Can a higher receiver cause sway?

[L_and_J__Waters]

Question for you engineers and/or physics minded persons. Can a higher receiver position cause unwanted sway issues. Just got a 2013 Suburban 1500 with 8100lb tow package and I now have sway issues. Previous TVs include 04 Tahoe & 05 Suburban 1500 (26' TT, 6000lbs fully loaded) I did not have sway issues with 2 prior TVs. Setup has been the same with all 3 TVs. Been to the scales and all is well with about 11% tongue weight now. Only difference I can come up with is the factory receiver on the 2013 Burb is mounted on the end of the frame. Hence, about 7-8 inches higher than the others. I had to get an extended drop for my Equalizer to keep the trailer level. Just wondering if the leverage from that height could possibly contribute to sway issues? Wind and passing trucks are the primary problem.

[Mike_F]

You may have changed the angle of the hitch head when you changed the hitch height. You may want to try taking up two or three links on your wd bars. This would put more weight on the front of the tow vehicle and give it more control. I have a different set up but it helped me a lot. It would be easy to try. If it does work you can tilt the hitch head down to get back to the original links.

[L_and_J__Waters]

Thanks for the info. Yes, struts in the front, coils on the rear. Softer suspension and possibly tires are probably the remaining culprits. Main thing is, I now feel much safer than before. Hindsight tells me a different vehicle would be desirable. But it is what it is for now and we still have a Suburban for other use. (like kids and whatever). Thanks. Happy Camping.

[JBarca]

Hi,

I just saw this post. I have some info that may help.

L and J Waters wrote:
Okay. Original post here with my take-away. I bolted a Curt XD heavy duty receiver on my 2013 1500 Suburban. Overkill? Yes, but any other option required bolts near the center of the hitch. This setup has pretty much eliminated the sway I was experiencing. Back from an 800 mile outing last week and I can now confidently tow in heavy traffic. In other words, the tail no longer and wags the dog. I know a 1/2 ton vehicle is not ideal for towing, but that's a whole issue in itself. I've towed about 25,000 miles with similar setups. I knew this situation was not right when I got the 2013, but now feel much better. As I said before, the wife likes the Suburban and a low mileage 3/4 ton is not readily available.
The receiver(ordered for a 2005 Suburban) bolted on directly with no drilling. I did shim it down 2"(probably need 2 1/2" to completely clear the plastic bumper) and I used a custom hitch cover to hide the factory receiver. I am satisfied and would not hesitate towing long distance now. I realize this is non-standard, but it works for me.

L and J Waters wrote:
OP here again. Just got back from another trip of about 500 miles. Experienced some gusty winds this time and did move around some, but not like before. I guess I post this as my personal disclaimer. It's not perfect, but as I said, I would do a long trip now.

It seems you have worked your way through the receiver fix and you saw a great improvement, but there is still an issue that sounds like it is not as good as your older 2005 Burb.

I'll pass this along. Back in the 2006 time frame, a fellow RV'er found me for help on his new 2007 Suburban hitch setup as he was having a lot of wandering. This was the first year of new Burb with the redesign. He use to tow with his older 2004 1500 Suburban and this same trailer without issues. The trailer was in the 6,000# range with a 750# loaded TW.

When he came to my place, his WD hitch (a Reese trunnion bar WD hitch with the HP DC) was setup wrong. The camper was a lot nose high, and the WD was not close to right. He brought a new hitch shank I told him to get and we reset the entire WD hitch and reset the DC. The camper was now leveled out and we aired his tires up to max side wall pressure during the WD setp. Trailer tires are also up at max. He did not have the auto ride rear suspension, just standard shocks. Then we went for a test drive.

He commented the rig was a little better but still was not what he had on his 2004 Burb. Since I set the WD hitch myself, I knew this was good. And while I questioned the new bumper/receiver, for me it reacted well for setting the WD. At this point he did not have a lot of towing mileage on the truck before he came to me so there was not much worn on the truck.

I hopped in the passenger seat so I could look and watch things and we went for a test drive. This was back roads and only doing 20 to 30 mph to start with. Later up to 50mph. This truck acted like sog city going around a turn at 20 mph. I have had a 97 Tahoe, a 2002 Tahoe and a 2003 K2500 Suburan and none of them felt like the sog city going around that turn towing a camper. That is what he was complaining about. The whole truck was not stable.

The OEM tires are suspect for sure. Tire side walls can make or break a TV when using these high friction anti sway hitches. This sogginess was in a totally different league. The trailer did not change, the actual hitch did not change, the hitch shank needed to change to level out the camper with the receiver height change.

Now many years later, your post comes along. You change the receiver and you see a global shift better in stability. This much I can tell you, it is not the fact the receiver is higher and the need for a longer drop shank to level out the camper. The flexibility of the receiver itself may be more of this then before realized.

The tires I surmise is for sure still part of the problem. I never knew the tire size/brand of his older 2004 1500 Burb and the difference to the new 2007 tires. Do you know the size of your older ones along with the brand and the what is the brand and size of your 2013? I suspect the aspect ratio may be different and the tire brand/type is very different. The newer truck has a softer sidewall tire on it. The thing rides like a cream puff non towing.

I also have not crawled under a 2013 lately, does yours still have leaf springs or did they change that too to coil springs in the rear? The front end of the truck I believe went from torsion bars on the pre 2007's to McPherson struts on the 2007 and up. Can you confirm the front suspension too?

Hope this helps

John

[L_and_J__Waters]

OP here again. Just got back from another trip of about 500 miles. Experienced some gusty winds this time and did move around some, but not like before. I guess I post this as my personal disclaimer. It's not perfect, but as I said, I would do a long trip now.

[Grit_dog]

If you suspect the tires are too soft, air them up more and take a little drive with the camper. They will not automatically explode if you put 50-60psi in a 44psi rated tire.
If it improves gen consider what you want to run for tire pressure or heavier tires.

[blt2ski]

Going back in posts. IF you still have the P tires you quoted about. THOSE ARE, better than std P rated tires, in that they take upwards of 42 lbs of PSI, a standard p tire only can handle 32-36 lbs. Those are a bit heavier duty, but not as good as a C rated LT tire at 45 lbs in the same size. Not sure you need E or 10 ply rated tires for your rig. You will only need about 45 lbs in them, so they will only be as good as a C rated tire at 45 lbs from a total load standpoint, and you will pay more for them.
At the end of the day, sounds like things have gelled together, which is the whole point of what you want things to do.

Marty

[L_and_J__Waters]

Okay. Original post here with my take-away. I bolted a Curt XD heavy duty receiver on my 2013 1500 Suburban. Overkill? Yes, but any other option required bolts near the center of the hitch. This setup has pretty much eliminated the sway I was experiencing. Back from an 800 mile outing last week and I can now confidently tow in heavy traffic. In other words, the tail no longer and wags the dog. I know a 1/2 ton vehicle is not ideal for towing, but that's a whole issue in itself. I've towed about 25,000 miles with similar setups. I knew this situation was not right when I got the 2013, but now feel much better. As I said before, the wife likes the Suburban and a low mileage 3/4 ton is not readily available.
The receiver(ordered for a 2005 Suburban) bolted on directly with no drilling. I did shim it down 2"(probably need 2 1/2" to completely clear the plastic bumper) and I used a custom hitch cover to hide the factory receiver. I am satisfied and would not hesitate towing long distance now. I realize this is non-standard, but it works for me.

[L_and_J__Waters]

No auto-leveling. Standard shocks which have been replaced with Bilsteins. They have helped some, but not been on much of a trip since installing them. We'll see how things go. Thanks to all.

[Durb]

Does your Suburban have automatic leveling for the rig? If so, did you dial in your Equalizer hitch with the engine running so auto leveling was in play? I've seen the scenario where the hitch is set up properly and then air bags are deployed to level the truck. This changes the head angle on the hitch and unloads the anti-sway feature. Might be something to look at.

[L_and_J__Waters]

Thanks for the thread on newer Suburbans and hitches. Of all the variables between the other setups and now, the hitch type/location seems to stand out the most. And it looks as though this has been an issue with other owners. It is tolerable for shorter trips, but another hitch may have to be bolted on if we take a long trip. Thanks.

[Wishin]

Here is another thread where someone upgraded the hitch on a newer Suburban, not quite bolt on, but didn't look like too terrible of a job. He went the extra mile and had extra steel plates welded in due to his trailer having a higher tongue weight.

RV.net thread showing upgrade of hitch on 2013 2500 Suburban.

[L_and_J__Waters]

Thanks for the info on the newer designed Suburban. Although I am not pleased, it may just be the nature of the vehicle. If I get a chance I may bolt-on another hitch to the frame as a test. At least that may answer the question of "why the sway" with this vehicle. The TT is only 6000lbs fully loaded. Been to the scales and all weights are well within the limits. Thanks.

[BenK]

Could also be that the previous owner over loaded the receiver, as it
is limited to 1,000 lbs because it is integrated into the bumper (more
so than the GMT800)

Therefore it now has crash crumple zone duties in addition to towing

They had to design in stress raisers for that section of the frame to
crumple during a crash to the rear end

Even at a Maximum 1,000 lb rating...think, IMHO, that it will NOT last
as long as any traditional design receiver

Here is the link to one of the original threads ID'ing this and the picture
just made showing where and how it is a crumple zone and stress raiser


SuburbanReceiver GMT900SuburbanReceiver GMT900SubReceiver



GMT900 Suburban Receiver Stress Raiser

[Bionic_Man]

From what I have found, it is very difficult (or possibly impossible) to upgrade the oem hitch on a post 2007 Suburban.