[Timw7419]

I hope someone can help me - This weekend I pulled a 2 place snowmobile trailer with 2 ATV's on it. When I got up to 55-60mph, a strange vibration started, and continued as long as I was above that speed. It can best be described as if I merged into the rumble strips, and back off, back on, and back off. It would pulsate from nothing, to very noticible, and was happening in cycles of about 5.5 seconds. Yes, I timed it! it did not change if I was in tow mode, or not, and it happened upon accelaration, and decelaration. I down shifted from 5th, to 4th, to 3rd gear, and no change. I shifted in neutral, and it did not change. The vibration could be felt in the steering wheel, the passanger seat, and you could even feel it in the dash. The trailer is new. I shifted the weight on the trailer for more, and less tongue weight, and it did not change. When I got home, I even took one of the ATV's off, and tried again - no change.

My truck has 7500 miles, Hemi 5.7, tow package, and 3.91 gears. I know it could be the trailer, but the "pulsating" has me baffled. I would think that if the tires were out of balance, it would be a consistant vibration, not a pulsating one. Any help, or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[2012Longhorn]

I hope someone can help me - This weekend I pulled a 2 place snowmobile trailer with 2 ATV's on it. When I got up to 55-60mph, a strange vibration started, and continued as long as I was above that speed. It can best be described as if I merged into the rumble strips, and back off, back on, and back off. It would pulsate from nothing, to very noticible, and was happening in cycles of about 5.5 seconds. Yes, I timed it! it did not change if I was in tow mode, or not, and it happened upon accelaration, and decelaration. I down shifted from 5th, to 4th, to 3rd gear, and no change. I shifted in neutral, and it did not change. The vibration could be felt in the steering wheel, the passanger seat, and you could even feel it in the dash. The trailer is new. I shifted the weight on the trailer for more, and less tongue weight, and it did not change. When I got home, I even took one of the ATV's off, and tried again - no change.

My truck has 7500 miles, Hemi 5.7, tow package, and 3.91 gears. I know it could be the trailer, but the "pulsating" has me baffled. I would think that if the tires were out of balance, it would be a consistant vibration, not a pulsating one. Any help, or suggestions would be appreciated.

I get something similar when I tow my utility trailer. One of the tires either has a flat spot or it's out of balance (sat in the dirt for a year). When I tow my travel trailer, I have no problems (sat in concrete and tires covered).

 

[KJ48]

If it doesnt do it without the trailer then have the trailer tires checked and balanced. Most trailer tires are never balanced new and as stated above the tires can flat spot if sitting a while.

Its also possible to just have a bad trailer tire, new or not.

 

[Asur]

Had this issue once before with my trailer, and it was both tires that were unbalanced and out of whack, and the vibration would go from almost nothing to very much. I actually replaced both tires and had the wheels balanced, solved my problem, How did i know it was not my truck, I had a buddy take my trailer for a test run and it did it on his truck.

 

[IH Scout Driver]

Most likely, it's the trailer tires (as stated above). I had my dual axle car hauler doing something similar and found that I had two low tires.

Also check your bearings on the trailer as you could have a bad spot on one of the bearings that is only noticeable at highway speeds. If you haven't repacked your bearings in a year or two, now is the time to do it. I personally despise bearing buddies as they'll destroy the seals over time.

 

[Timw7419]

Thanks guys - I called the trailer dealer today and am taking it back Wednesday for them to check. I'm glad to hear someone else saw the same thing - I thought I was going crazy! I'll post back if that fixes the problem.

 

[Timw7419]

Took off early and took the trailer in today - they swapped out the 8" tires for a set of 10" tires and the problem went away almost entirely. I'm going to try and get them balanced and see if the problem goes away completely. Thanks for the help!

 

[qwikgto]

wow i just had the same issue towing my dual axle trailer.

 

[Dragonmaster13]

This can also be caused by a trailer axle taht is out of alignment. It is really noticeable with smaller tires as the trailer gets yanked to one side and them pulsates until it gets back to centre line and then starts yanking itself over again, but most likely wheel balance.

 

[OxyG3nE]

i had the exast same problem ... today !! ill have ti balance!!

 

[klw]

I have this problem towing my horse trailer. Will get the tires checked. Was thinking it could be the driveline. It's a 2013 1500 5.7 with 4:10 gears.

 

[seardawg]

IF your trailer has brakes - it could be an issue with a braking surface rubbing against the brake pads. May need to have the drums / rotors cut to make them true again, or just make an adjustment to the brakes.

 

[OxyG3nE]

Problem with the suspension is its spring.. the vibration get easily transmit to the truck.. on my ford i never felt anything.. But i got the trailer wheel balance and everything was ok after