Tongue weight issue on new toy hauler

[Spyingeye]

Hi all, new to forums, first post. Just recently picked up a 2019 Wildwood FSX 280RT. Purchased the weight distribution hitch and had all installed from dealer. I am towing the unit with a 3/4 pickup. When I towed the unit home dry I had no problems however that all changed once I loaded the toy into the back. I have a Can am Maverick X3 with a dry weight of roughly 1700 lbs. Once I hit the highway around 55 mph and attempted a lane change, the unit swayed terribly causing me to cross all 3 lanes and almost lose it. I took the trailer and truck to a cat scale and got 3 weights. Truck, truck and trailer dry and truck and loaded trailer. I then took the unit to have it looked at by a local individual who advised the tongue weight was way under what it needed to be. The problem we found was that the toy hauler garage is 136” and the rear axle sits at 127”. This means that when you put a toy in the garage, nearly all the weight falls behind the rear axle removing a good portion of tongue weight. With all the info I contacted Forest River who came and picked up the unit and took it back to Indiana for testing. That is currently where we stand. I will say that Forest River has been quick and in constant communication throughout this process. My question is, has anyone ever experienced anything like this and what can I expect?

[Bionic_Man]

I know two people with FR products (Wildcat 5ers). Both had too light of pin weight - neither towed well.

Good luck with your resolution. Maybe it got lost in transit. ??

[Spyingeye]

**Update**

I spoke with Pat Stratton with FR again today to check the status. Pat told me that my unit had been returned to the dealership on the 1st of July. I told him I was unaware of this and no one had called to let me know. I told him I was concerned about the weight issue now that they have added 150 lbs to the tongue and inquired about a buy back. His reply was “Sir unit was returned to dealership 7/1. As for trading we would assist 1500.00 towards but since unit did fall within proper percentage we only tried to accommodate.”

Note - the dry percentage was 17%, loaded was 9%. I don’t see how that falls within the proper percentage.

Since this email, I have called the dealership and asked about my RV to which they stated they don’t know anything about it being returned or it’s whereabouts. This gets better and better

[dedmiston]

Spyingeye wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
Wow. How did the stabilizer jack tweak so badly?

Only about 3-4” off the ground when loaded. Anytime the truck was on higher ground than the trailer the rear and would scrape. One slight dip in the road took the metal protectors and then moments later another dip took the jacks.

Yikes. That's a pretty blatant design flaw.

How long since you took delivery? This really sounds like a rare case for a buy-back.

[Bedlam]

When toy haulers were first introduced, a lot of companies jumped in to the craze by just modifying a travel trailer with a rear door. I thought these models were gone and frame specific toy hauler models were now the norm. It appears your model is based off a travel trailer frame which is why you have so much carrying any amount of weight in the back. I don't have any simple solutions for you, but this observation.

Extending the tongue length and adding weight to it could solve the problem. if you load the tongue up with two 30# propane bottles and four 6VDC golf kart batteries, that may be enough. Like suggested in another post, having them upgrade the axles, suspension and wheels to the next higher rating would negate the extra weight being carried from taking away cargo capacity. With the suspension swap can also come a lift so the tail does not drag.

[HTElectrical]

Your pictures leave a lot unanswered. It is clear that you are loosing weight on your steer axle, and need hitch adjustment or heavier spring bars, maybe both. Is the trailer level when loaded and hooked up? If it is and the rear is that low, you are going to have problems, and need to look into having your axles flipped, or I hate to say this should of bought a trailer that was better equipped/set up. I think that trailer is inadequate for that heavy of load and according to your figures you have already exceeded the GVWR.

• UVW 5608 lb.
• CCC 2152 lb
• GVWR 7760 lb

[Spyingeye]

dedmiston wrote:
Wow. How did the stabilizer jack tweak so badly?

Only about 3-4” off the ground when loaded. Anytime the truck was on higher ground than the trailer the rear and would scrape. One slight dip in the road took the metal protectors and then moments later another dip took the jacks.

[dedmiston]

Wow. How did the stabilizer jack tweak so badly?

[Spyingeye]

Also, once loaded you can see how low the back end is. This resulted in the following:

[Spyingeye]

Here’s a picture of the trailer and the WDH. The ruler represents the end of the garage space. As you can see the axles are at the very rear. As stated earlier, Forest River advised that they were going to move the axle but realized that was not an option. So instead they added 125 lbs to the tongue. I have heard from a few locals as well as a few of you on this forum who addressed concerns with the bandaid fix. I appreciate all the feedback. I don’t think I will be settling for this “fix”.

[RoyBell]

Looking at a picture of the camper, the wheels look like they are in the center of the camper. Who designed this thing to be a toy hauler? If your's has the rear door behind the wheels that I See in the pictures, I don't see how they can move the axles back any further.

[AlwaysOnTheRoad]

What WDH are you using? I agree that adding front weight is not the real solution. I'll bet that future models of this trailer have the axles relocated.

[twodownzero]

rhagfo wrote:

Yep, it sure was, or is it? the only thing supporting the trailer is the jacks under the axles so we can get the tires replaced, AND the rear axle of the TV. TV had camper package and optional 265/75-16E tires.
Dodge was very lazy in those years only GVWR on the 2500 was 8,800#, manual trans and Camper package put the same springs as the 3500 DRW (NO SRW 3500 1994 to 2002), I think Dodge could have bumped up closer to 10,000# due to the heaver springs. I will state no Air Bags or other support devices installed.
It is DD's trailer, dad convinced her to get a 2004 Dodge 3500 DRW to haul it with, combo does great.
As for Dad, we also got a 2016 Ram 3500 DRW, as getting a newer 3500 SRW would be a lateral move even with a 12,300# GVWR. Both pulled and handled great.

Not just those years, GVWR stayed at 8800 for a while into the next generation. Seems you answered your question yourself--vehicle was 1000 pounds overloaded once passengers got in it with the empty trailer. Once trailer is loaded it only got worse from there. Glad your dad got a DRW. I'm on my last SRW myself, just too easy to overload the truck with pin weight.

[CincyGus]

No way I would settle for that solution. They are taking away weight from the cargo carrying total that you paid for. Your close already with a 1700 lb toy in a trailer with 2200 CCC. Are you really able stay below 500 lbs of other camping gear, food, water, clothes, etc? No way I could.

They need to fix the issue by moving the axle and I would be asking to have them increase the axle rating (put a bigger axle on it) as a solution if they feel they need to leave the added weight up front to at a minimum leave you the CCC you thought you were getting.

My two cents but don't settle for less that what you researched and paid for capability wise.

[Spyingeye]

nayther wrote:

lincster wrote:
That is a 100% band aid fix.
Cheap for them.
Moving axles is not cheap for them.
Horrible service.

yep, cheap and dirty and it does decrease your load carrying capacity. They need to redo your VIN sticker too. You now have a trailer with lesser capacity than you purchased. Not sure if that has any effect on how you intend to use the trailer.

Very valid point. I’ll have to mention that to them when they call me back.