Bad Trailer Sway/ 02 Yukon XL SLT. Changes to make?

[Ghetto Jet]

What simple mods should I do to improve towing stability?

Yesterday was my first time towing anything sizable. I'm a very experienced driver, I was expecting this to be pretty easy. It wasn't. Stock everything, LT tires, tire pressure close to max. I did a 100 mile trip with an 08 Impala on my friends trailer. He has a great deal of towing experience and went along with me. I installed a brake controller. At 55 or higher, the sway was pretty bad. Bad enough that my friend asked me to get off the highway at one point. A constant battle. Trailer weighs about 1600-1700# the car, around 3700# My Yukon, maybe 5500.

I think part of the problem was we backed the Impala onto the trailer because too much of it was hanging off the end when we pulled up onto the trailer facing forward. Putting excess weight on the back of the trailer and away from the tongue. I was using an adjustable trailer hitch to get extra height, it was perfectly level loaded.

I figure there are some proven changes that won't hurt to make. One person said coil spring bags. I did some reading last night, weight distribution bars look like they would help. I plan to use this to tow again.

 

[bfourman]

What simple mods should I do to improve towing stability?

Yesterday was my first time towing anything sizable. I'm a very experienced driver, I was expecting this to be pretty easy. It wasn't. Stock everything, LT tires, tire pressure close to max. I did a 100 mile trip with an 08 Impala on my friends trailer. He has a great deal of towing experience and went along with me. I installed a brake controller. At 55 or higher, the sway was pretty bad. Bad enough that my friend asked me to get off the highway at one point. A constant battle. Trailer weighs about 1600-1700# the car, around 3700# My Yukon, maybe 5500.

I think part of the problem was we backed the Impala onto the trailer because too much of it was hanging off the end when we pulled up onto the trailer facing forward. Putting excess weight on the back of the trailer and away from the tongue. I was using an adjustable trailer hitch to get extra height, it was perfectly level loaded.

I figure there are some proven changes that won't hurt to make. One person said coil spring bags. I did some reading last night, weight distribution bars look like they would help. I plan to use this to tow again.

Your sway was 100% caused by not enough tongue weight. You need 15% of the trailer weight on the tongue or sway will occur.

Once you get your tongue weight set properly, and you don’t like how much the Yukon sags then you can look into air bags or a WD hitch. All the trick towing stuff in the world won’t correct inadequate tongue weight.


2000 GMC Yukon XL K2500 6.0/4L80e/3.73s/BlackBear tune

2014 Aerolite 282DBHS TT

 

[Fless]

 

[Ghetto Jet]

That video really does help. And that's what it felt like, once it started to sway it would escalate. The wind wasn't helping.

Your sway was 100% caused by not enough tongue weight. You need 15% of the trailer weight on the tongue or sway will occur.

Once you get your tongue weight set properly, and you don’t like how much the Yukon sags then you can look into air bags or a WD hitch. All the trick towing stuff in the world won’t correct inadequate tongue weight.

Ok, good to know. I'll try and tow something set on their correctly and if I still don't like the feel I'll add airbags first. I think the shocks on the truck are original, probably should replace those too. Here is a picture of it loaded up.

 

[corvette744]

That video really does help. And that's what it felt like, once it started to sway it would escalate. The wind wasn't helping.
Trailer looks level to me i bet its that 1-1500 lbs of engine and trans on the back 2-3 ft of that trailer.Turning the car around i bet you would have no sway with alot more weight up front.





Ok, good to know. I'll try and tow something set on their correctly and if I still don't like the feel I'll add airbags first. I think the shocks on the truck are original, probably should replace those too. Here is a picture of it loaded up.

 

[JoeM5952]

Yea not enough tounge weight. I'm in the process of a cross country move with my 05 XL 1500 and I'm towing a trailer with 6k combined weight. 60% percent of cargo weight is forward of the axles. I don't have a WD hitch but I did add the airlift 1000 air springs to help with squat. Tows fine at 80 mph on the highway with almost no sway that isn't from wind.

 

[Ghetto Jet]

I have the G65 and ZW7 suspension. When we put the car on nose first my back end really sank down. The front of the trailer was about 2" off the ground. Would the manual self leveling suspension have lifted itself up after I started driving?

 

[mizzouguy]

I have the G65 and ZW7 suspension. When we put the car on nose first my back end really sank down. The front of the trailer was about 2" off the ground. Would the manual self leveling suspension have lifted itself up after I started driving?

Even with the ZW7 shocks, it would have probably still squatted with a car trailer. Car needs to face forward and truck needs a weight distribution hitch and/or air bags to deal with the sag. Thats about all you can do, limited by the coil spring type suspension. Weren't really designed to tow heavy. You could get a rise ball mount to raise the trailer up some, make sure its rated for the weight when its flipped to give you a rise. Also would want to check and see how much room you have between the frame and the bump stops. If they are close, its gonna hurt when you hit bumps.

 

[corvette744]

I have the G65 and ZW7 suspension. When we put the car on nose first my back end really sank down. The front of the trailer was about 2" off the ground. Would the manual self leveling suspension have lifted itself up after I started driving?

Put some air bags in it and you will be fine.Car or anything your towing needs to have most of the weight forward.

 

[JoeM5952]

I have the G65 and ZW7 suspension. When we put the car on nose first my back end really sank down. The front of the trailer was about 2" off the ground. Would the manual self leveling suspension have lifted itself up after I started driving?

I swapped my rear coils out to the z71 springs and put in Bilstien 4600 shocks all around and it helped not squat and be a lot less floaty on the road. After this I added the Air Lift 1000 bags in the coils and that reduced the drop significantly when I load up the cargo bay or hook up a heavy trailer.