Advice to reduce truck camper sway (2018 Ram 2500)

[tayjovan]

Hi all,

I have experience with fifth wheels and bumper-pull travel trailers, but am new to truck campers. Recently bought a very old Lance truck camper and I'm experiencing some extremely bad back-and-forth sway even when driving straight. It usually starts at about 45 mph, but gets significantly worse at ~60 mph. I've been told to expect some sway, but this does not feel safe at all.

My truck is a 2018 Ram 2500 (Cummins engine). It came with a factory rear sway bar, but I'm told that these aren't very good. It also has rear coil springs. I haven't had a chance to weigh the camper yet, but I believe I'm well within payload capacity.

I went with frame mounted torklift tie-downs and the torklift fast gun turnbuckles, so I think I'm good there. The truck bed has a very thin rubber mat (to avoid sliding) followed by half-inch plywood that completely covers the area of the bed where the camper sits (two 4' x 4' pieces of plywood). Also, the truck and camper seem to be swaying together, so I don't think the camper is moving, shifting, or sliding inside of the bed.

Do you think upgrading the sway bar to something better (Hellwig?) is the next best move? That's my current thought, but based on other research I've also seen advice to upgrade shocks/dampeners or maybe even consider an airbag suspension upgrade. I'd definitely like to try one thing at a time, but am looking for the biggest bang for my buck to reduce this ridiculous camper sway. Any suggestions?

[Grit_dog]

Presuming you have adequate tire pressure especially in the rear tires and the camper weight isn't sagging the suspension too bad (I'm pretty certain it is since you don't have any suspension upgrades and I have the same truck, 2500lbs in the bed is on the upper end of what the factory coils are good for.) then it's because of the type of rear suspension.

Geometrically, the coil sprung Ram 2500s are not a good fit for high center of gravity loads. Period. In short, it's the "wrong" type of suspension to haul a TC of any real size.
That said, there are a few upgrades that will help considerably. Although idk how many firsthand reports you'll get since you don't see many TCs on coil sprung 2500s (due to your issue).

1. Put an aftermarket sway bar on. Regardless of truck/suspension type, this is the first step to controlling body roll that you're experiencing. Super easy diy install.
2. If that doesn't do it, depends on the load like I said above. Then you need additional spring capacity. 3 options, heavy duty coils, Timbrens, or air bags. I wouldn't probably consider Sumo springs as they're a bit soft. My first choice (and the easiest and cheapest) would actually be Timbrens in this situation. They all mount outboard of the springs which helps with roll stability and timbrens are pretty stiff when loaded. Maybe too stiff, but you want to control body roll, not ride in a Cadillac.
3. Or maybe this is #2, a stiff set of shocks. I've only used Bilsteins, some say Rancho 9000s are stiffer. I'd maybe think past these and step up to some real heavy duty shocks like King or Fox and have them valved stiff and slow on both compression and rebound.

Lots of improvements available and I think you'll end up spending some money to work around this type of suspension. Good luck.

[otrfun]

Sway problems while carrying larger truck campers with the 2014+ Ram 2500's have been well documented. The very inboard mounted rear coils springs are the culprit. Ram specifies the max. truck camper weight for all their HD trucks. It's telling that Ram recommends some of their 2500's not carry a truck camper at all.

It's my understanding that you can purchase aftermarket air bags for the 2500 that mount *outboard* of the rear coil springs. This more outboard mounting location can reduce sway. Aftermarket airbags that mount inside the coils do little to reduce sway. Lastly, the OEM rear sway bar on a 2014+ Ram 2500 is 1/2 to 1/3 the diameter of the Roadmaster rear sway-bar on our 3500 SRW. It's woefully inadequate for reducing sway with a larger, top-heavy truck camper.

[kirkl]

You need air bags with those coil springs. I have the same setup and I wouldnt even try hauling it without airbags. I will never buy another HD truck with coil springs.

[jaycocreek]

I have a Lance 480 and the sticker weight is 2679 or something like that,but loaded ready to camp, is more like 4000# give our take...I feel it on my dually so your going to feel it more...

[Geo_Boy]

tayjovan wrote:
Thanks for the replies so far!

We suspect the slide-in camper is a 1994 Lance 480, but haven't yet been able to find the serial number of model number anywhere on the unit itself. My best guess based on old spec sheet brochures would put it at ~2500 lbs, but yes, definitely time to hit the scales!

I don't have access to the truck or camper right now, but will check on the axle rating and exact payload when I do.

Based on comments so far, I'm thinking I'll try a much better / thicker sway bar first and see how far that gets us since that seems minimally invasive. And then we'll consider something more robust. Timbrens look very promising if the sway bar isn't effective enough on its own...

I don’t believe a heavier swaybar is going to make a big difference. The Timbrens will move the suspension point of contact farther outboard making the load much more stable. They are easy to install and much less expensive than the larger swaybar

[wnjj]

Make sure your tires are aired up to max and consider upgraded shocks.

[tayjovan]

Thanks for the replies so far!

We suspect the slide-in camper is a 1994 Lance 480, but haven't yet been able to find the serial number of model number anywhere on the unit itself. My best guess based on old spec sheet brochures would put it at ~2500 lbs, but yes, definitely time to hit the scales!

I don't have access to the truck or camper right now, but will check on the axle rating and exact payload when I do.

Based on comments so far, I'm thinking I'll try a much better / thicker sway bar first and see how far that gets us since that seems minimally invasive. And then we'll consider something more robust. Timbrens look very promising if the sway bar isn't effective enough on its own...

[_1Flyboy]

I went to a Dually....

[Geo_Boy]

I would put a set of Timbrens under your truck, go with the double convolute and adjust the ride height by removing the spacer if necessary.

[ramcamper]

I bought a 2018 Ram 3500 last year and put my 2012 Adventurer 86FB on the back. It swayed more than my 2006 Ford F-250 ..... but then again I added 5000 lb overload springs on the back which worked pretty good. For my Ram, I installed the Hellwig 7298 Big Wig rear sway bar and it helped tremendously. The sway bar is massive and is 1.31 inches in diameter and made of 4140 chromoly spring steel. Don't think you'll find a better sway bar. I've got some Firestone air bags that I'm going to instal, but there's a broken bolt that appears to have been over torqued at the factory and broke off. I can't get the dang thing out. Anyway, my camper is 2300 lbs dry and I'm guessing yours is heavier. Campers are generally at the edge of the limits for trucks, so I went from the 3/4 ton to the one ton ..... but my 3/4 ton Ford did great with my modifications.

[rhagfo]

Time to hit the scales!
Just what year and model of Lance Camper do you have?
It would also help if you post the trucks axle rating and Payload, one from the White VIN sticker, and the other from the yellow Tire and payload sticker.

[Siletzspey]

I upgraded my F350 sway bar and the improvement was significant! Since I had a factory sway bar, I went with a RoadMaster upgrade which let me reuse my existing sway bar drop-downs. Previously installed StableLoads took some side-to-side sway out, but mostly they just helped bring the rear up to level.

[JimK-NY]

I think your issue is the rear coil spring. Most of us would avoid them and pick a truck with standard leaf springs.