assure it is tightly secured. This will add to your piece of mind. It will also assure no bunk unknowingly starts to float and/or move position while the trailer is in the water.

Rob
 
A few weeks ago we towed the trailer (empty) from FL back up to NY to retrieve "Dessert 1st." I was wondering if the trailer would jump around, so I dropped the tire pressure from 50psi (max) to 40psi.

The trailer towed fine, but frankly I'm not sure if dropping the pressure was warranted of not, but it worked.

Prior to reloading the boat we increased the pressure back to 50psi.

Best,
C&M
 
Lowering the tire pressure is a good trick. If you have a tandem axle trailer, another trick you can do for a long tow, is to raise one axle of the ground and chain it up. run the chain over the bunk board and it will help keep that from jumping around. Lifting the axle will add weight and decrease the "jumpiness". My preference is to lift the front axle. Puts more weight on the hitch, and lengthens the steering base. If you only have brakes on one axle I would lift the other one.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

0_CD_Cover_SlpyC_with_Classics_MBSP_2009_288.thumb.jpg
 
Also, the trailer itself has a lot of flexibility which adds to that "bounce". The boat, tightly secured gives the trailer more rigidity. Most trailers bounce empty. Lighter weight can be worse. The roads now days can be rather rough with cracks, etc.
 
And if you have electric over hydraulic brakes, back off the boost otherwise you can leave a lot of expensive blue smoke behind you if you have to brake even fairly hard.

Very effective with tailgaters :-)

M
 
Thanks sounds normal after hearing replys,will try lowering pressure next trip.We have Electric over hydraulic brakes,have lowered it to 5 when empty.Ask a question get a lot of good answers on this site.
 
Welcome to the "bounce your empty trailer club".

I had an Eagle steel triple axle trailer that did not bounce when being
towed unloaded. It was solid as a rock loaded or unloaded..

My current Venture aluminum tandem does bounce at 35 - 45 mph
unloaded but then calms down.

Why? I don't begin to know the answer. And, I'm OK with that.

Aye.

Grandma used to say, "Some things you were not meant to understand."

and

"It is what it is."
 
As said earlier, try balancing the wheels as they're often not balanced on boat trailers. On my trailer it made a significant difference when towing empty.
 
We took our empty trailer 2000 miles from Blaine WA to Wisconsin and had no bounce. Not sure why but it was something that I was worried about and it never happened.
 
A lot depends on the roads. Many interstates have concrete segments, which with time sink/raise, and especially in the S. to Mid USA, you are going to have empty trailer bounce! You get full vehicle bounce!
 
Will get tires balanced also. When driving our Lance truck camper on some roads you feel like your riding a bronco,it starts porposing in front. We have struts that go from nose of camper to hood of truck which helps a lot.
 
I don't know how you'll get that bounce to go away. My F-250 bounces too on the bumps when empty when the tires are at 80 PSI in the back. It helps to lower PSI, but it rides pretty harsh no matter what. Like my F-250, you're boat trailer has mono-beam axles with stiff springs to hold the load. Take the load off, and well you get what you have. It's annoying, but probably isn't really an issue. Balancing will help with vibrations for sure....I've never elected to not get a trailer tire balanced - I guess that's unusual when hearing folks chime in.
 
I, too, have always had my trailer tires balanced. The last time I got new tires, the counter guy looked at me and said "We don't usually balance trailer tires. They don't need it" I told him I wanted mine done. Went and got him when they were doing mine and showed him the weights. Told him that part should be free since they didn't really need it.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

0_CD_Cover_SlpyC_with_Classics_MBSP_2009_288.thumb.jpg
 
Back
Top