Tow Vehicle bouncing a little

SkiDad

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Hi There, i recently picked up a larger boat and my 2006 Honda Pilot is bouncing say 30-50 mph - seems to get a little better at highway speeds. I didn't have this with last boat but it was well under 3000 lbs.

Boat, Trailer, and full tank of gas weighs 4200 lbs (i weighed it). About 350-400 is on the tongue. Struts were replace in 2012 with Sensa-Tracs.

Any suggestions
 

robert graham

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Maybe not a great rig for any long distance or high speed towing....should be O.K. For short hops to local ramp.
 

GA_Boater

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Bouncing, meaning the tongue is bouncing or swaying? More tongue weight helps both.

You are near the max. Is the 4200# including everything you put in the boat to tow?
 

SkiDad

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no swaying just feels like the rear of the Pilot is moving up and down.

well I'm figuring 4350 with all my skis and jackets. I know it's close on the weight - we just really like not having car payments - I'm willing to change the rear shocks or put airbags in it or something like that.

when I weighed the trailer the front scale showed 420 lbs on the jack - but it is 3 feet from the tongue, so I'm guessing a little on the tongue weight.

it has surge brakes - do you think I need to adjust anything there or maybe a different receiver height ?
 

jbcurt00

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Is the Pilots max capacity of 4500, towed weight only, or max capacity, including everything besides you IN the Pilot?

My Kia is 3500lbs max towed. But my Escape is 3500lbs including all the gear IN the Escape....
 

SkiDad

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it didn't seem to have any problem towing or stopping. 4500 doesn't include the passengers unless you take an army - i took this pic out of my manual.

IMG_1077.PNG
 

ezmobee

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I had a little bit of a bouncing problem with my Grand Cherokee when towing my Hydra-Sports. Pulled and stopped fine but like you there was too much bouncing or floating especially on the highway. I replaced the shocks with shocks with helper springs on them and it totally solved the problem. So it would seem that beefing up the suspension a bit would help you although I don't know what your options are with struts.
 

jbcurt00

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Juat making sure its a.towed.max of 4500lbs.

Looks like it is......
 

Baylinerchuck

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Ok, so I had a similar issue with my Chap. The PO had it pushed very far back on the trailer which caused the tongue to be light. It sounds like your tongue is weighted pretty good, so your balance is close. I'd be willing to bet the bounce you feel is exasperated by the surge brakes activating while bouncing. Bumpy roads will likely aggravate this. Sounds like the rear of the tow vehicle needs stiffened up. You could also try moving the boat forward a little more, though you are really close to max tongue weight. Does the tow vehicle squat with the trailer on? Is the tongue of the trailer level when hooked to the tow vehicle?
 

Scott Danforth

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the pilot is a short wheel based vehicle.....they suck as a tow rig PERIOD. lets see if we can make it suck just a little less

new shocks will help. infact, you should be replacing shock absorbers about once every 50,000 miles 2012 is a long time, and at the average of 15000 miles per year, that is 75000 miles. I would suggest you switch to garbriel load leveler shocks (air shocks) for the back. pump them up to 150. and it will help stiffen the back of your pilot up.

since your scale under the jack was 420# and 3' back from the coupler, your tongue weight would be about 325-350 which is a bit light. move some stuff forward in the boat, or move the boat forward on the trailer

which load capacity tires do you have on the pilot? most pilots come with passenger tires with a 101 load index rating because they want a marshmallow like ride. switching up to LT tires will stiffen the tires and allow the tires to carry the extra weight.
 

TyeeMan

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When the trailer is connected to the vehicle, make sure it sits level with the ground front to rear. An inch or two up or down isn't that big of a deal, you just don't want to be way high or way low at the tongue.
Surge brakes should have no affect, or not be affected by the bounce. They are only activated when the tow vehicle brakes and slows down, the weight of the boat and trailer pushes or surges against the brake cylinder in the tongue of the trailer which activates the brakes. Hence the name SURGE brakes.
 

Sprig

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The only time I've seen that happen is with bad shocks, weak springs, exceeding tow capacity, and/or boat too far back on the trailer resulting in insufficient tongue weight. Measure the tongue weight with a scale that is directly under the trailer coupler. In addition when weighing it make sure that the tongue/coupler is the same exact height as when it is hooked to your vehicle. Once you know for sure what the tongue weight is at the coupler actual tow height you can decide what the next step is.
 

SkiDad

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thanks guys for all the great ideas - had a couple busy days but I will check all of your ideas out over the weekend :)
 

SkiDad

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pictures in the driveway
IMG_1131.JPG IMG_1132.JPG
 
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SkiDad

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Ok - so i had a little time tonight to hook up the boat in the driveway. my driveway is not perfectly flat but i put it on a relatively flat sections and the trailer is pretty much level when I checked it. see pics

I also did the drop test from the honda manual - the hitch dropped 3.25 inches - according to the chart in the manual that is approx 375 lbs on the tongue. (sorry i typed all this wrong the 1st time)


IMG_1133.PNG
 
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jbcurt00

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1st pix didnt post only the height drop reference page did.

Sounds like you need 50lbs +/- more tongue weight
 

SkiDad

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thanks - i think i fixed the pics. I don't think i can adjust the bunks or post so I'm not sure if i can add any more tongue weight.
 

WIMUSKY

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I don't believe you want more tongue weight, the rear is sagging pretty good now..... Too much boat for the tow vehicle? I haven't read all the posts....
 
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